A Mother's Bond

48

Solange October 1, 2016
I trembled in my seat, trying to remind myself that Beyoncé was my sister, and violence was not the answer. But it took every ounce of strength in my body to not leap across the table and beat the shit out of her. Kelly, noticing my rage, put her hand on mine and squeezed tightly.

I ran my tongue over my teeth. "This is exactly why I'm taking her from you."

Blue looked over at me, alarm on her face. "You're taking 'Rayah?"

My face paled. Mama glared at me, before turning to Blue. "No, of course not. Why don't you go play with Aunty Chelle? She told me you haven't shown her your new dolls."

Michelle smiled and nodded at Blue. "Yeah, let's go play."

She walked around the table to take Blue's hand, but Blue kept staring at me, completely still. "You can't take her."

When Michelle reached down to pick her up, Blue threw herself onto the floor, pounding her fists on the hardwood. We all watched, surprised. Blue didn't throw temper tantrums. She caught an attitude, often, but she rarely raised her voice.

"YOU CAN'T TAKE HER! NO! NO! NOOOOO!" Blue screamed. Michelle picked her up, but Blue fought against her, throwing her head back, wailing.

Beyoncé and Jay tried to calm her down, but that just made her scream more. Eventually Kelly got up and scooped Blue into her arms, quickly walking out of the room. Michelle looked lost for a second but followed Kelly's lead out of the room. I could still hear Blue's cries echoing in the halls for a few seconds before a door shut. Jay turned to me, his eyes narrowed.

"Why would you say that?" He demanded, his face red. "Now Blue's gonna think Sarayah's leaving again."

I sighed tiredly. "Okay, I'm sorry about that. I admit it was wrong. I honestly wasn't thinking. BUT that doesn't change the fact that I'm taking her."

Beyoncé shrugged, her attention back on her food. "Okay."

Jay looked over at Beyoncé. "Are you serious? She wants to take our daughter, and that's your response?"

"What?" Bey asked. "She wants her, and Sarayah's always liked Solo more than me so whatever. They can have each other."

Jay made a face. "You're gonna let someone take your daughter out of jealousy?"

Beyoncé set her fork down, looking at Jay. "Jealousy?" She chuckled. "Jealousy. No. That's not it. I just see a pattern. Sarayah doesn't like something, she up and leaves. If she stays here, she's not gonna like it. So, she may as well leave with Solo now instead running away later."

I looked over at Jay, catching his eye. "See? This is what you want Sarayah around. This behavior. This thought process."

Mama reached over and took my hand. "I know you love Sarayah, but you can't help her right now. You have to think of Julez."

I narrowed my eyes at her. She had the nerve to bring up Julez, knowing damn well she was part of the reason he wasn't with me. If Mama had dealt with Beyoncé, I wouldn't have had to uproot my whole life to help her. She even said it herself.

I took a deep breath. "I can take care of both Sarayah and Julez."

Mama shook her head sadly. "No, you can't, Solo."

"Yes, I can, Mama–"

"Solo," Mama interrupted me, a serious look on her face. "I spoke to Daniel earlier. He's been trying to reach you all day. Did you know that?"

I sighed. "Yes, I knew. I'll deal with it later."

"No, you need to deal with it now."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Now is not the time. It can wait–"