Damon Grey, a basketball coach and New York City's top real estate agent, suffers in a complicated relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Audrey. She's rude, egocentric, and doesn't care about his feelings at all.
Out of rebellion and quick to dis...
"Honey," my dad calls me from behind my bedroom door halfway open. He walks in, rubs his palms together, then slides them behind in his back pockets.
"Yes," I reply looking up at him curious. He got distracted when Liza walked by my bedroom in a towel. She smiled and closed the bathroom door before my dad can return a fake one. When she was out of sight, he looks at me and rolled his eyes.
"Man, that woman is-" I cut him off pissed off with everyone's behavior lately ever since got here.
"Dad, if you don't like her don't say you want her here then. Everyone's shutting her out and I have to deal with it. Don't you guys feel bad the way you treat her?"
The look on my father's face looked surprised he wasn't expecting me to say such a thing. In his mind, he thought I wouldn't pick up on his behavior but after a while when you put someone around that they don't like, their attitude changes dramatically.
"Jaide," I told him to shut my bedroom door. "What about me?"
"What about you?" I asked.
"She could've stolen from us. She almost broke your mother and me apart!" he walks up to me sounding a bit angry with me. I got up to face him.
"Dad, I understand, but-" he cuts me off.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore. Every time I do, I end up feeling like shit." He brushes his hair back with his hands and takes in every breath like it was his first time letting oxygen into his lungs.
"Sorry," I said sitting back on my computer chair. The sound of the house phone ringing scared us both. My dad jumped and raced downstairs to answer it.
A couple minutes went by. Liza had finally come out the bathroom. As Liza was wrapping another towel on her head, my dad knocks her over with his muscular frame. He didn't even notice she had fallen when he raced back up the stairs.
"Dad!" I said surprised that he didn't look back at what's he's done. He grabs me by my arm aggressively and demands that I hurry up and get in the car. Liza was still wet trying to get off the slippery floor."Dad, what's going on?" I asked trying to get a hold of his mood swings. Liza finally stood up.
"It's your mom," I pulled my arm away from his grip. I kept looking back at both him and Liza. She clenched her jaw and balled up her fists. I knew from all the side looks she was giving him, she's pissed off and most likely she wants to give him a sucker punch. He basically ignored her. "She's in the hospital. She collapsed today at work!" He takes me by the arm again and pulls me down the halls.
"What?" I said trying to refrain my glasses from falling off my face. My hair was getting caught in my mouth the faster my dad pulled me to get to the garage. Liza had followed us barefoot leaving behind trails of wet footprints all over our new wooden floors. She shouted and told my dad to wait.
"Kevin, what's wrong with Leila?" she begged him as he took the car keys from the garage shelf. Liza followed him left to right when he took other supplies with him to put in the car.
"Nothing," he brushed passed her shoulders. She stood there looking at him as I watched standing by the hood of his vehicle. Her mouth parted. She didn't know why Kevin couldn't be straight forward with her. Leila is her cousin and she deserves to know what's going on. After all, she is family, but somehow, he won't accept that after what she's done. She crossed the line and there's no going back."You should go back upstairs and freshen up." He tells her. Liza stepped back to take a deep breath.
"What happened to mom?" I asked him opening the door of the passenger seat. My dad sharply takes his seat and starts the engine. I too, follow the same strategy. Worried about my mother's condition, I forgot about Liza for a second. I was too busy watching my father do everything in a quick motion when Liza's face flashed on the rear view mirror. The red glow coming from the tail lights ignites on her skin and her face expressionless. I felt bad. I opened the car door and yelled her name.
"Jaide, what are you doing?"
"Liza, why are you standing there, get in!" Liza listens and hops in.
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Natalie Martinez as Liza Emporio
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I looked at my mom as she was soundly asleep. Middle-aged wrinkles are appearing little by little on the sides of her mouth. I was too distracted by the way Liza was holding her hand to notice any more details I missed. My dad was on the right side caressing my mother's face with the touch of his thumb.
"Doctor, how did she collapse?" Liza asked as the man looking to be about thirty walks in with a clipboard. She interlocks her hands together in front of her.
The brown skin male walks towards Liza . He was glowing and his melanin sure stood out. He had nice big lips and a beard to complete his masculine appearance. And also, that deep voice of a doctor that'll make you shiver.
The doctor puts his hand on Liza's shoulder to comfort her.
"She'll be fine. She's lucky we found her alive. With her condition, we would most likely get no response. But something worries me." The doctor adds on while trying to keep eye contact with all of us.
"What?" I ask.
"We ran a few tests and noticed some strange chemicals mixed with iced tea," my dad glues me to his chest as the other hand, now, holds mother's hand. "She consumed motor oil. It caused her to collapse. She could've died way too soon if she didn't call us right away."
"God," Liza says grabbing on to the doctor."She'll be okay right?"
"Yes, but she'll have to get some bed rest and medication so her body heals properly."
I got away from my father's grip and took my mother's palms to engage it with mine. Grandma Rose and my two teenage cousins burst in along with her with tears in their eyes.
"Aww my Leila," she pleads rubbing her hand up and down Leila's covered legs. She softly bumped Liza to the side. Immediately, Liza stepped back so that Grandma Rose was out of her way. "Kevin." she braced her arms around my father's neck and hugged him passionately. Grandma Rose usually doesn't give Kevin hugs frequently but it feels good to see a smile on his face. Liza stepped out of the room crying. I was about to chase after her until I got a text.
It's too bad she survived. I was rooting for her death - U
