Read Online Getting Played by Celeste O. Norfleet - Free Book Online Page A

happened.
    I don’t think he exactly saw me looking at the screen’s reflection, so I just play along. “Yeah, although maybe not,” I say. I hear my dad and Courtney coming down the stairs, bringing the argument with them. They’re really going at it, and it sounds like they’re in the foyer or living room now. My dad’s voice is getting lower which means he’s ready to end this. On the other hand, Courtney’s shrieks are shriller and sounding more and more desperate.
    â€œâ€¦you ain’t going nowhere until you make this right…”
    â€œâ€¦who do you think you’re talking to? You don’t order me to do anything in my house…”
    I smile. The idea that Courtney was still trying to control my dad was comical. Apparently she hadn’t gotten it through her head that it just wasn’t gonna happen. My dad is stubborn and strong-willed. He’s not the type of man to be pinned down or backed into a corner. Just because she keeps having his kids doesn’t mean she owns him. If this isthe basic argument, I know it won’t last much longer. ’Cause chances are he’ll walk out.
    â€œâ€¦then what am I supposed to do…”
    â€œâ€¦does it look like I care…”
    Then their voices get even clearer. They must be closer to the office door. It’s hard not to overhear everything at this point. My dad’s obviously ready to walk out on the whole thing. I go back over to the chair by the door and pick up my bag. If he’s leaving, I’m going, too. We need to talk.
    â€œâ€¦and you need to tell your whores not to call my house…”
    â€œâ€¦your house? Since when is this your house…”
    Okay, now this argument I know all too well. It’s the same one my mom used to have with my dad. It’s all about control again. And my dad is not one to be controlled, particularly when it comes to him screwing around.
    Cash and I look at each other. He shakes his head slowly. “You know he treats her wrong, don’t you?” he says, obviously taking his sister’s side in the argument.
    I don’t say anything at first. It seems strange to discuss it with him. I don’t even know him. But I do know Courtney, and whatever my dad is doing, she deserves it. So I, of course, choose my side, too. “Well, maybe if she’d stop screaming like a psychotic banshee, he’d treat her better. But seriously, what does she really expect from him, to be faithful to her? She was doing the same thing to my mom that somebody else is doing to her right now.”
    He gives me this fierce look, so I had to add a little something, something extra. “What goes ’round, comes around. Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?” That was for my mom.
    Cash doesn’t say anything. He just keeps looking at me. His eyes narrow. It’s like he doesn’t expect me to take my father’s side or something. Idiot.
    â€œâ€¦what am I supposed to do for money…”
    â€œâ€¦get off your lazy ass and go get a damn job…”
    After that, the argument burst through the office doors. Cash and I both turn, seeing them. Neither looks surprised or embarrassed that we’d heard them arguing. They do put the fight on pause for a minute. Courtney glares at me like she always does. I glare at her, too. Ever since I smacked her, she knows to stay out of my face. She said I was too much like my mom. Yeah, that’s for damn sure.
    Technically, she’s just a few years older than me, but she always looks beat down, even when she’s so-called dressed up. No wonder my dad was stepping out again. ’Course it doesn’t explain why he stepped out on my mom with her in the first place. My mom was always looking good. But that’s another story.
    â€œThere she is. If you don’t have it, then make her get up off that money. You know she got it. Her mother left her all