After we had finished lunch we headed to the largest hospital in Manhattan, this was the hospital where both Trinity and Aailyah had been brought too. Upon orders of Mr. Wallace, we were gonna be taking Trinity out for the day. I am not sure why all hospitals everywhere on earth share the same smell. Like lavender and the sharp smell of cleaning products. I was surprised to see Mr. Wallace was waiting for us in the lobby. He was not wearing the fancy suit he had on at the party anymore. Just a pair of basketball shorts and a sleeveless black shirt. As we walked in the man rose from his seat, leaving his newspaper on the seat beside him and gave Tatianaa long hug. “I am glad to see you are safe.” I barely caught the words with my great hearing.
“I told you I was fine, Uncle Hezekiah.” Tatiana replied as she pulled away, a rare genuine smile appearing on her lips. “So if I brought Cindy, does that mean I still have to go or can I maybe-”
“The answer is no,” I heard the girl swear under her breath. “And what did I tell you about all that cursing?” Her cheeks turned a bit darker as she looked away from him, fixing her gaze on a nearby painting that didn’t look too interesting. The man just shook his head but smiled fondly as he gave her a playful push. His eyes then came to rest on me. A pair of deep dark eyes that reminded me more of a wild beast than a loving father. Though I could maybe see what Katherine saw in this man if she really was attracted to him. He was handsome in many ways, he let out a powerful jepei aura and was a leader. However, I knew that even if Katherine was attracted to him it was just a false feeling.
Her true husband, a man named Horus Blackthorn, was somewhere else in the world. Or maybe in the five years since I had first met, and last saw, the man he had died and Katherine was trying to replace him with someone else.
“I am glad you came as well.” He said walking over to me. “Perhaps having you here will be enough to get those two to act like cousins. Instead of mortal enemies, fools think I don’t know they hate each other for some reason.”
“I can do my best sir,” I said politely and softly, keeping to my more submissive character in his presence. “Is my Auntie Porsha still here?” The man gave a nod before leading me and Tatianato to a nearby elevator. “How are they both doing?”
“Well it is still early to tell but looks like the big man in the sky has no plans of shepherding Aailyah’s soul to Heaven just yet. Still a mystery how that bullet missed her heart by just a few inches, and a blessing that off all people, a cheetah jepei user was in the area to get her to this hospital so quickly.” The doors opened and he took us down the hallway, past other open rooms with a few families. From I could tell on the brief pass bys most of these rooms were for parents and children patients. We eventually came to a stop outside of a room, Hezekiah opened the door and let us step inside first.
I recognized Ms. Porsha almost immediately, she had changed out of her dress of last night and was wearing baggy sweatpants and a dark shirt. Her eyes red and puffy probably from an endless amount of crying and worry. Sitting beside her was a tall man in what looked to be a brown UPS uniform. A very large man with strong arms, dark hazelnut skin, a bushy beard and a bald head.
“Ve-” My heart nearly stopped as she nearly said my real name, but even in this state. Ms. Porsha took a breath before correcting herself expertly. “Very glad to see you, Cindy.” Her voice was sad and I knew why, as laying on a hospital bed was Aailyah. Each breath she took seemed to be in perfect rhythm with the beeping that came from the heart monitor next to her. She looked so small and pale now, but at least she was breathing.
I walked over to Porsha and gave her a very long hug, it was moments like that I didn’t like lying about this relationship. “He already knows,” she whispered quietly in her ear. “Call him Uncle Devin.”
We broke the hug and I gave a hug to my “Uncle” before going over to look at Aaliyah. Tatiana was on the other side of her, her hand cupping one of Aailyah’s. “Mr. Wallace,” Mr. Devin’s voice was a lot deeper than I had originally thought it was gonna be. If Mr. Wallace had a baritone voice, it would be fair to say that this man was more like a tuba. “You need to watch your daughter, been acting a fool every time you leave to go handle business. Now I get that she and my baby girl were friends but I ain’t gonna keep holding my tongue much longer.”
I heard Hezekiah sigh. “I apologize for my daughter’s actions, this situation isn’t an excuse for her behavior or disrespect, and like I said before. All of the hospital fees I will pay personally, I’ll even pay off your house if you want. Anything to repay you, your daughter was injured in my building. I am sorry for that.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to Aaliyah as I kissed her hand before setting it back down. I felt my own tears stinging my eyes as I took a deep breath to try and keep myself from crying. I never wanted something like this to happen.
As Ms. Porsha wrapped an arm around my shoulders and rubbed my back. The door behind us opened up and I could feel Trinity’s jepei aura before I could see her. Through my blurred vision I could see Tatiana frown a bit and just give her cousin one nod. “Why are you here?” Trinity sounded a bit annoyed and when I turned to face her. The 13-year-old was wearing a pair of tight leggings, and a pink-shirt that went down to her knees.
“Came to see my friend,” Tatiana replied. “You know since you didn’t want to respond to my texts about how she was doing.” She added in a low tone of voice.
“Because I blocked your number so I probably didn’t see it.”
“Of course your petty as-”
“Enough!” Trinity jumped and I could only assume that Tatiana probably did the same. “Yall not gonna stop all the fussing and whining in this room. Not today.” Mr. Wallace said firmly.
“Daddy-”
“Don’t start, daddy this, daddy that, with me. I should be whooping your ass for your disrespect towards this man and his wife!.” Trinity looked a bit smaller now that her daddy was fully scolding her. “Now I know you are scared to death about your friend, but he is still her father and I raised you to respect people, and I keep letting your little comments slide because of what happened but not anymore! If and when you come back here, and I hear that showed Porsha or Devin here any form of backtalk, cursing, not listening! Anything that they or I consider disrespect! The next conversation is gonna be between me, you and my belt! Am I understood?!”
For a moment I saw Trinity's hands tighten into fists but then they calmed down and she slowly nodded her head. She looked over at Mr. Devin and in a quiet voice said. “I am sorry, sir.” She then turned to look at Mrs. Porsha. “And I am sorry, Ms. Porsha.”
“Thank you,” Mr. Devin replied.
It was just hitting me that Trinity looked much better than she looked last night. It was almost as if she hadn’t been injured in the first place. Her arm was resting in a blue sling, but her cuts and wounds were gone from what I could see. If I was guessing, she probably used amplification to heal most of her injuries. It was easy to tell as her once powerful aura was not as powerful if anything it looked like a small mist barely seen to even my eyes. “Now Trinity, I want you to go with your cousin and Cindy for the day. Get some fresh air, go to a spa, do something but I don’t want you here right now.”
Trinity opened her mouth to say something but I am sure that her daddy’s previous scolding was enough for her to nod obediently before leaving the room. “I hate to borrow your niece at a time like this.” Mr. Wallace said as he turned back to face Ms. Porsha and her husband. “However, she has been a great friend to my daughter, the only time she seems to behave is when she is around her.”
“Well her momma raised her right.” She said, giving me a pat on the back.
After one last goodbye. I followed Tatiana outside of the room where she finally let out the breath she was holding in. “At least he didn’t get mad at me.” She mumbled under her breath as she met up with Trinity who was leaning on a wall a few doors down. “Are you ready to go, sister? Or do you want to get dressed in something better? Maybe stop at your house?”
Trinity looked up and glared at Titiana, it was not hard to see that these two seemed to hate each other. “Just shut up already.” She stepped forward and came to rest her head against my chest. I could feel her shaking with each quiet breath she took.
“It’s okay,” I said, sliding down until I was sitting on my butt and I took Trinity’s with me so I could just let her cry against my chest. “Shut up,” I mouthed firmly towards Tatiana Who seemed ready to say something, probably mean.
Tatiana Looked a bit surprised after looking down at her cousin once more. She slid down so she could sit down beside us as well. She placed a hand on Trinity’s back and mumbled. “I’m sorry, Trinity. Aailiyah is gonna be okay. She always is okay.”
“I-I treat her horrible sometimes.” Trinity said, sounding on the verge of breaking down. “And now she is here because she kept me alive.” I held the girl closer against my chest as the damn seemed to break. I don’t think she really had cried about this yet, or rather didn’t have anyone to truly comfort her during this. “T-The only friend I have that doesn’t hate me, the only one that is truthful with me. D-Don’t take her away from me… please don’t.”
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When Trinity had finally stopped crying and had the strength to get back up. We pulled away from the hospital in one of Mr. Wallace’s nice cars. We had to make two stops, one was at Mr. Wallace’s house to get Trinity dressed in some other clothes. I was surprised that this time, she didn’t have me wear a blindfold. Even got cross at one of the drivers who wanted me to wear one. “I don’t care what my dad says right now!” She had snapped. “If he had let me stay at the hospital we wouldn’t have to be here, so shut up and just drive!”
Once she had returned dressed now in a pair of plaid pants and a black long sleeved shirt with a high collar. We were making our way down the streets of Brooklyn. The driver seemingly understanding what Trinity’s orders of. “You know where to go.”
Honestly it was horrible awkward to sit in this car with these two girls. Now that I looked at them side by side, I couldn’t believe how much they looked like. They were of similar height to each other, Tatiana was maybe a bit taller, they were built the same with Trinity being more slim and fit, while Tatiana was already getting the curves that came with growing up. Both had round faces, though Trinity’s cheeks were a bit more round while Tatiana's were sunken in a bit more. Both had red eyes, dark red jepei auras. Trinity had taken out her braid extensions and was going with just a head of nappy hair. That was how I found myself with her sitting between my legs while I tried to at least get it looking nice. This SUV we were in was built more like a carriage, with the two large seats facing each other. So I could see Tatiana smirking as we rode.
“Don’t make her force you to do her nappy ass hair, Cindy.” Trinity made a wild attempt to probably run over and slap the girl but I quickly put an end to that.
“Stop it,” I said, firmly. “We are in a moving car so let’s not murder your cousin. Despiste how much she might deserve it right now.” I added, giving Tatiana a scolding glare.
“She is not my cousin, at least not to me.” Trinity mumbled as she leaned back a bit, wincing as I pulled on the many knots that were now in her hair. I was starting to see that the girl probably tore out her braid extensions last night or maybe this morning when she woke. “Can’t we just drop you off somewhere, I know you don’t want to be here!”
“Oh and risk an ass whooping cause you don’t like me. I’ll pass.” Tatiana turned her gaze out of the window. “Cause we both know that if I just left you and then came to dinner tonight, you would lie and say how I wanted to go home, and then we would start arguing and then we both get the belt.”
They shared a collective growl of annoyance and even both rested their chins on one of their fists in the same way. That got a slight giggle from me causing them both to turn and ask me. “What is so funny, Cindy?!”
“Nothing,” I said, tilting Trinity’s head to the side so I can get this brush though that side. “It’s just you two act more like sisters than cousins.” A small twinge of sadness ran through me as for a moment I could see Sevil in my mind. My smile softened as I really was missing her highly annoying but loving way she would wake me up. Times I took her running on the back of Aisu, helping her learn to count and write. “It’s kinda nice to see it, I just wish you two would get along a bit more. Family is always there for you, even if you don’t like each other.”
The truck was silent for a moment and I wondered if maybe my words had some effect on the girls. Tatiana looked out of the window once more, her voice a bit softer. “Like I told you this morning, I don’t hate Trinity. No matter how much she may hate me.”
“I don’t hate you,” Trinity said in a voice just as soft. “You are just really petty sometimes.”
“You're one to talk,” even if that came out a bit sour. I could see Tatiana’s lips curl up a bit at that. She took her headphones off her neck and put them on. A moment later I could hear her blasting what sounded like gentle piano music. Her hands playing on an imaginary piano as she closed her eyes for a moment.
I supposed this gave me time to ask Trinity something else. “How are you doing after last night… I saw you, kill that guy.” I remembered how quickly after her father told her to fight, Trinity had rushed in and stabbed that man through the chest and then chased after his ally.
Trinity winced and slapped my hand as I pulled a bit too harshly on one the knots in her hair. Taking a moment to remove another one of these short braids. Having to use a mix of amplification on my nail to cut it free. “I am not okay,” she answered. I was half expecting her to say more on how she killed this man, but she only responded with. “Aailyah was hurt at my event, we should have just canceled that last song like she suggested. Then we would have been upstairs with you all and she would be okay. I don’t regret what I did…” she then mumbled under her breath a few words that sent chills running up my spine. “It’s not like I haven’t killed someone before.”
I remember the scene of the crime that my daddy had told me about the first day or so I was here. How a bunch of gangster leaders had been very much slaughtered and killed. That was the night I had first met Trinity and first saw Katherine for the first time in five years. It was how I first got a bit of her trust. I had a feeling that Trinity was this girl that had been helping Katherine in these activities but then this other girl in a mask showed up. However, after hearing what Trinity had said, I was starting to wonder if maybe. This girl in the white mask was here to take down Trinity, to kill her. A way to fight fire with fire.
Which still made Trinity guilty of murder.
My touch got softer as I kept doing her hair. It was hard to accept that, Trinity wasn’t a bad person. I keep learning more and more that this is not the case. She was just being turned into a weapon by Katherine. I let out a sigh and forced a smile on my face, choosing not to address that last statement, pretending I didn’t hear it. “Aaiiyah is gonna be fine, she is really strong, and it wasn’t a bad thing that you performed that night. No one could have known what was gonna happen that night. It is not your fault. If anything it should be my fault.”
“How come?”
“I mean it was my idea to help you perform that last song in the first place.”
Trinity looked up at me, her dark red eyes starting to grow a bit brighter now. “I never said thank you for that, you helped a lot, even after I treated you a bit badly. You are not just my friend, you are a really good friend at that.” Her smile faded a bit as she looked away. “It’s a shame, you are probably gonna be leaving the city in a while.”
