My eyes flew open and my head turned sharply to my left. I searched the hallway, my gaze landed on someone far down the hallway, and my jaw dropped. Mavy? What? How? Where has she been? I haven’t seen her once since I arrived and I admit I was worried for her. My eyes start to water and I can’t help but start crying.
The last time I saw her, we hadn’t cleared the air and I kept how I felt to myself. We said we were okay but there was a distance between us that stopped me from reaching out to her and I’m assuming she felt it too because she didn’t reach out to me either.
It felt like we separated during bad times with the bitter taste of Shane on our tongues. I hadn’t stopped wondering about her. Seeing her here, now, after all this time, the dam broke and the tears flowed.
When I heard about their parent’s death, especially with it being at Shane’s hands, I worried that something had happened to her. I told myself that he would never hurt her but I still feared for her, I feared for her life.
Was she okay, was she hurt, did he lock her up because she was angry with him or because she fought back? All the different possibilities freaked me out. I had felt useless, powerless to help her. Yet here she was, staring at me. I was hit with relief.
The girl I knew was still there, she was still tiny, and her features were still small and doll-like. She looked the same and different all at the same time. Her hair had grown and she’d died it black. Her gray eyes were as striking as ever. She pierced her nose and left eyebrow.
There was something about her face that told me she wasn’t the same. She seemed stronger and edgier. I praised the Goddess for that. As Shane’s sister, she would need a backbone. She couldn’t still be the same weak girl who was unaware of her surroundings like she used to be.
“Mavy,” I cried.
She let out a sob as more tears streamed down her cheeks. She started running toward us like a child. Her eyes were closed, her head tipped back. I laughed and cried at the same time. She was fast and within seconds she was pushing Shane off of me. She wasn’t strong enough to do it but he fell back as if she were a linebacker.
“You were the last person I expected to see here. When did you get here?” She ugly cried.
Her eyes were shut tight as she aimed a punch at Shane. It landed and bounced off of his arm but he swatted her next one like it was a weapon. Mavy didn’t stop, she kept trying to punch him.
“I-I”
“Why didn’t you tell me she was here? Goddess, Shane!” Mavy yelled cutting me off.
“What? She hasn’t been here that long. I wanted her for myself. You guys were inseparable and I’ve been waiting for her for far too long. I wanted time with her all to myself. Speaking of, you are interrupting, baby sis. Big time,” Shane said.
“It’s because we’re best friends that you should have told me. I deserved to know! Baby sis, my ass. I was born only a minute after you!” She said angrily. “Fuck off with that baby sis shit.”
She ignored the last bit like he didn’t say anything and she turned back to me. Snots had dripped and were hanging from her nose. I laughed. It didn’t matter that we had been separated for almost an entire year and it didn’t matter that she had changed or that I had changed for that matter.
Mavy was still Mavy. She was still a brat. I started laughing and crying. Be it because of sadness or relief. She threw her arms around me and hugged me like she was afraid I’d disappear if she let me go.
Her shoulders shook with her sobs, her tears wet my cheeks, and soaked our shirts. It felt so good being reunited with her. It felt like I had another piece of my “carefree” life from before back, a piece of home back.
“Wait,” she said as she pulled back. “Why are you kissing Shane? That’s so gross.” She wiped her tears. The last time we talked we had been during the Shane trial ordeal. Goddess how things have changed.
“What can I say? He’s obsessed.”
We stare at each other for a moment before we burst into laughter. My stomach hurts by the time I’ve stopped laughing. Mavy wipes the tears from her eyes and face. “Like I said, gross,” she whines as she wipes her nose. Come, we have so much to catch up on.”
“That’s where I stop you, Mave. You’re being the biggest cock block of my life right now. We were in the middle of something,” Shane said.
“I don’t care. Consider it payback for keeping her presence a secret,” Mavy said as she flipped him off.
“How long have you been here, Adea?” Mavy asked.
“Two days now.”
“Two WHOLE days without telling ME?!!?!? No, I think you need to go two whole days without her.”
“Fuck that,” Shane growled. “That’s not happening.”
“The hell it is. You need to give us some time or I’m going to take her for two days. If you hadn’t kept secrets from me, none of this would have happened,” Mavy growled as she pointed from Shane to me.
Shane groaned as he adjusted himself. My eyes widened and I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing. “You guys can hang out tomorrow.”
“No, we’re going to hang now,” Mavy said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“Fucking A,” Shane hissed. Mavy mimicked him and I laughed.
“Thirty minutes. That’s it,” Shane said. “Not a fucking second longer.”