#5 Icing on the Cake (9 page)

She was so loud. My sister and best friend's
eyes turned red, and her temples were bulging out. I had never seen someone so angry and so mad at me.

“Why would you not say anything? Why would you keep this to yourself? Why would you at least not tell me?”

“Because he made me promise!” I yelled back. “That's what I was trying to tell you.”

“So what? That's supposed to make it better that you betrayed us! Now he's in there fighting for his life! He might even be gone, and you knew and you didn't say anything!”

Feeling like she was squeezing my heart in her hand, I uttered, “But I couldn't …”

Cutting me off again, she said, “What? You want our dad to be dead like your dad is? Is that what this is?”

At that point, she had said words that she couldn't take back. She looked me dead in my eyes and said, “I hate you.”

Hearing her harsh words, I rushed out of the room, feeling forever broken. Even if my dad was okay, my relationship with my best friend could never be mended again. I sat alone and
cried and cried and cried and cried, wanting my life to be better, but knowing it couldn't be. Too much I had left unsaid, and I ruined my family.

“Oh my gosh, Yuri, there you are! Where is Slade?” Charlotte said to me.

Quickly, I started wiping my tears. I didn't want her to see me so devastated. I was so choked up that I could barely get myself together. Charlotte draped her arms around me.

“It's going to be okay. Let it all out. I understand,” she said.

“It's not going to be okay. You don't understand,” I whimpered.

“You've got to believe that your dad is going to be okay. You've got to stay positive. Why aren't y'all all together? Where are your sisters?” Charlotte said to me as she looked around for the other Sharp girls.

I couldn't tell her why I was all alone. She'd hate me if she knew that had I opened my mouth, my dad might not be in this situation. I just cried harder until I saw Slade with Charlotte's
brother, Paris, coming around the corner.

“I found her, Charlotte,” Paris called out to his sister.

As they approached us, I completely turned my back to all three of them. I'm sure Sloan had told everyone what I had done. I didn't want to hear Slade go off on me too. I was beating myself up enough anyway. If I could trade places with my dad lying in the hospital bed, I would have. Being me wasn't working out.

“Your brother told me you were looking for me. You didn't have to come,” I heard Slade say to Charlotte.

Charlotte said, “Of course I did. When my dad got home all in a panic about what he witnessed at the mayor's ball, I had to be here for you. On the news it said which hospital your dad was in, so we came for support. Forget our beef. I'm here for you guys.”

The last time the two of them were together, there was much tension because Slade didn't approve of Charlotte's relationship. Thankfully, they threw all that out the window. My tough sister Slade didn't break down like me, but
she was talking to her girlfriend and singing partner. Slade was appreciative for her support.

Slade articulated, “I can't believe I judged you, Charlotte. Life is so fragile. You're here and fine one second, and then the next, you're not. I thought I knew everything. I just want our group to have a chance, but I can't rule your life.”

“I know, I know. I've been thinking about what you said, and can see how it would have freaked you out. I probably should have told you. But none of that is important right now. I just came to support you.”

As soon as I started to walk forward, Slade called my name. “You, don't you dare go anywhere.”

The hasty tone she used made me run far away from her, straight out the doors of the hospital. I only hated that I didn't have a car so that I could get in it and drive even further away. But there I stood out of breath at the corner of the hospital and a drug store.

“So you done running?” I heard Paris say.

I turned around. “Just go back. Leave me alone.”

“You need somebody to talk to, Yuri. It's dark out here. You got on a dark dress. You look gorgeous by the way, but people can't even see you. Come on back in. It can't be that bad.”

Huffing I said, “You don't know, okay.”

He touched my shoulders and said, “I got a pretty good idea of what you're carrying around. Remember I was with you the other day when your dad was a little woozy.”

“Yeah, but what you don't know is that he had another incident. When we left the concert, he had a charity event, and he passed out there too. I wanted to tell my mom. I wanted to tell my sisters. I wanted to say something, but he told me not to. He made me promise.”

“I get that. So why are you beating yourself up about it?”

“Because I shouldn't have promised. It's my dad's health, and obviously I didn't realize it was as serious as it was. I guess I told Sloan, thinking she'd take the weight off, understand, and make me feel better. We all know how stubborn my dad can be. Instead, she went off on me. I guess I was just living in la la land any way thinking
I'm not to blame for all this. I did this.”

“Your father is an adult. He is the mayor-elect for goodness sake. Come on now, he knew what he was doing. You're not responsible for his actions.”

“But I'm responsible for mine,” I said, looking up to the sky and wishing I was a star so I could disappear and illuminate brightness instead of the darkness I felt was clouding my family.

“Can I hold you?” he asked taking me off guard.

I just looked at him. Now wasn't a time for me to get romantic. My world had fallen apart. My father was clinging on for his life. He had to know I wanted distance. Not caring what I wanted, he gave me what I needed. He held me and wouldn't let go. I let out the tears I hadn't finish crying with his sister on his shoulder.

“We're young, Yuri. We're not always going to make the right choices, but as long as your motives are pure and you're trying your best, it will work out.”

