Bounded Souls

20.

The two cousins had a stare down for what felt like forever before Sherrie scoffed and shook her head.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sherrie-"

"I gotta go. I don't need to sit here for this-"

Solana sighed, "Sherrie."

Sherrie jumped up from her seat and walked out from the backyard door. Solana followed her from the back of the house to the sidewalk.

"Sherrie, you can't just walk away everytime you hear something that you don't like."

"What do you want from me?" Sherrie yelled. " I don't need this right now."

"I want you to talk to me. Solana called out. "Is that true?"

Sherrie pursed her lips. "It's true."

Solana felt her heart break into pieces. She could barely collect her thoughts or even rationalize what she'd just heard.

"W-when'd this happen? W-why?"

"A few years ago," Sherrie sighed. "I started not too long after I got to Europe. A few women were doing it and I just decided to do it. I'm sorry, but-"

Solana wrapped her arms around her cousin and hugged her tightly. Sherrie tucked her face into Solana's neck and sobbed. They embraced each other tightly as they stood on the sidewalk, their bodies moving side to side.

"Don't apologize, it's your life. I just don't understand why."

"It brings in the money," Sherrie gulped. "It could be for other things like my dad not being around, not being able to be in a relationship, loving to have sex and getting attention from people. It could be anything. I don't think too deep into it, because it pays a lot. Especially the feet pics."

Solana chuckled.

The last thing that Solana wanted to do was judge her cousin. She didn't want to make her uncomfortable and make her feel like she was nasty or horrible for doing what she wanted to do. All she could do was support her cousin in other ways.

"I just want you to be safe. I know that doing this job could be very dangerous."

Sherrie smiled weakly, "I'm good. You know I'll always be good.

Solana sighed and looked back at the house.

"Are you gonna speak to her?"

"No," Sherrie ran her hands over her face. "I can't deal with her right now. Can you believe that she's my mother?"

Solana scoffed, "Yes, I can."

Sherrie smacked her arm and rolled her eyes playfully.

"We have each other, you know that."

From a young age they established that their mothers weren't people that they were able to depend on. They just so happen to be the women that gave birth to them, but they weren't mothers. But, they didn't understand how Lina could be so cruel to her child and was never able to give her grace.

"How about you come with me to the store? We have a lot to do before the revamped party."

"Let's go."

The girls made their way to the car and headed to the bakery. It didn't take them long to get to where they needed to go. Solana pulled into the parking lot and headed towards the entrance. Sherrie smiled with approval as she looked at the pastel purple and white balloons that were placed in front of the store. There was also work being done at the front, which seemed to be a patio.