Free #4 Truth and Nothing But by Stephanie Perry Moore Page B

any details. I’m supposed to trust that it’s nothing? That it’s not what I see?”
    â€œIt’s nothing. It’s not what it looks like,” he said as he followed my mom around to the foyer of the house.
    I went around the corner and saw all four of my sisters perched on the stairs, looking over. My parents must have known we were there. They stepped into my dad’s office.
    â€œWhere did Mom get a picture from?” Slade asked.
    â€œNeed to ask Sloan,” Shelby said with a bit of anger in her voice.
    â€œI can’t do this right now. I just can’t take this.” We heard my mom scream out. “Please, don’t touch me. Sleep in the guest room.”
    My mom fled out of the office. She looked up at us, and we saw watery eyes. She went into her bedroom and slammed the door.
    My dad came out of his office. He picked up his keys and went out the garage door, slamming it behind him. My sisters turned to me, looking at me like I was evil.
    â€œWhat did you do?” Shelby said in an accusatory voice.
    Not afraid of any of them, I responded, “I was with Momma, and she was talking about me and that I needed to get myself together. I didn’t want her thinking that I was the only one who had issues. She had issues too.”
    â€œSo you just gon’ give her a picture? I mean what was all on it?” Ansli asked.
    â€œI tried to tell you guys. Y’all don’t want to listen to me. She needs to know. Dad is cheating. He can stand here and act like everything is okay when it’s not okay.”
    â€œHow do you know that for sure?” Yuri asked me. “You want us to believe you didn’t take that selfie of yourself, so if Dad has some picture where it looks like he’s in some relationship with another lady, maybe there is another explanation.”
    Slade jumped in and said, “Yeah, you should have found that out before you just assumed and gave it to Mom.”
    â€œYou could be messing up our whole family over nothing,” Ansli said.
    â€œI didn’t think it was nothing. If there was no explanation to it, then why doesn’t Mom believe him? She’s an attorney, for goodness sake. She investigates with the best of them. If she’s not believing what he’s saying, it’s probably because she knows her husband. Maybe he’s been smelling like unknown perfume. Maybe some of the late nights really can’t be explained. I don’t know, but she needed to know what I know. I don’t apologize for that.”
    â€œWell, you need to,” Shelby said, giving me a look that cut like a knife.
    â€œUntil you have all the facts yourself, you should have kept your mouth shut. This isn’t just about you. This is our family too. And it might be okay for you to go around half-cocked, but the gun has gone off, and it looks like you’ve blown a hole through our family. That’s not okay with me, Sis. I love you to pieces, but you always think you know everything. You don’t. You’re the one who’s the joke. You’re the one who’s suspended, and you’re the one who messed up our parents’ relationship, probably over nothing. I mean, don’t get it twisted. Dad is a fine-looking brother with a bunch of power. There’s going to be a whole bunch of women coming at him, but Dad’s got way too much to lose for him to get with some trick,” Slade added.
    â€œBut you’re so naive, and you think you’re so smart,” Shelby said as she came close to my face. “The only thing you’ve done is ruin everything. Mom didn’t need you to fix her problems. You can’t even fix your own. Gosh, sometimes I hate you!”
    My sister had said she loved me in the past, but the way she said she hated me seemed more real. She turned around and left, and so did her three other goons. Even Yuri left my side. I was left standing there to contemplate. Yes, I