Page 99

“Look. We’re not trying to make you uncomfortable, but you’ve got to understand where we’re coming from. The three of us are all we have, and it’s been this way since we were young. You up and left without even letting us know what was up, and now you want us to sit here and pretend like this shit is normal? You’ve got to tell us something.” I told her.

“You wouldn’t understand. All the two of you want to do is judge me, and I don’t have time for that. At the end of the day, I’m happy in my relationship, and all I want you to do is respect it and treat me like an adult.” She expressed, her eyes still on the ground.

“I loved you like you’re my own child, and it kills me not to be able to see you and love on you, but I’ll never be able to accept you being with that grown-ass man. He doesn’t mean you any good, and I would fake as hell if I pretended to be okay with it. Regardless, I’m still your sister, and I want to be a part of your life.” Yaya replied.

“How can you say you love me and want to be in my life, but you don’t accept the man I love? Does that not sound backward to you?”

“You are a part of me, Malea. Raggedy or not, we came from the same momma. I have loved you for your entire life, and nothing will ever change that. As far as your relationship, I just can’t do. I’ve seen this storyline play out a million times, and I know how it ends. You’re young and easy for him to manipulate, but I can see right through him.

“You can put on a front for the world, but you aren’t fooling me. You’re sitting here with big black sunglasses on, a long-sleeve shirt on, and a foundation color that’s two shades darker than your normal color. I bet he told you it would never happen again or that it was your fault because you didn’t listen to him. Trust me, I’ve been through a lot of things I’ve never shared with anyone. I never want you to feel like I’m judging you, because that’s not what this is. I just don’t want you to go through unnecessary pain that will scar you for life. I’ve been there and done that.”

As Yaya spoke, I took a moment to observe Malea, and my anger began to boil. Without saying a word, I knelt down to her level and attempted to remove her sunglasses. She tried to push me away, but I wasn’t going for it.

“Naw, let me see because if I draw my own conclusions, I’ma shoot first and ask no questions.”

“Solomon, you don’t understand,” Malea whined, which only confirmed our suspicions.

“Malea, don’t play with me.”

I removed the glasses, and the moment I saw the purple marks under her eyes, I knew we were right.

“Why the hell would you let him put his hands on you?” I asked, even though I knew she wasn’t going to give me an answer that would satisfy me.

Malea stood from her seat and attempted to snatch the glasses back from me. I held them out of reach, but it didn’t stop her as she jumped on me.

“Give them back, Solo!” Malea yelled, clinging to me like a baby.

“Where that nigga at? He likes to put his hands on people. Tell that pussy ass hoe to come fight a real nigga,” I warned through gritted teeth.

“Solo, don’t do this here. All I want to do is enjoy my day. This is exactly why I keep my distance from y’all. Instead of being understanding, all y’all want to do is judge me and my life. You can stay out of my life if this is the way you’re gonna act.” Malea climbed off me and pushed me away.

A part of me did feel guilty because I never wanted her to feel isolated from us. It was just hard for me to sit by and watch her get mistreated. When she attempted to walk away, I grabbed her arm.

“Lea, wait.” She turned around with a glare on her pretty face. She looked like a combination of my momma and Yaya. It was hard to see her as an adult because she had always been the baby.

“I’m sorry. This shit isn’t easy for me, but you’ve got to know I love you and I only want what’s best for you. I hate that you’ve shut me out, and it makes me feel some type of way. I don’t want to lose you as my sister.”

I swallowed my pride, because inside, all I wanted to do was put a bullet in that nigga’s dome.

“You act like this is easy for me. I want to be able to have my family in my life, but I won’t be disrespected, nor will I let y’all disrespect my relationship. Cello loves me, and he takes good care of me. There’s no such thing as a perfect relationship, but he’s the person I want to be with.”

I wanted to tell her that pervert was incapable of love, but I kept my thoughts to myself. At the end of the day, I needed to regain her trust in me so we could rebuild our relationship.

“Here, put my number in your phone. I want to be able to keep in touch with you, and I can’t do that if we don’t have each other’s number.”

I held out my hand for her phone so I could put my number in it. Truthfully, I had already gotten her number from Honesty, but she didn’t need to know that. She and Honesty were in contact with each other, which was how I was able to stay in the know where she was concerned.

“Here. If you need me for any reason, don’t hesitate to reach out. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is or what it’s about. If you call or text me, I’ll answer. It’s no pressure on my end. I just want to be included in your life and make sure you’re safe. I know you think we don’t understand you, but we know more than you think. I love you, baby girl. Take care of yourself.”

I passed the phone back to her and watched her bite down on her bottom lip. She did that whenever she was nervous or uncomfortable.

“I’ve got to go. I came here with Cello’s cousins, and it looks like they finally got their food.”

Malea rushed off as if she was a child on punishment and it didn’t set right with me. Yaya and I decided to take the kids on a few rides to let them blow off some steam. We both fell quiet for a moment, deep in our own thoughts.

“I hate this shit, Solo. You and I both know this will only end in her being hurt. She wants to be grown so bad and can’t see that man is only using her. Messiah says I need to fall back and wait for her to come to me, but how can we sit back and watch her walk right into a trap?”

“I don’t know, but Honesty told me the same thing. If we try to put too much pressure on her, she’ll only pull further and further away from us. Trust me, I want to go to his place and shoot his ass in the fucking head.” I admitted.