Chapter 37: New

Here they were. At the crossroads. Sam and Amira faced each other, both clad in their bikinis, standing in the middle of the backyard. They had been tanning and enjoying each other's company, catching up on the lost years when those words slipped between her lips and hit their target.

"Why did you leave me for him?"

Ami froze, not knowing how to answer the question. Her thoughts were jumbled and every time she opened her mouth to say something, nothing came out. No answers rose to the surface. Just noise. Loud noise. "You could've turned them in. You could've lied and said anything. But you didn't. You just gave up and handed me over to him," Sam said.

Amira turned and began to walk away, hoping to seek refuge inside the house. Her daughter reached out and grabbed her arm, turning her around and forcing her to listen to her. "I deserved more, Amira. I deserved a normal childhood, not this one," she said.

Amira did a double take as she saw the resemblance between her and Vince. She realized that this was going to be fight she wouldn't win. Her and V were too much alike. They had grown to be the spitting image of each other.

She yanked her arm out of her grasp and stormed into the house, hoping to get swallowed up by the floor. As she entered the kitchen, she found the rest of the team staring at her, looking for an explanation for the ruckus coming from outside.

She froze beneath their stares and could feel Sam standing behind her. "We're gonna have to speak about this sometime. Might as well be now," Sam said, reaching out and pushing her mother deeper into the kitchen. Ami stumbled and began to breathe deeply. She turned towards Sam and began to stare her down.

"Save me the stare and the scowl. I just want answers to my questions and I don't want you to dance around them," she said. Dom stepped between the two and held a hand up. He turned towards Sam and scowled at her. "On her time, not yours. Neither one of you are going anywhere," he said.

Sam pointed towards her and chuckled. "Yeah, or so we think. Why don't you ask her what her plans are?" She said. Dom nodded and turned towards her, an eyebrow raised. They locked eyes for a few seconds before Ami turned on her heel and disappeared downstairs.

Dom glanced over to the far corner of the room, where V was currently lurking at. V got the hint and sighed, before disappearing downstairs in hopes of reuniting his broken family. He entered the dark basement and instinctively made his way into his bedroom. Upon entering, he was assaulted by her faint smell, the one he had dreamed of for years on end.

He found her standing in the middle of the room, her hands on her hips, waiting for him to say something. Vince shut the door behind him quietly, sighing and leaning against. Amira cocked her head to the side and watched as he crossed his arms over his chest and relaxed his shoulders. This is new, she thought to herself.

He's not gonna fight. He's not gonna argue. He's here to talk. He's here for peace.

Amira waited patiently for him to say something, anything. She just wanted the silence to end, so that the noise in her head could be drowned out. "Say something," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Vince nodded, drinking in how different she was. Her voice was no longer full of strength. Her voice was a whisper, it was weak. It didn't line the room with happiness or fury, depending on what kind of a mood she was in. She was barely there. Vince ran his eyes over her body and began to note the differences between her and his Amira. She was different. She was someone new.

"Why is she mad?" V asked.

Ami shrugged her shoulders and oddly felt naked as she saw Vince's eyes rake over her body. She instantly wished she hadn't put on the two piece. The one she didn't want to but gave in only because Mia wouldn't shut up about it. She crossed her arms over her chest, a scowl on her face. She hoped V got the hint. She didn't want to talk. She simply wanted to disappear.

"Give her some time. Answer her questions. Be patient. The girl is really confused right now," he said.

"What about me, Vince? I'm confused too. I'm scared. And I don't need her asking me fifty thousand questions every two minutes," she whispered.

As much as V wanted to agree with Amira, he knew his first concern was his daughter. He had to make sure that she was okay. As of now, there was nothing going on between the two of them. Sam was his number one priority. Not Amira. His ex-fiance. His baby momma. His best friend. His love.

