The sound of glass breaking drew our attention from her retreating back. Troy had kicked the glass cabinet that held his and his wife's awards.
Breathing hard, he turned and started doling out orders. “This is not the time for our family melodrama. Tiffany, get the hell out of my house and don’t come back, no matter who invites you. Noah, go make sure Creed doesn’t leave, no matter what she says. And Devon, find Jason and have him drive you to the airport. Whatever you and Maine need to do to be amicable for DJ’s sake can be discussed over the phone."
I didn’t wait to see who followed his directions. I went after Creed, like I'd wanted to do since she left the room.
When I got to the suite out back, she was throwing around her belongings, searching for something. I had an idea what.
My eyes, as if on their own volition, strayed to her ass that was straining against the fabric of her yellow sundress. It had only been three days since I’d been inside her. The whole pregnancy thing was crazy, but I was enjoying the madness. If she did get pregnant, I hoped she didn’t think she was going to run away with my child. But I figured she was bluffing. She was trying to punish me; I at least hoped that was it.
She turned to glare at me when I entered.
“What the hell do you want?” She snapped
"Troy told me to come and make sure you don’t leave. Why would you invite Tiffany here?" I asked from the doorway, blocking her in.
Her neck snapped back. "I’m grown. I can go where I want. And I invited her so Mommy would know what it felt like to be betrayed.”
"That was mean, Creed, and you can't go anywhere. Not without your wallet and ID, which your mother took and hid. We all know you, Creed, you’d rather run away than talk."
She narrowed her eyes at me. "So y'all want to talk? Fine."
The glint in her eye told me what she was about to do would not be pretty.
She shoved past me and headed towards the house.
“We should talk first,” I tried to grab her arm, but she snatched away.
She stormed into the kitchen.
Everyone was sitting around the kitchen island talking. They all went silent when she entered. They had obviously been talking about her. Jason was standing next to Devon, holding his keys. Scarlett was half sitting, half standing against Troy, and Ashley was there, but Maine was nowhere to be seen. I knew she was chasing after Tiffany.
Creed slammed her hand down on the countertop then held it in Scarlett’s direction. “Give me my wallet, Mother.”
Her mother shook her head. "No. Not until we talk through things as a family. My mother was saved by a miracle, so it should be easy for us to ask God for help over this petty squabble and get it."
I was taken aback by Scarlett's mention of God. They had never been religious.
“Fine, you want to talk, I’ll go first.”
Creed turned her head to look at Troy. “When I moved into God daddy’s house, I found a letter and divorce papers he had his lawyer draw up for Mommy. She asked him to, so you wouldn’tfind out, right after Maine was left in the hospital and you decided you were going to raise her without talking to Mommy about it first. But don’t feel too bad though, Mommy." She pointed to Troy. "Father Dearest gave Tiffany two million to sign over her parental rights when she came back with a sob story, he paid for her Botox and those lopsided titties she has now."
She pivoted to face Ashley. "Ashley and Maine used to bump coochies, probably still do, which is why they’re always stuck at each other's sides. So, Noah, I’m not the only one who shared bodily fluids with our witch of a sister. Devon told me your business, Ashley, trying to get back in my good graces. You’re very judgmental for someone who gave nearly an entire frat house blow jobs."
"And the biggest secret of all, Jason had cancer and didn’t tell y'all. He owes me over $90,000, which I wasn’t going to ask him to pay back, but now, fuck it. I want my money since he helped y'all keep secrets."
She paused to look at everyone's stunned faces. “See now, secrets don’t feel too good when they come out, do they?"
Nobody responded. Nobody could, I think.
She nodded curtly. “Bring me my wallet so I can get the hell out of this place, or I’ll be exposing more."
She turned and left the kitchen, headed back outside, leaving ashes from the fires she’d started in her wake.
Creed-
Maine was staring a hole in the side of my head, and I was bothered by it. Everybody was acting as if my outburst had come out of nowhere. The truth was it had been a long time coming. For the longest, instead of saying anything about the way my family behaved, I would just separate myself from them. They hated when I disappeared for days or weeks once I turned eighteen, but what they didn't realize was that I was trying to prevent exactly what happened from happening. I knew if I snapped one day, there would be havoc, and that's exactly what had happened. Daddy had left the house, and nobody had seen or heard from him in days. Jason was mad that everybody was mad at him for keeping his medical status to himself, and Maine thought I had let her secret out of the bag, but her being a ho wasn't anything surprising. We were raised by a sexually liberated woman who sent us videos on how to make ourselves orgasm at sixteen. The fact that both the girls she raised enjoyed sex was nothing to be ashamed of. Maine's problem was that she always wanted to be seen as the good girl.Tuh, bitch, cat's out of the bag.
We were in the kitchen alone. She was eating a sandwich she had come in to make when I was already there. Noah and Ashley walked in, she started to audibly sigh.