REPEATED MISTAKES

Chapter 6 - Do You Love Tony?

Angel Michael had beaten Tony badly, but Tony still couldn’t keep his mouth shut. If not for Tyler's intervention, he might have been killed. Now, Angel Michael was gone.

"Why didn’t you fight him?" Tony demanded, still angry.

"Brother, I died last week—I don’t have the strength," Tyler replied, looking tired.

"What do you mean you don’t have strength? Was I the one who told you to marry a cheating wife?" Tony shot back.

"Yes, I was blinded by love. But unlike you, I’m not stupid enough to leave my woman pregnant or get into a fight with someone I know can kill me," Tyler responded nonchalantly.

"Where’s your brother?" Tony asked, changing the subject.

"You mean, our brother?" Tyler corrected.

"Where is he? You talk too much," Tony said, laughing.

They both laughed it off, even though Tyler had no clue where Troy was.

Morning had come, and Sarah was still searching for her new friend, Tony. She couldn’t find him anywhere in the house. She sat on the kitchen counter, drinking a hot black coffee—not because she liked it, but because it reminded her of him. Why couldn’t I stop thinking about Tony? she wondered.

Upstairs, Tony and Tyler were gossiping about their elder brother’s family.

"She can’t have kids—she’s barren," Tony said, laughing.

"I know. Back then, Troy was so stupidly in love with her," Tyler replied, matching Tony's energy.

"No one to carry on his dead lineage," Tony sneered.

"I remember when he used to hate us even looking at Mabel because she was ‘too beautiful and too good for us,’" Tyler added mockingly.

"Beautiful and barren—the perfect combination," Tony said loudly, and both burst into laughter.

Meanwhile, Tom and Tiana had told their mother, Xello, about their father’s death.

"Guess what, y'all?" Xello said excitedly to her friends. "My ex-husband is dead!" she declared, grinning from ear to ear.

The group screamed in celebration, and Xello and her friends threw a party that day.

Tom wasn’t surprised by his father’s death. He had long since stopped caring about what anyone told him to do. His focus now was on how to convince Vivian to abort the baby she was carrying. He was drunk when it happened, and while they’d done it plenty of times before, that one time, he hadn’t used protection.

Tiana, on the other hand, was relieved. At least now her mother could smile again, even if the smile was still a bit fake. Xello had been heartbroken ever since Tyler divorced her for a 24-year-old. That heartbreak had lasted three years, the same time Tyler had been divorced before his death. Tiana had never liked Vivian, mainly because Vivian had dated her cousin, Travis, even though she knew Tiana loved him. They were cousins, but…

By 3:30 p.m., Sarah had returned from work, but her mind was still on Tony. She couldn’t stop thinking about him, and she wandered the house, still searching. Not even a goodbye, she thought sadly to herself.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Tyler was prancing around in Sarah’s pajamas, pretending to be a princess. "I’m a princess!" he said loudly, cat-walking across the room. Just then, Sarah turned around, startled.

"Ohhh..." Tyler said nervously, freezing in place.

"Hi," he said sheepishly.

Sarah stared at him, noticing the resemblance to Tony. "Who are you?" she asked, confused.

But before Tyler could answer, Sarah collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Standing tall above her was Tony, his face deadly serious.

"Why didn’t you tell me you were staying with this girl?" Tyler asked.

"She won’t be a problem anymore," Tony replied coldly, his expression unreadable.