"Hey! You owe her ten years of her life. You refused to see her. You returned her letters and refused to write back. So don't flip this shit on her. You had ten years of silence while everyone else had to move on. Clearly you're still stuck in that moment, but she isn't. She grew up raised by strangers and a father she didn't know. She's strong, smart as hell and she deserves some answers. So go up there and give 'em to her. Show her that you care and that she's just like you. Won't take no for answer. And that she's just like me. She'll raise hell until she gets her way."

The fact that Vince was talking in a normal tone of voice threw Amira off. She expected him to be furious, threatening to put her in her place. The vein in his neck bulging. But he was calm as could be. Leaning against the door. Thinking clearly and conveying his thoughts in a way that she wasn't used to- sanely.

"Fine," was her only response. V nodded and turned around, exiting the room and leaving her alone with her thoughts. Fine, just as soon as I come back, she thought to herself. Amira grabbed a duffel bag from underneath the bed and began to shove clothes into it, not caring if it fit or not. Not caring at all. She had come to a conclusion. She had made a decision.

She was leaving.

She was different.

Everything had changed.

Everything was new.

But the one thing that wasn't new, was Sam slamming the door shut in Vince's face. He had experienced this time and time again. But this time there was no one home to referee this argument. No one there to keep the two of them sane in this fight. Everyone else had gone on with their life. Without them.

They were both stuck together. They were still the same duo- the new father and his long-lost daughter. They were still the same. Nothing was new for them. They were just older.

Vince opened her door and found Sam in front of her dresser, slipping on her leather cuffs and other accessories. "Where do you think you're going?" He asked, sitting down on the corner of her bed. Sam scoffed and watched him in the mirror. "I'm doing the only thing my mother taught me how to do- leave," she sneered at him.

Sam turned and faced, clad in a barely there skirt and a dark red tanktop. On her feet, she had a pair of chunky boots that Letty had bought her a few years back. Her hair was loose and flowing down her back. "Yeah, I don't think so, Sam. You need to get your head out of your ass and not fuck up just because your mom needed a break from your interrogation," he said.

"Now I see why she was such a pain in everyone's ass. She's a complete bitch. She doesn't think that she needs to answer to anyone."

"She doesn't! Her mother is long gone and so is her father. There's no need for you to try to control her, Sam. She's allowed to do what she feels is right. So help her deal with everything. Right now she doesn't need to feel like she's living with a warden. She's fresh out of prison, Sam."

"How long is she gonna use that as her excuse? When can I start asking the questions everyone's been thinking? "

Vince sighed and could feel himself start to build up. He hated the fact that Sam was always so persistent with every little thing. "What the fuck is so important that you need to know?"

"Why did she leave me for you? What in God's name would make her leave me with someone like you? Some stranger?"

He scowled and took a step towards her, not believing how arrogant his daughter was. "Because I've killed for her. I've done everything under the sun for her. But you're such a little bitch that no one will ever be able to show that sort of love and loyalty for you. If I'm such a bad person to be left with, go ask her to take you back. Go ask her to spend the rest of her life waiting on you hand and foot," he shouted.

Sam stared past him, her eyes lowered into slits. She slowly crossed her arms over her chest and took a stand he had seen Mia take several times. Something was up. He turned around and found what had taken Sam's attention form him.

He watched as Amira made her way up the basement stairs, a duffel bag in tow. "Why don't you go ask her yourself?" She said, a smirk on her face. Vince glanced back over his shoulder before exiting the room and following Amira up the stairs.

He waited until she was outside and around the corner of the house, before he yelled out to her. "Where the fuck are you going?"

"I can't be here anymore, V. I gotta go do my own thing for a little while."

They had reached the driveway when V reached over and yanked the duffel bag from her arm. With the other hand he shoved her up against his car, his chest rising and falling heavily. His heart skipped a beat as he realized that they were getting back to their old ways.

Fighting. Leaving. Yelling.

He could only imagine what was next.

"Get in," he barked, reaching into his pocket and taking the alarm off of his car. The doors unlocked and he shoved her to the side, climbing into the car. Ami scowled and walked around the car, getting into the front passenger seat.