It's Above Me Now.

17: This Is Normality

That's it. I'm over this rich family shit. I wanted my old life back, and I actually didn't mind all the troubles that came with it. It's been a whole week since my brawl with Dylan, and I've never felt more out of place. Neither parent bothered to ask me what was wrong even though they could clearly see a shift in my behavior. Instead, we went to dinner parties and launches. We took pictures and went to exotic events. All of it was exquisite and nice, but what's the point if I wasn't even happy?

Ruben and Veronica was trying to make our family a household name in the town. My parents was sharing my adoption story to anyone who would listen, claiming that giving me up was the most horrid and difficult decision they've ever made. They preached far and wide about how financially and situationally unstable they once were which prompted their decision on adoption, and even praised me for turning out so 'remarkably' despite everything I've faced. I just sat back, listened, and took the extravagant lifestyle in. According to my parents, we needed to sell our best selves to the public seeing that my recreational center was on the rise. Ruben and Veronica both stressed how important self presentation and maintaining a united front was. We needed to act like the best successful black family our state has ever seen. Thankfully my project was almost complete, and talking to nosy reporters and being polite to stuck up individuals would soon come to an end. I don't know how my parents did this on the regular, but this fake shit was for the birds.

I hated that my mind kept tracing back to Dylan, and how he could be doing now that he was back in the streets, unprotected. And it wasn't helping that Bud and Lou informed and proved to me that Karin was playing the hell out of Dylan, making me feel a tad bad for him. Bud had been tracking Karin and Dylan's interaction for some time now, and decided to let me know all about it when I told the duo that the friendship between Dylan and I was no more. Bud assured me that Dylan wasn't saying or doing anything outlandish with Karin. But that Karin was selling him a dream about his parents, hoping Dylan would slip up and say something about my family and I. Bud showed me clear receipts that both of Dylan's parents died two years apart, ten years ago. It was at that moment that I knew Karin was going to hell in a handbasket for this stunt she was trying to pull.

I sighed heavily, flicking my bedside lamp on and off out of pure boredom. The Mosses and I were taking a break from our media run, and I was more than grateful for this day off. I haven't gotten out of bed for the day, and I knew it was only a matter of time before my parents or one of the employees that worked in this house came to check on me. I rolled my eyes with irritation at the thought, because just as I was about to get up and hop in the shower, here goes someone knocking on my door all urgently.

Tomas entered my bedroom door without even hearing a "come in". I frowned in disgust, as he sat on one of my bedroom's sofas. He was getting all comfortable as he stretched his arms out, and I wanted absolutely nothing to do with whatever bullshit he was coming to spew. He fucked up by outing me to Ruben, and once someone showed me their true colors, that was it for them.

"Look, I know you're not my biggest fan right now. But telling your father about your inquiries wasn't maliciously done. It wasn't my place, and I wanted him to be the one to tell you the things you needed to know." Tomas said. "Truce?"

"Nah, I'm good." I replied. "Take that shit somewhere else."

Tomas smiled and shook his head. "You're just like Phil, shit is crazy."

I paused. I didn't know how much Tomas actually knew about Phil's death, but I wasn't about to dig into it. We weren't cool, and lending him an olive branch for a potential answer about their relationship was a no no.

"Haven't been seeing your twin around here lately." Tomas continued. "Y'all straight?"

I stared blankly at Ruben's brother, hoping he would catch on. We weren't patching up anything. He needed to get the fuck outta here with this kumbaya, peace offering shit.