Read Online Snapped (Urban Renaissance) by Tina Brooks McKinney - Free Book Online Page A

haven’t seen each other in ages. Don’t you want to catch up?”
    “Look, haven’t you done enough already?”
    “What did I do?” He looked at me with his big, round eyes, which looked so much like mine that it just made my stomach hurt.
    “Man, fuck you.” I didn’t want to talk to him. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I just wanted to be left alone to wallow in my misery. I could not believe he had come back into my life and ruined the only thing that belonged to me. I wished they would have left him in prison forever. Seven years just wasn’t long enough.
    “Damn, dude, are you crying?”
    I threw back my glass and finished off the rest of my drink.
    Gavin said, “Hey, do you think I can get some of that?”
    My brother had some big-ass balls. Any other man would have gotten the hell out of dodge as soon as he found out that he had fucked another man’s wife and he knew it. He was lucky I wasn’t wearing my service weapon. I do believe that at that moment I would have shot first and asked the questions later that I needed answers to. “Gavin, I’m about ten seconds from killing your ass so you need to get the fuck up out of my house.”
    “Shit, I said I was sorry. What the hell do you expect me to do, kiss your ass?”
    I could feel the rage building behind my eyes. I just wanted to be left alone so that I could think. “Stop playin’, Gavin, I said enough. I am way past my breaking point so please leave it alone.”
    “Or what? I ain’t scared of your punk ass. You won’t be putting your hands on me like you did your wife.”
    I could not believe he was still goading me. I felt like I was a child all over again. “Not now, Gavin,” I warned. I was burning on a slow fuse and I knew that if he actually touched me, I would have punched him square in the mouth.
    Gavin had always been the bane of my existence, and even though I loved him, most times I couldn’t stand him. As a child he was always getting into trouble and I wound up getting punished for it.
    “You think this is a fucking joke.” I snatched my glass and went back to the bar to refill it. I tilted the glass up to my lips, anticipating the burn.
    Cojo was still crying in our bedroom and I tuned her out. Although my head knew it was not her fault that my brother had deceived her, my heart wasn’t trying to hear it. Putting my feet up on the coffee table, I picked up the remote, hoping to drown out the sounds coming from my bedroom.
    Gavin came over to me and kicked my feet off the coffee table.
    “Fuck off, Gavin, I ain’t in the mood.”
    “Stop acting like a punk, man. This ain’t the first time that we’ve shared some pussy. Remember Kim?”
    I pointed toward my bedroom. “That pussy belongs to my wife.” It took everything in me not to bash him upside the head with my glass.
    “Damn, my bad. But I still don’t see why you’re getting so upset. How was I supposed to know that you were married?”
    My head jerked up. I just stared at him. I could not believe that he was taking this so lightly. “What are you doing here, Gavin?”
    “Damn, I’ve been in the joint all those years, not one letter or visit from you. Can’t a brother come see about his kin?”
    Any other time, I would have been happy to see him, but he’d ruined our reunion when he slept with my wife. “How did you find me?”
    “Moms; she gave me your address when I showed up at her house.” Gavin let out a wicked laugh, but I failed to see any humor in the situation.
    “Remind me to thank her if I ever speak to her again.” I went and got the bottle and brought it back to the sofa with me.
    Gavin mentioning Gina brought up another bone of contention. Thinking about my mother only made me depressed.
    “What? So you mad now?” Gavin pushed his foot against the table, causing me to spill some of the booze on the table.
    “Why shouldn’t I be? I sulked.
    “Man, I said I was sorry,” Gavin replied.
    “No, you didn’t. You said ‘my