Page 23 of Lani

She looks down, not at her father or at us. I peek a little closer and I see bruises on her arms. They look like fingerprints, and I note some older marks, faded and yellowing.

“Who are you?” he asks and puts himself in the door so we can’t see inside of the house.

Vinny steps out. “I’m your son, Vincent,” Vinny says, his voice empty of any kind of emotion.

His dad’s face changes and cycles through so many emotions in a second, but he steps back, motioning for us to come inside.

I don’t like the idea of being here at all. It feels like when I walk inside of that house, it’s going to be hell.

The vibes I get are just so wrong.

So, so wrong.

Vinny walks in first. He reaches back and takes my hand, and Trey takes up the rear. I feel safe between them, but it threw me off my game when I saw his sister.

We follow his dad into the kitchen, which is made up of nothing but white appliances, a white table and white chairs and white walls.

That’s when I see an older woman in the kitchen.

She stops stirring something as we walk inside, her face showing her shock. Her eyes never leave Vinny’s when she spots him.

Another young girl walks into the room, then a toddler follows her. Whose baby is she? Is she Vinny’s little sister?

“Vincent?” Vinny’s mother asks in a soft, pleasant voice.

“It’s me, Mama. I’ve come to see how you’re doing.” I notice the change in his voice when he speaks to his mother.

She walks over and she starts to hug him, but his father clears his throat and she stops at the last second. But Vinny doesn’t mind his father; he hugs her.

I can see the ache in his heart for his mother. She doesn’t fight Vinny and hugs him back tightly.

A loud smack hits the table, causing all of us to jump. I turn to see Vinny’s father slamming a ruler down onto the table to demand our attention.

Stupid fucker.

His sisters are scared shitless. They’re all huddling in the corner, even the toddler, who is probably three years old.

“What the fuck?” Vinny snaps and turns to face his dad. Trey looks at me and pulls me straight into his side, but gently. Trey is in major protective mode.

His dad stands up and his chair flies back, hitting the window hard. The girls all flinch and so does their mother.

“Do not speak like that in this house.” He sneers at him and Trey, before he grins. “Faggot.”

Oh no he fucking didn’t.

I move and stand in front of Vinny. “Your point is?” I ask him straight out, meeting him eye to eye. His glare doesn’t intimidate me.

“How dare you speak to me, and a woman, no less.” He grimaces as he looks me over. “Tempting men with those clothes—sinful.”

Trey chuckles and I join in. Does he not know how stupid he sounds? “Dad, this isn’t the fucking pilgrimage years and she isn’t a pilgrimage bitch. Women are free and shit, they do as they please.” Vinny lays it out way too nicely for my tastes.

“Lies, you all will go to hell for not following the Lord as He is meant to be followed. Your sisters are good and holy, married.”

What the fuck?

“You’re fucking joking!” Vinny roars. “Etta is eighteen and Lynn is fucking sixteen! Whose baby is this?” He walks over to his dad, getting straight in his face, his hands clenched at his side.

“Mine,” a small, sad voice says.

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