Link Up ✔️

Chapter 72

I love my daddy! I love my stepmom!

Every day I spent with them was better than the last. They let me be, talked to me when I needed them, and encouraged me to make my own decisions. I knew my father wanted me to stay at home, and finish the year virtually, but that's not what I wanted. I wanted my college experience to be as normal as possible.

I knew there was nothing ever normal about me.

I went to the therapy appointment Angel set up for me. Spent an hour or so talking about my background. I left nothing out. Though nothing was "fixed" it did feel better talking to someone about things I never told my parents I felt growing up. I felt unwanted. Like I was a mistake. My parents had me when they were fifteen, surely I was not planned.

My father did not love my mother, although he said he did at the time. My father balanced his time between me and my sister for years, and that was not much time. I looked forward to every minute I spent with my father because even those pieces of time were better than time spent with my mother. Then Angel came and I had to share my piece of time with her.

I realize now I was immature with feelings of hatred toward Angel, even though the therapist said it was valid feelings. By the time my mother was pregnant with Jalon, I realized something was off with my mother. I clung to my father even more, and thus, began to build a relationship with Angel.

That was as far as we got in the one session, and I told her I was away at school and she set up some virtual times she could meet with me.

Hopefully, it would all help.

My sister came over and braided my hair for me again. She said she did Angel's braids and enjoyed it, especially getting paid. Symone was so excited about that and Angel said she could get her more clients to braid. Symone could not stop talking about all the money she would make.

I saw a turning point in her relationship with Angel. All Angel had to do was stay patient with her and fit in her life where she could. Symone was always the hip one, from how she dressed, to how she wore her hair, to how she took no nonsense from anyone. She spoke her mind, let you know how she felt, and had lots of friends.

I wanted to be like her one day.

"There is this girl I like-"

"Girl? You're gay? Whoa!"

Symone rolled her eyes at me, sucked her teeth, and popped me in the head with her comb. "Big fucking deal. I like both. Don't make it like a thing."

"Oh no, of course." I thought it was pretty cool that at age fifteen she knew who she was and had no qualms about it.

"Anyway, this girl I like has a boyfriend, but do you think that's going to stop me?"

I chuckled at her. "What if she's straight?"

"No one is straight in this day and age, believe that."

I smiled a little. "I kissed a girl."

"And?" Symone was unfazed. "I kissed a girl too."

Already? Here I was, eighteen having all my firsts, and my sister was knocking hers out of the park at fifteen.

"Wait...have you...had sex?"

"I'm not telling you."

I jumped up. "You had sex?"

"Shhh!" she said. "Yes, I have. Say it loud so Dad can hear and ground me or something."

I did not want to know this about my little sister. It was too much. At this rate, my baby sister who was not born yet would beat me to it. I was in no rush, and Diallo had not pressured me, and King did not seem like the type. We definitely needed to have that talk though.