Maybe, Maybe Not

18. Family Not Friend

Work was about to be crazy. Now she had to attend those commission meetings after work and she would be too tired to hang out at Nikko's place so after her meeting she went home beat from the night.

They ate dinner at the meeting so she did not have to worry about that. She texted Nikko to explain and he was cool with that.

While crashed on the sofa, her ring camera alerted her that someone was at the door. She looked at her phone and saw that it was her sister, Mercia. Actually her half-sister, but in her family there were no halves or steps.

She went to let her sister in.

"Hey, what's up? You come over without calling? When do we do that?"

"My bad, sis." Her sister hugged her. "I haven't been over in a minute and I was driving by, soooo..."

And she left it at that. Her sister was not going to finish that sentence. She kind of was flighty, even at thirty-six years old. When her parents divorced, they each remarried and had more children. Mercia was from her father's new wife, Martha who was a white woman, so Mercia was bi-racial.

They looked nothing alike you would not know they were related. Mercia's sandy brown hair was cut short, she was tatted up on both arms, sleeves as they called it, and had a piercing in her nose, eyebrow, and tongue. Ouch!

She worked as a tattoo artist, so she had to walk around and be a walking billboard.

"My niece and phew around?"

"You know they haven't lived with me since I moved out of the house."

"I still can't believe you gave up that big ass crib for this lil ass apartment. That man could have swung for a house or a nice condo after you raised his babies, cooked and cleaned after him, and basically gave up your life for twenty-something years."

"You act as if I didn't choose to stay home and take care of my family."

"Meh! Well, look at you now, all alone, no family." Her tall and leggy sister flopped down on the sofa she was using as her bed at the moment, then kicked off her shoes as if getting comfortable.

Even though she was tired and had no energy to be social, she did what any big sister would do, sat on the nearby chair, snuggled her feet under her, and entertained her sister. "How about we talk about you and what's going on with you."

Mercia looked her dead in her eyes before stating, "I'm trying to get my own shop but I need some funds to get things started."

Of course, her sister came to her with money. She could bet she was the first she was going to hit up for money. All her siblings thought she had money. Not because of her own doing but, because they expected her to freely give her ex's money when she was married. Theo was the wealthy one, and he gave her a budget to take care of the house and then more for herself. When there was extra, sure she would give to the siblings that asked, but that was then.

Why did they think she had any extra money to spare after the divorce?

"That's interesting. Do you know anything about running your own business? Having a shop and taking care of bills and expenses?"

"It can't be that hard. How much can you give me?"

"Mercia, you know what kind of job I have, I have nothing for you."

Mercia sucked her teeth at her in a taunting way. "Girl, stop lying. How much did Theo give you for alimony? I know you got a killing."

All she ever asked her ex for was support for the children, even though they were adults. The home would go to them, they were the beneficiaries of any life insurance, and he had to set up a trust for them. If she took anything from him, she would feel he had a say so in how she spent it, as in the marriage. No, everything she had in her apartment she paid for herself.