I frown. She’s lying, not about the hospital, I can hear the intercoms asking for certain doctors, but about the appendix, she’s lying, but why?
“Can you ask Daddy to come, please? She’s had to have surgery and everything, and I’m scared,” she says, and I tilt my head.
Now, why wouldn’t she ask me to pick her up?
Because you’re a dick to Raya….A small voice says, but I push it away and open my mouth to question her, but the line goes dead, and I sigh, knowing her battery just died.
I swear, for a teenage girl, she doesn’t charge her phone up enough.
“That is the last time you try to keep me from talking to my daughter!” Mama growls as she gets in my face, and I raise a brow at her behavior, but she ignores my look and snaps, “She was lying to you. Knowing Raya, she’s probably talked your sister into fucking some guy for money!”
I narrow my eyes at Mama and her accusations, which even have the brothers looking at her strangely.
Ivy may do a lot of shit Raya asks her to, but somehow I doubt she’ll fuck someone for money, neither of them fucking need it, and Mama knows that, so what is her problem?
“How much have you had to drink, Mama?” I ask, and her face reddens, but I continue, “Because the shit you just spewed has put a red flag on your back.”
Her face quickly pales, and I shake my head and admit, “I heard the intercoms, she’s at the hospital with Raya, burst appendix apparently.”
Not that I believe it.
Shaking my head at the wince Mama gives, I round her and walk to the back door, needing to find my dad, especially when I know she’s specifically asked for him and now doesn’t have the battery to call him herself.
I walk out into the yard and notice Dad sitting on the bench smoking, and I walk over to him before taking a seat.
“Son, I swear if this is about your sister being late out with Raya again…” he starts, and I scoff and ask, “Why are you so okay with it?”
He raises a brow and asks, “Okay with what? Your sister has a friend who will always stand up for her?”
“Stand up for her?” I retort, “Dad, the girl disappeared for three months without a word, and now my little sister is out late with her.”
Dad sighs before he takes a puff of his cigarette, then blows it out as he mutters, “Some things you are just not privy to know information for son, and you need to respect your sister and see she knows who is fake with her and who isn’t. Raya gave a boy a black eye at five years old because he pushed your sister off the swing. Honestly, I’m beginning to believe this obsession you have with Raya isn’t because you think she’s a patch chaser, it’s because you have feelings for her and you're scared of them, especially with her only being fifteen.”
I choke on my own spit out of shock and look at Dad as I cough, who smirks like he hit the nail on the head.
Fucking hell, are both my parents drunk?
A picture of Raya in the diner, sitting next to Ivy with her head thrown back, her white-blonde hair dangling as she laughs, hits my vision, and I tense because what the fuck, and I quickly blink it away and instantly deny, “Not a fucking chance, Dad.”
Dad laughs and replies, “That face, son, is the look of a man who's just realized he’s fallen for his little sister's best friend.”
“Fuck no,” I instantly snap because, seriously, what is with my parents right now?
Dad chuckles before taking another puff of his cig and I look forward shaking my head at his stupid grin and admit, “Ivy finally answered her phone, it’s why I came out to find you, she wants you to pick her up but couldn’t call you because her phone was going dead while Mama tried her fucking hardest to take my phone from me to have a go at Ivy.”
Dad sighs, “I swear that woman… She’s been acting weird since I lowered her allowance, which wasn’t by the way because she was pissing me off with how much shit she kept spending it on,” I look at dad and frown before he admits, “Your mother wants liposuction, lip filler, and a boob job.”
I scrunch my nose in distaste and comment, “Mama looks perfectly fine.”
Dad nods and agrees, “I know,” before he takes a last hit of his cig, then pushes it into the ash tray, and he states, “I told her this and also mentioned it’s weird that she wants all this shit done to her body that costs fucking thousands when she should be happily married. She tried saying it was for her, but I call bullshit, so I stopped transferring the amount she was getting and also emptied the thirty grand she had in her account.”
“Fuck me, she was saving up?” I choke in shock, and he nods.
“I don’t recognize your mama, son, haven’t for the past year and the more she pushes back, the more the clubwhores look more appealing to me. While wrong, I know, I can’t help it. It’s like your Mama is trying to push me towards them to give her a reason to leave and get more money from me, but that could be my mind making shit up.”
I wince as I look forward, not knowing what to say because I’ve also seen the changes in her.
Dad sighs as he stands, then asks, “Where does your sister want me to pick her up from? The library?”
