Page 50 of I Need It

She shook her head rapidly then handed her keys to her brother. “Avery, I need to talk to Mya right quick. You can go to the car.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Go ahead.”

We followed him outside, but he kept going to the car. The minute he was out of earshot, she said, “I’ll never forget his face.”

I frowned harder, trying to figure out where she was going. “Whose? Christian’s?”

“Yeah. His dad was the man who molested me. I remember him and his brothers from the courtroom that day. They weren’t defending their dad or anything, but seeing him reminds me of that day. Avery is their brother.”

My eyebrows lifted in shock. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “What?”

“You heard me right. Is he your boyfriend?”

“Yes. Apparently, he recognized you too. He doesn’t have anything to do with his biological dad. Won’t even talk to him. He just never told me exactly why. He just said he didn’t agree with the things he did.”

“Yeah. I’m one of the things, along with three of his cousins and his aunt. His dad molested and raped his own sister for fourteen years… Christian’s aunt. Her name is Synthia. Her last name used to be Bolton like Christian’s, but I think she got married. She was the one that encouraged all of us to talk.”

“Jesus. Christian’s last name isn’t Bolton though. His last name is Henderson.”

“That’s his mom’s maiden name. He must have changed it to that.”

I glanced back at the restaurant to see Christian seated at a table with his head down. No wonder he was having such a hard time with forgiving his dad. Turning back to my cousin, I said, “Well, let me go check on him. It was good to see you.”

“It was good to see you also.”

She walked away, neither of us promising to call one another or see each other again. I slowly made my way inside, walking toward Christian. He never looked up, but I knew that he’d seen me heading his way. When I sat across from him, he lifted his head and asked, “You know what you wanna eat?”

“Umm… just a two-piece with fries.”

He nodded and stood from his seat, leaving me seated and in my thoughts. We would definitely have to talk about this, but I didn’t want to push him to. When he saw me outside talking to Amelia, I was pretty sure he put two and two together, knowing that she was telling me how they knew each other.

I knew Christian slept around, so that was my first thought when I saw how bothered they were by each other’s presence. For her to send Avery to the car let me know that he didn’t know the truth. I wondered if he ever saw his dad. When she said his name, I knew that was Christian’s brother. I heard Jakari say their dad’s name yesterday evening at dinner.

I couldn’t understand what a grown man wanted with some little girls, nor could I understand how Mrs. Chrissy didn’t know something was wrong. However, none of that was anything for me to be concerned with. The only thing I needed to be concerned with was my man. If he didn’t want to talk about it today, I wouldn’t mention it either, but at some point, we had to talk about it.

“Mya, I had them bag it. You can eat it on the way. I got mild. Hopefully, that’s okay.”

“O-okay. Yes, that’s fine. Thank you.”

I knew he really didn’t want me to eat that fried chicken in his Escalade. It didn’t matter, because I didn’t have much of an appetite now anyway. He grabbed my hand and helped me from the chair, and we walked to the vehicle. When I noticed Amelia’s car still here, I got nervous for a minute. Avery got out of it and approached us.

Christian’s grip on my hand tightened. When he got close, he said, “I just wanted to speak to you. I’m Avery Bolton.”

I could see the vein pulse in Christian’s neck and another emerge in his temple. “I’m Christian Henderson.”

They shook hands slowly for a moment, then Avery asked, “Do you know who I am?”

“With a name like that, how could I not? Plus, you look just like him and Jakari.”

When Christian said that, I stared at my cousin and realized Christian was right. Avery looked identical to Jakari. It was clear to see they were brothers. They were about the same complexion and build. Avery couldn’t have been any older than sixteen though.

“Did you know who I was when you saw me?”

“No. I recognized your sister. I didn’t realize who you were until I had walked away.”

Avery nodded then asked, “How did you recognize my sister?”

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