by Ivory B.
“You killed our sister, you killed her!” Cathy knitted her brows and shook her head giving her sister the ‘what the fuck look’. “V what the hell are you talking about? I didn’t kill her she died of a brain aneurysm! Stop the craziness you drunk and talking stupid.” “No she died of a broken heart! She was depressed and alone while you lived a fairytale! You forgave that piece of shit man and not your own sister!” Cathy had enough of her sister’s drunken verbal assault, she had tried to ignore her but she couldn’t anymore. “I forgave her V. I forgave her! You seem to be forgetting that I was betrayed, I was me!” Cathy screamed slapping herself in the chest for emphasis as her eyes clouded with tears that she was trying to hold back. For the life of her she couldn’t understand why she was the villain in her sister’s eyes. Cathy was betrayed by two of the people in her life that should’ve had her back more than anyone in this world but instead they stabbed her in it. “Everyday I’m reminded of that betrayal V when I see Jah. All I see at times is Carlos and Candace; it is what it is though. It happened and nothing in this world can change that. I didn’t ask for this. I tried to be there for Candace and every time I tried she pushed me away.” Cathy swallowed hard and that’s all it took for tears to run like a river down her face. She thought back on how close she and Candace used to be when they were younger to how their relationship had been before Candace passed away. “You don’t remember her denying my visits at the hospital when she got sick? Or how she wouldn’t let me in when I showed up at her apartment begging to talk to her. It’s like she blamed me and I couldn’t get through to her that I wasn’t at fault.” Cathy snatched up a napkin that was on her cocktail table and dabbed at her eyes with it desperately trying to hold it together. This was a touchy subject and after all these years it still had the propensity to have her lose it, completely breakdown emotionally like she had in the past. V had tears in her eyes too and for a split second Cathy thought they would comfort one another and apologize for using their tongues as swords to hurt one another. That was until V opened her mouth and said something that shook Cathy to her core. “It shoulda been you, not my baby sister she was innocent and loving until ya husband took advantage of her and you stayed with that bastard. It shoulda been you who died.” Cathy knew her sister could be a nasty, belligerent drunk but never in life did she think she would say something so awful. Before Cathy knew what she was doing she grabbed the wine glass she’d been sipping from and tossed it in V’s face. V reacted like a demon being doused with holy water she jerked angrily and came back swinging violently. Within seconds things went from 0 to 100 real quick and the two sisters were fighting like complete strangers going at it like they hated one another.
While V was fighting off of pure misguided anger with a tinge of deep rooted jealousy, Cathy was fighting from a deep place of pent up frustration with V. Cathy swung and hit V repeatedly trying to make her pay for all the times in the past she’d said something foul that Cathy let slide. Today there would be no passes Cathy thought as she swung hitting V in the mouth busting her lip on contact. “Bitch say it again,” Cathy gritted through angry punches. V drunkenly fell backwards while trying to swing on Cathy but the alcohol had her reactions delayed and her balance off. Cathy saw her sister fall backwards but she never let up, she continued to attack like a vicious pit bull that got its first taste of blood.
“What the fuck? What’s goin on in here?!” Nice barked as he and Jah stood shell shocked at the scene before them. Cathy was beating the breaks off of V and it was obvious V ain’t have nothing for Cathy when it came to throwing hands. “Whoa, whoa Ma that’s it break it up!” Nice yelled as he ran over and swooped Cathy up off of V like a hawk. Cathy was going completely berserk as Nice snatched her from on top of V she attempted to donkey kick V one last time for good measure. Jah chuckled when Cathy did that, it was a chuckle out of disbelief and slight nervousness. It was a known fact that his Aunt had a bad temper. It took a lot to get her angry, once she got angry though it took everything to calm her down. His late Uncle used to tower over his Aunt’s 5’3 petite frame but even he’d tell you when he was alive he didn’t mess with Cathy. He used to say she would snap, crackle, and pop off. “Ma! Chill,” Nice barked while walking towards the hallway with Cathy in his arms who was continuing to put up a big fight trying to get at V. “Get outta my house! Get outta my house! I want that miserable bitch outta my house!” “A’ight, a'ight Mom cool out,” Nice advised as he placed her down on her feet and stood in front of her to block her path. Nice could see it in her eyes she still wanted to fight. He had no idea what V had said or done to bring this on herself but it must’ve been pretty bad because normally Cathy paid V no mind. “Daayum! V