Page 5 of The Enemy

As much as I wanted to be a bitch and rebel against my father, I could picture my mami’s disappointed face. She firmly believed in respecting our elders—even if I disagreed with that notion because some people didn’t deserve respect.

For her sake, I got dressed. I put on an olive skirt with a tan blouse. Then, I put on the jewelry that held a special place in my heart. My hair was tamed, and the curls were a bit wilder than yesterday since I didn’t feel like adding more product today.

The house—the warmth that made it a home—died with my mother. Now, it was empty rooms with long halls that my father and I wandered around.

My father was already in the foyer, ready to meet his new lover. I just prayed she wasn’t around my age, or else I would probably throw up and then have a massive tantrum. The verdict was still up in the air for that tantrum, but I had to try my best.

“Lou, sweetheart,” my father said.

“Father.” I nodded toward him, and even though it was brief, I saw how his eyes flashed.

He went fromPapáand Papi to Father in the blink of an eye, and if he knew the reason why he never commented on it.

“Are you serious about her?” I choked out because curiosity was getting the best of me, and the silence this house brought was killing me.

“Lou…” he began to say, but the doorbell rang.

I stayed back as my father rushed to greet his guest. My gaze was anywhere but the front door, and it wasn’t until I heard heels tapping that I turned.

My jaw clenched when I saw Pricilla Caldwell in our foyer. My eyebrows went up, and I was sure my thoughts were on display. How long ago did her husband die? Were she and my father trying to form a widows’ club or something?

She stopped walking when my father did. She looked up at him adoringly, and then her eyes came toward me. I felt her gaze sweep over me. She dismissed me before I could do the same toward her.

Then, next to her, another figure appeared, and I held on to the railing a bit tighter as if that would stop me from showing emotion.

Neo Caldwell was here.

It would have been obvious if my mind had a chance to catch up with the mental railing it was currently getting. I wouldn’t be in this mindfuck if I had womaned up and asked my father who he was dating, but instead, I ignored anything to do with him replacing my mami.

“Sweetheart, I’d like you to meet Pricilla and her son Nathani?—”

He chose that moment to speak and cut off my father.

“It’s Neo, sir.”

His mother’s smile faltered for just a second.

It was no secret that Neo was named after his father—rather ambitious of Pricilla to ignore that Nathaniel already had his firstborn son named after him. As if giving Neo the same name would give him more rights.

According to rumors, the nickname was given to him by his father to avoid teasing between him and his siblings, ergo, to stop or minimize the bullying. He started calling him Neo since it began with the letter N, and its prefix definition stood for a new and different form of something that existed in the past.

Judging by how he was correcting my father, he was owning it—or maybe at this stage in the game, it was too late to go by his given name. Whatever the reason was, I thought the nickname was a thoughtful gesture on Mr. Caldwell’s part. It meant that they might share the same name, but Neo was still his own person and free to do his own thing.

“It’s a pleasure,” I lied with a polite smile.

My school was small and privileged, so everyone tended to run in the same crowds. My mother used to urge me to see theworld after high school. She wanted me to diversify myself and not get shackled by the walls around me.

That being said, I should have expected my father to see someone from our circle. The fact that Pricilla was someone my mother used to be friendly with didn’t sit right with me. Was there no loyalty in this world?

Pricilla took a step forward, and I watched with wide eyes as she reached out and pinched my cheek.

“Aren’t you just a cute, plump little thing?” her voice was sweet, but her words were pure venom.

I’m sorry, Mami, I tried.

“So, Pricilla, how does it feel to be done with elderly care?” I asked just as sweetly.

“Lourdes,” my father warned.

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