An hour or so later, I awoke seeing blood. It wasn’t from me though; it was from two little girls. One of the little girls had a bad wound on her arm; the other had minor cuts and scrapes on her legs. “What happened to you girls, what’s your name, how old are you?” I questioned the girls, totally forgetting my own problems. The girls, who were calmer, could see that I wasn’t going to hurt them and said their names; Samantha and Lia. Samantha was light brown with dark long brown hair. She had greenish hazel eyes and was very skinny. On the other hand Lia was dark, had long black hair with a red streak in her bangs she wasn’t skinny but she was chubby either. I could tell both girls had been crying, they both had smeared marks of mud on their face, their eyes were puff, Samantha’s face was red around her eyes and Lia was sniffling still.
They told me they were best friends, who had just turned 8 years old. They said they had runaway from school when this man had grabbed them and was trying to kill hem. They got away but not without a fight. He had thrown a knife at them, which missed Lia and hit Samantha in the arm. They were running through the woods to find the river to clean off the blood from their clothes and bodies, when they saw me lying in the river.
“So where were ya’ll going to go before that whole incident happened?” I asked fixing Samantha’s wound a bit with one of my shirts. “Well, we were going to New York” Lia said sitting on a stone by the river. “New York Mind if I come ya’ll, I’ve got a lot of money in my suitcase.” I said showing the girls the money. “Sure if you tell us your story>” Lia said. “Story?” I asked. “Yes, story,” Samantha answered. “Oh, you mean why I am here,” I said finally “Duh!” both girls yelled rolling their eyes. “To be honest girls, I don’t know why I’m here. My foster parents dropped me here,” I tried to sound okay but my eyes were starting to water up just from thinking about it. “Oh, that’s so sad,” Samantha said putting an arm around my shoulder as I finished cleaning her wound. “Samantha you’re a woos!”Lia said hitting her forehead with her palm.
So with that we got our bags and headed for the airport. It wasn’t long before we reached the highway. “We can’t just walk on the highway and Samantha’s wound isn’t looking good either,” I stated hugging Samantha sympathetically. “Well, what are we going to do, because I’m not going to just stand here all day?” Lia yelled. “Lia stop being a drama queen, now you still haven’t told us one thing,” Samantha said looking up at me, “What’s your name?” “Oh, my name is Roxanne; I think I have an idea, why don’t we just try to hitch a ride?” I said.
So there we were, in the middle of the night, standing on the side of the highway, sticking our thumbs out waiting for someone to stop for us. We waited what felt like 3 hours till finally this red BMW came up. “You girls need a ride?” said a really pretty woman. She had on one of those lawyers’ suits like those on TV, a pearl necklace, and this beautiful red ruby ring.
As we got in, I could hear Samantha crying. I turned around to see that her arm was getting worst. “Miss, I was wondering could you possibly take us to the hospital.” Lia said hugging Samantha. “Sure, all I need to know is that ya’ll aren’t in trouble.” She said smiling. “No we’re not just getting away from harmful people; are you a lawyer? I asked. “Yes, why do you ask?” She asked in response. “Well, if we go to the hospital we’ll need an adult, and well since you know all the legal stuff, you could come and act like our mom,” as I said that I could see her get a bit fidgety as though she was thinking about very hard. “I…I want to say yes, but your social security is missing, insurance, a lot of things are missing. I’ll tell you what; I’ll put my name down instead of hers so I’ll pay for everything.” She said,
When Samantha heard this, she tried to stop crying and asked, “Umm Miss what’s your name?” “My name is Mrs. Clarabelle or Mrs. Jackson.” answered Mrs. Clarabelle as we pulled in to the hospital parking lot. “Now girls, you just let me do all the talking, okay?” We all nodded our heads yes and got out the car.
When we went inside Mrs. Clarabelle signed some papers and showed some id. Then, she and Samantha went to go see a doctor while Lia and I waited in the waiting room watching a soap opera on the only TV in the hospital, at least that’s what the nurse said. Which I think she was just saying that because she didn’t want us wondering around the hospital.