you a’ight?” Jah asked with slight concern as V wiped at her bloody nose and cried while trying to stand on her feet. “Oh lawd! You ain’t have to do me like dat Cat; you ain’t have to do me like dat!” V cried as she retrieved her wig from the floor and plopped it back on carelessly. V was obviously hurting in the worse way she looked off balance and slightly disoriented. “Aunt V hole up sit down let me grab something for ya face,” Jah advised “No! She ain’t sittin up in my house. I want her ass out! Get that messy, bitter bitch outta my gotdamn house!” “Fuck you Cat you ole wack ass, fake ass bitch you!” V retorted while holding the side of her face. Without warning Cathy broke free from Nice and went charging at V to give her some more because obviously she didn’t give her enough of a beat down if she was still running off at the mouth. Nice caught up with his mother and intercepted the attack by jumping in front of Cathy leaving her feeling flustered and angry as if she needed to get this burning fire of anger out of her system. She snatched up the closest thing in her reach which was the thick glass platter plate sending crackers, grapes and cheese flying everywhere before she chucked it wildly towards V’s head. Nice saw it coming and slapped her hand away altering the plate’s direction, sending it crashing to the marble floors and shattering. “Kamar don’t play with me!” Cathy screamed as Nice picked her up effortlessly and carried her towards the bathroom in the hallway while she threw a complete fit. Before Cathy knew what was happening Nice pushed her inside the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. Nice held the doorknob as Cathy kicked and banged on the door with profanities flying out of her mouth a mile a minute. “Mom be easy damn that’s ya sister what’s wrong with you?!” Nice screamed trying to get through to this angry woman he wasn’t used to. “Ayo Jah come over here, make sure she don’t get out this bathroom before I get V outta the house.” Nice instructed. Jah looked at him as if he had his reservations about locking Cathy in the bathroom. “Jah all I’m tryna do is keep Mom from catching a attempted murder charge son. Just make sure she don’t get out till I get V out the crib.” Jah stood at the door and held onto the knob while Cathy banged and tried to pull the door open on the other side. “V c’mon I’ma bring you home” Nice said while helping her up off of the couch. It was apparent she was toasted; the empty nip bottles on the floor and smell of alcohol on her breath was indication enough. He knew she must’ve said some real fly shit that ticked his mother off. Nice let V lean her body weight on him as he walked her out the front door. When he looked down at her he was trying his hardest not to laugh but his Aunt was rocking the jail house cornrows under a stocking cap and her wig was halfway on her head. Nice tried to get her back right and fix her wig the best way he could. He was trying to save her dignity and not have her out here looking crazier than she already did when she stepped out of the house that morning with that wig on. Nice put the pedal to the medal to drive V back to her house as she cried and blubbered drunkenly in the passenger seat about Cathy doing her dirty. “She ain’t had to do me like that nephew, I kept all her secrets. I ain’t never told nothing on her and she ain’t have to do me dirty like dat,” V cried. Nice raised an eyebrow curious about what secrets his Aunt was referring to but then again she was drunk off her ass so he couldn’t believe anything she had to say right now. “Yeah, yeah V I know,” he replied to appe
ase her before pressing the volume button on his steering wheel to drown out her drunken tearful rant.
Back at the house Jah continued to hold the door shut with both hands. Cathy had tried mercilessly to pull the door open screaming and making empty threats of beating both him and Nice until she finally tired herself out and went silent. Jah thought it was time to let her out since she seemed to get ahold of herself over the last 10 minutes and wasn’t banging at the door any longer.
He opened the door slowly while standing a good distance away bracing himself in case she came out the bathroom like a hurricane. To his relief she was sitting there calmly almost as if she were in deep thought leaning against the bathroom vanity. Cathy’s eyes rose slowly to set on Jah standing in the doorway looking concerned. She smiled slightly thinking how ironic it was that he was standing there out of all the people in the world he was there. This was the product of one of the most painful things that had ever happened to her in life, but at the same time he was one of the best things that could’ve ever happened. In a sick twisted way he was a curse that slowly revealed itself as a blessing in disguise. After a difficult delivery with Carlos she was told she’d have a slim chance of ever becoming pregnant again and true to that doctor’s words after years of trying nothing; she’d never conceived again but then Jah came along and he was like the child she could never have.
