Page 10 of Own It

“Yep. He was just as big as Ayan, according to my dad, but this was years ago.”

“Why did he fade away?”

I didn’t know why that tidbit of information piqued my interest, but it did.

“Murdered another boxer for like, groping his girlfriend or something and went to prison. After that, no one has heard from him. Nigga was fine though.” She stuffed her face with the buttery lobster mashed potatoes.

“Gonna have to look that up when I get home,” I said, meaning to do just that. True crime was a guilty pleasure of mine.

“So are you gonna come with or let me go by myself?” Morgin poked her bottom lip out.

After a moment of quiet, I sighed, making Morgin squeal with delight like she always did when she got her way.

“I will go, Morgin, but I am not staying long. Parties, especially with rich, entitled men isn’t really my scene. Also, you have to promise that we will leave together.”

“What? What if Josias asks me to go home with him?”

“If you’re not drunk, then it’s fine, but if you are, you have to leave with me. And I will be driving. Final offer.” I peered deeply into Morgin’s eyes, watching her ponder on everything before rolling her eyes in capitulation.

“Fine, Miss Wet Blanket.”

“Good, Miss Wet For Everybody.” I chuckled at the way Morgin’s jaw fell at my insult before she joined me in laughter.

* * *

LATER THAT NIGHT . . .

“Hello?” I answered the phone after seeing my sister Serene’s name flashing across it.

“Hey, are you busy tonight?” Serene got right to it.

“I am actually. Why?”

“Is it important? Because I wanted you to watch the kids so Avant and I can go out.”

I could tell by Serene’s condescending tone that it didn’t matter if I was having brain surgery tonight, she would deem it unimportant.

We were close—as close as two siblings who were complete opposites could be—but often bumped heads because Serene had been conditioned by our parents to believe she was better than me.

She tried to make it seem like that wasn’t the case, but even small things like her calling on a Saturday assuming a twenty-something-year-old woman with no children didn’t have plans was just another way for Serene to let me know she didn’t think my life was anything of substance.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s important or not. Just know I already have plans. In the future, let me know ahead of time, Serene. You know I love my niece and nephew.” I eyed the outfit options I’d laid out on the bed.

I wanted to be cute but not too cute to where the men at the party would think I was hot and ready. I was hoping if I looked demure and uninteresting enough, them niggas would ignore me.

“If you love them so much, why can’t you cancel whatever it is you plan on doing? Avant and I need this date night. We’ve been working all week and damn near becoming ships in the night, Day.”

“I’m not gonna cancel. And I get you guys are busy, both being doctors and all, but I’ve been busy too. In fact, I worked earlier today,” I lied.

Typically, my work did bleed into the weekends because that was often the life of an entrepreneur. However, this day in particular, I’d taken off in order to shop for the dinner I’d planned to throw.

Laughing, Serene replied, “You boxing up phone case orders or unpacking new designs is not the same as me having to deal with a bunch of sick kids and running my own practice. I shouldn’t have to explain that to you.”

Feigning a smile, although my sister couldn’t see me and because it was the only way to keep from lighting into her ass, I calmed myself down quietly. I valued my relationships with my family and was a firm believer that if you wanted to stay on good terms with a person, there were just certain things you couldn’t say. Like the fact that my sister’s pediatric office had terrible Yelp reviews because of how often she was late or sometimes not open at all. So just how much was the bitch working?

Additionally, in my opinion, Serene’s outlook on life and me in particular was at the fault of our parents. We came from a family of doctors, and everyone born into the Conrad bloodline was to go into medicine. However, ever since I was a child and would ask for Barbie toys instead of doctor kits, like Serene and our older brother Cairo Jr., my parents began to treat me differently.

Then, choosing to go to college and major in business, then actually starting a business, doing anything outside of being in medicine was the last straw. They placed these same opinions on their other kids, and though my brother treated me normally, Serene, as I said before, acted as though she was above me.