▪ Carlie ▪
To y'all I'm someone new. I can't help if I prefer to stay in the shadows. My sister, Denise, and I actually twins. My mom and dad are together, but we ran away from home because we just couldn't take it anymore. It was just too much. It just seemed like they cared about about my brother and sister more, then us. We were always in the back. No matter how hard we tried they never noticed. We were even raped by our Uncle and his friends. Do you think they listened? Nope. They didn't even show up to our award ceremonies, nor school functions. Our brother and sister were everything to them. We just stopped trying all together. I'm sure they didn't even notice we left, nor did they care either.
When we left we were 16. That was 15 years ago. I'm not proud of some of things we did, but we had to make a living. We used to strip so we could put ourselves through college and save money. We didn't party and all that other shit. We stayed together all the time. We'd make our money and stay to ourselves. Then I met Kurt and we hit it off. He introduced my sister to T.
Kurt and I have been together for 3 years. We have a one year old son named Kacey. I never thought that I'd ever be with a man as amazing as Kurt or have a child either. Kurt is a very quiet person. He don't say much, but when he do you know he mean business. He loves Kacey outta this world. Just the mention of his son and his eyes brighten. Kurt is someone I'd never give up on. Speak of the Devil. He just walked in.
"Hey baby." He said pecking my lips.
"Hey." I blushed. I'm 31 and this man is making me blush. I'm a big girl.
"Don't hide from me. Let me see them tomato red cheeks boo boo." He said causing me too laugh. I playfully pushed him.
"Stop!" I said. He just looked at me.
"Is there something on my face?"
"Yeah."
"What is it?" I asked wiping my face. He grabbed my hands.
"What?" I asked confused.
"I thought you said something was in my face so I was wiping it off." I added.
"You can't wipe beautiful off." He said. I giggled. See he makes me feel like a little girl sometimes. This man make me feel things that no other man has. Even if he is corny sometimes.
"I love you." I blurted out.
"And I love you." He said laying be back in the bed.
"Kurt." He placed his finger on my lips and shook his head.
"Let me show you how beautiful you really are."
▪ Denise ▪
I was in the grocery store getting some things for the house. I felt like someone was watching me. It felt like an intense glaze was on me. I only knew one person that possessed that glaze.
No it couldn't be. I shook my head.
It felt like they were burning a whole in my face. I looked around the store till our eyes locked and that's all it took for me to freeze. So much was going through my head. How did he find us? Is he going to hurt me? Does he know where we live?
"If it isn't my favorite niece." His voice sent chills down my body. I couldn't speak it was like I couldn't form any words.
"I told you, you could never run or hide from me. I'm back. Now give me a kiss." He said walking closer to me. I backed up bumping into one of the freezer doors.
"Pl-Please d-don't." He just smirked at me. He reached out and touched me making me flinch.
"Don't be scared baby. It'll be just like old times." He said nuzzling his chin in the croak of my neck. He grabbed my ass harshly.
"St-Stop!" I said trying to push him off of me. He gripped my sides harshly making me yelp out in pain.
"I will have you and your sister again. You can't hide from me. Maybe I'll even have that little daughter of yours too. You and your sister will be punished for giving my pussy away. I'll be seeing you soon." He whispered harshly to me. He kissed my neck before he walked away.
I got to get outta here. We're not safe anymore.
▪ T ▪
When Denise came back from the store she seemed out of it. I asked her what's wrong, but she just said nothing. I knew she was lying, but I left it alone. I went upstairs to get ready so we could leave and head over to Zeus house.
The entire car ride she looked as if she was a dope fiend. Shaking and looking all over the place and being jumpy. She looked paranoid as fuck.
"Denise what's the matter?"
"N-Nothing." Second lie.
"Are you sure? You know you could tell me anything." I said. She sighed.
"Yeah I know, but I'm okay. I promise." She said smiling at me. But this smile didn't reach her eyes. Plus I knew she was still lying. I'm going to let it go for now. We don't need to argue in front of Zyla.
As soon as we got to Zeus house Denise and Carlie had disappeared. They have been gone for a while now. So I decided to go look for them.
"Carlie I seen him." I hear Denise say. Who did she see? I wondered.
"Who?"
"Our Uncle." She said. Okay?
