Falling for my brother’s lover

Lakeisha’s POV This was it, the moment I had dreaded most. I had no clue this would be the last day we would all be gathered like a family. It had been a while since we all sat together as one, laughter and joy filled up the room. This was a rare occurrence, who would have thought I would ever have seen my dad laughing at my mom’s jokes, or my brother and dad having bonding moments, we gathered round the table to feast. It was well long awaited, all I had hoped for was that it would last, I guess I spoke too soon. The night was going really well, too well if you asked me, this definitely wasn’t normal but all i could do was stay positive,maybe things were different now “Stop with your phones guys!” Mom shouted We looked up at our mother with remorse, Dwayne could not care any less, he kept up his nonchalant act, but I decided to put the phone away and interact more. I kick Dwayne’s leg under the table so he gets the hint to put away the phone too “Ouch!” Dwayne screams Mom and dad both shake their heads in dissatisfaction then laugh. We eat and talk for hours, everything felt normal, this was a nice feeling, one I hadn’t had in time.Usually, it would always be fights and problems so accepting this as the new normal was something I was ready to live with Just as everything is going smoothly Dad clears his throat and says he has an announcement to make, fear catches my heart a bit, wondering what the announcement might be, but he takes a glass of wine and raises a toast to more family time. My mom looks at me and stretches out her hand to hold mine Then I notice something strange on her hand, shaped in the form of a map, a bruise, I reach out to try and touch it, but she pulls her hand back immediately and continues to act like everything is normal between us “wtf” I whisper to myself Dad immediately notices something off between mom and I and tries to interfere but mom signals dad that it’s nothing serious, I see the way her body shakes as she’s signalling dad, like she’s scared but I decide to say nothing and play along “Are you okay mom?” I ask highly concerned “I’m fine sweetheart, just tired” she responds I go to the kitchen to grab the barbecue chicken so mom can seat and rest “Let’s eat” I say trying to release the tension that’s building up I place the barbecue in the middle of the table and serve it on everyone’s plate “What’s up with you?” Dad asks Dwayne aggressively cutting his chicken “Nothing! Just don’t feel like speaking to any of you” Dwayne replies “Lol, typical Dwayne” I murmur under my breath The dinner I’d hoped would turn out to be a success started turning into a disaster gradually. Everyone had started throwing tantrums, arguments and backlash had started being thrown back and forth “Can we just all stop fighting!” Mom screams with tears in her eyes I could see the pain in her eyes, I could hear the pain in her voice, it wasn’t pleasant, she had longed for us together like this for a very, very, long time and so did I. I just started to wonder when we became this broken, where it all went wrong and why we were so fine doing nothing about it Dad continued throwing tantrums with Dwayne and Dwayne kept fighting dad back “This is why we prefer mom to you!” Dwayne exclaimed “That’s enough” dad respondedDad didn’t retaliate just yet, he kept it in and waited for the right chance to strike but before he could get the chance to strike mom broke it off. Mom stretched out her hand to hold mine, with tears in her eyes she said few words to me and ended with I love you I was confused as to why my mom was crying that way, she broke up dad and Dwayne but dad didn’t look so happy about it. Dwayne shoved dad with his shoulder and walked away, leaving the dinner, I went to my room with much disappointment and didn’t come out again that night BAM! This was the sound that woke me up, I was hearing lots of noise coming from downstairs, I opened my window and saw sirens rushing down to the house. I wondered what the issue was, fear got the best of me, and I hid behind my bed. I started asking myself so many questions, with answers to none, I creep out of my room just to see everyone crowded in one area. I rush there out of curiosity and there she was, lying flat, with a bullet in her head and chest DEAD I couldn’t bring myself to cry there because I was still in so much shock, my thoughts all over the place, I run out of that place wanting to get some air when I see Dwayne coming out from a room in the house I never knew existed and dad coming into the house acting confused about everything. Something was up, from the way she spoke to me at dinner to now. I try making eye contact with Dwayne, but he looks away, I could see the fear in his face Now all I could ask myself was what were they hiding?