𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬: 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐄𝐊𝐇𝐈

24. | F A M I L Y T E N S I O N

C H A P T E R | TWENTY-FOUR
FAMILY TENSION

𝙳 𝙴 𝚂 𝚃 𝙸 𝙽 𝙸 𝙼 𝙴 𝙺 𝙷 𝙸

"Is today the day?" Brooklyn said amidst the chaos going on in their temporary bedroom while the girls got dressed, "Mommy?"

"You're supposed to be brushing your teeth," Destini said to Brooklyn while in the middle of dressing Kayden who tried desperately to dress herself but was much too young to do it alone, "And what did I tell you about that shirt," she said as she watched Brooklyn pull an old t-shirt over her head that she swore she'd thrown out because it looked tattered.

"It's my lucky shirt," Brooklyn said and stood in the mirror running her fingers through her wild natural curls and shaking her head - - her substitute for combing her hair, "I can't throw away my lucky shirt."

"Brooklyn that shirt is too small," said Destini, "That's why mommy took it out your closet."

"Daddy gave it back," she said and grabbed her backpack, stuffing her things inside, "He said if I thought it was lucky that I should be able to keep it."

"Just like your father to completely disregard what I say," Destini said and combed Kayden's hair into two pretty pigtails with two pink bows on the end of them, "Hurry up and dress so you can go sit down and have breakfast."

"Who made it," Brooklyn asked as she tied her shoes, "You or granny?"

"Why does it matter, girl? Grandma made it."

"Whew," she wiped imaginary sweat off her forehead, "Good cause I like granny's food," Brooklyn offered a cheap smile and ran off down the hallway of the modest living arrangement that was much more scaled back than the Mekhi mansion in Jersey.

"I swear - - that child," Destini shook her head, "And when you get done you're gonna let me comb your hair Brooklyn Joanna! There's no way you're going out this house looking like buckwheat with your hair all wild like that!"

She picked up Kayden and walked into the kitchen after while and found Brooklyn and Khloe sitting at the table and her mother at the stove fixing up breakfast. Brooklyn was devouring her breakfast as usual like she didn't have any table manners and Khloe was sitting there with a plate of food in front of her barely touching it and staring into space as if she were in some kind of a trance - - a zombie.

"Today's the day," Brooklyn whispered to Khloe, "Remember granny said?" She nudged her sister and continued to ravish her oatmeal, "You think we get to go back?"

"I don't know," Khloe answered dryly staring straight ahead as if she didn't want to be bothered.

Destini had observed the change in Khloe's behavior since she took them and split from Carter but she thought that after a few weeks she'd be back to normal. She knew that Khloe might take things harder than the rest of them because of how close she was with Carter but she didn't expect this drastic change in her - - it was as if she wasn't even there - - she was a different person altogether. Khloe didn't speak much, she didn't eat much, and she kept to herself and zoned out most of the time.

"That's not my child," Destini whispered to her mother as she took Kayden and Destini took over on the stove, "It's like she's not even here, ma," said Destini, "She will barely even speak to me."