Sinner's Heist

"24

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ZEAH STARED AT HER half sister before bursting into laughter. She clutched ahold of her stomach, tossing her weight back onto the wall as Apryl sniffled. She wiped the tears that fell from her eyes, only crying harder as she retorted, "It's not funny! You're such a fucking asshole, I'm hurt!" Zeah's laughs couldn't even escape her lungs as her mouth only hung open. She swiped away the teardrops that fell down from her own before taking deep, slow breaths. She walked around the island counter, grabbing her sister who sat in the stool in a loose hug, still giggling. Apryl glared at her from the side as she pulled away from her embrace. Her lips dropped in a pout as she folded her arms and looked downward. "It's not funny, but all you can do is laugh it off. That's niggas for ya', you didn't know. It's not like you're a home wrecker because. .you. .didn't. .know. It's just crazy, the fact you slept with his cousin in his house! Vengeance at it's finest, but I don't know if you should trust his cousin."

Zeah gave her opinion on the matter, waving the spoon in her hand as a gesture. She adverted her body back towards the grits and eggs she cooked as sausage patties fried on a nearby skillet. Though she only wore a tank top and very short shorts, no grease popped onto her skin thankfully. She stirred the cheese, butter, salt, and pepper deeper into grits as sizzling sounded in her ears. Apryl had came over to her apartment early that Friday morning, the sun had barely peeked from behind the moon. While on the way to her actual house, she changed directions and decided on sleeping over-not in the mood to be in an empty house that night. She didn't even have the urge to go to class, determining she'd have to make up that following Monday after the weekend. Apryl furrowed her brows with her chin leaned against her fist. "Why? He really seems like a good guy despite his ain't-shit ass cousin." Apryl rolled her eyes.

"Exactly that, obviously they're close if he'd let him just come live with him. You don't think he knew absolutely nothin' 'bout you? Tuh. He probably spotted you on purpose, tryna' run you through the whole ain't-shit bloodline. Birds of a feather, flock together. Look what Livan back story turned out to be." Zeah reasoned, shrugging her small shoulders as she flipped the patties with a spatula that sat nearby on the light wood colored counter. Apryl was still convinced of her theory of him being a good guy, but then again, she thought the same about Kielce once. Maybe Zeah was right and Apryl was sure tired of this feeling from any guy. She needed some sort of proof before automatically cutting him off-but also a way that point could be proven before she was waist deep. Zeah retrieved two, white plates from the cabinets above her head and sat them down next to each other, bringing out two forks.

Apryl pulled out her phone and went to her and Amos' message thread. She begin typing quickly, the tapping sound effect with every letter she typed then a swoop noise. She felt a bit of regret on how she'd left him last night without an actual reason. The message read, 'Hey, I'm sorry for last night. Maybe you could come over tonight and I cook dinner for you?' and she hit send. "Uh uh uh." Zeah murmured, shaking her head as she walked behind her to take the opposite stool that was next to her. She placed both of the plates down on the hard surface as she put her palms flat together. They both heard the tri-tone of Apryl getting a reply which caused her to open one eye to peak in the middle of her prayer. She scanned the message, it saying, 'No hard feelings. I can't tonight, but maybe soon' . Zeah picked her fork, the rest of her prayer slipping her mind as she said, "And it begins," then stuffed grits into her mouth after blowing them cool.

Apryl disagreed, suggesting, "That doesn't mean anything, maybe he's going to be busy later." She looked down at her food and poked at the patty, scrunching up her nose. "Is this pork?" She asks, additionally. Zeah rolled her eyes, sighing then answered, "Yes, what you thought it was going to be? Turkey?" Apryl turned to face her and motioned her eyes off to the side before making direct contact again. "Uh, yeah."