Page 99 of Tainted

“You’d tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?”

“These old bones are just tired. Nothing you need to stress about, Shana.”

Fear and anger knotted my stomach as I heard her call meShana. People always said I was the spitting image of her, but something was off with Banana Girl, even if she wouldn’t admit it.

“It’s me, Nana.” I leaned close and rested my hand on her forehead, but she wasn’t warm. “Your Zara.”

“I know who you are, girl,” she laughed, trying to gloss over her mistake. “Can you grab me another blanket? It’s freezing in here.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

I kissed her forehead before strolling down the hallway, hoping Miss G was working today. She always gave me the real, even when Banana Girl wouldn’t. Unfortunately, she was off today, so I grabbed more blankets to keep my girl warm.

I watched her sleep peacefully, praying that this was nothing more than a rough day. It was hard enough doing life without Mom. The thought of losing Nana Banana made me nauseous. After another hour, I packed up and kissed her cheek before heading to work.

“Wassup, Babygirl?” Kenyon asked, answering my call. My words caught in my throat, like someone had tied them down and refused to let them loose. “Zara Nicole, what’s wrong?”

“N-nothing, just leaving Nana,” I replied, fumbling over my words because my brain told me not to worry, but my heart couldn’t help it.

“You’re stuttering, so something is wrong,” Kenyon said in a light voice as if smiling while speaking.

“Something feels off with Nana. She said she was tired today, but I don’t know.”

“Hol’ on for a minute,” Kenyon pulled the phone away and dropped a combination of curse words I had never heard before. His tone was rigid and harsh, nothing like the one he returnedto the phone with. “It might just be an off day. I know you don’t want to hear it, but she’s not a spring chicken anymore.”

“I hope you’re right. Anyway, do I have you to thank for working at Aire Kesson’s party tonight?”

Kenyon chuckled softly, “Nah, I don’t handle scheduling. Might want to holla at Megan on that one.”

“I can’t imagine she’d pull me off my beloved day shifts for such a big event without a reason. She hates me like I stole her man or something,” I rambled.

“I’ve never fucked Megan. I have to go. Put on a show tonight, but not too good. I’d hate to show my ass.”

“Hmm, something tells me you might enjoy that. Have a good day.” Hanging up, I sat for a moment, staring at the building, praying Kenyon was right before pulling off.

Ending his call, I was greeted with a barrage of notifications from Brandy. I called her back on the ride to work, but I got nothing. She never called this many times back-to-back, so my fear shifted to Brandy changing course to Banana Girl’s house.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, confused.

“Otto asked me to check on Brandy. He got locked up and hasn’t heard from her,” Romello explained.

Unlocking the door, I quickly scanned the living room before running upstairs. Her room was a wreck, forcing me to pause in the doorway because I’d never seen it look this way.

“Brandy!”

“He’s gone,” she sobbed like he was dead.

“Come on, get up off the floor.”

Her eyes finally focused on Romello, standing in the doorway. She channeled her frustration to him because she needed someone to blame.

“Why did you let him do it? Where were you?” she yelled, jumping to her feet.

“I told him not to do that shit, but he didn’t listen,” Romello fussed.

“Can you give us a moment?” I asked, and Romello nodded, stepping out of the room so I could focus on Brandy, “You’re going to be fine. I promise.”

“I’m not as strong as you! I can’t do this!” Brandy cried, and instead of reminding her of all the things she did have going for herself, I comforted her. We laid in bed like we used to as kids until she finally fell asleep. Creeping out of bed, I walked downstairs, where Romello sat on the couch.

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