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  He hugged her tightly back until she withdrew from him and he patted her cheek. “I love you too, LaLa. Your mother would have been proud of you. You’re strong like her.”

  “I hope so.”

  “I know so.” Quinton stood up and sighed. “Go on and check on your sister so I can tell Lance that we’re going to sit this job, and every other job, out. It’s time for us to start living our lives honestly. Starting now.”

  “Okay,” Ahli said. “I’ll have her call you when I’m done chewing her ass out. I love you!”

  “I love you too,” Quinton said again.

  When she left he ran his hands down his face and chuckled to himself. After he sent Lance the message saying that he was out, he readied himself to go downstairs to the basement and hit the bar with Brayland. Before he left his room his eyes rose to the ceiling, although it felt like he was looking past it. He shook his head.

  “You always said these girls would be the best and the worst of us combined.” His voice was hushed, but he knew she could hear him. “You were right. As always.”

  Chapter 8

  Night had fallen by the time Ahli finally caught up to her sister. There were only a few places that she could have been. The first place she checked was the downtown bumpy slides, a place both of the girls found refuge in as kids. With some waxed paper and a ripped cardboard box they felt like superheroes gliding down the slides at what seemed like the speed of light. When she didn’t find her there she knew there was only one other place she could be. Ahli finally found her at an old park that their parents used to take them to when they were younger.

  The creaking of the old swing interrupted the quiet around them. Rhonnie had her back to her as she swung low back and forth. Her hair was free from its ponytail and flowed freely in the wind with every swing. Ahli stood silently a few feet away on the pavement until Rhonnie slowed the swing. “I wondered how long it would take for you to find me.”

  “I should have come here first,” Ahli said, walking up on her sister and taking a seat on the swing next to her. “I thought you would be at The Slides though.”

  “Nah,” Rhonnie said, still looking straight ahead. “I didn’t have much of an appetite.”

  “I guess there is a first for everything, right?” Ahli said, her voice bitter. She eyed Rhonnie’s side profile and shook her head. “You know you’re wrong, right?”

  “Yup.”

  “You don’t care?”

  “Nope.”

  Ahli closed her eyes and took a deep breath to keep herself from slapping her sister in the back of her head and knocking her off the swing. The smugness sprawled all over her face was making Ahli’s insides boil. Times like that it was hard to be the older sister. She wanted to fight her sister like she was a random chick off of the street.

  “Listen, Rhonnie,” Ahli started, trying to keep her voice even. If Rhonnie said something out of turn she knew that she wouldn’t hesitate to lay hands on her. “I don’t give a fuck about how you feel toward Daddy right now, or the fact that you want your freedom. If I ever hear you talk to my father like that again I will beat the dog shit out of you.”

  Rhonnie was shocked at first. Her sister had never talked to her like that before. Quickly regaining her composure, she turned to her sister with her lip turned up. She was about to open her mouth to get smart but Ahli gave her a deathly stare.

  “Say something stupid and I’ma take off on you.” Ahli threw in the towel on keeping herself collected. “By disrespecting my father you disrespected me. Despite how you feel now about the jobs we’ve done, understand you still did them. Understand that you weren’t complaining back then, or when you were sitting your ass up in Gucci buying up the fucking store. So don’t you dare patronize my father about the things he has done to ensure that we are okay! Bitch! You got me fucked up!”

  Rhonnie jumped to her feet and stared down beseechingly at her sister. “You. Aren’t. My. Mother.”

  She tried to walk away toward where her car was parked, but Ahli grabbed her arm with a grip so strong she would have had to use pliers to free it. Ahli snatched her back and also stood. She blocked Rhonnie’s path and squeezed Rhonnie’s cheeks tightly with her right hand.

  “I never said I was, but walk away from me and I’ll whoop your ass like I am.” Ahli pulled Rhonnie so close to her that their noses were touching. “We are all we have, Rhonnie, and I’ll break your ankles before I let you walk away from me, do you understand?”