When Samantha and Mrs. Clarabelle came back, I hesitated to ask if she could take us to the airport. I guess Samantha had already asked or Mrs. Clarabelle was psychic. “Umm girls if I’m going to take you to the airport first I’ll need to know why ya’ll are going to New York and I’m going to need to get you ready!” Mrs. Clarabelle said excitedly as we walked out of the hospital. “What do you mean by get ready? Lia asked still standing outside the car. Lia please get in the car, its cold out there, do you want to get sick?” Mrs. Clarabelle asked standing outside right next to Lia. Since we had been with her, I hadn’t realized that Mrs. Clarabelle had treated really nicely, in fact too nice. “Mrs. Clarabelle do you have kids,” I said “I mean you seem like you know a lot about kids.” “Its funny that you ask,” Mrs. Clarabelle smiled as she and Lia got in the car finally, “I’m a social worker, and I have a son of my own.”
As Lia sat in the backseat, I noticed that she pulled out a small golden heart shaped locket and closed her eyes as if she were praying. I tried to listen and the prayer sounded like one that I had heard when I went to church.
When Lia was done, she put the locket back in her pocket and wiped her eyes. I guess she was surprised to see us all looking at her, because all of a sudden she sank down into her seat and stared out the window.

Once the car finally stopped, we were at some black high gates. “Hold on girls, I have to put the pin in”. Finally we were at the house. It was a 3story mansion. It was beautiful. “Wow!” We all said as we got out the car. “Yea, it’s got 6 bedrooms, an indoor pool, a little clothing store, 12 bathrooms, a tennis court, and I could go on all night explaining when you can just go inside.” Mrs. Clarabelle said not realizing we were already at the front door with our things. “Wow” was all we could say as we got inside.
It was like a house from CRIBS off of MTV. “So girls, I want you to first go take a bath, not to be mean but ya’ll stink,” Mrs. Clarabelle laughed leading us to the bathrooms, “then, we’ll go to the clothing store I have and pick out clothes and night wear, okay.” We all shook our heads yes and headed into 3 different bathrooms.
After we all met by the clothing store and waited for Mrs. Clarabelle. After a few minutes had passed, Samantha and Lia decided to go looking for her. “Mrs. Clarabelle, Mrs. Clarabelle!” I heard them call out. So I joined them and as we walked around the house we saw a note in the kitchen
”Hey girls had to go to my job, but get something to eat, pick out some clothes, and get to bed-Clarabelle. “
“”So what do you girls want?” we hear. As we turned around, I saw this cute dark brown tall boy. He kept looking me up and down, smiling a big Kool-Aid smile. “Hi my name’s Tommy, some call me T, umm my mom said there were girls here, but she never said they were this beautiful” Tommy laughed. We introduced ourselves; I couldn’t stop staring at him he was by far the hottest guy I’d ever seen! I could tell Lia and Samantha liked him as well because of their little school girl laughs.
“So what’s your story?” I said as I cooked some hot dogs and chili. “Well, I was born in Virginia, but my birth mother died during child birth. I was told that my dad had left my mom as soon as he found out she was pregnant. Mrs. Clarabelle is my foster mom. She adopted me when I was five and we moved out here to Texas,” as Tommy said this I could see tears starting to form. “Hey, you and Roxanne have the same story; she’s a foster kid too!” Samantha said still smiling a cheesy big smile. That girl had been smiling since she first laid eyes on Tommy.
Tommy had started to when he heard what Samantha said, which kind of made me smile too. It had been a long time since I’d been able to even talk to a guy, let alone relate to one. “Yum, something smells good,” Mrs. Clarabelle said coming in with big files. There were so many files she almost dropped them until Tommy came over to help her.
