Page 22 of Captured Beauty
She shook her head. “You’re trouble, girl. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your head low and stay out the way.” Her eyes were penetrating, causing me to grow uncomfortable. My stomach knotted.
I bit the inside of my jaw, biting back my words, and nodded. Spinning on my heels, I hurried up the stairs.
Once in my room, I slammed the door shut and locked it behind me. I sighed and rushed to the bed. While I knew there was no way I could escape my fate, I did know I needed to find a way out of this house for a few hours. Kairus never bothered me when he came back late so there was no way for him to know I was gone. If I made sure one of the downstairs windows was unlocked, it would be easy for me to sneak back in and up to my room.
I scanned through the texts and notifications. A smile crept on my face. Being sneaky wasn’t something I typically did and that was probably why I felt so excited about it.
“You and your father have been keeping secrets from me, haven’t you?” Mom said between coughs. “He’s been gone a lot. I haven’t seen you in a month. Something’s not right. He came home afew weeks ago with his hand all bandaged up, claims he had an accident.”
My mom’s body was frail and pale. Her once long black luscious hair was cut low into a pixie style. It looked like she had aged years since the last time I laid eyes on her.
As soon as I made it out of the house, the first thing I did was get a rideshare to my parents’ house. I missed my mom and was sick with worry not knowing if she was getting better or worse. I had yet to lay eyes on my dad. From what my mom’s nurse told me, he had been out a lot, at all hours. When he came home, he was distracted and distant.
“It’s nothing to worry about, Mom. I’m here now, that’s all that matters. Tell me how you have been? Your nurse says the doctor finally approved you for the surgery.”
Her eyes narrowed and she peered at me with what I called the “mom eyes.” I covered her hand with mine and gave it a small squeeze.
“I promise, Mom, everything is fine. I want to hear about you. Tell me what’s going on.”
When we found out about my mom’s cancer it progressed quickly, too quickly. They weren’t able to operate like they hoped they would be able to, which was why she had to do rounds of chemo first, to try and kill some of the cancerous cells. Turned out the chemo worked because they approved her surgery and she was due to have a hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Once that was handled, she had to go through chemo again and hopefully the tumors and cancer would be nonexistent after everything.
I swallowed hard. A lot of the waiting had to do with money. Their insurance only covered so much, leaving my dad to have to pay a good amount out of pocket. Knowing my mom was going to get the care she needed and deserved made everything I was dealing with worth it.
I was only at my parents’ house for an hour before my mom drifted off to sleep. “Let her know I’ll be back soon to see her, okay,” I told the nurse.
She nodded at me and passed by. I stepped into the hallway and stumbled back when I collided with a body.
“Azeira!” My dad looked at me shocked, grabbing me. “What are you doing here? Are you okay?” He looked me over.
“I’m fine.” I waved him off. “I just came to check on Mom and you. Are you okay? How’s your hand?”
He clenched his jaw. “My hand’s been an adjustment.” He lifted it and I stared at his four fingers. “But I’d rather lose my finger than my life.” A solemn expression passed over his face. “How are you, Azeira? I’m so sorry I got you into this. I never wanted you caught up in my shit.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine, Daddy. I can handle myself. As long as you’re okay and Mom’s getting the treatment she needs, I’m fine.”
“No. Azeira. That man… I should have never gone into business with him.” He turned and pressed his back against the wall, his head dropped in defeat. “I was desperate to save your mother. The bills were piling up. They were threatening to take the house because of the second mortgage I had to take out. Shit was getting outta control and…” He clenched his jaw again.
I knew it was killing my dad being so out of control.
“How are you gonna pay a hundred thousand dollars back in less than six months? Where are you gonna get that kind of money from? I have some saved up and—” He raised his hand.
“No, I won’t involve you any more than I already have. This is my mess and I’m gonna figure it out. I got a job down at the docks that pays well. I’m also picking up odd jobs. Don’t worry about me.”
I bit into my bottom lip as my leg shook wildly. I didn’t like this. It made me uneasy knowing the debt hanging over his headand what was at stake. The last thing I wanted was to lose my father.
My phone went off in my pocket. I pulled it out and took a look, seeing it was Jatavia.
“I have to go, Daddy. But don’t worry about me, okay? Just take care of Mom.” My voice grew thick and it cracked. I inhaled a deep breath, struggling to hold back my tears.
My dad pushed off the wall and pulled me into him.
“Please be careful, Azeira. That man isn’t safe. Do whatever you have to do to stay out his way. I promise you I’m working as hard as I can to get the money so we can wash our hands of all this.” I dug my face into his chest. Tears pooled in my eyelids.
“I love you, Pumpkin.” He kissed the top of my head.
“I love you too.”
He held me a little longer before releasing me. Remorse covered his face and I forced a reassuring smile on mine.
