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I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing I wasn’t the reason she had become distant. For some reason, I felt more anxious than usual.

Me: You’re about to turn a lot of heads, and I can’t wait to see it.

Honey Bee: Thank you, lover. I appreciate it.

Me: You and these pet names are killing me.

Honey Bee: I think you secretly like it, and it’s okay, bae. I won’t tell anyone.

She put a laughing emoji at the end, but she wasn’t completely wrong. I was starting to become a little too comfortable with how easy things felt between us. Whenever we were out, it didn’t feel like we were pretending at all and it made things easy for me.

Me: I want to see you tonight. We haven’t had a movie night in a little minute.

Honey Bee: I’m down. Do you want me to wear my usual Winnie the Pooh onesie, or should I turn things up a bit?

Me: We should stick to the footie pajamas.

Honey Bee: Hmm, I’ll think about it. I might just surprise you.

Me: You don’t want to play with me, Honey Bee. I promise you don’t.

Honey Bee: Maybe I do.

My dick twitched as I held my breath. For some reason, my body and mind weren’t on the same page whenever I was around Honesty, or even when I talked to her. I couldn’t explain what was happening, but I put it to the back of my mind.

“Umm, hello, rude ass. I can’t believe you’re sitting here on my son’s couch and you’re acting like you can’t speak.”

Her nasally voice irritated me, and I could tell she wanted to pick an argument. I kept messaging Honey as we finalized our plans. Once she confirmed what time she would be coming over, I stuffed my phone into my pocket and got ready to head out.

“Alright, bro, I’m out of here.” I dapped Draike up and got ready to make my exit. He didn’t bat an eye because he knew I didn’t fuck with his momma. Draike may have been my nephew by blood, but I didn’t claim his momma as my sister. I never went into detail about the reason, but it was well known between my family.

“Oh, so now that you’re mister superstar, you’re acting like you can’t speak to me? I’m your mothafuckin’ sister! I’m the one who helped raise you and change your mothafuckin diapers when mommy was too drunk to take care of you. You need to take your head out of your ass and show some appreciation,” Brenesha spat.

I tried to calm myself down as she spoke about our history. Of course, she left out certain details, which didn’t surprise me. Some people would hurt you and then try to play the victim when you decided you no longer want them in your life.

“Why you’re so hell-bent on me speaking to you? I don’t fuck with you, and I’m not interested in pretending as if I do. You don’t mean shit to me, blood or not, and I don’t owe you a damn thing, but maybe a bullet to through your dome. Out of love for my niece and nephews, I choose to go about my business and treat you like a stranger off the street. You happy now?”

I went out of my way to avoid being around her because my hatred for her wasn’t something I could easily hide. For the last few years, we managed not to be in the same places, but for some reason luck wasn’t on my side. I came over to Draike’s place often, but because he was aware of my disdain for his mother, he made sure to let me know whenever she was coming over.

“Nigga, you’ve got a lot of fucking nerve. If it wasn’t for me, your ass would have ended up in foster care somewhere. You got back around Miyana’s bougie ass and forgot about who really took care of you. Miyana hopped her ass up and left without a care in the world, and I’m the one who had to pick up the pieces and make sure you were straight. Now since you’re back around her and that rich nigga’s family, you want to act like I wasn’t there for you.”

I scoffed at the lies she was creating underneath the crunchy wig on her head.

“Obviously, the lace glue they used must have you losing your mind because none of what you’re saying is true. You keep trying to paint this narrative as if you did so much for me, as if I wasn’t there. You and Momma were two peas in a pod, running the streets, scamming and partying. You might have been under the same roof as me, but let’s not create fiction and pretend you raised me. There’s a lot I could say, but I’m gonna leave it alone.”

I hated the way her presence still had an effect on me because I thought I had gotten past the things I went through as a child. Or at least I tried my best to bury them as far back as I could.

“You really are an ungrateful bastard. I told momma to stop trying to reach out to you and Yaya’s ugly ass because the two of you love to try to make momma and I out to be villains in your made-up delusions.”

I bit the inside of my jaw, knowing if I stayed any longer, things would go from bad to worse.

“I’m out of here, D. I’ll get up with you another time.” I said my last goodbyes to Draike because I headed out of the door. Anger coursed through me, making my whole body shake. I was too grown for that shit, so I took a couple of deep breaths and made my way to the car.

I rode home in silence, trying to process everything running through my mind. There were a lot of things I chose to keep to myself, but being around certain people from my past made it damn near impossible for me to hold it together. My palms were slick with sweat as I gripped the steering wheel as if my life depended on it. Flashbacks of my childhood flooded through, causing my body to react in ways I couldn’t control.

The familiar stale smell of my momma’s old house overwhelmed my senses, taking me back to a place I never wanted to return to.

“Damn, I left my ashtray upstairs,” Brenesha whispered to herself as she sat on the floor watching TV.