“Even this?” I said to him.

“Even this,” he answered, giving me the comfort in his words that I needed.

“Come on, let's go back over there with your sisters,” Paris said. “I'm sure that they're not mad.”

“I just told you Sloan was. In my house, it's always a chain reaction. So if she's mad, everybody else is too.”

“Do you want to be afraid to face your sisters all your life? Okay, I get that you're the baby. I'm the baby in my household too. And I've got an older brother, so I get the whole sibling thing, but there's got to come a point when you're tired of being pushed around. You didn't do anything. And if you won't say nothing, then I'll stand up to whichever one of your sisters who's got a problem with you about it,” Paris defended, ready to have my back.

“You're sweet,” I said, smiling and starting to feel better. “Okay, how hard can it be?”

But as soon as I started walking around the corner, Sloan saw me and said, “How dare you
show your face back over here? We're waiting to hear what's going on with Dad, and you knew and didn't even say anything.”

“You too?” Shelby rushed over to me and said. I guess our oldest sister had been with our dad a couple of times too and saw he was less than stable. “I've been toiling so much, feeling bad about keeping all this a secret and you saw him weak too?”

I nodded. We just embraced. I was just waiting for Sloan to go off on Shelby, thinking she wouldn't, but she did.

“This is crazy! Both of y'all think it's okay, happy that the other was keeping this a secret too. We could have done something. We could have got him to the hospital before he ended up in the hospital, practically unable to come out. Both of you are idiots.”

“Why you thinking so negative?” Ansli asked her. “You see them beating themselves up about it.”

Sloan scoffed, “Whatever. Just like I told your sister, you know what … forget it.”

“No, what,” Ansli got in Sloan's face and
said. “What'd you tell Yuri? What do you, mean ‘my sister?' We really going to do this? This is really going to be us against you guys?”

“No, we're
not
going to do that!” Shelby said while frowning at Sloan.

Everybody was looking at me wondering what Sloan said? They all figured it was a repulsive statement. It absolutely was. I was heartbroken. I was hardly able to shake the fact that she accused me of wanting our parents to be dead like my birth parents were. I couldn't even repeat that. I didn't even want to put more hate out in the air that could never be taken back, so I just looked away.

“But what you accused me of …” I said to Sloan under my breath, “… would that be the same for Shelby? We were just trying to honor Dad's wishes, keep what he had going on in the inside to ourselves. I wasn't trying to hurt him, and I certainly didn't think he would end up in the hospital. If he doesn't come out, I'll never be able to forgive myself. Regardless of if anybody else knew, I still feel horrible that I didn't tell.”

“That's how I feel too,” Shelby said as she
placed her arm around my shoulder.

Ansli locked in on my other arm. “But he's going to be okay. He is.”

“Y'all hope so,” I said to my two big sisters.

“Sloan, I hear you talking a bunch of junk, but you don't know what you would have done if Dad asked you to keep the secret.” Shelby laid into her.

“Just because you make stupid decisions doesn't mean I would too,” Sloan yelled back. “Shelby, your actions may have killed Dad.”

Shelby pushed Sloan. “You witch.”

We were in the emergency room waiting area, and my sisters were acting like we were young again, fussing in our own backyard. The police guards rushed over. So did Slade and Charlotte. But the argument only intensified.

When my mom rushed out, she yelled, “What is going on out here? Girls!”

We all calmed down, and we rushed over to her.

“Sorry, Mom!” Shelby yelled out.

“Yeah, I'm sorry. How's Dad?” Sloan asked.

“He's going to be fine,” she finally said.

Big sighs of relief flooded our faces. The grimness faded. Those were the words we'd been waiting to hear.

“He's going to be okay?” I asked again, tears flowing, anticipating the answer staying the same.

“Yes, baby, he's going to be okay,” my mom said as she hugged me.

“I'm so sorry. I knew something was wrong with him. He passed out a couple times on me, and I, I should have said something,” I admitted, knowing my mom was going to hate me for keeping this information.

“Me too, Mom,” Shelby said, surprising me as she also admitted she knew Dad wasn't totally well.

Sloan stepped to my mom, wanting her to get on us. “Yes, they should have said something! That's why we're arguing. Dad wouldn't have been in here if they would have said something!”

My mom took Sloan's hand. “Well, I knew he wasn't well too. Your dad has diabetes. He hasn't been taking good care of himself, so I'm just as much to blame as anybody is. And the
last thing he'd want any of us to do is to blame ourselves. He is a stubborn mule who, from now on, won't be taking any of this lightly.”

Sloan was flabbergasted. I was astonished too. Paris winked my way, letting me know I was cool to keep quiet. Shelby nodded, getting the fact that it was hard for a lot of us to go against my dad. I could tell Sloan felt bad she was so hard on me. I still felt I deserved it, but the best part was my dad was okay. Now I needed to be educated about his condition.

“Diabetes?” I pondered.

My mom said, “Yes baby. We'll be pushing your dad, but we didn't do this too him. I don't want any of you girls to fret. But now we know we just need to look after him. But what happened to him tonight was not on me or you.”

CHAPTER SIX