During the night, Maia sneaked into my room and slept on my bed, hugging me tightly. I kept silent, and hugged her back, as I listened to her crying into my chest.
She didn't need me to tell her she was going to be okay, or that she'd get justice because none of those would help, and neither of those sentences were a guarantee. The justice system continuously fails victims, especially black women, so there is no certainty that she'd get justice.
I let her hold on to me until she fell asleep, and as she slept.
Currently, I'm in the kitchen, making breakfast for the twins before I make my way to work, trying to salvage what's left of my club.
The twins eventually come downstairs, and we eat in silence. Both I and Nate want to ask Maia how she's doing but don't want to overstep or be insensitive.
The August sun shines brightly outside, and I ponder on the thought of disregarding my failing business and staying home with my siblings, enjoying each other's company. However, I know Nate has his internship.
I ask Maia to come with me to the club, and I'm surprised when she agrees. Together we drop off Nate and make our way to the club. We get in from the back door, that leads to my office.
We sit in silence as I do work, and she completes her summer project.
I throw glances at her every once in a while and sometimes catch her staring at the window, and have to bring her back. By 3:00 pm, the both of us are tired of these four grey walls and decide to go out, before picking up Nate from DeLuca Enterprises.
On the drive to an ice cream shop, Maia starts talking. "I was thinking. . . " She's nervously playing with her fingers, "Would you mind if I start talking to someone, like a professional?"
"Of course, Maia." I respond with no hesitation, "I can help you look for someone."
"Thank you, Angie. I know I've been kind of a burden the past couple of days -" I stop at the red light, and look at her. "You are not a burden, Maia. What happened to you isn't a burden. Okay?"
She nods. "I can pay part of it. Just not all. I'm not ready to tell mom, so I can't ask her, so would you mind covering the rest? I don't know exactly what I'm going to be talking about, but I don't like the way I feel, and I need to talk to someone without feeling like a burden. Since it happened I've taken more than five showers a day. I feel dirty. I can still feel his hands on me. I know it's not like I got raped, but-" I stop her, immediately.
"You were assaulted, okay? What he did wasn't ok. You managed to run, but that doesn't make your situation any less important. Okay?" She doesn't reply, so I continue.
"You don't need to worry about the cost. I can cover it fully. You're my little sister, that's what I'm here for." For the first time in two days, she smiles and my heart warms.
Nate walks out of the building and I can tell, as he walks towards the car, with his hands in his pockets, that he's pissed. When he gets in, he murmurs a hi and puts in his AirPods.
Okay?
I awkwardly pass him the ice cream we got him, and as I wait for him to grab it, I and Maia look at each other in humorous confusion.
The twins are sitting on my sofa, watching TV, while I'm sitting at my kitchen's island, typing an email to my accountant, when my phone rings. It's an unsaved number, and out of habit, I answer it. "Hello?"
"You're ruining my family!" The sudden realisation hits me when I recognise the twins' mother's voice. "Marlene."
"You're ruining my kids! Ruining my family and my image. I knew I should've gotten rid of you before."
"Marlene, what do you want?" The question is simple and requires a simple answer but she keeps are nonsensical rant.
I notice the twins have turned the volume down, and are now paying attention to me. They know their mom despises me, so it's surprising for all of us to see she called me.
"I was enjoying my holiday when Karen called me and showed me a video of Nate punching someone. It's on TokTok or something?? And it was because of you, and that satanic club you own. If you stopped spreading your legs for everyone like the whore you are! Like the whore your mother was."
I end the call, having had enough.
"What the fuck is she talking about?" I whisper to myself. My eyes land on Nate immediately, and I notice bruises all over his right hand.
"Nathan, how did you get that?" His hand moves out of sight instinctively, when I point it out. "Nathan?" I ask again.
"It's not that's serious."
"Are you sure?" I ask sarcastically, "Because your mother just called me and screamed at me for being your ruin and for being the reason you did it."
"I punched some people at DeLuca's today."
"Who?" What the fuck was he thinking?! "Some dick called Brandon, and . . . Alessandro. . ." He whispers the last part. I can barely hear it. But I do, and when it downs on me, I want to scream at him. But I don't. He's not a violent person and for him to be acting out - something must have really pissed him off.
"Why?"
"Brandon brought up your situation and called you some fucked up shit. I told him to cut it out, but he didn't. Instead, it got worse. He made it about the fact that you're black and that you're a woman. I couldn't take it, so I punched him. Alessandro, who was talking to us, tried to stop us, and I punched him too."
I understand his reasoning, but there's a video on TikTok of him punching a grown man, apparently, so that's not good.
I'm mentally exhausted, so I don't find it in myself to give him a lecture and go to my room instead. I go on TikTok and try to find the video. It doesn't take me long, especially once I search for #DeLucaEnterprises. Videos posted in the last two hours pop up on my screen, and it's Nate either punching Alessandro or Brandon.
Whoever posted it, obviously wanted to cause drama, because he made sure to caption it
this is how my internship is currently going 😭 how can my boss get punched up like this by an intern? he's angelica thompson brother fyi (the stripper/prostitute idrk )
The comments are filled with people being racist and horrible. Thankfully, there's nothing too bad about Nate. It's mostly focused on how horrible I am.
I get off TikTok and open iMessage and find the number I saved a while ago.
I'm so tired of everything.
•
•
Everyone, I'm writing a new story and when I publish this chapter it'll be up.
Here's a snippet of Promise Me
(my new book)
On my way to the toilets, my body drunkenly hits something. I'm weirdly pleased when I look up and realize it's Matteo.
"Matteo."
"Doctor Chioma." He responds.
"Call me Marion."
I realize we're still very close to each other, and he's still holding my waist to keep me balanced and stop me from falling.
We stare at each other silently for a couple of seconds until I completely remove the distance between us and kiss him. He reciprocates and takes control of the kiss, and I let him.
The kiss deepens and we move into one of the toilets.
I've never been more glad that JVs toilets are all separate.
Chapter one is out now!! Also follow my TikTok
@/readsbytracy <3
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