Retaliated

Chapter 33

Retaliated: Chapter 33

~Isabella P.O.V.~

Just about everyone had since left the catastrophe that was our family dinner. It was more tame than what I was expecting it to be so I guess progress is being made in terms of all of us managing to be in a room together. Auntie Nelle Bells was cleaning up the backyard while Uncle Lexis was getting LJ ready for bed and Ivanna had since gone to her room. 

"Auntie Nelle Bells?" I asked in a questioning manor, snagging her attention for a brief moment as I stood in the doorway to the back porch. 

"Yes sweetie?" She replied back in a gentle voice as she was gathering the dishes that remained on the table. I know she requests that everyone leaves their plates at the table when they're finished but I feel bad doing so because then she cleans up after all of us. 

"Do you need any help with cleaning up? I don't have anywhere to be right away so if you need help I wouldn't mind." I offered and she smiled at me. 

"That's okay but thank you for offering. I think I saw your sister sitting on the fence down below. Were you two okay at the table? I had heard you, Vanessa and Nicole were arguing." 

"We weren't. I had left the table to take a phone call after Vanessa said she was going to go to the bathroom. Nicole and Nitty snuck off on their own so there wasn't any argument between us." I assured her and she gave a nod of understanding. "Since you don't need my help, I'm going to go talk to Vanessa."

"That would probably be a good thing to do." She went back to gathering more dishes in the black tupperware she had balancing against her hip and I walked across the deck, getting down the steps and eventually onto the stepping stones that would lead to the front porch but I kept going towards the tree that was against the fence where I could see Vanessa sitting. Her head down towards her lap so her hair acted like blinders that covered her face. 

"Hey." I said as I approached. "You're probably mad at me and I'm more likely the last person you want to talk to, huh?" I asked stepping up onto the bottom most rung of the fence and she gave a short nod. "Can we at least just talk things out? Trey mentioned a lot went down-"

"Why wouldn't you answer?" She asked in such a quiet voice, I just barely heard her. "Why wouldn't you call or text back?" Again she asked in a voice saturated in sorrow and it genuinely made me feel bad. 

"I thought you were Dad. Sometimes he'll use your phone to call me when he wants to talk to me so I answer thinking it's you and I thought that's what he was doing because he had tried calling me before you did. I didn't know and I'm so sorry, Vanessa." I said but she didn't even budge, just remained balancing on the top of the fence with ease. 

"I needed you the most and you just flat out weren't there. I was alone, wandering around scared and then stuck in a motel room till thankfully Trey came out to get me and take me back home." 

"Well what happened? Why did you and Dad suddenly just take off to Detroit anyways?" She took a minute before she started to explain her side of the story, starting from Dad and her suddenly gathering their things and leaving for the airport, all the way to now. At first I didn't suspect anything too out of the ordinary till she said it was Drake on the other end of the phone who was telling Dad to come out. The tale began to unwind to where she began to have troubles explaining what she found when walking to the end of the hall. My hands on my mouth as the tears broke away from her eyes but she kept talking. Kept describing everything in great detail, the worst part was when she explained how terrified she was and that I wasn't answering her desperate calls. Guilt washed over me and I reached over to give her a hug, I know a hug won't make up for me not being there when she needed me but I was very sorry.