AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I remembered what had happened last time. I remembered that Dad had made a monster.
“João,” Mom pleaded.
“No,” I shouted, then turned to Ana. “Come on, Ana. We’re going.”
Ana glanced over at us with wide eyes and brows furrowed. “But … but I want to stay.”
Mom stepped in front of Ana, like she was going to fight me if I took her away again. But it was either I took Ana away or the state did, and if those monsters dragged her away, Mom would never fucking see her daughter again.
Deciding that I wasn’t going to deal with this shit, I pushed past Mom and grabbed Ana along with the plate of goodies. I placed her on my hip and started toward the front door to get the fuck out of here.
Mom tried to block my path every single step of the way. When I reached the door, I had had enough of it. I wanted her to stop, to see this for what it was, to fucking change so she could love us the way Ana needed her to.
I shoved past her and stormed through the door. “Once you choose your daughter over getting fucking high, then we can fucking talk.”
But I knew that Mom would never be able to do that, not a second time, not now when she was addicted. All those endorphins had probably rushed through her system as soon as she tasted the pills, reminding her of how numb she had felt to the pain around her.
Once I strapped Ana into my car, I drove.
Not wanting to deal with my emotions while Ana sat in the backseat, crying, I called Vera Rodriguez, who had watched Ana last time, and told her that I was dropping Ana off. Vera’s parents were never home that much, so she didn’t mind.
Or at least, I didn’t care.
“João! Please, bring me back to Mama!” Ana cried when I parked in front of Vera’s house.
Vera stomped out of her front door in a plush robe and a glare so intense that it could’ve probably killed me if I gave a fuck. I stepped out of the car and gathered all of Ana’s belongings and handed them to her.
“I’ll pay you triple what I paid you last time.”
“You didn’t pay me shit last time,” Vera whisper-yelled at me. “And the time before that, Kai paid me.”
“Well, I’ll pay you triple what Kai paid you. I need you to watch her. Poison and I have shit we need to take care of, and my mom …” I started, unable to finish my sentence. “My mom can’t watch her right now. Don’t bring her home and don’t answer your door, no matter how hard my mom bangs on it.”
Vera suddenly stared up at me through wide eyes. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” I snapped. “Watch her.”
“I can’t do it myself. I have someone ov—”
Blaise Harleen appeared at the door, his button-up shirt undone. “You coming back, V?”
I arched my brow and scrunched my nose. “You’re dating him?”
“No, we’re not dating.”
Deciding to forget about it, I shook it off. “You have a kid you’re watching tonight,” I called to Blaise. “Don’t be a dick to her, or I’ll kill you. She’s my sister.” I turned back to Vera. “This will be the last time. I promise.”
After a couple moments, she sighed and nodded to Ana. “Come on, Ana.”
I picked Ana out of the backseat and kissed her cheek. “Please, be good for her. I have some things to take care of. I’ll take you back over to Mama’s as soon as things get better. She’s sick.”
“Mama’s sick?” Ana asked, eyes wide.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Sick. Now, will you be good?”
After wiping her cheeks with the backs of her hands, she nodded. “Okay.”
Once I kissed her once more, I hurried back to my car and pulled out of the driveway, driving around the block and parking under some flickering streetlights. I pulled out my phone, everything suddenly hitting me hard, and stared at Imani’s contact, wanting so badly to see her right now.
And so, I pushed away all those thoughts that said I didn’t need anything from anyone, and I called her because I wanted something from Imani, and it was more than what I had been giving her. It was more than sex.
For the first time, I realized that I wanted her to love me.