“Boy what have I told you about your jeans; pull them jeans up and go get a belt!” she snapped putting the files on the table. “So have ya’ll picked some clothes from the store yet?” she asked glancing at a couple of the files. “No, Mrs. Clarabelle what are those files?” Lia said making her plate. “Oh these are just some cases I’ll be working on over the
next couple of months, now hurry up and eat so you can get to bed. You all can get your clothes in the morning,” she said returning to her files. Tommy had come back downstairs but in a whole new outfit. He reminded me of Pharrell or Kid Cudi. The way he was dressed. He had on a black shirt with neon glasses, some grey skinny jeans, and some black vans. “Ma, I’ll be back from the party at 12, naw make that 1.” He said kissing Mrs. Clarabelle on the cheek. “No you won’t,” she replied “I saw those grades on your report card, you will be at home studying,” He looked like he was going to blow, but instead he just went upstairs. “I think I’ll go to bed,” I lied. Honestly, I just wanted to go check on Tommy.

As I went upstairs I could hear music blasting down the hall. Knocking on the door, I noticed graffiti, stickers, and a sign saying keep out on Tommy’s door. “Ma, I’m studying,” he said opening the door. I just laughed, “Well, that’s good but, I’m not your ma” He laughed embarrassingly leading me into his room.
“So are you okay?” I asked sitting on his bed beside. “Yea, I’m fine, but I really wanted to go to that party,” he answered lying beside me. “You know you look really pretty” “Thanks,” was all I could choke out. Then there was a moment of awkward silence. “How old are you?” he asked breaking the silence. “I’m 17” I replied. “You look so young though. So are you smart?” Tommy said smiling. “Yea, I’m smart. I made a honor role.” I said. “Then why would a beautiful young girl like you be running away?” He asked gently touching my arm. He made me feel really nice. It was a feeling I had never felt before, but then thinking about his question hit me with a sudden sadness.
“I didn’t runaway my foster parents didn’t want me anymore so they dropped me off and left me.” I could now feel warm tears falling down my cheek. I was shocked, I never cry and the fact that I started crying in front of Tommy only made me feel worst. “Oh baby I wasn’t trying to make you cry,” he said wiping my tears. “I don’t cry, I never cry,” I replied. “Everyone cries, like I cry from time to time wondering why my dad couldn’t have stayed and taken me when my mom died,” he started to tear up too. “Hey we don’t need 2 people crying,” I said jokingly.
Another silence came but this one was filled with warmness in the air. As his music continued playing he scooted towards me on the bed, while he continued to rub my arm gently. I looked down at him and he smiled. Then he sat up and kissed my lips. First he kissed me softly, as if to test me. Next, he kissed me deep and long. My mind started racing. This was my first kiss and yet I barely knew him. Half of me said that I should be pissed, but there was this other side that enjoyed having someone’s attention and also liked the fact that there was a guy who liked me.
After that we laid down and I looked up at his ceiling that was covered by posters of bands, girls, and even movies. We started talking about what plans we each had for the future. “Why don’t you stay here then?” he asked. “Mrs. Clarabelle wouldn’t take me in,” I said softly, “Yes, she would,” he said looking at me. “Okay, so if she did you know tat would make me your sister. I don’t think so, that’s just too awkward.” I laughed. I looked at him and could tell he was pondering this very hard. “Okay, how about this? You keep your last name, and just live here?” he finally announced. “Well that sounds like a great idea, but I’ve got to look after Lia and Samantha. They have nobody else.” I said “Then they can stay too, except they can be my sisters,” he laughed getting excited.
We stayed up nearly the whole night talking. When we started to get tired and were done talking, Tommy led me to a bedroom. “Are you sure you want to sleep in here by yourself in this big house?” Tommy asked standing in the front of the door. “Yes, I’m sure. I’m a big girl, so goodnight,” I said pushing him out of the way. “Goodnight Roxanne,” she said pulling me towards him to get one last kiss. “Oh and make sure you think about we talked about,” I shook my head yes as he walked back down the hall to his room.
As I closed the door behind me, I looked around the room to see that it was beautiful. It was a lavender purple room with white stripes. There was a big screen TV hanging on the wall, white shelves, tables, and dressers filled the room. The bed was queen sized and was also lavender. I jumped in the bed and before I closed my eyes I looked around thinking it would be nice to live here and with that I went to sleep.

