Reconstruction of the Legacy

Chapter 14: Brewing Storm

Ryan
That family reunion in '04 has drastically changed my life. I lost a huge piece of my mom that day. It's all Orlando's fault and for that he's gonna pay. Right hand on the Bible I'll make sure of it. My mom ain't been the same since. Earlier on that day she had so much pain and love in her eyes. No matter what she showed me and Rylee love. After that incident at the family reunion she broke. Her eyes showed anger and hate. She locked herself in the basement for a whole week. Rylee and I had to fend for ourselves because dad was on a business trip. I as the older twin room charge and made sure we had something to eat. I even got us ready for kindergarten and packed our lunch. After that week she came out of the basement. She looked at us deep in our eyes.

"I'm not finna let them walk over us like we don't belong. I want you two to finish your homework and come down to the basement."

In her hand I recall seeing an empty Vodka bottle. I knew from watching reality shows that you don't want to make a drunk mad. We did as we were told. When we entered the basement we saw that mom had changed it into a fitness room.

"What are y'all waiting on I ain't got all day?!"

We walk up to her and she put her arms around us.

"The old mom is long gone. I want y'all to realize that. Your Aunt Jayla my twin made it this way. She doesn't like to see me happy. She thinks y'all are monsters too. I want her to see she can't break us down. So we are going to start at the punching bags. Follow momma's lead."

She poured all her emotions into that punching bag and she oversaw we did the same. She even put Rylee into gymnastics to make sure she was flexible. She put me in underground boxing so I didn't have to register my hands as legal weapons. She only wants the absolute best for me and my sister. She still manages to show us her soft side every blue moon. She is more like a coach than a nurturing mother. She wants us to always push harder. From the age of 5 to now we are fit and muscular. I have an eight pack and my sister has a four pack. That's a bonus especially since I don't really have to worry about boys messing with her. She can handle herself. Aside for the training she taught us who the enemy was. That's sad when your own family is the enemy. My own Aunt Jayla and Orlando is the enemy. They have done nothing, but shape our lives into a living hell.

I will do whatever is possible to make sure he steps down and by the end he'll be begging me for his miserable, pathetic life.

Rylee
I have no regrets being made a hard core, independent diva. I have Aunt Jayla and Orlando to thank for that. What I really and truly miss is the loving side of my mother. She stopped after that family reunion. You can see bags under her eyes and empty bottles of alcohol in the trash can. There was no hiding the fact that she was grieving. What type of family cast one of their own out to the wolves? The family that does that is one I don't want to be apart of. One thing I don't understand is how Orlando is the enemy. When we were playing as children he was nothing, but nice to me. He was the one I could turn to when Ryan would tell me I couldn't do nothing because I was a girl. Orlando would even stop playing with the guys just to play with me when Jojo wasn't there. To me he's anything except the enemy. I won't breathe a word of that to my mom or brother. I will take no part into harming him. Unlike these two I have a heart especially since I got pregnant by my husband. Yeah you read it right I'm married since I turned eighteen I could do it without having my parents' consent. I don't want to tell them though, but I will raise my baby in love not hate. That's why I can't allow them to kill my cousin. I still associate with my cousins in secret except Orlando because it's too risky. I warned my cousin TJ about what my mom and brother was planning. Hopefully he got the word to him so he can be safe. Unlike my mother I've grown to forgive my family. They did what they thought was best. I mean she's never told anyone how she felt. If she had of I'm pretty sure they would've gave her the attention she needed.

Kayla
Revenge is the best dish served cold. It takes commitment and planning to get it. I have all those components. I raised my kids to not show weakness because that's how people use it against you and manipulate you. Out of everyone in the world they can trust me, each other, and their father. They know to not show mercy to anyone that crosses them. However, I taught them to not look for or start fights. They have to be on the hustle every hour, minute, and second not a moment later. At a young age they trained day and night. I'm not a cruel mom I'm making sure they don't get looked over like I did. I'm protecting them like my family should've protect me. They know the consequences for not sticking together. With all the skills they've learned they will take over Legacy by force. They won't hold back anything and that's the way it should be. My own twin did me dirty and I will end her. I will break her like she broke me. We use to be so close, but that changed the second she talked down on me in '04. I won't hold back she's dead to me. Not one time did she reach out to me or my kids after the dispute.