And Then I Die (Urban Novel)

Prologue

For those of  you that thought Ivory and Ohaji belonged together... <3

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My body twitched as my sister applied grease to my sensitive and exposed scalp. The braids were a bit too tight but being the people pleaser I was, I remained silent and tried my best to follow along with the gossip she had for me.

"You talked to dad recently?" Shea questioned tightening the already tight grip she had on my thick hair. Every time my sister did my hair she acted as if she was fighting for her life and the only way to do it was to hurt me as much as possible.

I gave a silent nod keeping my eyes peered down into my lap eyeing the French tip manicure. I had a horrible relationship with our father and sometimes she acted as if, just because they got along it had to be that way for me.

Shea stared at me in the tall mirror that sat in her lavish living room. Her piercing brown eyes showed nothing but judgment because I didn't want to be associated with our father.

"You know how that goes, daddy talks and we listen" I muttered folding my arms. For a brief moment I felt like I was a child again about to be scolded for being outspoken. I immediately felt the need to get defensive, she was my older sister and the clear favorite.

"He's just misunderstood. Everything he did was to protect us and give us a good life, you've let mom brainwash you"

Her words went in one ear and out the other. You don't scream at your children over small things and do everything in your power to control them, even when you're behind bars for the rest of your natural born life.

Leander Eaton was a lot of things but misunderstood was not one of them. He and I didn't get along, we never clicked as he would say to some. Shea was his pride and joy and that is often how he would introduce her to the people around him.

I was just Seleah, not as pretty and hardheaded. I didn't have that same hustle mentality he had passed onto my sister, she was his daughter through and through and I took after our mother.

Unlike Shea, I took that as a compliment. Our mother never excused her actions and was remorseful for everything that had happened. She regretted the day she met our father and would do anything in her power to take back choosing him as a husband.

Our father arose to prominence as one of the biggest drug traffickers America had ever seen in the 90s. He shipped out drugs, and imported them around the world. It was the stuff of legends, and had I not lived through the Fed raids and the multiple attempts on my life, I wouldn't believe it either.

He went to prison in 04' when I was only two and for the first few years after that, things were tough for my family. The Feds ceased all the money he had been putting away and made it their mission to come after our mother, any way to link her to that monster.

"How am I brain washed? Did he not kill people for money? Did he not try and kill our mother for thinking about leaving him? He would of rather us be married off to different types of men in the drug world to advance his own pockets. You sound brainwashed" I blurted out.

I shut my eyes feeling my sisters grip tighten even more like she fully intended on ripping the hair from my scalp.

Shea let go of my hair and when I opened my eyes she had taken a step back as if I had just insulted her. I rubbed my scalp where she was finishing off the last braid as we both sat in silence.

Her front door opened and slammed closed causing us both to look up. The picture that sat on the end table tumbled over onto the wood floor as we heard quickened footsteps.