Betrayed

Neche must have called me four or five times when I was at work, and I couldn’t call her back until my break.
“Sissy? What’s up? I’m trying to make some money!” I laughed.
“Mina,” she was crying, “Have you checked your email?”
“I’m at work… how could I? Nech, baby girl why are you crying?”
“Can’t you check it on your phone?”
I sighed, “Yeah, let me call you back.”
I went to my emails on my phone and scanned through it. There was one that was from Lacey who had also sent it to my sister. Assuming that this was what my sister meant, I clicked on the link and read.
“Mina, foods up,” James called from the server alley. I barely heard him as I re-read the article.
“Mina!” my manager, Joey, called, “Now please!”
I threw my phone back in my purse before running to pick up my food. Balancing the tray on my hand and shoulder, I made my way to the table of construction workers I had. They all cheered when they saw the food. They had already gotten their cat calls out of the way, I was happy to note. After giving them each their plates, I asked if I could get them anything else. Only after they were settled did I go back to my manager and ask if I could have a smoke break.
“I don’t know Mina…”
“Ah c’mon Joey. They’re my only table and I just made sure they were okay. It will only take a minute.”
He smiled at me, “You’re lucky you’re my favorite, hurry up.”
I smiled my thanks, grabbed my ciggs, lighter and cell phone and went to sit on the patio. After lighting up and inhaling, I leaned my head back to exhale the blue gray smoke and played with the frayed ends of my short shorts. Finally, I picked my phone up and called my sister back.
“How could those people write such awful things?” she asked before I could even say hello.
“I don’t know sis, but did you tell Matt?”
“No! He’d be so mad! As far as he’s concerned Bear is his son.”
“We all feel that way, Neche. No stupid paper is ever going to take that away from you. Look,” I finished my cigarette and stabbed it out in the ash tray, “I have to get back inside, but I’ll be home in a little bit, okay?”
“You waitressing or bar tending today?”
“Waitressing, but I have to bar tend tomorrow night.”
“Okay, just come home when you can.”
“I will. Love you sissy, keep your head up.”
She sighed, “Love you too Mina. Thanks for everything.”
I smiled even though she couldn’t see me, “That’s what sisters are for.”

After work, I got home to find Bear sitting in the living room floor playing with Lego's.
“Aren’t you a little young for Lego's kiddo?”
He looked up as I sat next to him and shook his head.
“No Aunt Mina, I can do it.”
“Okay,” I laughed, “Where’s Mommy?”
“Getting ready for work. Oh really? So it’s just you and me tonight?”
He nodded, “And Aunt Val. She said the other girls be in town tomorrow.”
“Okay baby, what sounds for dinner?”
“Sketti?”
I laughed, “You just had sketti the other night!”
“Yeah… but Aunt Mina, I like it.”
“I know you do boo,” I tousled his hair and stood up to find my sister. I walked into the bathroom to see my sister straightening her hair.
“I didn’t know you worked tonight…”
She shrugged, “I got called in. There were some clients that asked for me specifically.”
“Anyone big?”
“I don’t know… they didn’t tell me.”
I nodded and sat on the counter as she started to put her make-up on.
“You don’t mind watching Bear tonight, do you?”
“Not at all… so Val’s coming over?”
“Yeah, she said she wanted to give Bear his birthday present.”
“Okay. Bear wants spaghetti for dinner…”
She laughed, “Again? He just had it the other night!”
“That’s what I told him!’
“Just give him a can of spaghetti o’s and he should-“
She was cut off by her phone and by the way she answered it, I knew it was her boss. She hung up, smiled and told me she had to hurry up because it was a big client.

After she left, Bear had his spaghetti o’s and I sat on the couch with a bottle of bud light, waiting for Val to come over. Bear and I were in the middle of Aladdin when she finally got there.
“Bear!”
“Aunt Val!” he jumped off the couch and ran to where Val stood in the doorway. She picked him up, shut the door behind her, and carried Bear to the couch. After sitting down, she leaned over to kiss my cheek.
“Hi love!”
“Hey lady, how was tour?”
“Aunt Val! It was fun! Daddy and I got to play!” Bear answered for me. We all laughed and talked about how the guys were doing. I knew it was hard for Val to be away from Matt, especially after being their tour manager. And, it was like they were made for each other. They never argued and I knew how much she missed him when he was gone. After I put Bear to bed, I poured us each a glass of wine and told her about the tabloids. Her jaw dropped and she shook her head.
“Some people are just so insensitive… I hate the press.”
I nodded in agreement, “IT would kill Matt…”
She nodded too and we sat in silence for a minute.
“Delaney is coming home tomorrow?”
“Oh yeah? What was she up to?”
“She had to go to NY to do a photo shoot for her brother.”
Delaney was Zacky’s girlfriend. With her crazy hair and fun loving personality, she instantly became friends with all of us. She was one of the few people we had told about Bear and Trey, and she loved us enough to keep it within our group. Around 10, Val said goodnight and right as she was leaving, my sister pulled into the driveway. She twirled into the house, eyes bright and cheeks flushed.
“Oh my God, Mina! You’ll never believe who’s hair I just did!”