"Wh-What? They were never supposed to find us. Where did you see him?" Carlie sounded like she was going to past out. Am I missing something?
"Earlier today. He touched me and said some things. It brung back so many memories. We need to get out of here." She said. Oh hell to the no! Somebody better start explaining some shit to me.
"We can't leave our kids and men behind Denise. We have to tell them." They know we sell drugs, but not like that. They don't know that Zeus is Black Zeus or our boss. They just think we all family and have a businesses together.
"I can't. T will hate me, I know he will." Denise cried. This was my time to step in.
"Hate you for what?" They both jumped in shock.
"N-Nothing." Denise said.
"Denise don't fuck with me today. I asked you a fucking question, now talk." I said. The playful T went out the window. She didn't say anything.
"Carlie give Denise and I a few minutes cause apparently I need to remind her who she fucking with." Carlie ran out the room. We both stood silent for a minute or two.
"Denise I don't know if you forgot or not, but let me remember you. When it comes to what's mine or my family I go the extra mile to protect mine. Now I might play all the time, but don't let that shit fool you. Now tell me what nigga touched you?" I asked calmly as possible. I'm pissed on the inside because she lied to me when I asked her what was wrong when she came back from the store. Then she lied to me again. Now she acting like she scary.
"I-I can't." She mumbled. My momma always told me you can't help those who don't wavy to be helped.
"I'm your man. The same man that loves you, takes care of you, even when you don't seem to feel like you deserve it. We have a child together and you talking about leaving me and our daughter for some reason. Denise this my last time asking you. If you don't tell me you can forget about us. If I walk out this door I promise on everything you not going to like me and as quick as you came in my life you'll be leaving." I said. I watched her body language. She looked scared, sad, hurt, and angry. She can't be angry at me cause hunty will be sipping some tea in a minute and reminiscing about what she used to have.
"So are you going to tell me?"
"I'm sorry. I-I can't." She said. I nodded and got up.
"Wh-Where are you going?" I scoffed. I opened the door.
"You can't even tell me what the real problem is, yet you want to know where I'm going. Whoever you protecting and running from I hope it's worth losing your family over it." Was all I said before I walked out. I made my way back to the living room. Trina was almost done cooking. Shit I was ready to eat.
"I was looking for you. Where you went?" Jay asked.
"Upstairs." I said looking at Carlie. I just shook my head. They keeping secrets, but wanted us to be truthful to them. I just don't know sometimes. She looked nervous as hell.
"Why you nervous Carlie? Is there something you hiding?" I asked. See when I'm pissed I fuck with people. I know it might seem wrong, but shit they might be snakes at this point. Secrets are a person's worse enemy. Secrets are what get you hurt, better yet killed.
"N-No I'm n-not."
"But you stuttering." I stated. Everyone was watching us.
"I'm good."
"Lie."
"T leave my girl alone." Kurt said.
"I will not! Her and her sister hiding shit. I'll be damned if I'll let someone lie to me, but they can ask me fifty questions and expect answers! It don't work like that. I want to know why my girl plan on leaving me and my daughter? Why she can't be woman enough to tell me the truth? Why has our relationship been based on lies. They know the rules just like everyone else in this room. No lies, no secrets. We all swore on this shit. So this don't make no sense to me! How we supposed to protect what's ours when we don't even know what's going on?" I snapped. I felt someone touch my shoulder. It was Denise.
"Don't fucking touch me." I said shrugging her hand off. She looked hurt. At the moment I don't care. I take lying seriously always have, always will.
"What's he talking about?" Zeus asked. Now he bout to get into his boss mode. If anyone hate secrets more then me, it's him. You don't have secrets in the game. If you hiding shit you, stealing shit too. Who really knows?
"We lied to protect us from our past." Carlie started off.
"Carlie!" Denise warned.
"They need to know Denise. We can't continue to run all of our life. I'm tired Denise, I'm tired of living in fear of him returning. He always finds us. He always does." She said. Denise started to cry.
"Growing up our parents never paid us any attention. We would come home with good grades, awards, and then some. But they never said 'good job' or 'I'm proud of you'. Our sister and brother were placed above us. Our parents worshipped them and everything they did. It's like we were strangers to them. Over the years we just gave up. The man that Denise is talking about is our Uncle he used to rape us along with his friends. We tried telling our parents and you know what they said?" Carlie laughed bitterly.
