Sidney Berry had her life planned out: after high school go to culinary school, become a world-renowned chef and marry her childhood sweetheart, Aiden. But after a tragic incident that shakes her world at the end of her senior year, her plans derail...
Apparently, Kru fronted the money to get the spot open and her dad was supposed to staff it and run it. But about a week before the spot was due to open, a celebrity restaurateur who noticed what he did with his former employer's restaurant called Roland and offered him what he dreamed of. An Executive Chef position at a new restaurant he was opening. All legit as well. Everything above board. Sid's father tried to break things off amicably with Kru but Kru wasn't having it. They had a nasty falling out.
The death threats started immediately, her mother remembered. The phone ringing all times of the night and people following her father all around the neighborhood. Her Dad tried to get away, move them all to someplace safe where they could start over.
But he ran out of time that morning on the train platform.
Sid knew that Kru was not at all kind to people who messed with his money, even if those people were his friends. Or his even his Brother. He would kill Phil in an instant if she didn't somehow turn up with the money.
"He's going to kill me." Sid croaked out as the reality of her fate finally struck her.
"Baby, he can't hurt you."
"I took his money."
"What?" Whitney's voice caused both Sid and Tanya to look her way, having forgotten that she was even there. Learning of her Father and Kru's involvement stunned her to silence. Sid knew that later she would have to take time to check in with her sister. She wouldn't be able to help her, Sid had barely been able to solve anything for herself, but at least she could be with her in the mess. A hand to hold onto while the tornado tore everything around them to shreds.
"I know his brother and—"
"I don't know why you moved back over there in the first damn place!" Her mother was an angry wind blowing around the room. It's like they were all taking turns being furious with one another. So critical of how they'd each handled their separate burdens. None of them asked for this though.
"What? Was I supposed to stay here? This! All of this!" Sid gestured at the expansive luxury closet they were all sitting in. "This is all because daddy was killed. You never once thought of how that made me feel. Why'd you have to bury him like that? You act like he was never here." Her voice was creaking like an old bridge as it traversed the space between her present pain and the pain of watching her dad be slowly erased from their lives over the last six years.
"There's not one photo of him anywhere. Not a memory. You have his stuff molding in some box like you're ashamed of him."
Tanya's eyes widened and her hand clawed at her chest. Like she was trying to catch her heart before it fell out onto the floor.
"That man is everything to me...was. He was so intense. Always going for something. He wanted me to be like that I just couldn't. Just don't have it in me. But I knew that when he died, I couldn't roll over and die with him. I came up with something that he would be proud of." Tanya locked eyes with Sid. "I know how terrible you think it is, what I did. But ten people got maimed or killed every year in that death trap of subway station. After your dad, they came out and fixed the platform. No one has died since. And me? I get to make a difference with the foundation and put you girls, through school. Put away money for AJ. You may resent me for it but I did what I thought was best."
Tears painted Tanya's face but she held Sid's gaze. For once Sid tried to think of what it was like for her mother to lose her life partner and be left with two girls to raise on her own. Sid knew that she would do absolutely anything for AJ to give him a better life. She had.
For her, Kru was that big train that caused people peril and death year after year without giving a damn. But she, unlike her mother, she had not gotten away with taking from it. Phil was hurt, possibly dead, and her life was as good as over if she didn't return his money. But she had one last trump card to pay. Because of the decision her mother made all those years ago, she may be able to get herself out of this situation. The irony was not lost on her.
"I stole money from him. From his brother actually... and now he's holding him hostage. He'll kill me if I don't return it." Sidney locked eyes with her sister who seemed to have a million questions floating around in her head but she held on to them. Knowing that a barrage of questions would probably be too much for any of them to take right now. Tanya stood and made her way over to her daughters.
"I'm sorry. You hear me? I'm sorry." Her eyes shifted between Sid and Whitney who's cheeks were glistening with tears. Both sisters nodded, accepting their mother's olive branch. A round of laughter drifted up from the back of the house and flowed into the expansive closet. Her mother pulled tissues again from the nearby vanity and dabbed at her face, wiping away any makeup that had begun to run. She straightened her summer dress and made her way to the double doors. She stopped and turned around partially.
"Just tell me how much you need. Give me a few days and I'll get it." With that, she was gone.
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