Bernice

41

September 5
August,

"What's up?" I asked Lonte. "There's a black car following me. It's two cars behind me and I don't know where to go to." He informed me. Way to make it obvious. If they would've used a different color car, it wouldn't have been so obvious.

"I think they knew you were heading to my place." I thought. I grabbed a soda from the fridge. "They've followed us before but we didn't notice. How in the hell didn't we notice?" He outraged. I normally feel something when I'm followed. I don't know what's going on.

"It seems like they wanted us to be together in order for them to strike. That's not happening today." I mentioned. We need to find out who this is and fast. We're out of time. "Where do you think I should go?" He asked. I drank some soda. "LaMarcus's lounge." I answered.

"In the hood?" He asked. "Yes. He's got a lot of security so if something goes down, they got you. I'll meet you there." I said. I went upstairs. "You can't come." He told me. I sighed. "They're not going to see us both together unless they do something." I pointed out. I grabbed a jacket and my keys.

"Alright." He ended the call. I got in the car and called LaMarcus. He said he's got a tracking device that I can put on the car if I see it. I hope I will be able to catch a glimpse of who's after us. It took twenty minutes to get there.

I called Lonte. "I'm here." I mentioned. I looked around my areas to see if I can see the black car. "I think they left when I got here." He said. That seems strange. They would've waited to see if I show up. "What's the type of car?" I questioned. "I took a pic. I'll send it to you." He said. "Ok. I'm going to drive around to see if they're somewhere. Stay put." I ordered.

LaMarcus knocked on my window. I rolled it down. "Here's the tracking device." He handed it to me. "Thanks." I replied. "It's all good." He nodded and left. I rolled the window back up.

I drove through nearby neighborhoods for fifteen minutes and I didn't see the car. I thought they would be nearby parked, just waiting for me to show up. I checked my phone. Lonte texted five minutes ago that the car just passed by there. I made a U-turn.

I later spotted the car parked at the gas station. I texted Lonte that I found them. Someone got out with a ski mask on and walked into the gas station. I parked my car on the street.

I watched my back while I went to put the tracking device under the trunk of the car. This will lead us to wherever they go in order to see who's behind this.

Bernice,

"Are you coming?" I asked Violet over the phone. She's washing the dishes. "Coming to where?" She wondered. "I told you I was taking the kids to see mom." I mentioned. I grabbed passion fruit juice from the fridge and poured it in a glass.

"I forgot. I made dinner plans with Kyron." She responded. I nodded and drank some juice. "You must really like him." I noticed. They went out two days ago, and then they're going out again. "He seems ok. I just met him so..." She dragged out the so.

"Well, you like him enough to agree to go on another date that soon." I said. I put my glass in the sink. "I'm treading carefully, 'cause you know'." She gestured to her past. She hasn't had any good luck with men. They always cheat on her, whether it's emotionally or physically.

"You have every right to." I supported her. I have always told her she'll find someone who'll loyal and all. I heard the door open. "I got to go. Bye' I said. "Bye." She ended the call.

"Babe." August yelled. I left the kitchen. He hugged me and kissed me. "Where are the kids?" He asked. "They're sleeping." I answered.

"Let me just shower and we'll head out." He mentioned. I nodded. While he did that, I got the kids up and dressed. I showered them earlier. The drive was long, and the kids were fussy as always.

"Oooh. My grandbabies are here." My mom exclaimed. She took Ashley from me. "Is that Bernice?" I heard. My eyebrows perked up. "Yes." My mom said. A lady walked down the stairs. I don't recognize her. I looked at my mom.

"Bernice this is Sonia your cousin." She told me. Since when? How? "You said you had no relatives." I recalled. "I did." She stated. "So?" I dragged. "Will you sit first?" She asked. August and Aaron were already sitting down.

"No." I said. August tugged my shirt. "Sit down." He said quietly. I crossed my hands and sat down. I wonder what else she could be hiding since that's what she's good at. Even now when we're on good terms, she didn't tell me she had family out there.

"How do you hide your kids from your family all these years? Who does that?" I outburst. She sighed. "I was a stubborn child. I would always go against what my parents would say. I got pregnant with you and my parents wanted me to abort it. Of course, I refused, and I decided to run away." She explained.

I understood her reason why. I wouldn't have wanted my kids around people who can't accept them. "I thought we were becoming close." I despaired. Looks like we'll never be. It took me a bit to get past her taking Ashley away from me.

"I'm sorry. I should've told you and your sister when you were little. I wanted to leave the past in the past." She apologized. "You decided to reconnect with your family after all these years?" I asked. It's been about 27 years. What made her do it now?

"I didn't. When I was at my last appointment, I ran into my older sister and things picked up from there. Sonia is her daughter, and she decided to visit me." She told me. "How come Violet doesn't know?" I wondered. She was with my mom at her last appointment. We made sure one of us follows her to her appointments.

"I told her she was an old friend." She replied. I knew Violet couldn't keep anything that has to do with mom from me anymore. "Oh wow." I shocked. Her sister must've been really hurt. I can't imagine my own sister denying me because of our parents.

August glared at me. "What?" I turned towards him. "Calm down." He suggested. I laughed. "Calm down? She's always hiding something. What else is she hiding?" I wondered.

Sonia stood up from the couch. "I think I should go." She stated. "It was nice meeting you." I told her. I have nothing against her. We just met at a bad time. "You too." She smiled and left.

"Is there anything else you're hiding?" I asked my mom. "No." She said. I stared at her to see if she's lying. I feel like she's not. I'll trust her on that.

I stood up. "August, let's go." I spoke sternly. "No. I didn't drive all the way here for nothing. Let her spend time with the kids." August refused. We stared at each other for a couple minutes. "Fine, you won." I blinked and sat down.