Page 69 of Happy Is On Hiatus
“What in the hell is goin’ on?” Aunt Rose asked from behind.
“Y’all told her to come to my house while she’s pregnant with Nate’s baby, that’s what’s goin’ on!”
Sharae heard the hitch in Rita’s voice and knew she was about to cry. She grabbed Amy by the shoulders and began pushing her toward the breakfast room. The patio door was the quickest way out.
“Get off me! I came here to get something for my mother, and that jealous wench put her hands on me!” She barely struggled as Sharae continued to push her out of the room. “Where’s my phone?” she continued. “I’m callin’ the police!”
It took less than ten seconds for the entire cookout to stop once Sharae pushed Amy out onto the deck. The girl stumbled and turned back to look at Sharae like she was gonna jump.
“Please, do. Please,” Sharae said.
Desmond was by her side in the next second. Tariq, Ivan, and Cedric came up to stand between her and Amy.
“What’s goin’ on?” Desmond asked.
“She needs to go,” Sharae said and then looked at him. “Disrespectful bitch!”
“I’m not the one who’s disrespectful. It’s all y’all dumbasses believing whatever lies she tells y’all just ’cause she’s a PK or y’all family. She wasn’t treatin’ Nate right, and that’s why he came to me.” Amy just didn’t know when to shut up or go home. Hadn’t that been what Sharae had been trying to get her to do?
“Hold up! Wait,” Tariq said. “This is the one who messed up Rita’s marriage?”
“You the bitch my father got pregnant?” Necole asked.
“Rita messed up her own marriage,” Amy spat and rolled her eyes in Necole’s direction.
Wendy was right there next to Amy now. “Oh, you need your chin checked, ho.”
“Where’s my bag?” Sharae heard Taryn yell, but so many people had crowded onto the deck that she couldn’t see her. “Where’s my damn bag?”
Oh, this was going to get bad really quick. She knew what was in Taryn’s bag, and if Taryn was carryin’, then Tariq definitely was too. Sharae’s second gun was locked in the glove compartment of her car. Her first personal weapon was in a lockbox under her bed. Unless she was on duty, she never wore her gun at family functions. For reasons just like this, it was too easy for stuff to pop off, and shit could get serious.
“You still here?” Rita was outside now, pushing through people to get to Amy.
Aunt Vi, Aunt Ceil, and Jemel were right behind her.
Sharae turned to Desmond. “Get her out of here. Now!”
He nodded and moved past her to grab Amy by the arm. Amy continued to run her mouth, but Desmond, with Ivan, Tariq, and Cedric right behind him, managed to get her out of the yard. And not a moment too soon.
The second Sharae turned back around, Rita was right there in her face.
“You knew?” She shook her head, tears already streaming down her cheeks. “You said you saw them last year. You knew he was cheating on me, and you didn’t tell me.”
“Rita,” Sharae began, “let’s go back inside.”
“No!” Rita yelled. “I’m not going back in the house so you can figure out how to lie to my face again. You’re supposed to be my cousin, my best friend ... my sister.”
Guilt swarmed through Sharae’s chest like a hurricane, and she began to shake her head, trying to figure out what to say. “You don’t understand.”
Rita nodded. “Oh yes, I do. You knew, and you what? Laughed behind my back? Oh, Rita thinks she’s got it all—a husband, kids, business, and a big fancy house. But Nate’s running around behind her back.”
“Come on, Rita, let’s go back in the house and talk about this,” Jemel said. She’d been standing next to Rita, looking as if she were torn between going after Amy herself and staying there to support Rita.
“That’s not how it was,” Sharae told her, because Rita needed to understand how this happened.
“Who else knew?” Rita asked. “How many of you knew he was cheatin’ and didn’t say anything?”
Nobody answered, and Aunt Vi came up to Rita, putting a hand on her arm. “You don’t do this here. Not like this. You know better.”
