Stormz on the Horizon

Past to Present

Tuesday Evening
Arabia, Mississippi

Ivory has forced herself to make distractions or be around consistent noise for the last week, so she wouldn't have to listen to her own thoughts. The bustle and business of the Atlanta airport couldn't even halt her deteriorating mental. She wished the flight was turbulent, but it wasn't. It was smooth sailing. She wanted so badly to feel any other fear that could be understand by complete strangers. That plane going down sounded better than what she was facing. To her demise, the trip was fine. She was even able to take a nap for the one hour course of travel. Mica was there like he said he'd be, standing outside the glass doors and leaning on his car. He hadn't shown that he was happy to see her, but he was, they both were. It just seemed mutually, there was nothing happy about the occasion. They shared a long lasting hug before finally loading up his pickup truck.

"You still ain't learned the concept of packing light, have you?" Mica asked, placing her last duffle in his trunk with a grunt.

"Boy, you know I gotta have options," she said.

"You ain't going no fucking where, what you tryna prance around my apartment looking cute for nothing?"

"Duh. You must've forgot how I roll," she rolled her eyes.

He sighed, "Nah, Ian forgot. Come on let's get outta here. We ain't gone beat the dark, but it's ight."

It was an oddly quiet ride for the two siblings. On top of the fact that they hadn't seen each other since he popped in and out to Diamond's first performance, the energy in the vehicle was off. How quickly Mica got her here made Ivory wonder about her brother's life. She planned to get to the bottom of everything, including that. His whereabouts was something that their parents always seemed to believe she knew. Everyone painted Amber as the rebellious, hardheaded sister, but it's really Ivory. This is just what sneaking around got her and she's hoping she won't pay the price. On her list of questions about how to fix this shit, she poses, "how will my brother help me?", over and over. While her thoughts stir, so do his as he drives mindlessly. He wanted to push her out of the moving car when they drove over the water and into the city limits. The decisions she's made have him shocked, but was he any better? He found himself elsewhere when he should have been watching his little sister closer than what he did all those years ago. He couldn't fault her. But he knows who he can 100%, without a doubt, fault. It was a tie between two people who hadn't properly settled their debts. He doesn't even know what his sister will say, but he knows it's bad. They'd driven way across town, all the way to the east side. Ivory wished she was coming home with butterflies and excitement, but all she is consumed with is dread and terror, watching the familiarity pass by. She noticed they were gone pretty far out from the city, then she realized she didn't know where Mica had been living for the last year and some change. They even passed Lexington Road, that's how she knew he didn't want to be found. The apartments that way are really nice, but not many stayed out that way because that road is always a mess. Ivory also had an inkling it was for other reasons too. Once, Baby D beat up a boy around her age, then, in front of her on that road. She turned her head before he was finished, but she's almost certain he was buried alive. His scream echos in her head every now and again. She tried her best to shake off the memory of standing in that freezing cold and watching Baby D behave like an animal. Soon, they pulled up to Mica's spot, where he would be hiding her until Friday.

After settling in, Mica was ready for her to spit it all out. The two sat on his sectional, on two opposite ends.

"Start talking. Don't leave out a shred of information," he ordered, arms folded and all.

Ivory looked flustered at the immediate dive into the conversation. "Mica, I just got here. I'm exhausted and have no energy."

"Yeah? You don't look how you claim you feel," he observed with an attitude. They didn't have time for leisure. She was here for security reasons.