A Sister's Power. Cydney Rax

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СКАЧАТЬ What else? Did you kick him in his nuts?”

      “No, Lita. I wanted to though. But the things I did do made me look nothing like a woman who goes to church every other Sunday.”

      “You were mad, B. Your own husband did shady shit behind your back. He was acting like a perv and you got sick of it. God can’t blame you for that.”

      “I wasn’t worried about God being mad at me. I was worried about why I kept defending someone who shouldn’t have been defended. I thought I was going crazy.”

      “B, you weren’t crazy. You were facing a tough reality.”

      “There you go, Lita. I had to stop burying family secrets under a rug. And I finally got to the point, thank God, where I couldn’t make any more excuses for Nate. And so yeah. I cursed him out and hit him across his face; they were hard punches, Sis. I only got in four or five hits before he stopped me. You know Nate is strong and his arms are muscular.”

      “I hope he didn’t hit you back.”

      “No. He knew better.” Burgundy’s eyes moistened and it felt quite liberating to be upfront with her sister . . . to admit the truth and not sugarcoat her seemingly perfect life anymore.

      “Anyway, our fight ended. I calmed down. He could have had me arrested for assault and battery but he didn’t. We ignored each other for a couple of days. And then we talked. We made up. This happened right before I went out of town to that restaurant convention in Seattle. I don’t think I told you but back when our legal problems intensified, I begged my husband to get a room at a motel so he could be there instead of at the house. At first, he fought me on it but then he agreed it was the best decision. He moved out,” Burgundy sighed. “Things got better. I felt more peaceful. But sometimes I let Nate come home so he could see the girls and help me with certain tasks around the house. I was mad at him but I still let him be Mr. Taylor, be a good daddy to his girls and still act like a husband to his angry, disgusted wife.”

      “Ha. You’re a better woman than I am. I don’t know if I should admire you or call you the words I usually call you. But I don’t want to insult you in Target so I will leave that one alone,”

      “Thanks, Lita. You’re so kind,” she said jokingly. “I’m saying all this to say that all of us are just flawed human beings. I’ve done a few things I’m not proud of. And my kids might be guilty of the same. Stop being so hard on them, please. Because nothing’s normal right now. And there’s no telling when they will get back to normal. And that’s just Act I of my story right now, Ms. Alita Washington.”

      “Reeves, baby girl. I’m always a Reeves.”

      Burgundy allowed herself to show a genuine smile. “Geez, Ms. Reeves, I’ve talked so much that my daughter has probably placed fifteen bras in the shopping cart by now.”

      “She’s so grown you’d better hope she’s not trying to find bras that will fit her own chest.”

      “Ha. That would be funny. Thank God she doesn’t have to wear a training bra yet. But Natalia has definitely acted more grownish. I think she feels like she needs to mother . . . her mother.” Burgundy gave a wry smile. “It’s shocking, but at the same time Natalia’s behavior is admirable. I like that she’s concerned. It proves that my daughter isn’t as narcissistic as I feared.”

      “Mmm hmmm,” Alita murmured. She heard what Burgundy told her but she only believed half of it. She truly adored both of her nieces but didn’t have patience when kids acted like ‘entitled people-in-training.’

      “Anyway,” Burgundy said. “Change of subject. What are you doing in Super Target? Aren’t you more of a Walmart type of chick?”

      “Ha-ha, I know right. I don’t know, girl. I needed something that my neighborhood store didn’t have, and since I was in your area, I decided to take a chance and come here. And look who I run into.”

      “You were in my neighborhood? Really?”

      Alita had briefly moved in with Shade but recently he helped her get her own place on the southwest side of town. An affordable efficiency that was good enough for the moment; and he also financially helped her with a few of her utility bills.

      “Alita, you don’t stay anywhere near here. And if I didn’t know any better, I’d swear you were going out of your way to check up on me.”

      “Yeah, and so what? I can’t check on my sister?”

      “Of course, you can. To know that you care, that Natalia cares, that anybody out here cares about me, well, I’m all for it. I need it.”

      Right then Natalia cautiously approached her mother, breaking apart the nearness that Burgundy and Alita shared as they quietly talked in the lingerie aisle.

      “Mommy, I’m sorry to interrupt. But I found six different bras you can try on. Two black, two white, a lavender one, and a red sports bra. They didn’t have blue.”

      “Why thank you so much for finding these for me,” Burgundy said. She winked at Alita. “You’re such a big girl. Your daddy would be so proud of you.”

      Natalia acted like she didn’t hear her mother’s reference to Nate. She stared at the panties that her mother had found earlier which were now sitting in her shopping cart.

      Natalia frowned as she delicately picked up one pair of ‘barely there’ bikinis.

      “Mommy, I don’t like these at all. You’d better put this back. I’ll do it for you.” Natalia grimaced and proceeded to slide the sexy underwear back onto the clothing rack.

      Stunned, Burgundy could only shake her head.

      Things had certainly changed for her and her family. It was humbling to admit that life was not in her control. That even though she was a meticulous planner who knew what she wanted from life and had an idea of when she wanted those things to happen, she felt resentful when she realized that she had no power over any of her plans.

      * * *

      Thirty-three-year-old Burgundy Reeves Taylor had been married a little more than one decade when she became a widow.

      She never could have imagined that twelve years after she walked down the church aisle to marry her best friend, that she’d be back in church with him for a different reason: Standing in front of the altar, surrounded by family members and friends, staring at the taut, plastic, macabre face of Nate while he rested in a pine box.

      Last fall, during his funeral, she shook countless hands and accepted hug after sympathetic hug from all kinds of people. It seemed like the procession of mourners would never end. When she had a moment to take a break, she noticed two women standing around who she did not recognize. The younger woman’s leg kept jerking. She frequently gave Burgundy the once-over, then looked away. The lady next to her wore a pinched face, no smile. She seemed both hostile and annoyed. Finally the nervous woman approached Burgundy.

      “Hi,” she said.

      “Hello.”

      “I wasn’t sure if I should come up to you or not but I just wanted to tell you that I’m so sorry about what happened.”

      “Thank СКАЧАТЬ