Page 35 of When You Dance
Jeremiah lifted his gaze to mine, and I quickly turned away. Jamel pulled me in his arms as I heard Jeremiah yelling my name. “Sandrene, I’m sorry! Please! You’re my sister! I would never knowingly hurt you!”
My eyebrows shot up as I turned back to him. That was why he looked familiar. He looked like my dad. I would have never thought to compare him to my dad. The commonality never crossed my mind. My heart sank to my feet then I got nauseated. Knowing that the man who sexually assaulted me was my brother made me sick to my stomach. I ran to the fence and puked my guts out.
“Baby, is that true?” Jamel asked, standing next to me with a bottle of water.
I took it from him and used it to rinse my mouth out then stood there to catch my breath and allow what Jeremiah said to sink in.My dad’s other family.I couldn’t even answer Jamel’s question at the moment. I walked back to the car and asked Officer Ross to open the door. When she did, I frowned at him. “How do you know me?”
“Dad always showed us pictures of you. When we would ask him to live with us, he would say that he had to stay with you. That you were his baby first and that you wouldn’t understand why he started another family.”
“How many of you are there? I didn’t find out about another family until after he died.”
I wanted to verify what my mama had told me. It wasn’t that I thought she was lying, but I wanted to be sure that she wasn’t somehow mistaken about the facts. “Including Dalonna, I have six sisters and brothers. Dalonna isn’t his daughter. I know y’all don’t like each other.”
“That was elementary school. I wouldn’t know her if I saw her.”
His eyes widened. “Apparently. Desire is Dalonna.”
“I know you fucking lying.”
I walked away from him, preparing to go in the club to find her ass. I thought that they had similar features, but she always wore so much fucking makeup, I couldn’t tell what she actually looked like under all that shit. Jamel pulled me back to him with a confused look on his face. I had never told him about my father’s fuckery.
“You can’t go back in there. What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you when we get to your place. Can I stay with you tonight?”
“Of course.”
I had never been to his place, but I would feel more comfortable there. Although I felt like I probably would be safe to go home now, I didn’t trust that bitch. When I made my way back to the cop car, the officer was talking to him about the things he said. Dalonna had been the one to set his sights on me. I didn’t know about her, but he would be in a world of trouble.
Officer Ross closed the door on him and told the other officer, “I need you to get Dalonna aka Desire out of there.”
My mind was racing, trying to figure out how I would get through this.I have six brothers and sisters… Jeremiah and five others.This was like opening Pandora’s Box in my mind. Those people and my nonexistent relationship with them were the furthest things from my mind. My dad kept six siblings away from me. However, what happened tonight would have still happened since I didn’t want anyone to know who I was.
I was just ready to get away from here. “Ms. Jallow, here is my card. If you have any questions or need anything, please call me. I have your number in case we need more information.”
“I can go?”
“Yes, ma’am. I know tonight has been traumatic for you.”
I nodded and turned my attention to Jamel. He stroked my cheek and said, “I’ll bring you back tomorrow to get your car.”
I nodded and followed him to his car, grateful that I had him to lean on.
CHAPTER15
JAMEL
My anger was surging through me as I opened the door for Sandrene to walk through. That nigga said he was her brother. If that shit fucked me up, I knew it fucked her all the way up. We’d gone to her place for her to pack a bag, and I noticed she’d packed quite a bit. I wasn’t sure how long she would be staying, but forever was just fine with me. She had me feeling like a soft ass nigga when the officer called me her boyfriend and she didn’t correct her.
I brought her bag to my bedroom, then went to the bathroom to run her bath water. When I turned to go back to the kitchen, I nearly knocked her over. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were so close to me. You good?”
She nodded then went to the bathroom. I had some liquor in the kitchen, so I asked, “You want a glass of Crown?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded then made my way to the kitchen. The first thing that had come to my mind when she wasn’t answering my calls was exactly what had actually happened. When she didn’t call me, I felt like something had happened to her. It shouldn’t have taken her no longer than five minutes to get to her car. After twenty minutes had passed and she wasn’t communicating, I knew I needed to get to her. I packed my shit and woke Mama up to let her know that I was leaving.
Rondo and Arrow were at Seneca’s tonight, and they were taking up the available beds. I refused to stay with the newlyweds, because that shit was gon’ have me missing Sandrene even more. That was the same for any of my siblings, since everybody was either married or engaged now. Well, Chad was the only one still engaged. At least Mama and Pop would be discreet about their actions. My mama would die if she ever thought I’d heard them.
