All She Can Take

F O R T Y - N I N E

But she was surprised to notice that her vision had shifted. Instead of seeing Aiden in that spot, she imagined... Phil. She felt that tug in her chest and held onto it. For the first time in forever, she was able to see a future.

"Aiden, he's had our entire neighborhood in his grips for years. God...probably even longer. You remember Ahmed and Ahsan?"

"From the chicken joint?"

"Yes. This guy...Kru. He's taken over their whole business. Has them cleaning money for him. And so many others. He's trying to control them the same way he tried to control my dad."

"Jesus." Aiden blinked rapidly as he tried to process the information.

"Yeah. I can't just move on and let him keep doing this." Sid hesitated before saying the next part, but because she was on an honesty kick she forged ahead. "And...there's someone I really care about who's...involved." She busied herself with the remaining burgers to keep herself from looking Aiden in the eye. But after a few beats of silence, she ventured a glance his way and saw a small smile on his face.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing. I'm just...glad." It was all he said and Sid was content with leaving it like that.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I can't get to him. But I'm going to get to what he cares about the most."

***

As Sid stood on her mother's doorstep again, it dawned on her that she had been there more times in the past few weeks than she had in the last few years. Something about the current circumstances kept pulling her back toward unresolved things. It's the most uncomfortable she's been in a while. Like removing a tree from a yard it's been in for centuries. It wouldn't go down with causing a ruckus. The door swung open to reveal Regis in a green golf shirt and a mug. Time to cause a ruckus.

"Hi, Sidney. Come on in. I'll go get your mother." He said with that timid smile he always wore. Sid stepped past him and into the foyer before turning around.

"Actually, I came to talk to you."

Regis's mouth opened and closed as he tried to hide his shock. "Of course. Yes. Sure." He was visibly nervous as he led her to his office. Sid couldn't blame him. The angst anxiety-ridden daughter of your second wife invites you to have a chat after never speaking to you for six years is pretty alarming. He probably thinks I'm going to try to kill him, Sid thought. She plastered a smile on her face to seem more innocent but after catching a glimpse of herself in the sunburst mirror on the wall she realized she just looked devious. She dropped the smile as she watched Regis try to decide whether to sit behind his desk or stand near the edge of it. He finally decided on what he thought was a relaxed lean against the desk but he still looked ready to flee or defend himself at any moment.

"Umm...I know I haven't spoken to you much..." Sid started in, eager to get the feelings part over with. Regis released a sarcastic grunt. "Ok. Ever. But you came in so quickly after my dad died. It was too much, too soon. I...why? Why did you marry my mom so quickly? What was the big rush?" Sid could hear her heart beating in her ears. Slow down. Calm down. Regis remained steady. He clasped his hand together in his head and nodded. Like he knew this day was coming.

"That day when we first met? That was the first time I met your mother as well. A mutual friend of ours told me about your father's accident and I wanted to help." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He flipped the smooth leather toward her to reveal a picture. A wallet-sized photo of a woman. Beautiful. Her afro, shiny and uniform reaching toward the bent edges of the photo. Her smile was huge and radiating as a slightly younger version of Regis nuzzled his face in her neck. A man in love. They looked like this photo was snapped in the middle of bliss. "My first wife, Tabitha, was killed when a crane fell from a construction site in Bed Stuy."