“Roxanne, Roxanne!” I heard before I opened my eyes to see Lia and Samantha jumping on the bed. “Wake up silly; we’ve got new clothes to go choose!” Samantha said trying to pull me up. “Ugh, thanks for the wake up call girls, but I’m still a little tired, how about 30 more minutes.” I said rolling over. “No way you’re tired, you went to bed before us, now get up!” Lia snapped jumping off the bed. “Look if I get up and get some clothes with ya’ll, will I be able to lie back down?” I asked sitting up, putting my flip flops on. “Sure, but first brush your teeth! Your breath stinks!” Lia said making a face of disgust, while Samantha busted out laughing.
As I went to the bathroom I saw that Tommy’s door was still closed and wondered if he was as tired as I was. “Hey girls, maybe Tommy needs a wake up call too,” I suggested. They both jetted half way down the hallway before Samantha turned around asking “What if he gets mad?” “If he gets mad, then I’ll deal with him, ok? Just tell him his mom wants him” I smiled.
Whilst the girls woke Tommy up, I went into the bathroom, I heard the girls screaming from Tommy’s room, and moments later the girls were running pass the bathroom. Then I heard Tommy yelling “I’m going to get you!” While running pass, Tommy stopped in the bathroom entrance.
“Wow, your beautiful even in the morning.” He said walking towards the sink to get his toothbrush. “So did you think of what we talked about last night?” “Yea, how about w talk to your mom before I tell Lia and Samantha, that way if your mom says no they won’t be hurt,” I said done brushing my teeth.
I waited for him to finish brushing his teeth and then we went to the mini store Mrs. Clarabelle head talked about. I looked at a couple of shirts then picked up some sweats. “What do you think?” I asked Tommy holding up on me. “Girl please, maybe if you were old, how about this?” he teased holding up a red tube top with a matching mini skirt. “What am I suppose to do with that?” I laughed. “Besides, I’m not really a skirt girl, I’m more of a jeans kind of chick,” I walked over toward the jeans while Tommy laid the outfit on my already picked out clothes. “At least try it on, it couldn’t hurt to try something new; and plus it’s really sexy!” he said dancing around holding the skirt. “Oh whatever, I’ll try it on but I’m not getting it!” I laughed snatching the skirt out of his hands and picking the clothes I picked out.
When I started trying out the outfit Tommy had picked out, I heard Mrs. Clarabelle’s voice. Lord knows I didn’t want her to see me in this outfit. “Where’s Roxanne? We’ve got to hit the road if they’re going to make their flight,” “Umm, she’s trying clothes on. Roxanne and I want to ask you. Well I want to ask, if you could take her in?” I could hear the nervousness in Tommy’s voice. I kept thinking that I should go out, but I still had on the provocative outfit Tommy picked.
“Wow, she wants to stay here, what happened to her family?” Mrs. Clarabelle replied. I took the outfit off and changed back into my pajamas. When I got out of the fitting room I saw Mrs. Clarabelle smiling. “Dear, Tommy told me everything and I would love to take your in. Although taking Lia and Samantha in might be harder since they are younger and from different families,” her smile fainted away. “Well can’t we just lie and say that their sisters. I mean they have to stay with Roxanne,” Tommy said sitting down on one of the clothing shelves. “Well, I wish it was that easy, but it’s not; I’ll see what I can do,” Mrs. Clarabelle said patting Tommy on the back, “Do you think we should tell them?” “No, if things don’t work out I don’t want them to feel bad,” I responded. Then Mrs. Clarabelle left leaving us in silence.

I checked the clothes out, even the outfit that Tommy picked out. Tommy went to his room and I went to go find the girls. I walked around what seemed forever, till I found them in the gym playing basketball. “Hey, we’re not going to leave yet girls. We have to do some things and in a week or two we can leave ok?” I said taking the ball from Lia. “What, I want to leave now, and we don’t need to do anything!” Lia yelled marching off. “Wait, Lia! She’s okay, she’s just being a diva,” Samantha quietly said following Lia out.
I didn’t know what to do. I should’ve just left things alone with Tommy then everyone would be happy. “Roxanne, Tommy’s crying, he said he wants to talk to you,” Samantha told me then ran back to calm Lia down.
