Jordyn’s return to Miami isn’t a choice—it’s a duty. With her past pulling her back and her mother behind bars, the weight of old memories, betrayals, and dangerous ties to Mega loom over her. But her reunion with Kaylani brings more than nostalgia—secrets, abuse, and unresolved pain surface as she fights to control the disaster waiting to unfold. Will Jordyn manage to keep the peace, or will her return ignite the very chaos she’s been running from?
Jordyn felt the wave of Miami’s dry heat the minute she stepped off the plane. Her gut wrenched with disgust and anxiety as she made her way toward the exit to meet Kaylani. She was excited to see her girl after four years of no contact but nowhere near excited to be back in the city that ate her heart out.
The smell, the busyness of the people and the memories of Mega that haunted her made her want to turn around and book a flight right back to Chicago. But duty called, and for the sake of her own sanity, she knew she had to put it all to rest once and for all.
“Hey, you here?” She called Kaylani as she headed to grab her luggage.
“I know how to be on time,” Kaylani replied. “But fucking with Layton, I was almost late.”
“Ok,” Jordyn laughed. “I’m grabbing my bags and heading out now.”
Kaylani wasn’t in the best of moods that afternoon, but she was excited to see Jordyn. She had hopes that when Jordyn left to go back to Chicago, she would take her with her because Layton’s abuse and accusations became too much to handle.
Every day it was something or someone new. She didn’t iron Layton’s clothes the way she liked. She wasn’t fast enough in the kitchen or slutty enough in the bedroom. When the shift in their relationship first occurred, Kaylani put it off on Layton going through the motions after finding out Pauline was her real mother. But when bad turned to worse and Kaylani ended up in the hospital a few times, making excuses for Layton’s behavior didn’t cut it anymore.
“Heyyy! There go my giiirl!” Jordyn sang as she rushed to hug Kaylani. “Oh my God! I can’t believe I haven’t seen you in so long.”
“I know, right?” Kaylani wrapped her in a tight, loving hug, but her day was anything but lovely.
“Ew. Why you sound so dry?”
Jordyn broke their hug to take a good look at her friend and when she did, she saw sadness and sorrow behind the large sunglasses Kaylani wore to cover a black eye and the oversized sweatshirt she wore to cover her bruised arms and neck.
Concern, disgust, and anger took over Jordyn’s expression as she examined Kaylani like a doctor. She wanted to scold her and hurt Layton for putting her hands where they didn’t belong, but Layton was in tow and Kaylani didn’t want to start another argument. She’d had enough.
“Kaylani,” Jordyn gave her a motherly look. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Don’t say anything. Please.” Kaylani spoke shamefully. “She’s in the car and I’m already sick of her shit today.”
“You didn’t say she was putting her hands on you, and you definitely didn’t tell me she was bringing you to get me. I could have Ubered where I had to go if that was the case. You know how I feel about that abuse shit.”
Kaylani lowered her head to hide her tears. She was angry with herself for letting the abuse go on for so long. It wasn’t in her nature to be controlled and abused by anyone, but Layton had a hold on her and she wouldn’t let go. No matter how hard Kaylani tried to push away.
“Let’s go before she starts tripping again,” Kaylani said. “We can do lunch or something and I’ll give you the scoop. I just wanna have a peaceful ride back because all we did was argue the whole way here.”
Being that Kaylani was more like a sister to Jordyn than a best friend, pretending to be clueless was hard to do. She didn’t care that Layton was her sister; an abuser was an abuser and when it came to Kaylani, Jordyn swore to protect her by any means.
“Daaaamn, what up, sis!? Finally back in Miami.” Layton greeted Jordyn like everything was all good.
“Yeah,” Jordyn scoffed. “Hopefully not for long.”
Kaylani felt the tension ripping through Jordyn’s aura. She wasn’t happy with Layton and she didn’t pretend like she was.
“Well, shit! You don’t fuck with Miami at all no more, huh?” Layton chuckled.
Jordyn didn’t reply. She tossed her bags into the backseat, buckled in and turned her focus out the window.
“I guess you don’t fuck with me either then,” Layton shrugged as she started the engine. “That’s alright. It’s been a minute. Good things take time to get back right.”
Instead of getting a hotel or an Airbnb, Jordyn decided to stay with Kaylani until it was time to go back to Chicago. Layton hated that she and Kaylani lived in separate spaces, but Kaylani refused to give up her apartment because of a bad experience she’d had in the past, and she was glad she didn’t. Because whenever Layton got too out of control or she needed a break to be alone for a while, her apartment was her safe space to run to.
“Kaylani say you staying with her while you here. What ya’ll getting into?”
Layton glanced at Jordyn through the rearview mirror while she drove. They hadn’t spoken since Jordyn’s move to Chicago, but Layton thought since they were sisters that everything was cool.
“Girl stuff,” Jordyn replied while keeping her gaze out the window.
Layton looked over at Kaylani, who also had her gaze out the window. She seemed distant and deep in her thoughts—the one place Layton hated for her to be more than anything.
Before either of them got another word in, Jordyn’s phone rang and shattered the silence in the car. It was a good thing too, because she couldn’t stand to hear another word from Layton after knowing what she had done to Kaylani.
If it weren’t for Kaylani asking her not to say anything about her black eye and bruised body, Jordyn would have fought Layton and left her at the airport.
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