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The bright light beamed from the kitchen, but the rest of the house remained dark.

The knocking of the spoon could be heard, as Amari spins it around in a bowl of cornflakes.

She waited patiently for ten thirty to strike. She checked her phone screen continually to see the time since Cals normally comes around that time.

Caughting her hair into a messy bun, she then took up the bowl, flicked the light off, and exited the kitchen.

The night was so quiet that she could hear the faint humming of the refrigerator as she walked out.

She walked to the hall and sat on a sofa, placed the bowl down, and tied the cord of her nightgown.

Anxiety builds in her chest when she forces the cornflakes down. She sat eating in the dark, waiting.

A silent notification came in, lighting up the room. She checked to see a message came in on messenger.
It was Zendi.

'She's sleeping,' It reads.

Her hands shook as she turned off the phone and placed the screen down.
Her stomach did a slight pivot and she was no longer hungry.

Flash Back
_____________

"Hurry, we have to hurry," Zendi said as Amari and her cleaned.

They wore gloves as they cleaned every drop of blood, wiping the walls, throwing the knife into a rubbish bag along with the blooded clothes Brie was wearing, and blooded hand towels.

There was no evidence of blood anywhere, and the place was sprayed clean with air freshener.

"Pack, hurry up, and pack your things, don't just stand there," Zendi said as she rushed out with the bag and placed it in Amari's trunk.

"I can't, I—"

"If you don't shut the fuck and pack yuh things," Zendi snapped at her.

Amari pulled her to her room and they packed a suitcase of all the things she might need.

"Man, to come fix your door, I'll tell him you forgot your key, and you ain't had no choice. He'll change the lock and give you the key for it. Come on, move it." Zendi said.

Amari and Brie stood rooted in the spot, with minds and thoughts going ahead of themselves. For someone who went through so much to go as far as coming back from rehab, Zendi is the strongest. She handled the situation well.

"Move, walk normal, normal." She pressured.

"What will I even tell my parents? Mi not even know, I—mi cah believe, mi, oh, God." Brie's Jamaican accent surfaces as she breaks.

Zendi took the suitcase from her and placed it in the back seat while pushing Brie inside.

"I'll drive. " She said.

"I'll hum, get rid of the bags," Amari spoke up. She's been so quiet, she wonders how Zendi has so much control. She hoped that Zendi wasn't going to crash out anytime soon, especially driving.

And so they kept quiet the entire time. They then try to calm Brie's mind, She kept crying.

"It won't come off, my hands are bloody, my hands — Oh God my hands are bloody —"

"Your hands are fucking clean! Stop eating my ears off with yuh bullshit; look, my girl, please, Amari, tell her to stop." Zendi glanced at them through the rearview mirror, her eyes wild.

Amari could see how wild her eyes got; she could feel how fast the car was going on the highway, and she knew that Zendi was going to crash out badly.

Amari held on to Brie's shaking hands, holding them together to stop her from washing the imaginary blood.

"It's okay, your hands are clean, baby, it's okay, come," She took Brie and hugged her to her chest as she cried.
___________________
End of Flash Back
___________________

Amari has yet to learn what happened, except knowing that Brie suffers from a sprained ankle; because they all were out of it, the mentality was a trick; they needed to recharge, and the only way to get Brie to talk was to wait until she's grounded.

She got rid of the rubbish at a garbage disposal area and drove to collect Paris from her school.
When she got home, she didn't prepare dinner for the first time in months. She bought a box of juice and two chicken patties, and Paris was the one who ate them. She placed the box of juice in the freezer and gave Paris water to drink.
Paris played and went to bed after asking if her mom was okay.

Of course, she said yes; how could she look at her six-year-old daughter and say, 'I might have distributed a murder case?'

Now she was left with her thoughts and what to think of them.

Attempting to get up, she heard a car drive up in the driveway way, and the garage opened.

She sat back down with a plop and waited.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked as soon as she heard the door locked from inside.

"Fuck. Amari Jackson, Jah know? Goodnight to you too," Cals said.

The light was flipped on and she got up to glare at him.
He scans her body to see her in a blue nightgown. Her nipples pressed to the material; anyone would think she was trying to impress him, but she was furious.

"Doctor Renard, why didn't you tell me?" She empathizes.

She placed the bowl down and walked up to him. She grabbed her phone and folded her arms, bothered by everything.

He removed the jacket from his arm and placed it down; he then grabbed it back and proceeded to sidestep her and walk up the stairs.

It angers her, that she follows behind him.

"When you are calm, I'll be in bed."

"I am talking to you, Cals. Do you even see the time you are coming in? It's 11:01, for Christ's sake!"

"That's what I do; I work, and I save people; get used to it," He sounded so nonchalant that it pinged her in the heart. She was reminded she had one.