I went upstairs to my room and changed into the outfit that Tommy picked out, and then went into Tommy’s room. “How does it look?” I asked strutting back and forth. “Wow!”He said eagerly. Tears were going down his cheeks and he was trying to smile and act like he was okay. “So, why are you crying T; how about we go for a walk?” I said pulling him up.
“Have you ever felt out of control?” Like you want something so bad but can’t get it or fix it?” He answered as we walked out of his house. “Everyone feels like that at least once, you just have to pray that things will work out and will go your way.” I just wanted to hug him to let him know that I truly knew exactly what he was talking about. I had been feeling that exact thing my whole life, wanting my mom to come back and take me in with her.
“I hope that you don’t have to go away, I really liked talking to you last night, and I appreciate you talking to me now,” he said as I sat on the swings. All I kept thinking was there had to be some deep reason for him to crying, surely I wasn’t the reason. “T you have to tell me what’s wrong? Like what’s the real problem?” I said as he started to push me on the swings. “I’m just always lonely here and I keep thinking about my dad. I just sometimes wish that he could’ve just been a man and took me. I try bringing friends here but she won’t let me and her new husband hates me; I wouldn’t tell my mom that though because she’s finally happy.” He replied. I jumped off the swing and hugged him. “I’ll stay okay, so no more crying. Everything will be fine, just don’t cry.” As I said this I started feeling a little sad myself. “Let’s go back; it’s starting to get cold,” I said as he gave me his jacket.

When we got inside, we went to Tommy’s room. I lay on his bed as he lay behind me cuddling me in his arms. We went to sleep what seemed to be hours. Then, both of us awoke to screaming. “No, no!” Don’t take us!” We ran down the stairs, to see Lia and Samantha getting pulled by two big officer looking guys. “Mrs. Clarabelle what’s going on, why are they taking them. Put them down!” I cried. I felt horrible. There was so much anger in me. “They can’t stay their parents’ want them back and I can’t stop them,” Mrs. Clarabelle stated shaking her head. “Roxanne, please help us! Please we can’t go back, they’ll kill us!” Lia screamed holding on to me. As I held on to her with my life, the officer pulled her away taking her outside into a car. Samantha was already in the car crying. I opened the door and gave each my number. “Call me when you get there, girls I’m so sorry” I cried watching the car drive off. “We have to do something. Their going to go back to the same house they were abused at” I sobbed turning toward Mrs. Clarabelle.
After that I felt hopeless, like nothing even mattered. I was hurt so bad, these girls were innocent and I promised to protect them. Instead I had not protected them when they were being taken. “It’s not your fault, you couldn’t have done anything,” Tommy said holding me as I cried. “I could’ve just left to New York, I could’ve done something. Lord knows what those girls are going through right now,”
As we all went inside I looked at Tommy, who was looking down, then I went upstairs to the bedroom and cried harder. Not even Tommy could heal my pain. I guess he knew that because he didn’t follow me.

The next morning when I woke up I expected my girls to come busting through the door giggling and screaming. I expected me to wake up from this with breakfast and a glass of orange juice. “Oh, baby girl,” she said handing me a little mirror. “You must have cried all night,” I nodded yes and looked at the mirror.
I could see that my eyes were red and puffy. My hair was tossed this way and that. “I have to go; I’m going to the office to see if there’s anything I could do to get Samantha and Lia back or just out of the dangers of their parents’. Tommy’s still here so if you need anything just ask him,” Mrs. Clarabelle hugged me and kissed me on the forehead, then left closing the door behind her.
When she was gone, I fixed my hair into a ponytail and put on some make up to help cover my puffy eyes. I sat on the bed and started to eat the breakfast Mrs. Clarabelle had left me. I turned the TV on and Good Times was on. I imagined a family like that. My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. “Come on in,” I said dryly not trying to though. Keeping my eyes on the TV I heard Tommy come in and close the door. “Hey, you feel any better?” Tommy said. I was still looking at the TV. “Not really, I’m worried about them,” I responded looking at Tommy as he sat on the bed. “Oh, so I was wondering if you might want to go see a movie or something, just to get you out of the house,” he asked looking at me rubbing my hand. “Uh, sure,” I answered.
