Between You and Me

Chapter 21

A knock on her door woke her up early the next morning.

It was Zee.

"Tristan told me that punk motherfucker was here yesterday." Zee sat in her bed and grabbed her in a hug. "Had I been here I would have smashed him in his face."

She chuckled at her sister while she pushed away from her embrace. "No, you wouldn't have. He is still our father."

"No he ain't! A father is around for their kids, loves them, and cares for them. Not sit there and watch the mother of his kids struggle while he lives the good life. He'd rather spend his money on himself or his various whores than us." Zee put an arm around her shoulder. "But we don't need him. Fuck him."

She was so happy that Tristan was there at that moment and scared her father off. He would not have given her the key, and he would for sure show up again unannounced. Maybe he even had a spare key.

"We should get all the locks changed."

"Right, I don't trust him."

She went to shower and change before she headed downstairs into the kitchen for breakfast. It was Sunday and she wanted to relax today. She grabbed an apple to eat, she was not hungry at all. Tristan was in the dining room with a plate full of food. Zee came in behind her.

"That's what's up lil homie, did you make enough for me?"

"I made French toast." He looked over at her. "Sorry, it's not vegan."

"More for me!" Zee went off into the kitchen, while she made her way to the living room.

She ate her apple and watched some TV. She wondered if Tristan was looking at her. When she looked up and into the dining room, he was looking down at his phone. Not thinking about her. Zee came into the dining room with a plate of food and a glass of milk.

"Yo, what's the plans for today?" Zee called out for her to hear.

Her plan was what she always did, every day. Stay home and do nothing.

"Nothing, why?" Tristan asked.

"Let's go out and do something."

Absolutely not! Zee was the one who always wanted to go out and around the town. She had no problems being a homebody. Stay in the comfort of her home, all by herself. Her phone. Which was free and paid for. She had enough food, a TV for entertainment, and her laptop for being social, and if she needed to touch the grass, she would go out and do just that. The grass was freshly cut, maybe she would bring out a blanket and have a picnic by herself.

Tristan looked her way, said nothing, then back to Zee.

"I might have somewhere to go."

"You just said nothing, lil homie!"

He checked the watch on his wrist. "Yeah well, my mom goes to church soon, maybe I'll go with her."

"Church? Boy, stop playing," Zee laughed at him. "You ain't never talked about church before, now you're just saying this?"

She remembered the bible in his room yesterday. Maybe he was not just saying it to get away from her. It was not up to Zee to say he was lying about something like that.

"I'm going to hang outside on the porch," she said and cut the TV off. "I need some sun."

She started to head upstairs but Zee called after her. "Hey, where are you going?"

She stopped midstep. "Upstairs to grab some things."

"Hey, how about we have a little house gathering and hang out? Play some cards or dominos."