Internal/External Battle

Chapter 6

As soon as we got to the mall, people stopped and stared at us. It's to be expected when driving around in something so flashy.

Kenzie found a parking spot close to the front. When we got out and walked towards the entrance, three girls ran over to her. They looked to be somewhere around my age.

"McKenzie Owens?! Can we get a picture?"

"Of course babies." She politely smiled at them.

One of the girls shoved her phone in my hand then she linked arms with Kenzie.

A part of me wanted to be rude and not actually take any pictures, but I decided against it. I stepped back far enough to get them all in frame. Five pictures later, we were able to go in the mall. A few more people stopped Kenzie for pictures on our way to the restroom.

"I thought you said you did a little bit of modeling? You're a huge deal I see."

She laughed as we entered the restroom. "Well, to me I haven't done much. But I have a lot of followers on Instagram. Not only that, my boyfriend is an actor. He got me a few small roles for commercials or whatever."

I let her go handle her business as I stood by the sink area.

It's amazing to me how humble she is. From the looks and sounds of it, she has it made. I would think that she was just putting up a friendly front for her fans, but she took to me so well. She didn't think I was just some random chick who wasn't really even related to her. Automatically, she accepted me as her sister.

The rest of Chad's family may not be that welcoming. Kenzie mentioned to me that our grandmother will be having a cookout tomorrow. At first it was just to welcome my brothers back, but now she wants to meet me. I'm really nervous about that. As much as I try and pretend I don't care what people think of me, I really do. It's mostly only what family thinks that matters to me though. There were a lot of mama's family that hated me. They hated the fact that I was mixed. It was sad. I even begged a few of my cousins to be friends with me, but they refused to.

"Marie?"

I snapped out my thoughts to see Kenzie drying her hands. She looked concerned.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. Just thinking about tomorrow." I answered truthfully as we left the restroom. "Umm, so what do you think the family might say about me? Should I straighten my hair? Should I wear full coverage makeup?"

Even though there were a bunch of people walking by, Kenzie made us stop. She linked hands with me and tried to look into my eyes.

"Honey, you don't have to hide the natural you for our family. Honestly there's no telling how our older sister will act, but the rest of the family is okay." She brought both of my hands up to her lips and kissed them both. "They will love you like I love you, don't worry Marie."

That was so sweet of her. Of course they take well to her though. She has been around them all of these years. How will they perceive a new family member? What will they thing of me? My father was an NFL player and now he runs his own business. Will they think that I lied just to get some of his money?

I felt one of my hands being yanked. I looked to Kenzie as she lead me towards a store full of shoes and purses.

"Marie I know we came here for you but I haven't been shoes shopping this whole year. I've been having withdrawls."

For some reason that made me laugh. She went and found her size then she started trying to pick up multiple shoes at once. I wonder why she hasn't been shoe shopping in so long. She most definitely has the funds to!