When I was ready I went into Tommy’s room. He was lying on his stomach sleeping. I touched his back and he slowly woke up. “Oh, uh, you ready to go?” he yawned stretching his arms out.
Through our date at the movies I was happy, but it was weird because I felt guilty. Here I was having a good time and the girls were probably being treated awful. Being on the date made all the trouble of yesterday go away and Tommy had made my guard come down making my fears go completely away.
After the movie we went to Sonic to get something to eat. While we were waiting for our food, I felt a little awkward because neither of us was talking. “Hey you want to listen to some music?” Tommy said putting a c.d. in. On the c.d. it said Slow Jams for Tommy. The first song that came on was one of my favorites. It was 4 walls by Pretty Willie. When we finally got our food and were headed back home, Tommy kept putting 4 walls on repeat. “Hope, you don’t mind, I just really like this song,” he laughed. “Really, it’s one of my favorites! “ I laughed.

When we finally got home we were singing 4 walls. “Um, Thomas, what did your mom tell you about having friends over, especially female friends?” a dark brown tall man asked. He had hazel eyes and the whitest smile I’ve ever seen. “She’s not a friend, she’s my…” Tommy started to say holding my hand but he was cut off. “Oh so you have your girlfriend over well I’m sorry she has to go.”
As the tall man yelled Tommy began getting more and more angry. I held his hand tight and replied “I was asked to stay here by Mrs. Clarabelle,” I didn’t really know if I was suppose to say that but I wasn’t going to let this man just yell at Tommy for no reason at all. “Oh, she did? Well, I’m just going go lay down, Tommy tell me when your mother gets here, okay?” and with that the man was gone. “I hope I didn’t get you in trouble” I said. “Girl please, I’m a grown man, can’t anyone get me in trouble,” Tommy laughed leading me up the stairs.
Within a few more hours Mrs. Clarabelle was back. “Tommy, can you and Roxanne please come down here?!” she yelled. When we got down the stairs, I could see the tall man standing there beside Mrs. Clarabelle. “Honey, I’ve got something very important to tell you,” Mrs. Clarabelle, “Lia and Samantha are cousins.” “Clarabelle, who are they?” the tall man asked. “Oh, they’re just two little girls we’ll be taking in!” She replied nervously. “What? First you bring this girl, now you’re telling me two more girls will be living here too?” he said. Even though he was dark brown this mans face was turning red.
“Oh I forgot to introduce you to Roxanne,” Mrs. Clarabelle pointed to me, “Roxanne this mean and stubborn man is David. “I’m sorry Roxanne, you have to understand, I left home with one son and now I have 3 daughters. It’s just a lot to handle,” David said seeming a little calmer. “Well actually, she’s not going to be your daughter; she’s just going to be living here with us,” Tommy clarified.
With that Mr. David went to the kitchen. “So now do you think the chances of Lia and Samantha coming here are better?” I asked feeling a little bit of a relief. “Yes, that means I can prove that the family has had a consistent line of child abuse” she said smiling. With that Tommy and I went back upstairs.
“So how did they meet?” I asked Tommy as we went upstairs to my room. “Well David is an attorney for celebrities and you know my mom is a lawyer for kids with abusive parents. They were going against each other in court. My mom won and David asked her to dinner,” Tommy said laying my bed. “How romantic!” I chuckled turning on the TV, as I turned through the channels I started to hear arguing. “Tommy, you don’t want to go check that on them?” I asked glancing at the door. I looked over at Tommy and noticed he was passed out. He was kind of cute when he was sleeping; He had one of the pillows held tightly in his arms like kids do with teddy bears. “Ugh, I guess I’ll go down by myself...”
As I slowly opened the door, I could hear Mr. David yelling at Mrs. Clarabelle about Lia and Samantha. “Roxanne is fine to stay here she is grown, but those little girls can be placed somewhere else. Our son is almost gone too. The last thing we need is two little girls to come here, we are too old for that!” his voice was starting calm down. “David, my mind is made up! Now why argue over spilled milk, huh? What do you want for dinner?” Mrs. Clarabelle said changing the subject.
