As Carnise Hill entered the house properly while she dropped her bags near the door, she walked straight to where her father and Hanita were.
"Don't stare at me like I didn't hear what you all said," Carnise said in an authoritative tone. She had always been like that and even when she joked, most people didn't know and took her harsh tone seriously. But that was how Carnise spoke and most times, she took pride in sounding mean.
"I was standing outside the door for a while, searching for something so I heard a tangible part of your conversation…"
Hanita cleared her throat and walked to the back of Deveron's seat, waiting for her father to explain. She, also, was interested in what Deveron would say to Carnise's question.
Deveron remained silent with his hands in front of his face. He didn't like the fact that he was the one that had to face answering these difficult questions. If everything was normal, Daliana was supposed to be here with him then they would handle the situation together. But he was here, all alone.
"Father, what did I hear?"
"Can you wait till your mother is strong enough then she would explain to you better. Because…"
"No…" Carnise spat. "I can't wait and I will not wait. I have been waiting to hear about my biological father for some time now and Mum just keeps escaping the topic each time I bring it up."
"Carnise-"
Carnise held up her hand and stopped what Hanita was about to say without even looking in her direction. "You said mum's first pregnancy was not lost, right? Is that not what I heard?"
Deveron stared at Carnise who spoke just like Therman. She often reminded him of his former best friend but Deveron never held it against Carnise or even mentioned it whenever she would get angry and act in rage just like her father did most times. He had been of the opinion that nurture overshadowed nature but with Carnise, Deveron had ruled that out as untrue.
So, in response to Carnise's question, he nodded his head.
"And that child is me, right?" Carnise asked as she shifted her weight from one of her feet to the other.
"Where's Mother?" she said as she took a step in the direction of the stairs as if heading to her parent's room.
"You can't go there now, Carnise," Hanita said, holding her back with her forearm in a firm grip.
Carnise looked at Hanita and slowly took her gaze to where Hanita held her arm. "Get your hands off me," Carnise ordered.
"You can't disturb Mother now. Don't you know what she's going through?"
"Is she the only one going through something?" Carnise asked. "I have been going through the feeling of displacement all my life… living with someone that isn't my real father and being in the total dark about where I'm from! Now, get your hands off me before I do something that I would regret!"
"Carnise!" Deveron yelled. His voice was full of warnings as the whole place fell silent after he called her name.
"I want to ask her to her face…I need the name of my father and I need it now!" Carnise demanded.
"His name is Therman…Therman Blake," Deveron said, He still remained in the position that he was in and he spoke out of pain. After all this time, he didn't even know that Carnise had been carrying this in her mind for some time. Daliana never told him of Carnise's inquiries about her father. Deveron knew that this day would come but he had hoped that it would be much later than now as he wasn't ready on how to handle it.
"Where can I find him?" Carnise asked.
"You want to find him? What for?" Hanita asked. Now, she was getting angrier than she had been earlier as she couldn't understand why Carnise would be acting the way she was doing and saying the things that were coming out of her mouth.
"Is that any of your business?"Carnise asked with a frown on her face. She turned around and faced Hanita squarely, towering over her half-sister by about two feet. She often used that to intimidate Hanita while they were growing up but it never worked.
Hanita was not one to be intimidated. She squared her shoulders and looked up into Carnise's eyes.
"With all your shouting… I hoped you heard the part that he abused mum… beat her to a pulp on several occasions even when she was pregnant for your ass."
"She must have done something to deserve-" Carnise started to say with a twist of her neck in a rebellious manner but was cut off instantly by Hanita.
"Shut up, Carnise!" Hanita yelled as she squeezed her eyes shut. "Are you thinking with your brain or the other hole in your body? How could you say something like that?"
"Watch your mouth!"
"Father… there is no reasoning with her…"
"I forbid you from going to your mother at this time…" Deveron said, finally turning around to face Carnise.
Carnise looked at her father, then back at Hanita, eyed her up to down before she loudly hissed and walked away.
From where Hanita and Deveron were, they could hear the slam of Carnise's door. Hanita glanced at her father who turned away from her and leaned back into the chair that he was seated on.
Hanita thought he looked defeated and wondered about what was about to happen to her family – her one united family.
"Goodnight, Dad…" she said in a low tone but didn't get a response from Deveron. She grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator that was in the dining area and went to her room. Hanita walked with slow steps and with a heavy mind. She thought about checking on her mother but decided to do that the next day as she would be at home all day preparing for the trip she had – a trip that she was beginning to have double thoughts about.