A Mother's Bond

68

Kai jumped up and sprinted away from me, but this time I was faster. I grabbed the collar of his shirt and flung him back down on the couch. Julez wasted no time, immediately body slamming him.

"Mrs. Carter! Mrs. Knowles-Carter!" Kai yelled, while we pummeled him. "Get these light skins off me!"

"Sarayah!" Mama called out, the warning in her voice clear.

"Okay! We're just playing!" I called back. "We're happy to see each other again!"

She popped her head out to look at me. "I understand that, but this isn't your house. I don't want you breaking anything." She looked us over. "Or each other. So relax. Okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

She stared at me for another moment before disappearing back into the kitchen. I sat up, keeping my weight on Kai's spine.

"So Julez, how was shopping? Find anything good?"

"I just know y'all aren't about to have a conversation on my back," Kai said, his voice still muffled by the cushions.

Julez ignored him, not budging from his spot on Kai's shoulder blades. "Yeah, I can't wait until your party. It took me forever to figure out who I wanted to be–"

"You didn't have to actually be someone from the 90's. You could just dress in 90's fashion." I explained, interrupting him.

"Yeah, I know," he said. "But it'll be cooler–"

"Okay, fun's over," Kai announced, bucking beneath us. Julez and I grinned evilly at each other as we dug our joints into Kai's body. Laughter filled the room as we battled to keep our balance.

"Sarayah," a strained voice called, making me lose my concentration. Kai gave a final buck, and I fell off him onto the rug. Julez soon followed, landing beside me.

I was about to stand up with the full intent of continuing my little feud with Kai but stopped in a crouch when I noticed Mama lurking in the kitchen doorway.

"Sarayah, we need to talk to you," she said with that same strain in her voice. A shiver ran down my spine at the sound. This wasn't a 'Sarayah, you did something wrong' tone, this was a 'Sarayah, everything's wrong' tone.

Everything in me was screaming bolt. My eyes darted down to her hand. It was clutching her phone for dear life. Squeezing it, more accurately, her knuckles were practically white from the effort. Dad suddenly appeared beside her, his face solemn. If I wasn't worried before, I was worried now.

Like a switch had been flipped, the easy atmosphere in the living room immediately disappeared. Everyone turned to look at me. My eyes shot over to Kai for support, but he was uncharacteristically quiet. He shrugged, looking just as confused as me.

"Uh, okay," I stuttered, unsteadily getting to my feet. "Sure."

I walked over to them, my head low as I ran through every disaster scenario in my mind. What happened? Had Isobel called them to say she'd made a mistake and I actually wasn't their kid after all? No, that didn't make sense. I'd done a DNA test. Or had I? I frantically searched my brain for the answer, but I couldn't remember. I couldn't remember anything!

I looked up just in time to see my parents exchanging a meaningful glance. As soon as they caught me looking, they whipped their heads forward, acting as if nothing happened.

I was starting to feel claustrophobic, sandwiched between them and their overpowering concern. Without permission, my feet stopped moving. My parents' eyes were on me in an instant, scanning my face for an answer as to why I was no longer following them.