  Rhonnie breathed heavily with an angry, wrinkled forehead. Her hands had balled into fists and she wanted nothing more than to swing on her sister. However, she knew that was one fight that she would lose. Whereas Rhonnie excelled in gunplay, Ahli had hands for days. Those were bruises that she could do without. Also, angry and all, the level of respect she had for her sister would never allow her to lay a hand on her.

  “I said, do you understand?”

  “Yes!” Rhonnie said and snatched her face away from her sister’s iron grip. “Now get the fuck off me!” Defeated, she plopped back down on the swing. She folded her arms like she used to when she was little and didn’t get her way.

  If Ahli weren’t so mad she would have laughed at the sight of her little sister pouting. “He told Uncle Lance that we aren’t going to do the job,” she told Rhonnie and watched the astonished expression wash over her face. “He said starting today we’re going to start living right. Like, how did you put it? ‘Normal people.’”

  “Really? He turned down all that money?”

  “Yes, because he loves you more than any dollar amount.” Ahli looked down at Rhonnie like she might have been the dumbest person she knew. She pulled her phone from her back pocket and tossed it. “Stupid. Now call him, apologize, and tell him that you love him so we can go eat. I’m starving.”

  Rhonnie caught it; and she wanted to say something else to her sister, but Ahli was already walking to where she’d parked next to her car. She rolled her eyes and stared down at the phone for a few seconds, not knowing how she was going to start the conversation.

  “I’m sorry, Dad,” she practiced, and cleared her throat and tried again. “I’m sorry, Father.” She giggled to herself nervously at how ridiculous she sounded. Never had she talked to her father in the way that she did before she stormed out, so she was wary of what his response would be. She pressed his contact in Ahli’s phone and placed it to her ear.

  He answered after the second ring and didn’t give her the opportunity to speak. “What’s up, Rhonnie?”

  “How did you know it was me?” she asked since she was calling from Ahli’s phone.

  “Father’s intuition,” he said. “Ahli always shoots a text before she calls.”

  Rhonnie couldn’t read his mood by his voice. She tried to talk but got tongue-tied. She felt like shit. Ahli was right; no matter what, Quinton hadn’t deserved for her to go off on him like that. She had just been in the heat of the moment with clouded judgment.

  “Daddy, I—”

  “Never apologize for how you feel,” Quinton said. “I will always love you, no matter what, you hear me? Plus, you got that hotheaded attitude from me. You boil quick and come down slow every time.”

  “I’m still sorry.” Rhonnie had a lump in her throat. “I didn’t mean to yell at you like that. I feel horrible.”

  “It is I who should feel horrible. It’s been past due for us to leave this shit alone. I guess I thought the three of us were invincible. What happened in Miami was a real eye-opener for me. The things you said were exactly what I needed to hear. I’ve been so focused on giving you life that I’ve been taking it at the same time. You were right and I want to give you girls your freedom back. You have enough money to figure out your own paths. On one condition, though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You stay at home. Until some nappy-headed boy sweeps you off your ashy-ass feet.”

  Rhonnie giggled and she heard her dad chuckle too. She felt relief come over her and she smiled
into the phone, nodding. “You got yourself a deal, old man. I love you, Daddy.”

  “To the moon and back.” In Quinton’s background the doorbell sounded. “That’s probably Brayland. He just stepped out and probably forgot something. I’m about to just make his drunk ass stay here.”

  “Okay, Daddy.” Rhonnie laughed again, picturing a usually put-together Brayland stumbling around. “Handle that. Me and LaLa are about to go grab some food. I’ll see you later.”

  She kissed the phone and hung up when he said good-bye. She tried her best to put her mean face back on when she marched up to Ahli’s car.

  “Here.” She tossed the phone through the driver’s side window. She pulled her car keys out of her pocket and unlocked the doors to her gray BMW M3.

  “Girl, stop. I heard you over there laughing.”

  “Whatever,” Rhonnie said, standing on her own driver’s side and looking at Ahli through her window. “I don’t know why you think you’re somebody’s mama. Bitch gets some dick and starts acting like she runs the world.”

  “What?” Ahli leaned out the window with wide eyes but Rhonnie was already in her car cracking up.

