Page 171 of Own It
“He didn’t want money. Daddy made that up.”
My words caused Serene’s eyes to mushroom.
“Wait. Then why did he abduct you?” She set her wineglass down.
“Because Dad refused to operate on a family member of his, believing it to be a futile effort. So, he took me as collateral in a sense. The operation was the ransom money,” I expounded, and Serene nodded slowly with her mouth ajar.
“Shit.” She glanced off. “No offense, but I’m glad he chose you and not me. Wonder what made him pick you? Must’ve been easier to get to.” She shrugged one shoulder before gulping more of her wine.
“He chose me because he liked me. It was a win-win for him.”
“Oh, so he crazy as fuck for real.” She laughed, and I joined in.
“Yeah, but I don’t know . . . I’m kind of flattered that a man would go so far for my attention. I mean, yeah, it was for his cousin, too, but I could tell by all that he did for me, he snatched my ass up with the intention of making me his.”
I recalled the moments where I would see Rakim become visibly bothered by my mention of Shaun or whenever I called him my man. Or how he purposely refused to allow us to converse. Now, it made so much sense. The thought caused me to chuckle.
“I guess. Good luck with that.” Serene refilled her glass, and I was about to question who drove my niece and nephew until I noticed I didn’t hear their voices.
“Thanks. Where are Jeremiah and Grace?” I frowned. “I heard them when I first came.”
“Their dad came and got them. They wanted to see a movie, and I wasn’t in the mood.” She expelled a heavy breath.
I knew from our last conversation not to mention her needing a break, so I simply nodded.
“Oh, alright.”
“Yep.” She sighed.
“Something wrong?”
“No . . . no, I’m good.” She sort of shook it off.
“Tell me. I wanna talk about something other than our father beefing with yet another boyfriend of mine.” I sipped from my own glass.
“I needed a break from home, and I knew if I went to the movies, I would be locked in all night. Now, I can call Avant and tell him I’m too tipsy to drive home.” She winked, making me titter. “They are driving me crazy though. All I do is work then come home to be a slave to everyone in the home.”
“You know when I have the time, I don’t mind watching or even keeping Jeremiah and Grace overnight.”
“Thank you, Sis. But what I truly need—” She polished off her drink—“is a girls’ night out. I cannot remember the last time I did something that wasn’t family related either with our parents or my husband and kids. I need to be Serene for a night and not mom and dad’s prize daughter or a mom and wife.”
Though her prize daughter comment sort of bothered me, I couldn’t even be upset about it because it was true. Only now did I see how much pressure was on Serene to be perfect. I’d rebelled, and therefore, my parents expected and allowed mistakes, whereas Serene had to be flawless at all times.
“Well, I recently met some cool girls,” I said, referencing Shardaya and Kasia. “So maybe we can all like go to dinner or to a cute lounge or club one night.”
“Oh my gosh!” Serene embraced me tightly. Pulling back with a wide grin, she said, “That would be amazing and sounds like exactly what I need, Day.”
“I’ll set it up then.” I smiled.
I couldn’t lie and say I wasn’t excited to go have fun with my sister. We’d done it once while we were in college, but Serene, for the most part, refrained from wild nights out in favor of studying. So I couldn’t wait to see her let loose.
* * *
GIRLS’ NIGHT . . .
Future’s “Fuck Up Some Commas” crept through the speakers with its calm intro, but despite that, everyone in the club turned feral at what they knew was to come. Once the beat dropped, Shardaya, Kasia, Serene, and I all sang along just like everybody else.
We’d had several drinks—cocktails and self-made from the juices and liquor delivered to our table. Rakim had set it out for us once I told him what tonight’s goal was, and I thought that was sweet and so typical of him.
