Broken Ties (The Ties Book 2)

4: Cat Fight

Annabelle

It’s now 5:45 p.m. Daisy and I usually go see mama on Saturdays around six. Daisy keeps asking me to see Isabella, Benny, and Maya, even though I told her she can’t.

“Mama, why can’t I see cousin Benny and Maya anymore? I wanna see them,” Daisy whines.

“Daisy, I told you. Auntie Bells is mad at me, and she doesn’t wanna see me. So no, you can’t see Benny or Maya.”

“Yeah, that’s what you said, but you didn’t say why. Why is she so mad at you? I miss them,” she whines again.

“Sweetie, it’s complicated. It’s a grown-up issue.”

“Great explanation, mom. I wish you guys would just get over it so I can see my cousins,” she scoffs and rolls her eyes.

Sometimes I swear she’s a preteen instead of eight years old. I don’t regret having her because she made my life so much better. The only thing I wish I could change is that Daniel is her father. Maybe I’d still have my little sister.

It’s all a f****d up situation, but Isabella didn’t have to take it so far to say I’m no longer her sister. That’s why I’m mad at her. Regardless of how I conceived Daisy, I will always be Isabella’s big sister. She’s being overly dramatic about the whole situation. What’s done is done and there’s no need to make such a big fuss over it. I pull into the driveway, grab my phone and purse, and follow Daisy into the house.

“Auntie Bells! Benny! Maya,” Daisy exclaims once she enters.

When I walk through the door, I see Isabella. Her eyes are red, and her face has pure hate on it. Daisy runs to Benny and Maya and I drop my things and prepare to fight my sister. If a fight is what she wants, then a fight is what she’ll get.

Isabella and I fight, but Andres separates us as soon as I’m about to kick her ass. Andres has always been super protective of Isabella. Daisy asks her to forgive me for whatever I did, but she refuses. After Isabella and Andres leave, Daisy asks me what I did again. When we get home, I’ll have to explain the entire situation to her. She doesn’t even know who her father is and everything will change once I tell her. I hope she can forgive me for not telling her.

Andres

After throwing Daniel out the back door, Annabelle comes in. I’ve only seen Annabelle once since I’ve been home. Unlike her and Isabella, I was never close to her. Daisy runs to Benny and Maya in the corner by the kitchen and Isabella charges at Annabelle. Mama tries to stop them, but I grab her.

“Ramon, detenganlos (stop them),” mama urges.

“No, mama,” I refuse.

She squints her eyes in motherly disapproval and places her hand on her hip. “Y porque no (And why not)?”

“They need to fight it out,” I tell her. “Don’t worry, if it gets too brutal, I’ll separate them.”

Mama doesn’t like it, but she allows it. Isabella charges straight for Annabelle and delivers a punch to her jaw. You can see the imprint of her engagement ring on Annabelle’s cheek. They scream at each other and sound like two screeching cats. Annabelle pushes Isabella and slaps her. Isabella retaliates by grabbing Annabelle’s hair, shoving her into the wall, and then throwing her to the ground. She kicks her a few times, pins Annabelle down and punches her in the face. She even digs her knee into Annabelle’s side.

“You two-timing b***h,” Isabella angrily shrieks.

I didn’t even know Isabella was that strong or had that in her. Annabelle scratches Isabella’s arm as a distraction and breaks free. She tries to punch Isabella and grab her hair, but Isabella’s too quick at dodging. She’s slightly faster than Annabelle.

Annabelle grabs Isabella and throws her against the front door. She punches her one time and chokes her. She prepares to knee her in her stomach before mama cries out, “Ramon, recuerdas que Isabella esta embarazada (remember Isabella is pregnant)!”

Before mama can finish her sentence, I’m already on my way to separate them. I haven’t forgotten Isabella’s pregnancy. I don’t need Annabelle doing any damage to Isabella’s baby.

“Alright, that’s enough, you two,” I shout and separate them.

“Not fair, Dre! I finally had her,” Annabelle screeches and kicks at Isabella.

“You were about to knee her in her stomach.”

“You’ve always been this way! You always stick up for Isabella! I’m your baby sister too!”

“Well, Isabella’s the baby. She isn’t a backstabbing b***h and you’re not the one that’s pregnant.”

Annabelle looks at Isabella’s stomach and frustratedly walks to the sofa and sits down. “She wouldn’t even be pregnant right now if it wasn’t for me! I’m the one who planned the trip to Vegas! I’m the reason she met Mateo,” Annabelle shouts.

“What? You want a thank you or something? I guess it’s the one good thing you’ve done for me. It still doesn’t fix what you did,” Isabella scoffs.

“I’m still your sister!”

“f**k you, Annabelle!” Isabella shouts back.

I better take Isabella home. She still wants to fight and Mateo would kill me if something happened to his baby.

Isabella

I wasn’t done kicking Annabelle’s ass when Andres separated us. I don’t give a damn that she’s my sister. Blood meant nothing to her when she did what she did!

“Isabella, I think I should take you home now,” Andres says.

“Nah, I’m not done with her!”

My sister fooled around with my man and even had his baby and pretended like they were never together. I wish I could stab her to death!

“Adrianna, los niños (the kids),” mama says and widely eyes the children. “Necesitas calmarte (You need to calm down).” I heed her words, even though I really don’t want to.

“Auntie Bells, whatever mama did, can you forgive her,” Daisy asks me.

“I’m sorry, Daisy, but I can’t. Your mother did something unforgivable.”

“Mommy, I wanna stay with cousin Daisy,” Benny tells me.

“No, Benny,” I harshly protest.

