Never Let Go

I Love You: Chapter 22

Ian P.O.V.
"Mar you better be up and brushing your teeth by the time I come in there." I yell from my room as I lazily got up from my bed.

It's been a week since we've been in the new house and to be honest I like it a lot. Marli's school is closer and the neighborhood is quiet and peaceful. Zania comes over as much as she can and I even gave her a key, that way when she picks up Marli from school for me she can get right in. Yesterday we officially finished unpacking and decorating and bought new furniture and everything that a house would need.

I won't lie, it's been tough trying to maintain school, football, work, and Marli. I mean Zania helps me out a lot but it goes beyond just physically. I know emotionally I'm tired and even though Marli is so young she still asks questions that I don't even want to answer. I mean how do you tell your baby sister that your parents are going through marital problems, your mother is drinking her life away, and your dad is sleeping with his secretary. Yeah I found that out when I stopped by to get the rest of my stuff and visit my Nana, but I was the one who got the surprise. I couldn't even stick up for my mom like I wanted to because she's not excused from the shit she's been doing either but under no circumstances should anyone ever be cheated on, especially if they are married.

Having these issues on my mind has been driving me crazy and my anxiety levels are through the roof. And to top it off, my Nana is getting sick and the doctors don't know why. I visit her as much as I can and every time I see her she tells me to hatch things out with my folks but honestly I feel like I shouldn't be the one to even ask for their forgiveness. I mean lets be real, they didn't even stop me when I moved out or took Marli. So that shows me that we aren't their first priority. Right now all I can ask is that y'all pray for ya boy.

Can y'all do that for me?

"Eye?!" I hear Marli yell from down the hall.

"What?" I yell back from the shower.

"Come here."

I shook my head before I stepped out the shower and wrap a towel around my waist. I walked out my bathroom and headed to Marli room. I found her in her bathroom standing on her step stool looking in the mirror at her wild hair.

"What you want Mar?"

"My hair." She says holding out her hair brush to me.

"What I'm suppose to do wit this? You do it." I say holding the brush back out to her.

"I can't. You do it." She says giving me attitude.

"Alright turn around. When you walk out here looking crazy don't be crying."

I turned on the sink and wet my hands before I ran them through her hair. Once I had it damp, I brushed it up until I was able to put it in a curly pony tail. I guess this will do for now.

"You like it?" I say rubbing my hands over her hair to make sure it looked neat.

"I guess. Nia not here to do it so you did good." She says smiling before hopping off the step stool and running out the bathroom. I swear she getting too grown on me.

I walked back to my room and got dressed in my Nike sweat pants and matching hoodie. I brushed my hair and packed my duffle bag with all my stuff before heading downstairs to the kitchen.

"Mar you hungry?" I ask looking up from my phone.

"Don't worry I got it covered." Zania says making me break out in a smile.

"Why you breaking into my place bruh."

"It's not breaking in if you have a key." She says holding up her spare key. She placed a bowel of cereal in front of Marli before kissing her forehead.