Page 64 of Love me Like XO

That was good, because the last thing I needed was to have Ms. Tanya questioning me any longer. “Mama, whose with the kids?”

“That girl finally came home to be with her kids.” She shook her head at my sister. Then my grandmother went on and on about how she had to use the Uber app to get up here.

Her telling me where Fiona was is all I needed, because before I knew it, I was telling her I was going to get something quick to eat.

I didn’t wait for either of them to say anything else because I was out of the door with my purse on my shoulder in seconds.

Grandma’s house was up the block, so I pulled up less than five minutes later. To my shock, when I hopped out of the car I laid eyes on Rev carrying bags out to his trunk.

“What are you doing this way, sis’? How is Em?” he asked as I ascended the stairs behind him. He was going to grab another suitcase and I had something else in mind.

“The same. What are you doing here?”

“Your sister asked me to take her to the airport. Guess sh?—”

The fact that I raced past him two steps at a time halted his sentence. This bitch was trying to run without me catching her ass. I busted through the door seconds later to see that she had more shit packed and sitting on Grandma’s floor. Hell nah, half of this shit wasn’t hers. She was stealing, too. I glanced to the side and peeped that all the kids were on the couch preoccupied with the TV.

“About time, Rev. I told you I was trying to get out of this godforsaken city.” She walked out of the bathroom not paying attention to who had come to the door. She was too busy stealing my grandmother’s shit.

“Running, bitch?” I asked. Seconds later my bag dropped out of my hand, and I was on her ass. Nobody could stop this ass whooping.

“Ree wha—” I decked her ass in the mouth, ending her question before she could even finish it.

“You was in that car with that nigga when he ran my sister off the road.” I hit her ass again, before I heard who I assumed was Rev enter the house.

“Ree what the fuck is going on?” It wasn’t Reverend, it was my father.

I hit her ass again, then when she fell down I kicked her in her side a few times. “Tell him, or I swear I’ma end yo’ shit right now in this living room.” I don’t know what had gotten into me, but I was livid. My baby sister’s life hung in the balance while this bitch was trying to run off on her kids and probably steal from my big mama.

Fiona now lay dramatically on the floor coughing like she couldn’t breathe. I was about to kick her in her chest when my father lifted me off the ground trying to get me away from Fiona.

“Tell him, bitch!” I yelled over his back.

“We were trying to teach her a lesson. That she wasn’t better than us. The bitch wasn’t. He didn’t eve—” she began to cough more.

I could see the shock in my father’s face, which gave me the opportunity to get to her. He grabbed my arm trying to restrain me, but I snatched from his grip. “Fuck that. You have protected this bitch for so long that she thinks she can do shit like this. You’re tryna hold me back, but you hear me!” I broke loose and got on her ass again. At this point I was trying to kill her. She needed to be laid up in a fucking hospital bed fighting for her fucking life.

“That’s enough, Taree,” my father’s voice towered.

I kicked her one good time, before Reverend pulled me toward the back and I heard my father began to yell at her.

“Y’all need to make sure when she leaves up out of here she only takes what she came with.”

Rev looked at me, before nodding his head and focusing back on our father.

He kept asking the bitch what was wrong with her, but the answer to that question rested in his mirror every morning.

I left my grandmother’s house less than an hour later. I knew I couldn’t totally blame my father for Fiona, but right now I was willing to die on that rock. If not for him coddling her and not requiring she grow up we wouldn’t be here.

I made it back to the hospital within forty-five minutes just in time to meet Irish walking in the door.

“So, you went and beat the shit out of yo’ sister and now you’re about to come in here like that ain’t blood on yo’ shoes?” he asked as soon as he met me at the door.

“Is it? I probably wasted some ketchup.” I shrugged but made sure to grab a sanitizer wipe before we stepped on the elevator.

“Thug ass.” He chuckled. “You get her good?”

“Better than good. Pops probably ain’t talking to me for a while, but I bet that bitch will think twice before she does some dumb shit again. She may still do it, but at least she’ll think twice.”

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