behind closed doors by brea isome (free ebook reader for iphone txt) 📕

chapter one - mariah
I put my foot all the way down on the gas pedal in my new red Audi S4 .
It was the car of my dreams and just thinking about seeing the look on my sisters faces when i went home for the summer would make the $40,000 i payed to get it all worth it . Not that it was my money , but still .
The oldest sister from my huge family would be loud mouth , 25 year old , aaliyah . And i wouldn't trust her to keep a secret about anything . she had the loudest mouth north of the border and couldn't keep a man either . she's also the hoe of the family too .
The middle sister would be me . Classy but rowdy when i need to be . A fabulous 24 and doing something for myself and trying to make it with my man , ceaser , on my arm . I moved away from home when i was 18 , ready to go to college and get out of that two bedroom apartment i had been living in all my life . I met ceaser the day i graduated high school . He was my trophy that i showed off to all my friends . He kept money in me and my mama's pockets . And not to say i didn't know why he had money , because i saw him on the block a time or two , but i didn't say anything because mama loved him and my feelings for him were blossoming . And wasn't no shame in his game . He put it out there what he did for a living wasn't legal . But mama loved him , as did the rest of the family .
Now the baby of the family is taylor . she's 21 . Never been anywhere but the ghetto , not a hoe but got all the young boys following after her . In a way i guess you could say i admire her . When mama died when she was 19 she took it the best . even though she got stuck once she finished high school like she promised mama and kept her head held high . She didn't slip into no shit and even kept that apartment payed for and in tip top condition . And that's why i loved her . She had a strong will no man , nor woman , could break .
I pulled into the driveway of the 3 bedroom home me and ceaser shared . We didn't need 3 bedrooms but it was beautiful anyways . I cut off my car and mentally prepared myself to tell ceaser i was leaving , and wasn't no telling if i would be back .


chapter 2 - taylor
" put that down and get out of my face ! " i slapped santigo's hand away from the food table and wipped around the plates again .
Santigo laughed " dag , a brotha cant get a plate ? "
" no , not until mariah gets here . Man , sometimes i swear you don't got a home of yo own . you always here eatin' up our food . "
" but aaliyah said it was okay for me to be over here "
I smacked my teeth , turned around and looked him dead in hid face while giving him my best nigga-please face " is this aaliyah's house ? no ! did aaliyah pay for this damn food you tryna gobble up ? no ! and do i even like yo bummy behind ? nope . so bye bye . "
He shook his head but didn't try me . Walking into the living room with all the other people he was shaking his head and mumbling under his breath .
Santigo is aaliyah's so called 'man' . But he cant pay her bills and all he do is lay around her house all day so how is that a man ? i'm only 21 and got more since than aaliyah's simple behind !
I sat down next to the table filled with food . I had been cooking almost 2 days just for this one occasion .I made yams , green beans , greens , macaroni and cheese , 2 big buckets of chicken , hamburgers , cornbread , and much more . I even made mariah's favorite dessert , red velvet cake . Just like mama used to do . mama .
She was my heart , my soul , the reason i went to school everyday . The day i found her was like yesterday for me . I remember her face , her body was as stiff as a board . It was hard for me that day and everyday after that . But as the years went on it got better , i got stronger . I might have took it the best . While everybody was crying and falling out i was making money for a funeral . While people were tryin' to claim all her stuff after the funeral i was working to pay off the apartment . And while people was actin' a fool i kept my calm . can you believe it ? i was 19 years old , working and trying to finish high school while keeping myself outta trouble . All by myself . Both aaliyah and mariah had long ago left me . Aaliyah had moved 2 apartment buildings down from me but it might as well have been across the ocean because she acted like i didn't exist and i did the same for her . And mariah moved outta the state with ceaser when she turned 18 . She said she was going to college but i knew better than that . She told me she wasn't even about to think about going to college since she had ceaser in her corner : and i believed her . Mariah wanted everything handed to her . Now i love her to death but i was kinda jealous of her for getting her hooks into ceaser . Even though i was young at the time i wasn't too young to know that he had money . Enough money to give oprah winfrey a run for her money . But yet he lived in the hood . I couldn't figure that one out .
I heard shouts coming from the living room .
" she here she here ! "
" where at ? "
" she getting off the elevator ."
" well be quiet then . ssssshhhh . "
I rushed into the living room into the front of the crowd next to aaliyah . She gave me a look saying she still held a grudge . A grudge she had never let go . That she thought i was mama's favorite . And it could've been true . But i laughed at her and watched the door . I missed mariah like crazy and i wanted to be the first smiling face she saw .


chapter 3 - aaliyah
Right then and there i wanted to mug the shit out of taylor but i kept my cool . She wasn't even worth my time . dummy .
The door slowly creeked open and in walked mariah .
Her same frame and everything . 5"3 , brown shoulder length hair , flawless chocolate brown skin and a body only god himself could've made . Looking at her made me feel a little insecure but ill be damned if ill show her that .
" surprise ! "
She smiled and looked around at the family " oh my god ! Thank you . "
I pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear " you look good baby sister . "
She pulled back and looked at me " not as good as you big sister ."
i stepped to the side and let her mingle with the crowd . watching her i noticed the glowin' in her face , the bounce in her walk , the happiness in her smile . oh yea , i was definitely jealous .But she would get hers , no doubt .
That night around 10 , when the crowd had thinned out and the food was basically gone i took mariah in the kitchen to talk to her .
We sat down at the table .
She looked me up and down " so miss thing , i hear you got a steady man "
" who ? santigo ? no . he's as lazy as they come . "
" yea , okay . whatever you say . "
There was a pause . I looked her in her hazel eyes and found another reason to be pissed . I'm the only sister without 'em . I'm the only one with a different father . And even though mama raised us not to care about that i still felt different because of it .
" so " i started " how's it been living on beaches and shit ? 'cause you glowing and that ain't no city glow either . "
She shook her head " girl i been at college - "
" cut the bull ! you hate school . you always wanted to make something of yourself but you hate school . So ain't no way you would in that bitch for 3 years straight . "
" fine ! i went 1 year . "
" i knew it . But look - " i wrote down my number on a piece of paper and handed it to her " since you gon' be in town for a while we might as well hook up . just the two of us . "
She took the piece of paper and stared at it . she was hesitant , i could tell but she slipped it in her pocket anyways " sure . you know and you don't get along too well but , we'll see . "
" okay ."
We talked a few more hours and she didn't even seem like the same mariah i had said bye to 3 years ago . She was different in some ways . She had matured and her confidence was that of a queen . But she didn't act better than me at all . She still had that hood slang in her talk and her clothes were still tight fitted and hood styled but just from high priced boutiques .
I felt like i was chilling with one of my girls . And i wondered how long that feeling would last .