"All they said was 'mhm okay'. That's all they said. I don't even think they were listening. From that point on I knew we had lost them. So we packed what we could and ran away. We started stripping to make money. We used the money to pay for school and support ourselves. Then we moved here and that's when we meet Kurt and T."
"You could've told me this shit instead of making up some sob ass story y'all concocted. You still lied, but expected the truth from us. Denise you not off the hook because it seem when times get hard in your life you choose to run. You were going to leave your daughter, motherless. I'm not really worried about you leaving me, but what example would that set for your daughter? Did you know you daughter could grow up to hate you for leaving? Shit I'd be pissed, but I'd get over it soon. A lot of people walked outta my way, but I didn't let that stop me from moving on with my life. I love you, but if running away is what you want, then there go the door. I will not stop you." I said. She was chewing on her bottom lip. She shouldn't have to think about if she was staying or leaving. She should know. Her daughter is what she'd be losing and a damn good man.
"If you gotta think about it then obviously you have a problem." I said. I just walked into the kitchen were Trina was.
"You okay?" She asked. I shrugged.
"People come and go Trina we all know that."
"That's not what I asked you."
"I'm fine, but my daughter is what I'm not okay with. What if she walks out that door and doesn't come back? What am I supposed to tell my daughter when she asks where her mom is? Or why her mom isn't coming back? Or does her mom hate her?"
"The truth." Was all she said. The room got quiet and I was lost in my thoughts.
"Don't let it ruin your mood Treyvon. Denise a grown ass woman who's used to running away from her problems instead of facing them. If she ran away now, she'll run away later. She's the one that's going to have to deal with the guilt of it all. Not you or anyone else, just her. Let God handle it for you." Trina said hugging me.
"Thank you."
"No problem. Now start taking this food to the table." She said.
All us was sitting around the table. Guess who wasn't here? You guessed it. Denise.
"Daddy where's mommy?"
▪ Jay ▪
Shit had hit the fan today. The boys had decided that we needed to have a repeat of secrets night again. I really don't know how this going to play out, but Zeus already working on it. So it's only a matter of time.
I'm not sure if Denise left or not, but she wasn't at the table. Kurt had got Carlie to stop crying. I don't know what he told her, but it helped. We were all eating and talking like nothing even happened and I'm glad the kids weren't around to witness it either.
"Daddy where's mommy?" ZyZy asked T. He was about to say something when some from behind us spoke.
"I'm right here." Our heads turned to see Denise. Thank God she didn't leave or I knew something bad was going to happen. T might not admit it, but I know he'd be hurt. He'd probably cover it up by acting a fool. T didn't even spare her a glance he just continued eating. Denise took the seat next to T. There was no tension, but T is good at hiding his emotions like the rest of us. After everyone started back talking again that's when my nervousness kicked in. I was going to propose to Keta tonight. I wasn't really into all that emotional type shit so I'm just going to pop the question. I cleared my throat and Trina eyed me. She nodded her head.
"Can I have everyone's attention." I said. I stood up and got down on one knee next to Keta. Her eyes widen in shock.
"Jay-Jayden." She stammered.
"I don't have a speech or no sentimental shit written out. I love you and I thank you for giving me my first child. So what do you say? W-Will you marry me?" I asked. She nodded her head.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" She screamed. I slid the ring on her finger. Everyone clapped for us.
"Aw damn we got a wedding to plan." Carlie said. Shit that went better then I expected. Zeus phone rung so he got up and left the room.
▪ Zadarius ▪
Today was a real emotional day. I had a chance to speak to Carlie and asked her how she would feel about what I'm about to do. I also assured her that she would be safe no matter what. She eventually agreed, but the problem was Denise. I knew she had left. I watched her break down in the car and leave. I knew she wouldn't get far, before she came back.
Jay proposed to Keta crazy ass. I'm happy for my brother. They both deserve to be happy. I was sitting at the head of the table and Trina at the other end. My phone started to ring. I got up to answer it.
"Is it done?"
"Yes."
"Good. Make sure nothing goes wrong."
"Yes boss." I hung up the phone.
I just hope this works.