Page 74 of Brandishing Beginnings

“I mean, you’ve been planning on being a lawyer practically your whole life. Kinda ironic, huh?”

Shaking her head, Kara stood up and started pacing in front of the fire pit. She tugged at her ponytail before she finally responded. “It’s such fucking bullshit! I had to find out his name from my birth certificate. She clearly cared enough about him to write his name there. Why couldn’t she have given me more to go on? Tell me he’s an asshole, or that he cheated on her. Or SOMETHING! Not the blasé ‘he’s not a good guy’ spiel she gave me. Then I find out he’s a lawyer? Not some criminal like I thought!”

“Girl, just cause he’s a lawyer, don’t mean he’s a great guy,” I shot back. “Lawyers can be crooked as fuck. They know how to manipulate the law to their advantage.”

Kara sighed and stopped pacing. Tugging her ponytail again, she nodded. “True.”

“Let’s say you reach out. Then what?”

Crossing her arms over chest—like she was hugging herself and not being defensive—Kara stared out into the forest again. “I don’t know. It’s stupid, you know? Like I’m some orphan needing validation from a parent or something.”

Empathy rolled over me, as I watched my friend pace. “Maybe you should talk to Marcos about it all. I know he doesn’t like talking about it, but maybe he knows more, something your mom told him and not you. He is quite a bit older than you; he would remember the time before your birth. Maybe he met your father.”

Kara paused and seemed to consider it, her head tilted to the side, lost in thought.

I heard the rumble of bikes down the street and knew my alone time with my best friend was coming to an end. “Sounds like the boys are home.”

Kara sighed and took her seat again, staring out into the surrounding forest.

A few minutes later, Jason was bending over me and pressed a kiss to my lips. “Hi darlin’.”

“Mmm, hi.” I smiled against his lips as he kissed me again, this time more passionately.

“Sister sitting here,” Kara said.

Jason chuckled and pulled away, leaving me breathless and panting.

“Hi, sister.” Marcos laughed before he bent over me and kissed me just as thoroughly. “Hello, Mi Vida.”

“Hello.” I laughed when we pulled apart.

Nico pushed Marcos out of the way before I could say another word. “Little Dreamer,” he greeted, before he claimed my lips.

“What are you girls up to?” Marcos asked his sister.

“You know, just chillin’,” Kara replied.

I pulled away from Nico slowly and gave him a smile, before I turned to Marcos. “Actually, we were talking about Kara’s father.”

Marcos froze slightly, his dark brown eyes turned toward his sister, watching her carefully. She was still hugging herself and ignoring them for the most part, staring out into the forest.

I decided to help my friend out. Reaching for Marcos’s hand, I laced our fingers together and squeeze his hand. “Kara found her birth certificate in a bunch of Lita’s papers, and found her father’s name. She looked him up. He’s some lawyer in Mourningside. Did you know him?”

Marcos squeezed my hand tightly. “No. Mom never brought him around the apartment. If she was meeting him, she either did it at the club or a hotel or something.”

Kara’s head dropped to look at the ground in front of her.

My heart broke for her. I couldn’t imagine the pain she was going through. To have such a loving and caring parent and to lose them so young, it was heart breaking.

“Mom did say that she loved him at one point, but she found out he wasn’t the man he portrayed himself as.” Marcos sighed and rubbed a hand over his buzzed head. “I dunno, Lil Manita, do you think you want to reach out to him?”

Kara shrugged and I could see the tears welling in her eyes.

I tugged on Marcos’s hand and he glanced down at me. I nodded my head at Kara and Marcos nodded slowly. Running his hand over his head again, he stepped away from me, letting go of my hand and walked over to his little sister.

Marcos crouched down in front of Kara, resting his hands on her knees. “Lil Manita, I’m so sorry,” Marcos murmured. Kara’s eyes slowly looked up to meet her brothers. “I wish I had the answers you’re looking for, but I don’t. I’m sorry, chaparrita, but I’m here for you if you want to reach out to him. Whatever you need.”Shorty.

Tears fall from Kara’s eyes and she sniffled softly. I turned away, giving my friend some space with her brother. Privacy was hard to come by when you lived together and I could grant my friend that space.

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