East or West

A hopeful promise

"D-daddy?" tears form in my eyes.

"Hi, babygirl." he starts to cry as well.

I waste no time and hug him.

"I missed you so much, Dad. I'm sorry I got you locked up. I missed you so much," I keep repeating myself because I'm not sure what to say. I'm not sure of anything right now.

"You didn't get me locked up, baby. I was set up so don't feel bad or responsible. I'm not mad at you." he kisses my head.

"Hello, sir. I'm Geo-"

"I know who you are, kid. Your father's the bastard that locked me up." Daddy says.

"Yeah; but I swear I don't fool with him. I really do care about Kai and Kia." he says.

"I know. I heard about that bullet you took for them. And I heard about what happened to your mother too." he says the last part to me.

I lift up fast and back up near Geo. He's almost like a shield to me so if Daddy gets mad or blames me, I know I'll have him behind me.

"It's about damn time." he says in relief.

What in the world?

"Your mother wouldn't get me out of jail because she was jealous of you, Kia. I kept reminding her that you were my child but all she kept saying was "I was here before her" and shit like that. She pissed me off so much. I been locked up for ten years cause of her but she gone now so I'm okay now." daddy says.

I had no idea. Thinking about it now, it does seem a little fishy how we didn't have enough money to bail him out. They smuggle drugs for a living; it's ridiculous.

"Are you serious?" Kai asks.

He's probably affected the most because he was the only one fooled by Mama.

"Yeah. Your mother is crazy as hell... well, was." Daddy says.

"How'd you get out?" I question.

He points to Geo.

"I didn't think you were serious when you said you'd get him out." My eyes get glossy again.

"I told you I'd do anything for you, princess. Did I not? And I remember telling you I'd die to get your pops out. I got you, baby."

I wrap my arms around his neck and hug the hell out of him. "Thank you, Geo." I cry.

"You're welcome, princess. Now stop hugging me and hug your father." he unwraps my arms.

I hug Dad more. The whole time, Kai was just standing there. I know he's not in the right mind right now. I don't know how to help him though.

"Kai." I touch his forearm while leaving one arm around daddy.

"I can't believe this." he holds his head back as tears fall. "She treated both of you like shit but she treated me so good. I know it's wrong, but I really miss her."

Geo walks over to him and "bro-hugs" him.

Daddy taps his shoulder.

I'm not sure what to do.

"Kai, it's understandable that you miss her. She was always there for you; she was your backbone. We aren't mad or upset that you miss her, I promise." I inform.

"But, Kia. I was there when she would say certain shit to you for nothing and I didn't do a damn thing."

"Watch that mouth of yours," Dad says while letting go. Geo let's go too. "And you heard what your sister said. She's not mad; we're not mad. It's okay to miss her, son."

He thinks about our words and then wipes his face, "so what now? Where do we go from here?" he sniffles.

"Well, I say we find out who killed your mother. But I have a pretty good idea of who it was." Geo says.

Daddy, Geo and Kai look at each other simultaneously and say, "south."

____

We're all sitting at the counter now:

"Princess, you should go upstairs while we talk about this."

"What? No. I wanna help." I say.

"You shouldn't get involved; you have a reputation to uphold." he sits up and says softly.

"I wanna help." I say again.

"Kia." Daddy says firmly.

That'll do it.

I walk away, irritated.

____

I fell asleep in Geo's bed. It's late nine right now and Geo's still downstairs. I walk downstairs and my dad and brother are gone. What.

"What? Where's Daddy and Kai?" I question.

Please don't tell me it was a dream.

"They went to Sully's place, princess. He's home, okay? I'm not gonna let him get put away again; I promise. Come here." he reassures me.

I walk over to where he was sitting on the couch. He adjusts himself in his seat, legs open. He reaches out for me so I walk closer. He pulls me onto him and I let him.

"I'm uncomfortable like this. I wanna ball up; let me go." I say.

"Go ahead." he says.

"I'm gonna hurt your stomach."

"Go ahead." he repeats

I pull my legs to my chest and lay on my side against his chest.

"Comfortable now?"

"Yeah."

We sit silently for a minute before I sit up fast, "what did you guys talk about?"

Now I'm sitting on his lap.

"Nothing that you need to worry that pretty little head about, princess."

"Geo, don't keep me out. I wanna know too." I say.

I wanna help them in any way I can. I don't want them to get hurt either.

"Princess, I can't. I don't want you involved in this." he shakes his head.

I stand up angrily, "just tell me, dammit! I wanna help too!" I shout out of frustration.

"Princess, I can't. Your father told me not to and I don't want to lose his trust. I need to keep it so I can keep you."

"Oh, my gosh; just tell me! Let me help, please," at this point I start crying, "what if something bad happens to you three? Huh?! Then what? I'm gonna live a lonely life all by my-fucking-self! I can't lose Daddy again. I can't lose Kai. And I damn sure can't lose you. Not before we take the next step. Geo, please. Just let me help." I plead.

He grabs my cheeks and pulls my face forward, "I love you and you know this. I'm not going anywhere until I wife you up, do you understand? Don't doubt me, princess. I promise I'll stay safe and I'll keep your dad and brother safe too. But I can't tell you what we're planning and I'm sorry. Ask your dad when he comes back tomorrow, okay?"

That promise doesn't even mean anything to me when I know that everything that's going on is out of his control. It's not guaranteed that he'll see tomorrow. But I'll try.

"Okay." I say. It sounded funny because my cheeks are mushed.

He kisses my funny shaped lips and says, "now let's sleep."

He pulls me into him and we sleep the night away on the couch.