As I stood there on the top stair, I slowly walked down keeping my eye on Mr. David. “Roxanne,” he said “Sorry if we woke you and Tommy?” “Oh I wasn’t sleep and Tommy is out cold! I smirked. “Listen Mr. David,” I sat on the bottom stair, “Mrs. Clarabelle only is taking the little ones because of me. I just want them to be safe and happy.” “Why honey they are safe!” he smiled. “What do you mean?”I asked. “He walked over to the stairs slowly. “Their in a foster home; when the police dropped them at home they found drugs in each house.” He sat down on the stairs. “Mrs...Mrs. Clarabelle is that true?” I asked standing up. “Well, honey, I didn’t want you to worry anymore?”She said guilty. I couldn’t believe she didn’t tell me.

A little hurt, I walked up to my room. “Tommy,” I said quietly, “Tommy, bay wake up,” ‘Huh, what up babe?” he said with some drool coming down. “I’ll clean that bay.” “Did you know about the girls?” I asked. “What about them?” he asked wiping the drool form his face. “They were put into a foster home; hopefully they aren’t split up,” I said sitting on the bed beside him. “I’m sure their not, no one would split them up,” Tommy said putting his arm around me. “How about we go visit them?” “Bay, we don’t even know where they could be at.” I said smiling. “I’m pretty sure my mom does, I’ll go ask,” he said as he got up and pulled me off the bed.
While we went down the stairs we could hear someone crying; it was Mrs. Clarabelle. “Mama, what’s wrong?” Tommy asked going to give his mom a hug. It was a graceful hug, but it looked kind of odd because Tommy was a whole foot taller than Mrs. Clarabelle. “Tommy, please sit down,” she said wiping her eyes and nose with a tissue. “I should probably go upstairs and give you two some time alone, “I said letting go of Tommy’s hand. “No bay, whatever it is I want you here with me,” Tommy said sitting at the table. “Tommy, your father called,” she stopped and started crying again. “Ma, what did he say?” Tommy said readily. “He wants you to go live with him,” “Why, where does he live?” Tommy asked growing more pleased. “Um, he said he wants to be a father, he said he wants to be in your life,” she cried harder. Mrs. Clarabelle and I knew that Tommy was going to finally do what he had always dreamed. “Ma, what’s his number?” Tommy questioned getting his cell phone. It was like he didn’t realize that Mrs. Clarabelle was torn up inside and out about Tommy even having the thought of living with his dad.
As I watched Mrs. Clarabelle give him the number, not once did Tommy stop smiling. “Tommy, bay, can I talk to you upstairs before you make that call?” I asked softly. “Yea sure thing baby,” he said jetting up the stairs.
As we went upstairs I could still hear Mrs. Clarabelle crying. We went into my room and sat down on the bed, “Tommy, I don’t think you should stay with your dad, I mean I would want to stay with my real parents if I was in your case, but there has to be a reason Mrs. Clarabelle was so upset,” I said looking deep into Tommy’s eyes. “Roxanne, I know you and my mom care, but I just have all these questions. I want to know about my mom, my family, and why he left,” He looked down at the number then back at me, “I can finally have a chance to truly have it all. Everything that I’ve ever wanted is just a call away bay,” he said smiling. “What do you mean?” I asked a little puzzled. “I’ve got all the greatest material things, but no family. I mean, yea I do have Mrs. Clarabelle’s family and David’s but none of those people are blood to me,” Tommy dialed the number before I could say anything else. All I knew was that he had just switched from calling Mrs. Clarabelle mom, to actually calling her name.

I wanted to leave but at the same time I really wanted to hear everything. So, I just acted like I was trying to find something in my bag.
When Tommy was hung up, I looked over at him. He was smiling and looking down at the floor shaking his head. “Bay, you know you’re not slick,” he laughed. “What?” I said smiling. “You know you were not looking for anything in that bag; you want to know what he said?” