Family Lies

True

"I told you not to tell her!" I snapped while trying to figure out what part of what I said my mom didn't understand. "True, I—," I cut her off, "Naw, I don't wanna hear that. You think you know Tré just cuz you finally decided you wanted to spend time with her? Well you don't!"

"We wasn't tryna tell her True," Irving cut in and I looked at him like he was out of his mind for parting his lips to me. "Me and Dottie were in here talking and all of a sudden Tré burst through the door spewing the anger of a demon."

"I don't think I was talking to you," I pointed my fingers at him like a gun. "That's some bullshit anyway."

"But he's telling you the truth, True. Irving was just tryna console me and Tré heard what she heard and there wasn't no going backwards from there." She approached me, wiping her face dry. I huffed. "Did my sister hit you?"

I watched her shake her head no. "Irving got in the middle. Do you think we should try to go talk to her?"

"And give my sister another opportunity to hit me?!" She looked like she wanted to laugh but I was dead serious.

"It ain't no talking to Tré when she mad. She ain't ready to hear shit either one of us got to say. We might as well just leave her alone."

"Well I'm tired of letting things go unsaid... let's give her an hour. Go to your room, I wanna talk to Irving for a minute. I'll come get you."

"Well I won't be getting caught up in that crossfire. I'll watch from the door."

I left their room to go chill in my own. But as it turns out I wouldn't be getting the chance to really relax if I wanted to. I was stuck listening to Tré cry her eyes out as she talked to her girl Nicci on the phone and it all left me burdened with guilt. Hearing how Tré truly felt about this whole ordeal had me questioning my own loyalty to her just like she was. I always felt like my intentions when it came to how I dealt with Tré were nothing but pure and out of an instinct to protect her. Now however, I think I just may have been trying to protect myself and telling myself otherwise instead.

My mom came knocking and entering my door an hour later just like she said she would. 

"Come on," she said quietly. But I didn't move. I stayed laying there, staring up at the ceiling, hoping she would just go away. "True. Come on. Now," she said a little more sternly. I sighed as I sat up following her into the hallway. She knocked on the door before opening it and we saw Tré laying there with her back to us and the phone to her ear. "Tré can we talk to you for a minute?"

"Hell no." I can't say I didn't see that coming.

"Tré," she paused as she entered and stood beside the bed, "I need you to hang up the phone. We really need to talk about this."

"I can't. I'm having an important conversation right now. Yeah, Nic Ni—," my mom snatched the phone out of Tré's hand and my sister popped up fast as hell only to be pushed back down harder than a muthafucka. She put her finger right in Tré's face. "Now you bucked at me earlier and I letcho ass slide because we both was in our feelings. But I swear to God if you touch me I'ma rock yo muthafuckin' world. Hello?" My mouth fell open as she held the phone to her ear and Tré just turned her back on her and laid down. "Yeah Nicci, Treasure is gonna have to talk to you later, goodbye." She hung up the phone and sat it on the nightstand before sitting on the edge of the bed. She looked back at me. "Getcho ass in here."

I entered and sat at her feet, staring at my sister's back.

"I can understand why you're angry Tré."

"You don't understand shit," Tré spat back and I watched our mom just shake her head.

"There's a lot of things that I won't ever understand. And there may be a lot of things that you might feel like you won't ever understand. But I gotta tell you anyway. When I had the two of you... it felt like pieces of my world were crumbling away everyday and it wasn't because I didn't want you. I had a real hard pregnancy but when the nurses put you in my arms even though everything was fucked up I knew I had never loved anybody more than I loved the two of you."