Double Trouble 2: Twisted Sisters

Chapter Fifteen

Thanksgiving turned out to be a much-needed vacation for my parents and me. When we arrived, all four of my grandparents hugged us and welcomed us into the house. My father's mother (Granny) forced us into the living room and wouldn't let us do anything just brought us drinks and snacks and fussed over us. My mother's mother (Big Mama, the smallest woman I knew with the biggest personality) began to talk our ears off as we sat, but it wasn't annoying; it was just nice to be around people who loved us. No one brought up my sister's absence, even though it was felt by everyone.

Throughout the day, everyone began to arrive, the house got lively, and we were all having a good time. My dad agreed to foot the bill for Wednesday night to order us Chinese food, and we all ate and drank, just talking and catching up with each other.

My parents and I were grateful that no one made my sister's absence awkward or brought it up. Several of them had shown up for different parts of the trial to support us. When the whole thing first blew up, we had family pouring in, coming to visit, disbelief written over all their faces as we explained that my sister had tried to kill me. We told the whole story, knowing it would come out in the trial anyway. No one could understand how such a nice, intelligent girl could become what she had, but they didn't condemn us; they didn't blame us or say we did anything wrong, which was more than I could say about people who heard about others that witnessed the trial.

When the story first broke, my parents and I, even Jason and Marcus, got a lot of backlash from the public. Opinions were flying everywhere about the situation. My parents were called bad and neglectful parents, people claiming they were playing favorites, and my sister retaliated out of anger and attention. I was an awful sister who bullied her twin and cared more about boys than my own blood. Jason and Marcus were dogs and players who were two-timing the twins. All of it was ridiculous, and the insinuations hurt us all.

All of us had moments where it looked like we would lose our jobs because of the bad press. I was thankful that our employers stood by us because we had proven we were trustworthy, honest, talented people with solid reputations before that, but it scared the hell out of me that I could have lost the career I had worked so hard for. We did have those that believed in us.

However, others on our side felt that my sister had been odd, and they could sense her jealousy, having had odd moments when they were discussing me. That was news to me and kind of concerning, seeing as her insane side completely blindsided me, but at least I didn't have to prove myself to anyone. Yet, the scrutiny of those first few months was insane and wore everyone out. I was beyond grateful when it finally calmed down, and she was found guilty. Then those that had doubted us all of a sudden with the bullshit 'Oh, of course, I believed you; you just know how people are.' I cut a lot of folks off during that time.

As the night wore on, the older folks began to play cards or sit around gossiping, so my cousins and I excused ourselves to the backyard. I had four cousins, two boys, and two girls, from my mom's older sister. Jamila and her brother James were twins, 26, and then there was Malika, who was 23 like myself, and her younger brother Trenton who had recently turned 21 from my mom's younger sister. Trenton, who was taking full advantage of his legal age, pulled out a bottle of Crown Royal, and his sister lit a blunt. We sat talking and catching up before someone finally asked the question.

James, who wasn't particularly known for his tact, said, "Hey, cuz, can I ask you a question?" I tensed, guessing where he was headed but decided to go with it. I nodded, taking another swig of my drink.

"How were you able to deal with your sister trying to kill you?" Jamila immediately smacked him upside the head while everyone else just shook their head. "What? You can't pretend you don't want to know." Malika said, "You don't just come out of nowhere with some shit like that, though. Damn, man, read the room." Jamila said, "I apologize for my idiot brother; he really does mean well. We just want to know that you are all right."