Kisses and Lies

“Do you know what time it is?” She pushes her way inside and hands me Annabelle, I take her as she smiles in my arms.

“Hello, beautiful,” I whisper, which earns me a bigger smile. Annabelle giggles and reaches for my nose, pulling it as I hear my mother waking Kat.

“Gosh, will you go away,” I hear Kat complain to my mother.

They don’t get along. And the only reason I think they talk is because Mom is so good with Annabelle, and it is Kat’s only way to have a normal life with the help my mother supports her with.

“I brought your daughter back. A thank you wouldn’t be hard to say, now would it?” I hear her say.

I walk up to my room with Annabelle on my hip, who when she sees her mother, claps her hands to get to her.

Kat’s sour expression changes immediately and she smiles so widely I forget she’s hungover.

“Come to Mama, baby.”

I pass Annabelle to Kat, who snuggles straight into her shoulder.

“Thank you, Mother,” Kat says, looking up at our mother.

“You’re welcome. She’s a pleasure.” Then she walks out, and I follow behind her, leaving Kat and Annabelle on my bed.

“You brought food?” I ask as she places the bag down, pulling out containers on my countertop.

“Yes, I made you two your favorite mince chow mien.”

I walk up and cuddle her from behind. She tenses then relaxes into my touch, tapping my hands holding her.

“We love you, Mom.”

“I know, it’s just been hard.”

I drop my hands from her, and she turns around smiling at me.

“Any boys I should know about?”

Change of subject.

“Nope.”

“Are you sure?” she asks again.

“Nope.”

“What about girls? You know I would be fine with either as long as I get grandbabies.”

“No, to girls as well.”

“Okay, okay,” she says, throwing up her hands. “You’re in your mid-twenties now, Rochelle, you have to start thinking about these things before it gets too late. I had you at twenty-one.”

“I know, Mother,” I say in a sarcastic tone, as I reach for the water and one container of food, taking it to my couch.

“Don’t you ‘Mother’ me. How was your night last night?”

I’m about to answer her when she reaches for something on my coffee table. “Lord Rochelle, you need a cleaner. Why do you not have a cleaner?” She shakes her head and walks to the kitchen.

“She doesn’t need a cleaner for the same reason I don’t need a cleaner, and our night last night was great.” Kat smiles at me, and it’s then I remember Blaze.

Oh Lord, does she remember seeing him? I wonder. The things she said. My eyes go wide at her, and she just blushes.

“Good, good, you’re a mother now, so I don’t expect you to have crazy nights.”

“I’m a mother, yes. But I am not dead,” Kat says, sitting next to me and placing Annabelle between us, then taking my food.

“True, okay.” Mother walks to the door, her bag in hand, and she looks back to us. “Love you, bye.” We wave as she walks out, and I immediately turn to Kat, but she’s faster because her finger is in my face. “Don’t you dare mention it.”

“You asked to see his cock.” I giggle. “A biker. You asked a biker to show you his cock.” I giggle even louder, covering my mouth as I double over.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Roch, I was drunk.”

Annabelle starts clapping between us, and I laugh even harder. Kat throws a cushion at my head when my laughter doesn’t stop.

The week comes and goes quickly. The time for me to visit Tanika is finally here. And when I see her, my hands are shaky. My bruises are completely gone from where she whacked me one, and my hands stay clasped in front of me. She’s sitting in a recliner when I walk into her rec room. Shy eyes look up at me, and a soft smile plays on her lips.

“Hey,” I say, sitting opposite her.

“Hey,” she says back.

I look around to see a few others playing board games and interacting with each other. There’s no television. The facility is a fair way out from where I live, but the drive is worth it. She is worth it.

“This place seems nice.” She lifts her hands and starts to bite her nails.

“It’s a private rehab, it costs a pretty penny,” she says between bites.

“That’s nice of Blaze,” I say back to her.

“Yeah, it is.”

“How are you?” I ask, reaching forward, my hand touching her leg briefly. She looks down at it, unsure, and then back up to me.

“I’m sorry about your car.” Tanika looks back down. “And your eye.”

I shrug. “It’s okay. These things happen.”

Her head begins to shake. “They don’t. And I don’t know if I will be able to go back to who I was. I don’t know who that person is anymore.”