Psalms 42 || Tori Kelly

Falling

11:14 AM

Tori, Brianna, Irie, and Abiah sat around the dark brown metal table in silence. Abiah had just filled Irie in on her situation and to say Irie was shocked was an understatement. "Mama, please say something. You're scaring me," Abiah begged. Irie took a deep breath and looked up from her lap with tears dripping down her cheeks.

"I' m sorry," Irie paused. Everyone looked at her confused.

"Sorry? For what?" Abiah asked. Irie wiped her tears and looked her sister in the eyes.

"If only I had said something before, then maybe—" she trailed off. Tori started to piece things together and her face showed it.

"Irie, did he do the same thing to you?" Tori flipped. She was already on the verge of castrating this man.

"No, mommy," she quickly said. "Not, me. Nya," she said. Somewhere along the lines of friendship she was betraying her best friends confidence, but if it helped her sister know she wasn't alone, she could live with that betrayal. Abiah pushes away from the table and stood from her chair. Irie immediately got up, ready to stop her sister from leaving. Brianna and Tori watched them stand face to face for a second, before Abiah pulled Irie into a bear hug.

"Mama, it's not your fault. I don't blame you," Abiah whispered, into the crook of her sisters neck. "I don't blame you or Nya, I just want this behind me," Abiah confirmed. The two pulled away taking shaky breathes through their tears. As they returned to their seats, Tori got up from hers.

"I'm glad you want to put this behind you, but when I tell Daddy, there is a good chance he's going to push for you to press charges. But know that the decision you've made is yours and we will respect that," Tori said. Abiah nodded. She knew her dad, but she also knew he that he bent to the will of his children very quickly. It was clear that tori had the back bone when it came to the kids. So, Abiah had no worries about convincing her dad to let this go.

11:30 AM

The house had finally settled down and it was time for Tori to get back to business. "Alright, girlies, I'm making lunch. Mama, go get Sampson up. Biah, go get the black and white cover from my bed," she instructed. Abiah rolled her eyes and got up from the couch. She knew what was about to happen and was not happy about that with her friend over.

"Really mom, while Brianna is here? Can't you just give him a bottle?" Abiah asked, slowly making her way to the stairs.

"I gave him a bottle this morning and my boobs are killing me. So, be grateful that I asked for the cover, because your friend is here," Tori said. "Now go," she smiled, pointing to the stairs. Abiah hustled up the stairs as Irie came up with Sampson on her shoulder and a diaper in her hand. Brianna moved from her comfortable spot on the couch, to the kitchen and stood beside Tori. "What's up, Bri?" Tori asked, throwing the cauliflower into the boiling water.

"Why are you being so cool with everything?" The teenager asked, grabbing the carrots beside her arm and passing the to her second mother.

"I realized that there was no point in stressing out over this. Abiah was calm about it, so I chose to be too. We can't change this, so why freak out over it?" Tori shrugged. Irie handed off her little brother brother and threw away his dirty diaper.

"Yeah," Brianna whispered. "So, what's for lunch?" She asked, seeing a bunch of ingredients being thrown together in some hot water.

—

Upstairs, Abiah searched through her parents sheets, looking for her mother's feeding clothe, but it wasn't where her mother said it was. While searching, Abiah realized how messy her parents were. Her dads clothes were everywhere, but the hamper. And her mother's filing system was faulty at best. She rarely came to her parents room and when she did it was for a split moment to ask for something, and even then she only saw the bed. This was surreal for her.