“Can somebody explain what the hell is going on?!” Ms. Norwood shouted. “Wh–what is this?! What are you talking about Lettie and my mother dying!? She’s not sick! She’s not–––”
“As I explained earlier. There was a previous blood contract placed on your mother…”
I pulled the polaroid closer for a look and felt my heart start to beat wildly against my chest. Looking up at Isis for her attention, she looked down at the photo as her brows furrowed together, confused. It was a picture of Maggie as a little girl, she couldn’t have been no more than three or four standing on the curve holding a pinwheel in her hand. Her white hair was barely covered by the Braves baseball hat while a little girl sat down on the curb with her legs stretched out looking to the side. She held her own pinwheel to the side as she looked off to the distance like she was staring at someone. Her skin was dark in the old photo and her dark hair was braided down. She looked younger than Maggie with her full cheeks and baby features slowly growing out. The sun shined directly in her face, creating an orb that hit the corner of her head, but it was still obvious who it was, even with a peak of her features coming out of the rays.
“Is that Ayira?” Isis asked. We stared at each other before I looked down at the photo again. Everyone else was moving and talking over one another around us when I felt a hand on the back of my shoulder. I looked up seeing Namir leaning down like an overprotective parent that kept his eyes on the target.
“Get back to the grounds and be on the lookout just in case Maggie turns up,” he whispered.
“We can stay with you.” I said as I tucked the photo in my bra. “Isis and I–––”
“Nah, I got em,” Solomon said as he motioned for Isis to follow him. “Come on. This needs to be between families. We did our part.”
“My man!” Namir called out to Harvey just as they laid Maggie’s grandmother on the couch. Her limp body looked lifeless as they let her arms cross over her body. Her eyes slowly opened to stare at us with a glossy glass filter over her gaze. She was completely stunned.
“Somebody better start speaking before I call the damn police!” Ms. Norwood shouted. That was more than enough for us to gather our things and leave. It was subtle but I caught Solomon’s hand on the lower part of Isis’s back as he guided her towards the driveway when another car pulled up.
“You good Souxie?!” Solomon shouted after closing the door on Isis in the back seat. Harvey was already starting his car when I nodded, keeping the stolen childhood photo close to my chest. One last look at the house, I could see Trevor who was still presenting as Maggie’s grandmother, shuffled his slow dragging feet towards the doorway with a small wave as if everything was okay. They had to play for the neighbors who might be watching but anyone with common sense could see something wasn’t right.
Bellamy Holmes
“Ms. Davis?” Vanessa Dubois called out as she waved her hand in front of the old hag’s face. I stared at her from the other side of the living room, making sure our eyes locked permanently. I didn’t like to see my mother rushing to sit by her side with her hands clasped together to hold. A real mother, a true mother wouldn’t be so quick to feel after realizing she took your child away from you.
“Ms. Davis?” Vanessa repeated. “I know you’re listening…somewhere in there, you’re listening but your body is temporarily stunned to keep you calm and your blood pressure under control. Your first-born children are alive…Dr. Marvin Holmes loved you the way you loved him…Do you remember Marvin Holmes?”
She stared at me as I silently released my fangs to flash at her. I could see her eyes gloss over with tears building up in the corners. I felt more like my grandfather’s child now than I ever did when I stared at her. I didn’t feel like an extension of either woman sitting before me.
“You gave birth to a boy and a girl. Twins. Do you remember?”
Poette Davis slowly pulled her gaze from me to look at the woman with a shaky head. Yeah, she’s on her way out. I wish Marvin were here to see this on his way out. Maybe they couldshare in this fuckery together. The only ones that should feel any type of way were Maggie and I.
“Ask her about me,” I stated with a tight jaw. “Ask her why she gave me away and not Maggie.”
My mother whipped her head to glare at me.
“Do not start that with her. She’s––––”
“She’s what?” I asked. “You killed my father. You’ve been lying to Maggie and I’m starting to think you knew about me being alive but maybe because I wasn’t as shiny as Maggie, you didn’t give a fuck–––”
“That’s not true,” she whimpered as she stared at her mother with regret. “What difference does it fucking make at this point–––”
“You knew,” I nodded as my eyes began to swell. “You had to know about me…You had to know I was alive the same way you knew who I was the moment you stepped into this house. I’m in Atlanta all the time…I have business here…You had to know your son was alive…and looking for you at one point.”
She lowered her head.
“I found out after you were well into adulthood–––”
“Faaaauck,” I groaned, turning around with my hands on top of my head to keep from crying in front of everyone. “The day Maggie called you and asked about me, you said I was dead. Right when we came over to your house, you said I was dead.”
‘I…I was trying to protect her–––”
“You were trying to cover and protect yourself!” I yelled. “So she doesn’t look at you like some fucking liar! Like the rest of this fucked up family! I knew it. You’re just like that fucking man…You all lied to me. I had dreams about you…dreams aboutwhat you were like and this whole time I thought I killed you just for being born–––”
“I don’t know what he told you–––”
“I’m telling you!” I yelled as Namir held me back. “I’m fucking tell you what he said! I would have loved to be beside my sister! You forced her to be alone with no friends, no sense of fucking life! I could have been that for her! You kept me from her…because of what I am…and what she’s not…”
No one said a word as Himora glanced at her phone before adjusting her frames.
