Breathe

“You’re going to let a man come between family?”

The question left Aaliyah numb, because what family? What family would allow what they allowed? It wasn’t about family anymore when she could feel her sanity slip away with each confession.

“People makes mistakes, Aaliyah.” Her mother voiced.

An offensive scoff left her mouth as Aaliyah turned to her mother, not only enraged but disappointed. As she paced the floor, thinking of how to form the next sentence. There was no easy way to explain her frustration or hurt.

“Momma, a mistake is calling someone the wrong name. You don’t just mistakenly get in bed with your sister’s fiancé. A mistake is walking in on someone in the bathroom, an accident at best, but getting pregnant by your sister’s fiancé isn’t a simple mistake.” Aaliyah explained.

She turned away, staring at the fireplace as the flames danced wildly. Taking deep breaths weren’t helping to calm her nerves, she wanted to scream, to cry. Anything to place her anger somewhere.

“It was a mistake in judgment, but all we can do is figure out how to move on from this. It’s not worth imploding the whole family.” Her mother shrugged.

“The family?” Aaliyah repeated quietly, “Why is it always about the family when I haven’t been treated like part of the family?” She scoffed.

Her mother’s face changed from calm to annoyed, a beat of silence between them and she stood up from the couch, crossing the floor to stand directly in front of Aaliyah. Weary of her mother, Aaliyah still squared her shoulders and faced her only for her head to be forcibly moved with a resounding slap across the face.

“Because you’re not supposed to be a part of this family. You’re not supposed to exist but that’s all in the past now. You should want to keep the peace, sweetheart.”

Time seemingly paused; this was the straw that breaks the camels’ back. Dealing with the verbally, backhanded things was nothing, all of the secret hateful looks. All of it was just the symptoms of resentment that grown over the years. She could take it all but allowing anyone to put their hands on her, would never sit with her.

Aaliyah stared at her, visibly recoiling as her hand reached out towards her to fix her hair. Her father’s wife hummed, tilting her head to the side as she basked within the fear that she had seemingly set in motion. It wasn’t until Aaliyah drew back a fist and launched it into her mouth.

The woman stumbled back, tripping over her own feet in the six-inch heels that she wore. Aaliyah held her fist and stood over her, all the pent-up anger finally releasing. Watching the blood pool out the corner of her mouth, she had bitten her lip hard.

“My daddy’s affair isn’t on me, it was a mistake, right Ella?” Aaliyah tilted her head to the side, “An accident at best.” She sneered.

As she stood up with her head high, Aaliyah stepped over her and gathered her things. With one foot outside the door, her bodyguard appeared, and she proceeded to make her way to her car. A driver stepped out and opened the door for her, allowing her in the backseat, on the other side her bodyguard entered.

“Take me to the airport, please.”