Page 4 of Truth

“Please. How do you think we got here?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“One day, you will feel the same way.”

I smirked as my eyes descended down to my flat chest. Forget about my dark brown, thick coiled hair that made me look like a wild animal. I inherited it from our father while she and Germaine had wavy, jet-black hair like our mother.

“Don’t do that, Merci. You’re beautiful, and if you let me do something with this hair, you’d see that Mickey likes you. You know you see the way he’s always looking at you.”

“Does not!” I refuted with narrowed eyes.

I did like Mickey, but he was into Chelly’s best friend, Natacha. She knew that. In fact, I had no clue why they were even best friends. Word on the street was that she used to date Wally too, but Chelly’s head was too far in the clouds to listen.

“He does, girl.” She nudged me on my shoulder, and it was my turn to giggle. “It’s you always giving him that face like he stinks.”

“Because he does. Sweaty too.”

“Because they’re out riding their bikes all the time or at the park in one of those basketball tournaments.” She defended him.

He didn’t stink, though. He was cute, and I loved the way he smelled. It was a mixture of a scented musk and weed. Chelly didn’t think I knew, but she smoked with Wally. I smelled it in her hair and clothes sometimes. Our poor dad was blamed one night. While perplexed, he eventually blamed it on a customer from a taxi ride. Poor Daddy and Chelly sat by with tucked lips that fought for their life not to curl into a smile.

Silence filled the air, and her brows arched as she waited for me to respond. She knew I struggled with my confidence. Besides, I liked how I looked and the things I enjoyed doing like climbing trees, playing catch with Germaine, and even chasing cats and other animals. It was why I figured Mickey would never see me that way.

“You really think he does?” I finally asked.

I swear I hated the uncertainty in my voice and the thoughts of doubt swirling around in my head. He’d show up, and instantly, I’d feel invisible, or worse, I would be unable to speak. Instead, if he did speak, which came with a lot of teasing, my comebacks were stupid like “so” or “fuck off.”

“Oh, I know. Look at those slanted eyes and cheekbones. They can’t be bought. I just need you to smile a little. Just know that what I see, he sees. And, girl, you’re my sister. You’re prettier than any of these dumb bitches that try to get Wally or any of his boys’ attention. You don’t have to. Just be yourself. You know if a guy likes you, he goes out of his way to tease you. I swear Mickey loves to see you coming.”

She smirked then stirred the pot as the soup began to warm. The more the aroma filled the air, the more I felt my mouth salivating. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I went and leaned over the pot, taking in the meat and vegetables.

“One day, I’ll make this for my children. You will too. Just wait.”

She then looked around at our home. It was clean but dated. Our parents did the best they could, but when a cold chill rushed through the house, it was a reminder that the rickety window we sat close to wouldn’t fully close. I tugged on my nightgown and pulled it over my legs when I finally sat down as the soup simmered. The room grew silent once more as she slid her arms around me and held me.

“One day, Merci. One day.”

A few minutes later, all three of us sat around and stuffed our faces with soup and a few slices of bread. We’d hear about it later, but for now, we were full. After we’d brushed our teeth, we all piled up in our full-sized bed. It was me and Chelly’s bed since Germaine slept on the twin bed, but it helped us all stay warm if we bundled up together. Sleep soon found Germaine as light snores could be heard and the rumbling from his chest vibrated against my body. As Chelly stroked my hair, sleep soon found me. Hours later though, I woke up when I couldn’t breathe. I could barely see either. I reached over and only Germaine was there.

What the fuck?

“Wake up, Germmie. Come on! Wake up!”

He groaned then sat up and coughed. He was moving too slow. I pulled his arm and scrambled out of bed while covering my face, taking shallow breaths.

“The hell is Chelly?”

When Germaine started crying, I shushed him.

“Germmie, we need to get out of here, but let me find Chelly.”

When I touched the doorknob, though, it was hot. I quickly pulled away and screamed, scaring him.

“I’m sorry, Germmie.”

I banged on the door a few times when I heard something fall on the other side. What could have happened? Did she leave the stove on?

“Chelly! Chelly, are you out there?”

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