Kiara
"Mom? Dad? Where are you?" I call out, wandering around the house with Candy right behind me.
"Over here!" Mom shouts from the kitchen. I find her cooking dinner while Dad sits at the table, engrossed in his laptop, as always.
"Well, aren't we lucky to have you and Candy gracing us with your presence? What's the special occasion?" she says sarcastically, pressing her lips into a thin line.
Guilt gnaws at my gut just as she intended it to. See, this is why I don't like coming around unless I have good news to give them, and lately my life has been a shit show. Especially, since I let Lavender move in.
"We were just in town and wanted to see you," Candy cuts in with a sweet, ass-kissing smile. "It's been a while, Mrs. Black."
Mom's attitude vanishes in a heartbeat. That's because she really loves Candy. Like LOVES her. Sometimes I even wonder if she prefers her over me.
"Well, y'all come sit down. The rolls and chicken will be ready in a minute."
We both sit down at the large, round wooden table. Dad doesn't even glance up from his laptop, but that's pretty typical for him.
"Hey Mom, where's Lav?" I ask, attempting to hide the disgust in my tone at mentioning her name.
The timer goes off and Mom grabs an oven mitt. "I think she's upstairs. You know, she just got a new job," she says, taking the food out of the oven.
"What? As I stripper?" I bite out.
"Honey, I believe they're called exotic dancers now," Dad mumbles, glancing up at me momentarily before returning to his work.
I give a sarcastic slow clap and say, "Oh, what an accomplishment! Your daughter has found another job where she can shake her ass naked."
By the way, I have nothing against exotic dangers. I just hate my sister's guts and wish my parents would climb out of her ass sometimes.
Mom scowls at me. "Come on, Kiara, cut your sister some slack. She just got out of jail recently."
Slack? How much fucking slack does she need? She just spent three months rent-free in my apartment fucking my boyfriend behind my back!
"I can't believe you kicked her and Jordan out of your apartment while they were getting back on their feet. That was very cruel of you, young lady," she continues to lecture me like I'm a teenager again, and not a grown ass woman.
I can feel my body trembling with rage now. I'm two seconds from exploding and airing out all Lavender's shit when I hear two sets of footsteps coming down the stairs.
Candy and I glance at each other. I need to confirm for myself that both parents know Lavender is in a relationship with my ex-boyfriend and decided not to tell me.
As Jordan and Lavender enter the dining room, his eyes widen. "Oh Kiara, you're here."Lavender simply ignores me, grabbing his hand and leading him to the table.
They plop down in front of us, and I give my little sister a death stare. I can feel Candy's knee bouncing under the table, her fury practically seeping out. If I don't speak up first, I know she will do it and it will sound a lot less nice coming from her.
Mom places a plate in front of each of us and sits next to Dad. "Tyrone, it's dinner time. Take a break from work," she hisses, clearly annoyed. He brushes off her comment and starts digging into his meal.
What a delightful family dinner we're having (note the sarcasm).
Other than the clanking of utensils, the room is wrapped in a heavy silence. I notice Jordan and Lavender, their hands intertwined, exchanging whispers.
So they're just going to act like this is normal?
After a moment, I clear my throat and say, "Are we going to address the elephant in the room or what?"
Lavender shoots me a glare. "Yeah, why don't you tell Mom how you aimed a gun at your own sister?"
Mom's voice rises as she exclaims, "You did what?"
I scoff, rolling my eyes. "Why don't you tell her how I caught you on all fours fucking my boyfriend?"
"Watch your language at the dinner table, Kiara! Tyrone, are you not gonna say anything?" Mom screeches, her voice piercing through the room like nails on a chalkboard.
"What do you want me to do, Diana? I have a big project to finish for next week's meeting," he says calmly, with a furrowed brow. He takes his plate and laptop, heading out of the room. "I'll eat dinner in my study tonight. Good luck, girls."
Mom's mouth hangs open in disbelief as she watches him escape. "Seriously, Tyrone? You're just gonna bail like that?"
Well, this is getting out of hand now.
"Why did you tell Mom and Dad I kicked you out without explaining why?" I ask, the anger seeping into my words.
She shrugs. The bitch really shrugs like this isn't a big deal.
Candy's trying to comfort Mom with her mouth stuffed with a dinner roll."Don't worry, Mrs.Black, they just need to work things out. I doubt it will get physical."
The second Lavender's hand connects with my cheek, my vision goes red. I lunge across the table at her, knocking her and the chair to the floor.
"Oh damnnnn!" Candy exclaims. "Ma'am, why don't we go in the other room?"
Grabbing a handful of my sister's braids, I slam her head against the carpet over and over.
"Get off of me, bitch!" she screams. She claws at my arms, my face, anything she can reach, but my grip tightens until I'm sure the pull is burning her scalp.
"Tyrone, help! The girls are hurting each other!" Mom screams.
"Why couldn't you just go find your own boyfriend to fuck?" I growl, pinning her hands above her head.
A smirk plays at her lips. "You still don't get it, huh? It was all to hurt you. To fuck up your perfect little life."
I let her go, dropping my hands in defeat. She wanted to ruin my life just because she made bad decisions in hers? What a fucking joke.
"You know, Lavender, I actually feel bad for you," I reply thoughtfully, "your life has to be pretty pathetic to spend all this time trying to hurt me."
"Fuck you, Kiara!" she screams, spitting in my face.
I wipe my face and deliver one final, thunderous slap. Then, I calmly get off of her and approach Jordan who's just standing there witnessing the chaos he caused. He retreats, clearly intimidated by a woman half his size. "L-Look Kiara, we can talk about this," he stammers.
I grab a glass of water from the table and splash it in his face. "There's nothing else to talk about. You and Lavender can rot together in hell for all I care."
I turn to look at Candy and Mom, who looks like she's about to pass out. "You're not going to hit him?" Candy asks, disappointment evident in her voice.
I shake my head. "Nope, wouldn't be fair since he won't hit me back," I mumble.
Everything quiets down as I put all the leftovers away and clean the kitchen. It's the least I can do for coming over here and fucking up their perfect, family dinner. Jordan and Lavender disappear back upstairs. Candy spends this time comforting my mom. Who knows why Dad never came back, I'm guessing he must have fallen asleep or something.
As we're leaving, Mom stops me. There's guilt all over her face. "I'm sorry about what happened with you and your sister, I assumed you knew she was with Jordan. She told me you gave them your approval."
"Well, I'm glad you believe everything the lying criminal says," I say, rolling my eyes.
She sighs. "You can't be angry with her forever, ya'll are blood. I hope you will be able to forgive her and soon because believe it or not, ya'll need each other."
I need her for what? To try to destroy my life? To have an affair with my boyfriend and run me out my own apartment? Yeah, I think she already accomplished that.
"The only thing I need from her is stay out of my life," I say between clenched teeth.
If she caught on fire and I had a cup of water to save her life, I would drink it. At least, that's how I feel right now. Who knows, maybe in the future, I'll be open to sparing a few drops.