Pieces of Me by Pua Ramona (small books to read txt) 📕

“Masina.” I open my eyes and see Daddy standing there smiling at me.

“Daddy, is that you?” I ask. I don’t know what is real, if I’m still in my mind, or if I’m slowly dying and this is my reward for the evils that I have suffered at the hands of others. My chest starts tightening and my breathing is uneven as I begin to panic.

“Don’t be afraid, Sina,” Daddy says. I close my eyes, drawing a breath and trying to calm myself.

“This is not real; this is not real” I repeat. I open my eyes and Daddy is still there. “Am I dying? I’m not ready to die Daddy” I cry.

He smiles at me with his hand out and says, “Come take a walk with me.” I look over my shoulder and wait for Eli to call for me, but I can’t hear him anymore.

I look back at Daddy and say, “I don’t want to go Daddy, I can’t.” He reaches for my hand and I can’t hold it in anymore, I cry. I haven’t held my Daddy’s hand in such a long time. Feeling those big hands fold around my little one make the pain a little less excruciating. In Daddy’s hands was always a safe place to be.

“Shh, don’t cry” he says. I wait for Eli to talk to me again, but he doesn’t. So I take a deep breath and lace my fingers through Daddy’s and we walk. I don’t know where we’re going, but I know I’m safe. Whether this is all in my head, or not I don’t know, but I’m not going to question it anymore.

“Don’t be afraid Sina, you’re going to be okay” Daddy says.

I hold his hand tighter and say, “I know Daddy.” I look over my shoulder one last time and I know I’m not going to hear Eli anymore. “I love you forever Emma.” I blow a kiss in the breeze, hoping that they’ll feel it and know that it’s me. I take a deep breath and walk into the light without looking back. I know that everything is going to be okay because I have Daddy by my side.

Chapter Sixty-One

Eli

“Sorry about Sina, man” Marino says as shake his hand.

Michael steps forward. “Emma’s with Rita. I came here after she told me what happened. Anything you need man” he says with sadness in his eyes.

I clear my throat and say, “I appreciate you guys coming out.”

“She’s family,” Marino says. All the reasons I have for hating him don't exist anymore. I can’t hate a man for loving her, so I accept it, thankful for another pair of eyes to watch over her.

“I need to go back to the lake, I had Daniel drive my truck here. Do you know where it’s been parked” I say turning to Reese.

“Yeah man, it's in the next lot over by Luka’s SUV. Her purse and phone were still in the truck when the police were finished going over it for evidence,” Reese says as he hands me my keys.

“The cops were at the lake looking for more evidence. The rain made it hard for them to do their job but they took what they found” Marino says. “I’ve got one of my guys keeping his eyes and ears out, so he’ll let us know if he finds anything.”

“Thanks man,” I say as I spin the keys on my finger trying to work out what to do when I get to the lake.

“No thanks needed” he says.

I need to collect myself before we start looking for the son of a bitch who did this to Sina.

“Are you sure you want to do this Uso?” Luka asks standing next to me.

“I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life, man. She shouldn’t be lying in that fucking bed like that. She didn’t fucking deserve this'' I growl. They all agree. I grab Sina’s purse to see if there’s anything in there that can somehow help us. I will never understand why women have so much shit in their big purses, but I won’t complain either. This girl has everything in here, including condoms. What the fuck? I look over at Marino, holding them in my hand and ask “You and her never, right?”

Marino rolls his eyes and says, “Not if she was going to think about your ugly ass while we're doing it.” I chuckle and mentally give myself a high five.

“Uso, did you really just ask if my sister was having sex?” Luka asks, shaking his head.

“I had to know if I needed to kick his ass after we took care of everything” I say with a shrug.

Reese, Daniel, and Michael all chuckle. The only thing I find is a picture of me from when we just graduated out of high school. I look at Reese and he says, “I gave it to her a few months back when she was here for their family reunion.” The ache in my heart lessens a little.

“Anything?” Marino asks.

“Nothing.” I say feeling frustrated.

I pass the purse to Reese and ask him “Could you lock that in your trunk for me Bro?”

He heads off over to his car. I spot her phone sitting in the cup holder. I’m not sure if I’m going to find anything, but it doesn’t hurt to try, so I start going through her missed call list and her text messages. She has several missed calls from a number that isn’t saved under her contacts, so I keep scrolling. There are missed calls from me, Lei, Reese and Mama. Shit! I completely got distracted and forgot to call Mama. I’ll do that as soon as I have the time. I click out of her calls, and open her text messages. There are several from Lei, Mama, Reese, and a couple from her Mama and Megan. I click on one from the same number listed in her missed calls list. Weird. It must