I kept forgetting that the main part of my cover was that I was Aailyah’s cousin visiting from Spain for a few weeks. It had been two since I had first come here. “I might be here longer than we thought,” I covered as I tilted her head a bit more to brush the otherside, a bit more gentle than before. “With Aailyah being injured my mom and dad are gonna stay longer, just until Aaliyah is truly okay. So it looks like we get to hang out a bit more, so I will try and have fun for the two of us.”
“If that is the case, then we should start as soon as possible.” Trinity said, a bit more of her cheerful nature starting to return.
“I would love to.”
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I let out a long-winded sigh as I sunk deeper into these very warm waters. My ankle felt amazing as these mineral waters did their job in adding even more to the relaxation my body felt. Trinity had taken me and Tatiana to a spy in Brooklyn, and this spy was known for its many different types of baths that were inside. After a much needed massage, and letting this kind woman undo and redo my braids while I lay back with cucumbers on my eyes. I had tied my hair up under a wrap and had joined Trinity in this mineral bath. It felt so much like the hot springs back home, I was grateful for such a small taste of my tropical island home. Whatever minerals they had in these waters were filled with natural energy and the more I soaked in it, the stronger my body was growing.
Trinity looked up at me as I slid into the water beside her. “I told you I knew some good places.” She said with a wink before closing her eyes once more.
“Where is Tatiana?” I asked, turning around to find where she had gone. “I hope you didn’t make her go home or something, isn’t your daddy gonna be mad if he finds out?”
“We will be fine, he never said we had to hang out all day, just spend time together.” Trinity held up her perfect looking foot that was now sporting dark pink nail polish. “Besides we got our nails done together, even got matching colors. Now she is gonna be taking a mud bath for an hour, she likes that more than the regular baths here. Probably because of her cute little wild dog spirit.”
I giggled a bit at that but then I stopped as I remembered what Tatiana had asked of me earlier today. Trinity was planning to sneak into nypd headquarters to get some information on her daddy. “Umm, Trinity I wanted to ask you-”
Trinity interrupted me. “Cindy, I need your help.” She opened one eye and looked at me with a relaxed but very tired expression starting to form on her face.
“W-What do you need?”
Trinity leaned back a bit more. “My arm is still healing but I need to do something very important and needs to be done before not tomorrow, but the next day. I don’t have time to really heal anymore and I am not good at speeding it up to begin with, it hurts too much. So I need another set of hands for something very important.” She went quiet for a bit more. “I need to sneak into NYPD Headquarters and burn some very bad misinformation about my daddy.”
“W-What?!” I said, both faking and kinda amazed that this was actually true. “That is super illegal and I am not an American Citizen so I could probably be deported.”
“Only if we are caught,” Trinity said softly. “I have done this before, and I need to get something out. Tatiana was supposed to help me but she doesn’t wanna do it.”
“You shouldn’t be doing this at all.”
Trinity acted as if she didn’t hear me say that. “I love my daddy, I love the empire he has built, and I am not gonna let anyone stop his empire from working because they misunderstand him so much. So please help me, I just need to get rid of something so we can buy a little more time. Please, Cindy.”
“Why me?”
“Because I like you and I trust you more than anyone right now. You have shown it and earned it, you are a good person.” I felt Trinity’s fingers wrap around my own as she gripped my hand tightly. “Please, just help me and I will never ask you again. I know it is a really big ask, and if you have all the right in the world to say no. However, no matter what I am going to do this, with or without you. I don’t care what happens if I am caught, I probably will be because my head is not in the right place right now.”
She was manipulating me, using her sadness to her advantage. I bite the bottom of my lip as I tried to think of something. If Trinity went and did this alone, she would probably fail right now, she would be arrested and just another charge would be added onto the list of her crimes. I don’t think my daddy could help her if that happened. I also needed Trinity, I needed to stay on her good side for all of this to work, to get her dad and Katherine arrested and have her sent to the island to have a better life. It also might help me confirm if Trinity really was capable of doing bad things and how good she was at it. I closed my eyes before saying. “Okay…” I whispered softly. “I will go and help you, but I am only doing it one time.”
“Then it is settled.” She said with a large smile. “I will see you tomorrow night, partner.” Trinity leaned her head against my shoulder. Her skin is warm to the touch, warmer than even this water. “Thank you, Cindy, thank you so much.”
I didn’t answer her. Instead I was trying to find out one very important part of this plan.
How on earth was I gonna convince my daddy to let me do this.
No, how on earth was I gonna come up with a good lie, cause I had a feeling what his answer would be if I told him what I was gonna do.
And I should have just said. “Hell no!’
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