Page 58 of When a Soul Cries
“A minute?” Her eyebrows shot up. “What the fuck does that mean?”
“I’ve been trying to handle it.”
“By yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Something in her voice made my defenses shoot straight up. I finally looked at her. “Because it’s my problem.”
Zari stared at me like I’d just said the dumbest shit she’d ever heard. “Your problem?”
“Yes, my problem.”
“So because it’s your problem, you just don’t tell me?”
“What was I supposed to say, Zari?”
Her face twisted. “The truth!”
“And then what?”
“Then I help you!”
“With what?” My voice rose before I could stop it. “What was you supposed to do, Zari? You got your own shit!”
Halo shifted.
Both of us froze.
My heart jumped as I looked toward her. She moved her little head, sighed in her sleep, then settled again.
I lowered my voice immediately. “I don’t need nobody feeling sorry for me.”
Zari’s face softened for half a second before frustration took its place again. “Who said anything about feeling sorry for you?”
“I don’t need—”
“You don’t get to do that.”
My brows pulled together. “Do what?”
“Decide for everybody that we can’t be there for you.”
I looked away, but she stepped closer.
“You my sister, Sol.”
“We ain’t sisters.”
“The fuck we ain’t.”
The words hit harder than they should’ve, and my throat tightened.
Zari shook her head, her eyes shining now too. “Blood don’t mean shit to me. You know that. That’s my niece laying over there. You my sister. If you ain’t got it, then we figure the shit out. Together.”
I pressed my lips together.
