Irish pushed an exasperated breath from her mouth as Ivory shrugged at her.
Daisy wobbled across the compacted room and grabbed a green photo album. Opening it up, she immediately teared up when she held a picture up.
“Look, Ivory, it’s your dad. He would be so proud of you.”
Irish resisted the urge to roll her eyes as her sister stepped near their mother. Grabbing the picture, she forced a smile on her face and nodded.
“Yeah, he would.”
Daisy’s gaze drifted to Irish. “He would be proud of you, too.”
“Fuck him!” she snapped, shocking the both of them.
“How dare you?” Daisy instantly went into defensive mode. “He took you in when your father passed away. He made sure you had all of your needs met. He wasn’t perfect but he meant well.”
“You know what, Mama. I really—”
“Hey, um, let’s get out of here,” Ivory interrupted. “We need to get to work, Mama.”
Irish was thankful for the interference since her words would cut Daisy to the bone. She rarely wanted to get emotional with her mother but there were triggers Irish had when it came to Daisy. For the most part, she ignored them but today wasn’t that day.
“You guys never want to spend time with me. Why?”
Irish cut her eyes at Daisy, who finally allowed her tears to fall. The crying spells did nothing to soothe the broken part of Irish. Daisy had let her down. She was supposed to shield her from the dangers of the world. Instead, she turned a blind eye, leaving Irish without a protector.
“Come on, Ivory.”
Irish headed to the door and walked out the house. As soon as the sun hit her skin, she inhaled a deep breath. Being in Daisy’s presence made her feel like her breathing was restricted. Almost as if her breath was being held back because inhaling would likely kill her. The air in that home was polluted with trauma. Irish had done her best to escape it and whenever she came for her monthly visit, she felt like she was on the verge of death.
“Whew, she is exhausting,” Ivory complained, coming down the stairs.
“She’s miserable and wants us to join her.”
Ivory placed her hand on her shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good now that I’m out of there.”
“Okay, well let’s go get something to eat. My treat.”
“Oh,” Irish sang. “Somebody feeling really nice ‘cause you know you don't pay for shit.”
Ivory cackled. “That’s because I have a big sister and a big brother who loves me.”
“Whatever, and I want something good like The Fiftieth One.”
“Okay, I got you. Then after that, we can get to work.”
“Sure.”
Irish was thankful for Ivory in this moment. Her visit with Daisy could’ve gone to the deep end but thanks to her sister’s interference, she didn’t have to relive the painful memories of being under Daisy’s care.
Sixteen
Two weeks…
That’s how long it had been since Noble had heard from his Pumpkin. The thought of not talking to her for fourteen days was almost nauseating. He didn’t think he would be that affected from their lack of communication, but he was, and he loathed it. After their last phone call, Noble decided not to reach out to Irish, and she didn’t try to contact him either. He was offended by her choice to ignore him because she was with Jovanis. Yes, they were married but he reigned supreme in her life. At least he thought he did. Her pushing him to the side was an offense that he couldn’t swallow at the time.
However, after three days, Noble missed the fuck out of Irish. So, he reached out only to learn he had been blocked. Never in his thirty-three years of living had Noble been blocked by a woman. Daysha hadn’t even done that, so he was appalled Irish had the nerve to restrict him. Since he had too much pride, Noble let it be until he couldn’t get rid of her scent from his nose. The memories of her touch invaded his mind and looking at the countless pictures he had collected of her over the months were like a daily ritual. He missed everything about Irish and because of their situation, he couldn’t pull up on her like he wanted to.
