After stealing money from her wealthy but controlling stepfather, Nataly Collins makes the bold decision to run away with her four-year-old sister. But as she does, she crosses paths with an escaped convict from the local penitentiary, and he plans...
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All in all, everything is working out okay, just as Brandon said.
Jalysa isn't so scary when she's not biting Brandon's head off. She lets me take a shower in her master bathroom so I can use her conditioners. Then she sits me on a chair and starts separating the strands. The whole thing reminds me of Mom and a wave of nostalgia slams into me as she starts the first braid.
"You and Brandon together?" she asks.
"Oh, no. No, no, no, no."
She chuckles. "Could've fooled me."
My nose wrinkles. "Why do you say that?"
"Oh, nothing. Just the way he stares at you. Like when you breathe too deeply or shift too much, he's all concerned. Reminds me of the way Miguel looks at me."
"Really?" I ask, not entirely believing this. "I'm sure Brandon has a ton of girls lined up for him."
Jalysa braids to my waist, right where I had asked. The natural black of the Kanekalon blends so well with my golden brown hair. And no one will be looking for me in braids.
"Sure, Brandon has girls throwing themselves at him. Especially the crazy ones. But..." She pauses.
"But what?" I urge.
"You're different. I can tell. I think your situation reminds him of himself."
"What do you mean?"
"His homelife was...intense. Any time he needed to get away from it all, he escaped to Miguel's."
A heavy sensation comes over me. Breathless, I ask, "How bad was it?"
Jalysa shrugs. "His daddy roughed him up. A lot. Told him that was the only way he'd become a real man."
My heart squeezes. It all starts to make sense. How supportive Brandon was about me leaving Ken from the beginning, no questions asked.
A few hours later, my hair is fully braided. They sway in the mirror and I love the feel of them against my shoulders and how it brings me back to a time when Mom was still here.
I sigh softly, then head out to the main room. Miguel and Jalysa start making dinner in the kitchen. Through the window, I spot Malik and Nova playing on the playground. It dawns on me that I need to do something with her hair too but I'm not sure what yet. She's a lot more tender-headed than I ever was. I can barely brush her hair without her swatting me away.
"No, I was set up. You know this," a voice says from the living room.
Curious, I follow the deep rumble. Brandon's back is to me but he's on the phone, on Miguel's landline. He is freshly showered and finally out of that awful Lenny's Auto mechanic uniform. He's wearing borrowed jeans and a too-tight black shirt. His biceps carry so much definition.
