Page 70 of The Phyre that Burns
“I know that’s your brother, but he has no defense. Nothing that Kavia or anyone else says to him should cause him to come at me the way he did. He let that bitch plant seeds of doubt but wouldn’t let me talk long enough to him the truth.”
“You’re right. He took what Kavia said and ran with it, and he was wrong for that. I understand why you’re upset, but now that he’s had time to cool off, you should talk to him.”
“He accused me of aborting a baby that I miscarried. It took me years of therapy to heal from that loss, and your brother let the same person who ruined us the first time do it again. I don’t know if I can talk to him.”
“Wow. Ginae, I’m so sorry for your loss. With everything else that was going on back then, I’m sure it was hard to handle.”
“Thank you. It was, but as I said, therapy, along with my family, helped me through it. I have moments of sadness when I think about the kind of mother I would’ve been, and how old heor she would be, but I believe everything happens for a reason, even if we never know why.”
We sat silently for a few minutes, finishing our breakfast, before Phoenix spoke again.
“Are you leaving?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know if I’m ready to see Phyre tomorrow, or almost every day for the next four and a half months. If we hadn’t gotten back together, I could’ve pushed through, but now, it’ll be too hard.”
“This makes me so sad. Having you back in his life has made my brother happier than I’ve ever seen him. I don’t want him to go back to just existing, but I understand that you have to protect yourself.”
“Thank you for und—ugh! Oh my?—”
I slapped my hand over my mouth as I pushed my chair back. I couldn’t get to the bathroom fast enough, and when I did, everything I’d eaten in the last twenty-four hours came up.
“Oh my God, Ginae. Are you pregnant?” Phoenix shouted.
Shit!
I wasn’t expectingmy sister to show up at my house late Sunday morning, but I wasn’t surprised either. After I let her in, she followed me to the family room, where I was sitting in my recliner, flipping through the channels.
“You’re an asshole!” she declared after minutes of us listening to the sounds coming from the television.
“I fucked up.”
“Big time. All these rooms in this big ass house, and you had the audacity to tell her to leave. What is wrong with you?”
“I was angry. I didn’t know?—”
“That’s no fucking excuse. You need to call her and apologize.”
“I’ve tried. She blocked me.”
“Oh my God. You’re an idiot. Let me tell you something. If you don’t do everything you can to fix this, you deserve to live a sad, lonely, regretful life.”
“Damn, Phee. Did you try looking at it from my point of view?”
“You mean, the point of view of the person who took a couple of random statements from a bitter bitch and ran with them? No, I didn’t, because you and your point of view are stupid.”
“It was a misunderstanding, but you’re a woman, so I’m not surprised you’re taking her side.”
“I might be a woman, but you’re acting like a lil bitch. And in this situation, there’s only one side to take. You accused her of having an abortion and didn’t give her a chance to tell you she’d had a miscarriage.”
“I know, Phee. I fucked up, and I don’t know how to fix it. I feel like shit.”
She got up and headed for the front door but stopped before she was too far away for me to hear her.
“If you had any common sense, you’d stop listening to Kavia and letting her piss you off. I know you think she’s responsible for ruining your future with Ginae, but you need to let go of the hate and resentment you have toward her. You’re more responsible for losing Ginae the first time than anyone. After all these years, you got your woman back, and you let the same woman cause you to fuck it up. You made too many assumptions based on something that hating ass bitch said. She gets off on making you miserable, and if you don’t fix this, she’ll be two for two with fucking up your life.”
With that, Phoenix was gone, leaving me with plenty to think about. I replayed our conversation, which forced me to revisit the events of the previous evening. Last night, I couldn’t focus on anything but finding out if there was any truth to what Kavia had said.
After the drive home and a quick shower, I thought I was calm enough to address it, but each time Ginae hesitated to answer my questions, I grew more suspicious and angrier than I had been initially.