“Bella Bear, let the kids spend some time together,” Andres suggests, and I give him a scornful look.

“Yes, it’s been months since they’ve seen each other. Let them spend time together and I’ll drop them off later,” mama says.

It’s two against one. I’m still angry, but it’s whatever. I feel much better now that I’ve fought her.

“Fine,” I grunt. “Take me home, Dre, so I can call Mateo.”

We leave and while driving back to my house, Andres laughs, “You know, I’m glad you kicked her ass. Annabelle has always been a bitch.”

“Dre,” Isabella shrieks.

“It’s true. She’s part of the reason I moved away. I couldn’t take being around her. When she was pregnant with Daisy, she’d walk around like a pretentious w***e and look at her now. She always wanted to portray she was the golden child, but she wasn’t.

We’re the ones that did something with our lives. You went to nursing school and became a nurse. You even got married and started a family, even though Daniel is an asshole. I went to truck driving school and became a truck driver. What did Annabelle do besides get pregnant and have Daisy?”

Andres is right now that I think about it. Annabelle was the school w***e because of how she slept around. She clung to me because I was a nerd and always helped her with her schoolwork.

“She did nothing. She works as a bartender at some restaurant. Plus, Daniel was sending her money for Daisy, so that’s probably how she’s been able to maintain her apartment,” I say.

“Exactly! She’s our sister, but she ain’t s**t. Growing up, I could tell she was jealous of you,” Andres divulges.

“What do you mean,” I curiously ask.

“Well, it’s no secret you were Andre’s favorite. Everything changed after you were born. You were more of a daddy’s girl than her. She never liked that nor you being the baby. You took her spot. You don’t know how much she complained to mama about Andre showing you the most attention.

I bet she’ll never admit it, but I’m sure she got pregnant by Daniel on purpose because she didn’t like the fact he pursued you and wanted to marry you, especially if she had him first. When things didn’t work out like she thought it would, she left him alone.”

I was always close to her, but I never realized her jealousy. She was my big sister, best friend, and I looked up to her. I never thought she’d be jealous of me. It all makes sense now.

“She played on the fact I was naïve and loved her so much because we’re family. We have sister tattoos on our wrist! It didn’t help I told her everything either. I trusted her so much because she was my big sister, and she betrayed me like she did.”

“I’m glad you beat her ass,” he says. “I’ve been wanting to do it for years, but since I’m a man, I can’t beat up my little sister.”

We laugh and I pat his arm. It’s been a long seven years without my brother. I forgot how funny and cool he is. After getting to my house, Andres heads straight for the guesthouse and I run some bath water for some relaxation. I take a few vanilla-scented candles and place them around the tub before getting in and starting up the jets. My body is relaxing when Mateo calls me. Andres and I were talking, so I forgot to call him.

“Hey, honey,” I answer. “Sorry I didn’t call you sooner. It’s been an eventful afternoon and I just got home.”

“What happened?”

“For starters, Daniel did his usual speech about how we should be together after he saw my engagement ring. Benny told him I was pregnant, so he started blabbering about how it should be his baby instead of yours. I let my emotions get the best of me. I told him the truth about us.”

“What did you say, and how did he respond? Did he hurt you?”

“I told him we met in Vegas, the baby he killed was yours, and I fell in love with you after our night together. He didn’t take it well. He tried to slap me, but Andres threw him out. Can you believe he was so appalled I cheated on him?”

“PAYASO (CLOWN)!”

“But that’s not all,” I continue. “Annabelle and Daisy came over, and I… beat… Annabelle’s ass! When she thought she had the upper hand on me, Dre separated us.”

“Isa, you have no business fighting in your condition,” he admonishes.

“Whatever Matty,” I groan and roll my eyes.

“Mami, I’m serious. What if she would’ve hurt the baby? Don’t be like Daniel. Don’t let your anger get the best of you.”

He’s right and I hate it. Things could’ve gone badly if Andres didn’t separate us.

“You’re right, honey, and I’m sorry. I doubt I’ll attack her again, though. I released majority of my anger towards her on her face.”

“Damn, you did her like that? Jewel, you are so feisty. I like that.”

“I gave her a black eye,” I giggle. “How’s your dad? Is he getting any better?”

“Yes, mami. Majority of the fluid has disappeared. He’s been peeing like a racehorse, though. I’m more than sure by the time they discharge him Friday, he’ll be back to his old self. He’s already almost there. He’s been a pain in my ass,” he laughs.

“I heard that, you little s**t,” Antonio grumbles in the background.

“Yeah, he sounds like he’s back to being an old prude,” I laugh. “Matty, I’m so glad to hear that. I can’t wait for you to get back. I miss you so much.”

“I miss you too. I’ll be back in less than a week and I’ll be all yours. You can even do whatever you please to me, mami.”

“Ew, gross,” Ava cringes in the background.

“Oh, shut up Ava! My body belongs to her and she can do what she pleases with me,” he says to her, making me laugh.

I can’t wait for him to get back and I’ll definitely do as I please with him. “Tell Ava and your dad I said hello,” I request.

“Isa says hello guys,” he tells them.

“Hello my future second daughter,” Antonio says.

“Hello big sis,” Ava says too.

“Honey, I’m gonna finish my bath and make dinner,” I tell Mateo.

“Alright mami. I’ll talk to you later. Te amo (I love you).”

“I love you too, honey.”

As I lay in the tub, I think about what I’ll say when he gets back. How will I tell him about Daniel showing up at the hospital? How will Mateo react? I know he’ll probably be mad I didn’t tell him the truth. I just hope he understands my reasoning.