  “You must think I’m dumb!” Rhonnie rolled her passenger’s side window down so Ahli could still hear her. “I know you and Brayland have a thing going on! Anyways, follow me!”

  She started her car and drove off, leaving Ahli no other choice but to follow the BMW. Ahli wanted to know exactly how her sister knew about Brayland, because the deed hadn’t even been done for a full twenty-four hours yet.

  Is it that obvious? she thought with a cheesy smile spreading across her face.

  * * *

  “So how was it?”

  Ahli continued eating her pizza and texting on her phone, pretending like she hadn’t heard Rhonnie’s question. She felt her sister’s eyes boring a hole in her forehead but she still didn’t look up. The smile threatened to spread across her face, but she fought the urge.

  “I know you hear me! I see the corners of your mouth twitching, you want to smile so bad! Now spill! Before I hop over the booth table and choke it out of you.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  After leaving the park they decided to go eat at a family-owned pizza restaurant called La Torro’s. Their family recipes were amazing and both girls loved going there to get their fill of cheesy goodness. That night the restaurant didn’t have too much traffic, but that was the way the girls liked it. Having a father like theirs, they’d naturally become cautious of large crowds. The red and white tiled floor of the restaurant accented the black booth seats and red tables nicely. It was a smaller establishment, with only about fifteen tables, but that didn’t take away from its popularity. The aroma in the air was mixed with fresh dough baking and the huge pepperoni pizza in front of them.

  “I know you, LaLa. You like that boy. And if he ain’t hit it yet I’m sure he’s going to in the near future. Shit, if you don’t, I might bend over backward for him one time.”

  “I’ll beat your ass!” Ahli exclaimed just like Rhonnie had hoped.

  “Aha! I knew it! You let him hit it! Ohhh my God, the cobweb queen finally got some diz-ny-ee!”

  “Ahhh!” Ahli squealed through her hysterical laughter. She flicked a string of cheese in her sister’s direction. “Why would you say it like that?”

  “Because it’s true! You’ve been touching on yourself since that ugly boy left for college.” Rhonnie put her hand up stopping Ahli’s protest. “Stop. That nigga was ugly as hell, don’t lie. Brayland is definitely an upgrade.”

  Ahli rolled her eyes but secretly agreed. She thought back to the moments of intimacy she shared with Brayland. By the way they tussled around the bed and how he sensually stroked her inside and out, she knew that this was only the beginning of their journey. Or so she hoped.

  “He’s a’ight I guess.” She bit her lip, smiling.

  “A’ight my ass,” Rhonnie said.

  “Whatever.” Ahli looked slyly at her sister’s eager face. She rolled her eyes. “Yes, okay. He hit this shit so good that I want to do it again, you happy?”

  “Yes!” Rhonnie clapped her hands. “Now maybe you won’t be so uptight!”

  Ahli took a big bite of her pizza and made a face. She suddenly was thinking maybe she should have hit Rhonnie back at the park. Maybe some sense would have been knocked into that girl.

  The two continued talking the way they always did. One conversation led to the next, which led to the next, until they Ahli felt someone walk up behind her.

  “Damn, y’all done ate up most of the pizza!”

  Turning around in her seat she looked up and saw Brayland grinning down at her. The lowness of his eyes was a dead giveaway that he was a little tipsy, but he seemed to be well put together still. She scooted over so that he could take a seat next to her and the two of them gave each other bedroom eyes for a few moments.

  “Mm-hmm,” Rhonnie said and made a loud slurping sound while drinking the last of her drink. “Y’all ain’t slick.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, shorty.” Brayland winked at her while grabbing a slice of pizza. “But what I do know is that I’m hungry as hell. Your dad had me at the crib drinking gin and juice and shit.”

  “He was trying to get you fucked up.” Ahli made a face thinking about how gin tasted going down. “He could have at least poured you up some Hen.”

  “Nah, it was cool. You see, we men”—he patted on his chest—“can handle anything. You feel me?”

