Page 58 of Trig

“Well, I feel like you ratted me out, you snitch,” she replies.

“I didn’t…I was ready to protect you, but the gloves are off now,” Cisco says. “Mya was offered fifty grand to go have “dinner”, aka sex, with Oscar.”

“Oh, well Cisco has been selling guns for Oscar.”

“At least I didn’t fuck him, and you meant to say we have been selling guns. We! Don’t pin this all on me!”

“Who said I fucked him?”

“That ratted-ass hair on your head did. The hickeys on your neck. The fact that your makeup looks like you survived a nuclear attack. Not to mention, you smell like Tequila.”

“Bitch-ass mother fu—!”

“Enough!” I yell at both of them. “Mya, a gun supplier? You slept with a gun supplier? These men make women their property. They don’t fall in love. You’re smarter than this.”

“Who said I want to be in love?” Mya mutters. “I’d rather swallow rocks.”

“You shut up. I’ll circle back to you. Cisco? Guns? What are you thinking? Why in the hell would you be selling weapons? Is there a gun to your head forcing you, because that’s the only thing that would make sense to me?”

Cisco just shakes his head. “It…looked cool.”

“You hear this shit, Nine? It looked cool.” I pause. “My brother had the same mentality. Sucked in by glitz and glam. Do you know where he is right now? He’s dead. Murdered. There is no way you both are this irresponsible.”

Nine looks like she is about to go postal. She is rocking in her chair silently, not looking at anyone now.

“Mya. Are you a prostitute?” Nine inquires.

“Mom, no. It was one time. I didn’t sleep with him for money. It was more of a game. It’s hard to explain.”

Nine rolls her eyes and then sharply turns in her chair to Mya. “You will return that money, and Cisco, you know better. Both of you are done with all this shit. Today it ends. No more guns and no more games. You have no idea what fire you are playing with. Just messy. Both of you.

“Mom, I can’t just walk away. I kind of have a commitment,” Cisco pleads.

“Give the money back, how? I don’t know where he lives. I was blindfolded. I don’t even have his number,” Mya argues.

“That is exactly the mess I’m talking about. This is how it starts. Your casket is how it ends. Are you guys ready for that? Because I’m not.”

Nine starts to cry as she quickly gets up to leave the table. I watch as she rushes out of the room. The kids look down in shame.

“You two have no idea what we have been through. The pain and the suffering. The paths it took to get here and give you guys a better life. Your mom has been through hell and I have walked through the flames of the underworld just to find her. Apparently, it’s all been for nothing because look at what you guys are doing. I’m very disappointed.”

“You keep saying that but Cisco and I don’t know anything about your past. Why you guys actually have double names, ones we can never use outside the house. Why we don’t have extended family besides Aunt Torrie. Why I can never mention you on my social media. Why I sometimes have memories that no one wants to discuss. It seems you two have secrets, and I have respected your privacy, but if you’re going to shame us, then start shaming yourself first.”

“Mya!” Cisco warns.

“What? They act like they’re perfect.”

Nine rushes out with a baseball bat and slams that shit into the kitchen table, sending glass flying. Everyone scatters into different corners.

“Shame? What the hell do you know? You two walk around here wanting for nothing. You don’t need to sell guns. You don’t need to play games with men for money. You choose to. For what? Adrenaline rush? A fucking high? A power move? Then you want to turn the tables and ask about our shit as if you’re grown. Me and your dad have bathed in enough shame to last ten lifetimes. You have no fucking clue what shame is.”

Nine tosses the bat on the floor and then turns to the patio door to walk outside. She slams the door shut on her way out, rattling the glass. We all flinch at the sound. I run my hands down my face. The room is dead silent as we take in the mess. Cisco has his hand covering his mouth. Mya is frozen in place with her hand over her heart.

“You want answers, Mya? You ask and you keep on asking until you get the answers you need, but don’t you ever disrespect us again. Watch your mouth, and you, Cisco, standing there like nothing. You’re a big boy playing a big boy game. You ever killed someone?”

Cisco shakes his head.

“No? Never? Interesting, because in time in this industry, you’re going to have to. Someone is going to screw you over or set you up and you’ll have no time to think but just act. Can you pull the trigger when the clock is ticking?” I pause. “I want Oscar’s information. A phone number. An address. Something.”

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