"Really? Is that all you have to say? Do you expect me to work with that? I am talking to you, Cals; I haven't seen you since last night; if I didn't stay up, I wouldn't even see you until tomorrow, I am talking to you!" She shouted.

"Mommy?" Paris exits her room and sleepily wipes her eyes.

"Go back to bed, Paris," She said near tears.

She had done everything in her power not to let Paris see them arguing, but if only Cals knew how much it took to do that.

Standing on the staircase, she blocks his pathway to the left, to the right, and in the middle.

"Answer me, you even helped Brie and didn't even tell me about it. My Friend. Oh, My God. Who am I even living with?"

"She's your friend; she's the one that should tell you; now if you don't mind, step aside so I can shower; I have to get to work tomorrow. Early."

A bomb slides in her chest and she cracks.

"Fuck you!" She cries.

Cals made an attempt to touch her arm but struggled and continued on his way.

"Fuck you Cals, Mi swear to God, fuck you!" Her voice breaks her heart, at how weak she sounded. She races down the stairs, ignoring her daughter's call.

"Mommy! Mommy, where are you going? Daddy, where is Mommy going?"

"Paris, go to your bed; Daddy gots to take a shower; daddy got a long day tomorrow."

"Fucking— God, yuh see, woman nuh Fi have heart. Why am I stressing myself over him? Is he going to do that for me?" Amari cries and slides down the stairs.

She fell and screamed, but got up and went outside. She sat on the last step and pulled her knees to her chest.

Looking out into the night, a car passed and drove on its way. She looks up at the streetlight and the stars without really seeing them.

Tears leaked from her eyes, at the physical pain in her arm and the agony going in her soul.

"Mommy?" A tiny voice asked, and she turned her head to see Paris stepping slowly out onto the veranda towards her.
It was grilled, so Amari could see her tiny form coming out.

Her tiny arms hugged Amari around the neck, and Amari cried harder.

How could she suffer so much?

What has she done to deserve this?

"Doesn't Daddy love you anymore?"

'No, he doesn't,' She thought, but she swallowed the tightness in her throat and said the opposite.

"Of course Daddy loves me, baby, Daddy loves you, Daddy loves us."

She tried to stop the tears as she turned and looked up at her true love. The one true gem.

"If daddy didn't love you, he wouldn't have come home to even see your face for a minute," and that she knew was the truth, or so she hoped.

"Then why did you shout at Daddy?" Paris asked, pouting.

"Your daddy and I just have a misunderstanding that's why, my love. We will be fine; look at me; don't worry."

"But you look sad, Mommy."

"With you, I will be happy; you make me happy," Her voice cracked again, and she buried her face in the tiny body of Paris.

In times of trouble, some might say they don't need anyone, but In the warm embrace of her daughter, she found love, she found sympathy, she found the warm embrace not even her friends would give her. This hug came from a piece of her.

"Let's get you to bed, baby. Come on, or we can have a midnight snack; what do you say?"

"Will you sleep with me tonight, Mommy? Grandma said that, when you are not happy I should make you sleep with me."

"Grandma? When did Grandma tell you that? And which grandmother are you talking about?" Amari got up and glanced around, before stretching her hand to Paris.

Paris took her hand and then entered the house and she closed the Varanda grill.

"Grandmother Fiona told me," Paris said, wiping her eyes again. "She told me that, when you locked way that night, don't you remember?"

Amari had hidden herself from the family gathering one night; everyone was talking about relationships, and she didn't have the guts to stay there when hers was slowly falling into shambles, or so she thought.

"Oh, well, I will sleep with you tonight, my little, big baby," She said, lifting her in the air, causing her to giggle.

She thought no one saw, how much she was breaking, but her mother-in-law did.
It stuck to her that if her mother-in-law did, who else saw it? And if her mother-in-law did, why doesn't Cals see it?

'Of course, he sees it,' She thought, and that broke her.
Silent tears escaped her eyes, and she swallowed the sound. She held Paris's head with one of her hands and watched her step.
On her way up the stairs, she met Cals coming down.

"See you tomorrow, Princess." He presses his lips on Paris's forehead.
Paris nods her head, sleepily.

"Get yourself together, Amari; I have a few patients to deal with; don't stress about it." He said, waving a file in the air, offering her a squeeze on the arm.
She swallowed and watched him button up a jacket before exiting and closing the door behind him.

Before she could process her thoughts, a light glowed and she realized her phone was silently ringing.

Zendi-Homie🤌

"Hello?"

"She had blocked out, on my way to the hospital, meet—" The sound of tires skids on Zendi's line.

_____________________________________

Thoughts?

As you can see, a lot of pressure is there, and I do have plots coming, so don't get frustrated just yet.

I, for one, wouldn't take the disrespect from Cals, he seems to be a NARCISSIST, but it's so hard with a daughter in the midst.

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