As She Sat [August Alsina]

Chp. 9

"Hey Daddy" Yas greeted with a small smile on her face.

"Hey baby. Where Jameson? And did you talk to your aunt?"

"He with Kia."

"I understand. And your aunt?"

"Yes, sir. I did. She said she would call me if anything changes with grandma."

"You know it would be good to go back home and see some family. You haven't been back there in years." He prompted.

"And you know why I haven't been back in years."

"Baby girl, I know you still mad but people change. I'm sure they have forgotten all about it."

I scuffed. "They might have but I sure as hell didn't and won't. The moment they can take accountability for abusing me and saying what they said about our family then NEVER! And I do mean never. You shouldn't even let that thought cross your mind to be on their side when they said the things they said about your wife and kids."

Yasmin's blood was boiling now. His family always found ways to pick at and harass her our family.

"I'm sorry. I tr—"

"Tried? You ain't try hard enough! You LET your sister put my momma in jail for something she didn't do. Made her lose her job. You LET her whip me in my back with extension cords and made lift things when I broke my arm." She refused to show weakness in front her father so she held her tears.

"I'm sorry. All I can say is I'm sorry. I can't change the past. I'm trying to fix it now. I didn't let her because I didn't know."

She dropped and shook her head. "The most disrespectful thing you can say to me about that is you didn't know. You knew when I showed you the welts on my skin. You knew when I had to be rushed to the hospital in her care. You LET her the countless times you didn't believe me over your sister." She stood on her feet and prepared to walk out. Her father just sat there with no emotion. No tears. No transparency to even suggest he regretted it.

Growing up Yasmin was always the one his family picked at. It was never any protection for her from her daddy. Her momma would be the one to shut things down.

"And you know ... I always wondered why Momma stay with you all those years. It wasn't because she wanted to. It was because you broke her so bad that it forced her to stay under your shadow. That woman stopped loving you so many years ago. My advice to you... is to dwell on that, take heed to your own thoughts and actions; before you lose the last person who gives a damn about your ass. But all that said and I still love you."

She turned on her heels and took that deep breathe. It was bad enough that she had to get crap from them but her dad. It was just wild.

———

"I'm sorry ma'am, but your card has declined and we cannot allow partial payment with the balance that you owe."

She thought in her head that's the stupidest thing ever. Why wouldn't take the money I do have. "Is there anyway I can get an extension until the 5th?"

"No. I'm sorry. You have exceeded the allowed limit for an extension. You have until 4pm on the 29th to pay the full remaining balance. If you have a credit card, I can accept that." The clerk said.

She sighed and looked at her son. "I don't. Thank you."

Yasmin left the main office for her apartments. It was so frustrating that she blew through her saving and is now scraping by.

Her lease was nearly up and she didn't want to be evicted. The idea of asking Kia for the money came to mind but she didn't want to put that on her. It wasn't play money for sure. She thought to herself "maybe I could downsize to a smaller place" but that still wouldn't fix her problem with the bills.

It was so hard trying to get back her feet after everything that's happened. To keep her family from falling under water, Yasmin swallowed her pride and picked up her phone.

"Hey. Can you meet me? I'm home. I need to talk to you about something?"

"Right now? I'm finishing up something but I can be there in about 30 minutes."

"Thank you. See you then."

The phone disconnected. For the whole 30 minutes, Yas paced back and forth a thousand times. Everything in her heart said go through with it but her mind said fuck that shit; get it on your own. If it was just her, she would've thugged it out.

A knocking sound came from the other side of the door. It made her jump. She took 3 deep breaths in and out before going the door. The knocked came once again causing her to hurry and open it.

"Hey. What you needed to talk about?"

Yas sat on the couch nervously. Kia looked at her and was so unsure of everything.

"Girl? You okay? What happened? Did your dad do something?" She questioned as her cousin sat there quietly. Kia eased her was over to have a seat beside her. "Come on. Talk to me."

"I don't know how to say this.. I know I seem like I'm doing fine but truth is —— I'm underwater bad. I been trying so hard to balance my budget and take shortcuts to make ends meet but I can't do this by myself anymore." The tears she tried hard to hold back escaped.

"What you talking about?"

"Kia. I am 3 months behind on rent and I have until the 29th to pay it. I took out a small loan to cover the last few months but I didn't get back on my feet as soon as I expected. My credit cards maxed out. Truth be told: I'm broke."

"Why didn't you tell me? How much is it?"

"I didn't tell you because I thought I could handle it. I owe $3,840. I only have $2,300 right now. Jameson has to get his food and pay other bills. This check won't pay for it all."

"I'll pay your rent. Your money you can use on JuneBug plus some groceries and rebuild your savings. You know I don't have a problem watching JuneBug if you need to do extra hours. I wish you would've told me sooner. You my cousin and I love you. Being here for you is in my job description." Kia took her cousin into her embrace.

"Thank you. Confession?" Kia nodded. "Half my tears are about my daddy. He made some so mad today. He denied ever knowing about what my aunt did to me."

"Your dad may never change. You have put all that in the past. I know it's easy to say but being angry will make you be the old Yas and your family now don't need that. My aunt is in heaven now cheering for you." Kia giggled causing Yasmin to follow.

"I guess I'll just have to work on that." The two sat there in each other arms hugging.

"Confession?" Kia announced still holding on.

"I haven't told Chris about Royal. I want to but I'm scared." She cried and let go of Yas.

"You have to tell him. On your own time, yes, but you have to tell him. Things might change when you see his reaction."

"You right. I need to tell him. I want to tell him before our trip. It will 3 years in a four days. Maybe that's the time."

"Don't pressure yourself if you feel overwhelmed. Promise?"

"I promise." She confirmed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Thanks for reading. - Ky 🌻