Taunt

Chapter 71- Taunting Jokes

[] T H I R D •  P E R S O N []

A few moments later, Leo found himself sitting across from Jerry at the dining table. Gemma, Andre and Jamal were lined up beside the table, Andre standing closest to Leo, Gemma on the other side, and Jamal in between the two. All of them had their hands behind their backs, and that made Leo sit even straighter than he was before. Jerry had his hands clasped on the table, staring up at Leo with a rigid look. Despite looking scary on the outside, Jerry was doubling over with laughter on the inside as he watched Leo squirm in front of him.

Watching the scene before him, Jamal felt nervous for his best friend. He turned to Gemma, slightly leaning down to whisper to her discretely.

"Should we be scared or..." Jamal trailed off as he looked down to Gemma for an answer.

To his surprise, Gemma let out a small snort.

"I heard that Papa Harrison used to sneak Amelia out for parties. We're good," Gemma said.

Hearing that, both Andre and Jamal let out a small snicker.

Uncomfortable with the silence now, and restless that Amelia was missing again, Leo spoke to Jerry.

"Jerry-"

"That's 'sir' to you," Jerry said sternly.

Leo's eyes widened. He swallowed nervously before speaking up again. Properly this time.

"Uh...sir... with all due respect I think we should be looking for Amelia right now."

Jerry rose a brow at him. He sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And why do you care so much about my daughter Leo? I thought you were just friends?"

Leo scratched the back of his neck and looked down nervously. Jerry finally cracked a small smile and turned to look at Jamal, Andre, and Gemma, who all had trouble holding their laughs in as they watched Leo. They had never seen him so flustered before. Jerry winked at them discretely before turning to look at Leo with the same stern expression.

"Go on Leo. I'm waiting for an explanation."

And Leo could only sit there with his mouth flopping open and close.

* * *

[] A M E L I A []

I let out a deep breath before walking up the steps to the second home I had to visit. This one would be harder, I knew that. But it had to be done.

Swallowing thickly to get rid of the lump in my throat, I reached up and rang the bell. A few moments later, I heard soft feet padding over to me from the other side of the door. A few moments later, the door opened, my face coming into contact with Lillian's dishevelled state. For a moment, we could only stare at each other. And then, Lillian conquered the silence.

"Oh sweetie," she gasped, before lunging forward and wrapping me in her embrace.

A dam broke as Lillian hugged me, and I wasted no time in hugging her back, both of us sobbing uncontrollably. All the emotions I had encased since yesterday, somehow came barreling down once more as I embraced Lillian.

Both of us didn't care that we were still on her front porch as we poured our hearts out to one another. I felt as if one more piece of me was restored as I held my dead best friend's mother in my arms, both of us grieving the loss of Brittany once more.