Page 80 of Kandie Shoppe

“Sommerland, if you don’t get your hand off my woman, you’re going to be spending your last breaths in the futile attempt to breathe in a freshly tilled sugar cane field.

“Barbarism suits you well, Sheriff,” Marcus says cooly, removing his hand.

Chapter

Twenty-Four

Kandie ~ A few weeks later…

When Nikki burstsinto my bakery, happiness and devastation pierce me. I haven’t seen my baby sister since the day of her forced marriage to Mathias Shelby. Since then there has been a mix of praising and scathing reviews of her in the media, from everything on how she dresses to her saving the life of a little girl trapped on a Ferris wheel.

Nikki, who grew up in the carnival circuit until she was sixteen, climbed the dang thing to get the little girl down. That was all well and fine, or would be if her new husband wasn’t running for the Senate for our very conservative state. It’s still the dark ages down here in a lot of ways when it comes to women and how we are expected to act in public. Never mind that she saved the child. The fact that she did with her dress tied between her legs and no shoes left some folks with their draws in knots.

“Did you see that article Joi wrote?” she demands, rushing in so fast the door chimes erratically behind her.

“Yeah.” I nod toward theShelby-Love Chronicalopen on the counter before me.

“How’d she get my birth certificate?” Nikki inquires.

“Someone broke in the other week before your wedding,” I sigh, feeling the first tinge of a headache.

“Again?” Freezing for a hard moment, she looks around the bakery for foul play.

“Not here, thank goodness. Joi was here, and we were going to have a movie night after I was done for the day. When we got to my loft, the whole place was torn up, but not as bad as last time. I-I didn’t want anyone to know about it, so we just cleaned it up ourselves. There were a lot of papers Mama-Pete gave me scattered all around by my bookcase and she took care of that part when she helped me clean up. This was before she started all that shit — I’m so sorry, Nik.” The last part is broken by a sob. I cover my face. Hot shame washes over me. I still can’t believe the betrayal or the feeling of violation I have knowing someone I love most in the world would do me like this.

“That hoe,” Nikki seethes, making me look up. Arms spread, she comes over and wraps me in her arms. “I’m so sorry she did that to you, Kandie. You’re always too good to people.”

“No.” Shaking my head, I cup her face. “Don’t you ever say that.”

“It’s true though. Instead of coming to you like a sister, I left you out here all alone when Daddy told me good to stick with you and Kerania. ‘The Wonder Twins’ll take care of you. Y’all take care of each other.’ I had Mathias looking out for me all these years, and you only had yourself.” I can’t stand the shame and guilt on her face.

“Uh-uh, you don’t get to do that. You were a kid. A little one. Afraid in a town you didn’t know anything about. Up till then, you only knew the bad side of what Daddy went through with the family. None of the good. As for me I chose to be on my own and not to let anyone take care of me.” Pulling her in my arms I hear the muffled, “You were a kid too,” a second before the doorchimes and Joi comes bursting into my bakery like the hounds of hell are on her heels.

“The fuck you doing here, heffa?” I shove Nikki away from me so hard that if she wasn’t agile due to her previous upbringing as a trapeze artist, she would’ve toppled over some of the nearby tables.

“I’m here to warn Nikki to get out while she can. Mathias don’t mean you any good, cuz,” she says in defiance. Struggling against Nikki’s hold, I take in her more than normal disheveled look. She looks like she hasn’t slept since her last betrayal of the family. Not even I would have thought Joi would be brave enough to brave our wrath after what she’s done to Nikki — who has been trying too hard to bring her back into the fold. She clearly has a lot going on, but that’s not our fucking problem. She’s bringing all this and the ass whooping I’m about to give her on herself.

“How dare you, Joi? At any moment, you could have come to me. Why did you put all my business out in the street like this?” The sadness in her voice has me looking back at my little sister. Hurt is etched in her face. Her eyes are pleading, asking for understanding.

“Girl please, this n — white boy got your mind twisted just like his cousin got Kandie. They using y’all,” she scoffs like we are a couple of dummies she can’t be bothered to explain anything to.

Joi seemed to almost relish harming us. The articles about Nikki and Mathias have been nonstop since they tied the knot a week ago. Joi’s vendetta is not the common feud between us and the Shelbys. It’s almost as if she’s out to get Nikki.

“Why do it like this?” I close my eyes at the pleading in Nikki’s voice. I can’t stand that she’s begging this bitch for answers.

New rage hits me like an F-5 tornado and it’s like I black the fuck out. Distantly, I hear shouts and Nikki’s pleading. “Stop, Kandie. You’re going to be in jail again.” As if I give a damn when I finally got my hands on the heffa who hurt her. Hilarity follows when I throw Joi on the floor and grab her hair, wrapping her long braid around my fist so I can mess up that pretty face. I get two good punches in before she does some quick maneuver to twist away.

“Uh-uh, I’m sick of this trifling ass hoe.” I grab her against me, straddling her, ignoring the hits she tries to give in return. She’s defending herself. I’m my sister’s avenging angel. This is for all the times I couldn’t protect her. I don’t know what her relationship is with Mathias, but I do know that she would’ve never had to be in that situation if she really felt like she could have come to me all those years ago.

Did he groom her? Make her think she was the one seducing him? What is the real story and why didn’t she ever tell me? All this eats at me and I love taking it out on Joi, who obviously knew some of what’s going on if she’s held on to the pictures from Nikki’s graduation for a year before releasing them trying to ruin Mathias’s bid for the Senate.

Strong arms grab me out of nowhere, lifting me off Joi just as I pop her in her bitch ass mouth. She gets a lucky kick to my thigh before scrambling away to stand.

“Bitch.” I lunge.

“Drunk. Bitch.” Joi swipes her bloody mouth. I can see the flesh beneath her left eye is already swelling.

“You came over here acting like a friend, a cousin, then used what I gave you to hurt my baby sister. You so dirty.” I shake my head in disgust, fire blazing in me so hard it hurts.

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