Jah couldn’t understand why his Aunt was staring at him like that and to be honest it was making him type nervous. “Aunt Kit Cat you a’ight?” Jah asked walking over to her with urgency reaching for her hand to see if she was injured. Something’s never change Cathy thought to herself as she had a flashback of a family outing at a park. All three boys hopped out of the car and took off running to the playground but Jah came back shortly after with a bouquet of marigolds, weeds and grass. He handed his makeshift flowers over to his Aunt and asked if she was okay because she looked sad. Cathy chuckled as she accepted her flowers and placed a kiss on his cheek. Now he stood towering over her looking so much like his father it was scary at times, asking her if she was alright. “Jah I’m fine baby,” Cathy replied as she brushed past him and made a beeline to the kitchen.
Her mind was wondering already and she knew the ghosts of her past were going to be walking through her mind all night long. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of wine and popped the cork. Cathy poured herself a fresh glass all while avoiding Jah’s burning gaze. She took the first glass to the head almost downing it in one gulp as she grabbed the bottle and glass to make her way back into the living room. Jah watched in amusement as Cathy went back to the scene of the throw down like it was nothing brushing pieces of cheese off of her custom made cream colored sofa before taking a seat. She picked up the remote from the cocktail table that controlled all the electronics in the living room and turned on her fireplace. The sounds of the fire crackling provided Cathy with the relaxation she needed as she sat quietly watching the flames burn into embers. Jah sat silently on the opposite end of the couch, it was obvious his Aunt needed a moment, talking was the last thing she wanted to do. Jah’s ringing phone suddenly cut through the thick silence like a knife. He looked down at his phone and noticed it was his wife. He wouldn’t have picked up if it was anybody else. “Meema what’s good Ma?” Jah asked as his ears were greeted by the wails of his son. “Jah he fell down the stairs!” Keema screamed all hyped up. She had her son in her arms rocking him as he held his little hand to his head and cried. “What you mean he fell down the stairs Keema? How the hell he fall down the stairs? You don’t be watchin him damn yo!” “Jah I was watching him!” Keema screamed defensively. “I ran upstairs to grab my phone to call you and I forgot to close the gate back.” Jah could hear his son’s cries simmering down; he could only imagine the knot he would have on his head. Lil Jah was always into some shit, he was like a little crash test dummy. He would fall cry then go back to doing the same thing that got him hurt. Cathy chuckled inwardly as she listened to Jah’s convo, baby Jah was a little hellion took after Jah too damn much. He was the cutest little thing but he was a handful. As soon as he got mobile and learned to crawl and walk it was over with. The last time they came to visit he threw Cathy’s cell phone in the garbage. She was looking all over for it finally giving up and telling Jah to call it. Both Jah and her laughed when they heard it ringing from the trash can. Once Jah hung up Cathy was able to say her piece. “Jah go home to your family and apologize to your wife she’s a good mother, shit happens. You know that boy is a full-time job and then some.” Cathy’s comment made them both chuckle lightly. Jah looked at Cathy and she already knew what was coming. “Jah I’m fine. Take one of the cars and bring it back when you get a chance.” she instructed before taking another sip. He was low-key nervous about leaving his Aunt in this condition. One thing he knew for sure though was that Cathy was a strong woman and could pull through just about anything. Jah stood up from the couch walked over and gave his Aunt a kiss on the cheek before heading out.
Meanwhile, Nice was on his way from dropping V off and he was heading back to Cathy’s to check on her despite her telling him five minutes ago not to drive way back out to her place because she was fine. Fuck that he was still going to check on his Mama. He decided to call Los and put him onto what happened. Los was lying on his back with Lucky in his arms; his eyes were closed as he ran one hand leisurely through Lucky’s hair. She was already out like a light, snoring lightly with her head on his chest. He assumed she must’ve been more than tired, all them late night cramming seasons had finally caught up with her. He opened his eyes and looked at the bridal magazine on the nightstand he was almost tempted to reach over and open the book to the sticky tabs she had sticking out of the magazine but he decided against it knowing Lucky would lose her mind since everything was supposed to be top secret regarding her dress. He smiled to himself thinking on how excited she was to be planning their wedding then out of nowhere he thought about a subliminal his Aunt dropped about Lucky possibly cheating in the past. She didn’t directly say it because she knew he would never allow her to talk about Lucky but she said it in a roundabout way, throwing it out in the air hoping he would catch it. Los wasn’t slow so hell yeah he caught what she was insinuating and he would be lying if he said that shit ain’t fuck with him for a couple of days. He knew he hadn’t been the best man to Lucky in the past but she was his, all his and he couldn’t even imagine another nigga crawling all up in his throne. He looked down at Lucky as she slept and shook his head. Nah she ain’t fuck no nigga on me, Nah not my Baby Los assured himself.