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I take the offering, knowing that Kayla and Trinity have no idea that there’s more at stake than a simple marriage. The dense dessert could have been baked with gold and honey but all I taste is mud and ash. Nevertheless, I fork another mouthful; I have more serious problems than the cake. I’m not a great actress and withholding information from the two closest people in my life has been agony.
My father’s implacable image rises before me. I am begging him to reconsider the task he set me. My tears do not move him, but his response will be forever etched in my memory.
Kayla and Trinity have never met that side of him and I never want them to. He revealed the depth of his cold heart to me on that day. Although I’m not brave in any sense of the word, I will protect my sisters from ever glimpsing his true nature. Especially Kayla. She is the only one of us brave enough to stage mild rebellions. Thankfully, they only humor our father. Otherwise, I fear the many ways he could crush her spirit. Trinity, thankfully, lives blissfully under his thumb, her personality so obliging that she rarely recognizes his despotic behavior for what it is. Her smiling response to everything assures me she will live well as long as I do as my father commands.
“Which Arroyo do you think you’ll have to marry?” Trinity asks.
I shrug. “Does it matter? They’re all responsible for killing someone we know. Even our brother fell victim to their bloodthirsty actions.”
Lavaugnn Junior’s death caused my father to open negotiations with the Arroyos and put me on this path with no escape. My brother protected us from our father, but now I must take up the mantle. I wish I could do as good a job as Junior, but being a woman puts me at a disadvantage in Father’s eyes.
“Pray it isn’t Ignacio,” Kayla voices my fear. “I heard he has a Hairston’s hit list that he brags about. He awards points, money, and elaborate gifts to his men as an incentive to kill us. Worse, I think he’s the one that offed LJ.”
“Maybe it’s a distant Arroyo cousin who doesn’t live the life.” Trinity squeezes my hand, her optimism in full force.
“As impossible as it is to believe, Ignacio is Father’s choice. The Arroyo family resisted. Remember how many months passed before we and the Arroyos agreed to leave it in the hands of the matchmaker?” I set the plate with my half-eaten cake onto a side table, unable to fake receiving any pleasure from it.
“Yeah, but there’s still hope because there’s no guarantee that he will choose Ignacio.” Trinity jumps up and paces before us. “One good thing about that family is how prolific they are. There are tons of options. I’ve been putting vibes out there to manifest the best option for you. My mind is strong so as long as you and Kayla are with me, it must come true.”
Trinity’s optimism thaws a small corner of my heart enough to engender a fleeting smile. “Thanks, sis.”
“How much time do we have left?” Kayla asks, looking toward the clock.
Instantly my heart freezes with the reminder. “Dad is probably wooing the promnestria in a last-ditch effort to choose Ignacio. It’s the whole reason he opted to meet here instead of back home in Chicago.”
Trinity stops pacing and slams her fist into her palm. “Well then, you aren’t inebriated enough for your upcoming meeting. Time for a drinking game.” She rushes to bring the stronger cocktails closer.
I shake my head at her eagerness. “Y’all know that I can’t be visibly drunk in front of our father.”
“True,” Kayla agrees. “But you need to be drunk and relaxed enough that the matchmaker won’t call off the whole thing. There’s no telling what Dad will do if things don’t go his way today and we’ll do anything to avoid making you the scapegoat.”
The solemn frown on Kayla’s face makes me wonder if she knows more about Dad’s real disposition and what circumstances made him reveal himself to her.
Trinity clears her throat. “Well, if we aren’t making a game of it, then let’s all take a drink with each good wish we want to manifest from the meeting downstairs.”
“I’m on board.” I hold out my hand and wait for my drink.
Kayla raises her glass to offer the first toast. “May the matchmaker’s choice give Niyah the freedom she’s never had as a Hairston.”
“Here here,” Trinity and I say before downing our drinks.
“My turn,” Trinity says after refilling our glasses. “May you no longer have to be on the sidelines and find a starring role in your life’s story.”
“Here here,” Kayla and I say, although mine is less boisterous.
I’ve known for forever that I’m a terrible actress, but to know my sisters have seen the extent of what I’ve hidden about myself saddens me. We continue to down our cocktails until a sweet lassitude enters my limbs.
“You look much better.” Kayla squeezes me with a sheen in her eyes.
Before I can respond, a knock at the door precedes my father’s trusted advisor, Wiz, entering the room. “Aniyah, it’s time.”
I nod to him while not meeting his gaze. Wiz has a way about him that puts me on edge. Even now, my sisters’ efforts to loosen me up for my meeting with destiny drop away the closer I get to him. Wiz’s eyes roam my body and I barely have the wherewithal to keep my hands at my sides. One upside to Dad’s ambitions is Wiz will never rise higher in the organization by marrying one of the Hairston girls.
Wiz leads me downstairs. I try to keep pictures of my sisters and me at the forefront of my mind. They are the reason I’m doing all this. Otherwise, Dad will unleash his true nature on them. Our sheltered upbringing will pale in comparison to his plans to crush them. Kayla’s mild rebellions will be met with outsized punishment. Trinity, whose easygoing nature can put up with just about anything, will be crushed until all her hopes fade into blackness.
Instead of the office, Wiz heads toward the open-air sitting room. My hackles rise. The room is luxuriously appointed with neutral fabrics and relaxing furniture designed to make people drop their guard. He is up to something, but I don’t have a clue what his intentions are or what my play is.
As our footsteps echo against the marble flooring, my brain buzzes with possibilities. From what I know, today is my father’s first face-to-face meeting with the matchmaker, but they’ve exchanged many communications over the past few weeks. So why this deception?
