Page 24 of The Hellcat Barbies: Aubree

AUbrEE

Four months later…..

All I heard was cheering as I ran toward the end zone with the football clutched tightly in my hand.

We only needed three points to win the game and if I got a touchdown, the six points it earned would put us over that.

The only thing that kept playing on a loop in my brain was, don’t fumble this ball.

Running as fast as my legs would carry me, I made it across the goal line.

People in the stands cheered, and my teammates ran over and hugged me.

It was my first game since being shot, and I had the time of my life.

Between The Hellcat Barbies and the football team, I knew so many dope women that were girls’ girls.

We didn’t play anywhere near as rough as men, so we didn’t wear helmets.

I’d been playing for two years and there had never been any injuries besides a sprained ankle or maybe a broken finger.

After talking with my teammates for a minute, I walked off the field, and Brasi was waiting for me.

“Great game, baby,” he grinned.

“Thank you.”

He wrapped one arm around my neck. “I know you’re hot and sweaty and ready to go home, but I have two surprises for you.”

I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt because if it was one thing that I loved it was surprises. “What?”

“The first one is them.” He turned and pointed to the stands.

During the game, it was hard to pay attention to who was in the stands. My jaw slacked when I saw The Hellcat Barbies, my mother, my aunt, grandmother, and Brianna. “What are they all doing here?” I asked as my heart began to pound.

“I can’t tell you that until I tell you what the second surprise is.”

“And what’s that?”

“Turn around.”

I turned around and saw my a few of my teammates holding signs. The first sign read: Will you. The second one said: MARRY, and the third sign said me. Another teammate was standing beside the person with the last sign, and she was holding what had to be four dozen roses wrapped in black paper.

When I turned around to face Brasi, he had gotten down on one knee. The pear-shaped diamond ring in the small black box made my jaw drop. “Yes,” I was stunned.

With a smile on his face, Brasi slid the ring on my finger, and it fit perfectly. My family and friends ran over and hugged me not caring that I was sweaty.

“Everybody is going to give you an hour to go home, shower, and change, and then we’re having dinner at Louie’s,” Brasi announced.

All I could do was smile. The fact that he planned something so romantic and did a great job of hiding it from me said a lot. I was pretty sure I smiled the entire way home. Just driving and smiling. I didn’t even know what songs were playing. I was in a daze the entire way.

“I’m getting married,” I screamed clutching the wheel despite being in the car alone.

At my house, I checked the mail. Seeing a letter from Autumn made me stop in my tracks.

She stayed in jail because she wasn’t able to post bond, and at her court date she was sentenced to thirty-six months in prison.

I didn’t go to her court date, but my parents did.

Curious about what she had to say, I opened the letter right there in the driveway.

Aubree,

I’m not even sure if you’ll read this letter.

You might see my name and toss it in the trash.

If you do, I really can’t even blame you.

When we were growing up, despite us being identical as far as looks, we were always different in personality.

Very early on, I was deemed to be the bad twin.

You and I could do the same things being mischievous together and I would automatically get blamed.

It wasn’t your fault that people thought you were perfect, but I began to resent you.

And over the years that resentment festered.

Anytime you did anything good I became jealous.

You never did anything to me, but I still treated you like an enemy instead of my sister.

Life didn’t make it any better. When I’d be going through shit while everything was falling into place for you, more jealousy.

I can be woman enough to say I’m sorry. Whether you forgive me or not, I truly apologize, and I hope that one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

I stared at the letter for a few seconds before folding it back up.

An apology didn’t automatically fix years of issues with my sister, but her letter was a start.

Only time would tell if she would change.

I wasn’t big on apologies; I was big on changed behavior.

I would write her later and get everything off my chest. If we could move forward from there, awesome.

If not, it was no sweat off my back. Of course, I wanted to be close with my twin, but she would have to change her ways first.

I had just walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my body when Brasi entered my bedroom. “Okay, I’m leaving out because my dick is about to get hard and if it does, we’re going to have everyone waiting.”

“You better get out then,” I laughed.

I had been contemplating what I would wear the entire time I was in the shower, so I wouldn’t take up time figuring it out after my shower. I dressed quickly and did a very light, natural make-up look. In the car, I looked over at Brasi.

“You going to court with your mother on Monday?”

The day at the park when the kids had the football game, Nice got into a fight with his ex’s cousin, and he shot a gun in the air. He was arrested, and when forensics tied the gun to Ish’s murder, he was charged with that.

“Nah, I’m not missing class for that. I have a test that day. Fuck that nigga,” Brasi scowled.

“We doing YouTube content tomorrow?”

“Hell yeah, we are.”

His enthusiasm made me giggle. Brasi’s first YouTube check was $89.

His second one was $312. The check he’d received last week was for $2,800.

Between his channel and job at the gym, he would be more than able to pay his bills comfortably.

And his subscribers were growing by the day.

Kid friendly channels were super popular.

“I forgot to tell you. One of the ladies in my boxing class is a third-grade teacher. I told her about my channel, and she watched a few videos. She wants me to come speak to her students next week.”

“What?” I squealed. “Brasi, that’s amazing.”

He frowned and glanced over at me. “I hate when you call me, Brasi.”

“I’m sorry, baby. That’s amazing.”

With a curt nod, his frown disappeared. “That was more like it.”

I was so happy and content that I’d never call him Brasi again if he didn’t want me to.

I had a wedding to plan, and once that was taken care of, we had to decide if we wanted to start trying for a baby right away.

Life was honestly better than it had ever been for me, and I prayed that didn’t change.