𝙳𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝙱𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜
"Go wait in the car for me while I take this." I told Taraji. She nodded and headed for the car.
As she got inside, the phone stopped ringing. Within seconds it started ringing again. I stared at the incoming call for a few seconds before deciding to answer as I walked a little further away from the car.
"Are you serious?"
"My bad if I woke you shorty."
"What is it Dymond?" I questioned, running my hand through my hair out of frustration. "How do you even have a phone?"
"That's not important. You never replied to my message, and I need to know what's going on with T. Well, Taraji. I'm going crazy in here not knowing."
"Yeah, well, maybe you should've thought about that before you made the decisions you made."
"Seriously? Bro I just need to know what the fuck is happening. Don't make this about me and you. You're involved with my sibling, and I have a right to know how that is. Wassup?"
I took the phone away from my ear and looked over at the car. I didn't know whether I should let him know about her situation and I was having an even harder time trying to figure out if I should tell her about him. Even if she wanted to see him? Even worse, what if I told her about him and she spiraled even more. Bringing her to see her sister had only done more harm than good. She'd nearly killed that girl. How much could a child take emotionally at that age? She'd snapped and laid hands on her sister. What if I told her about this and she did the unthinkable—-took her own life.
"Hello?" Dymond said. I brought the phone back to my ear. I opened my mouth to say something but hesitated. Protecting this child was all I could think about even if I had to protect her from him. Physically I wasn't worried but emotionally I didn't want to scar her any more than she already was.
"Please." He begged. "Just talk to a nigga. Is Taraji okay?"
My heart sunk. I immediately felt stupid for feeling bad for him after how he'd scarred my family. How could I feel sympathetic toward someone who'd done something so unforgivable? Someone who'd gotten me shunned/disowned by mother? He'd ruined things for me. He'd ruined me. So had Kyaire. They'd only done it in different ways, but the emotional damage was still very much the same.
"No." I answered truthfully. "She's not okay Dymond. Her father had been physically abusive for some time after his encounter with you. Baby girl found the courage to report him and I ran into her at the station. I took her in temporarily until they can find somewhere to place her. As for Tanika, I'm standing in her yard now. The two of them just fought. So no, Taraji isn't okay. Neither of them are. You happy now?" I started pacing.
"Fuck." He said. There was silence for what seemed like a long time until I thought I heard sniffling. Knowing what I knew about him when it came to those girls, I kind of figured that those were angry tears he was shedding. He wasn't supposed to have a phone so that reaction was the only one he could give.
Ugh! Why the fuck did I care right now?
"Miss Dianna is everything okay?!" Taraji yelled from the car.
"It's fine!" I yelled back.
"Was that Taraji? Can I..." He paused as if he was trying to compose himself. "Can I talk to her?"
"She's been through enough. I can't put her through—"
"Does she hate me? Please don't tell me she hates me. Fuck. Just let me speak to her. I need to speak to her. Where's her father?"