  They all shared another laugh. Rhonnie put her elbow on the table and leaned her head on her palm. “You got here fast.” She playfully batted her eyes at him. “You like my sister that much that you would speed through traffic just to get to this pizza spot?”

  “Nah, I was just cruising over there on Ninetieth when Ahli hit my line sayin’ y’all was here.”

  Ahli nudged him with her shoulder, scrunching her face up at the man who was sending her stomach into a fit of butterflies. “Oh, so you ain’t speed over here?”

  He went to say something to her; but something he said wasn’t sitting right with Rhonnie. Her forehead wrinkled in confusion and she leaned back in her seat, removing her arm from the table so she could point at him.

  “Ninetieth? I was just on the phone with my dad not too long ago and he said you came back to the house. He thought you forgot something.”

  It was Brayland’s turn to look taken aback. “Nah, I left a little while after Ahli did,” he said, trying to understand the look on her face. “I wasn’t going to head back that way until y’all did.”

  “No, no, no.” Rhonnie shook her head. “I heard the doorbell ring when he was on the phone.”

  The butterflies that were in her stomach just seconds before died slowly one by one with every word Ahli heard Rhonnie speak. The expression on Rhonnie’s face reflected the slow dread building up in her stomach.

  “You sure you heard a doorbell, Rhonnie?” Ahli asked, hoping her sister would clarify.

  “Yes, Ahli. Loud and clear. He said he thought it was you, Brayland. He thought you might have forgotten something.”

  “Nah, it wasn’t me,” Brayland told her. “What’s up with y’all faces, though? Quinton can’t have company?”

  “My dad never has company,” Ahli responded.

  “And the only people who know where we live are sitting at this table right now.”

  No more words needed to be said. Brayland pulled a fifty dollar bill from his pocket and threw it on the table and the three of them jetted out of the restaurant. Rhonnie couldn’t shake the bad feeling that she had in her gut as she weaved in and out of the traffic on the interstate. Something wasn’t right and she could feel it.

  The thirty-minute drive to their house was cut down to twenty and she was the first to pull up. She parked her car in the driveway but didn’t bother to turn it off or shut her door behind her when she hopped out. She heard Ahli and Brayland pull up as she
was running full speed to the front door. She knew once she saw the door wasn’t even all the way shut that she shouldn’t go in the house, but she pushed it open anyway.

  All the lights in the house were on, which was odd because although he had the money to pay the lights up for ten years, he still lived like they were in that one-bedroom apartment. If you weren’t using it, turn it off, was his motto.

  “Daddy!” she yelled, running through the foyer of the home. “Daddy!”

  She checked the kitchen first and when she didn’t find him there she went to the living room. She would wish for the rest of her life that she hadn’t stepped foot in that room.

  “Nooooooo!” Her bloodcurdling scream could be heard from a mile away. Tears instantly came to her eyes. “Ahhhhhhh!”

  Her gut feeling at the restaurant had been right. She had just stepped foot in and was witnessing the aftermath of a massacre. She indeed had found her father; he was sitting in his favorite chair. Except he didn’t hear her calling for him, and he never would again. The blood that was splattered all over the walls and floor made sure of that. She knew it was his blood because his shirt was completely stained from being stabbed multiple times, and he wasn’t just slit ear to ear. His entire throat was missing.

  “Rhonnie, what’s wr . . . ahhhhhhhh! Nooooooo!” Ahli had followed her sister’s screams only to join them with her own. “Daddy! Oh my God, Daddy. Not my daddy!”

  Brayland walked in and as soon as he saw the bloody living room he pulled the pistol from his waist and took off the safety. He went around the house to search for the intruder but it was clear that they were long gone. When he came back to the living room he told them that the house was clear, but he wasn’t sure if they heard him. Both women were on the ground, clinging to each other like their lives depended on it. Both of their bodies convulsed violently as they cried into each other’s shoulders.

  “Damn,” Brayland said, scratching his head and letting the hand holding the gun fall at his side. Whoever had done this to Quinton made sure he died painfully. The deep red blood splattered everywhere was enough for him; he didn’t want to see where his throat had been thrown. “Who got to you, man?”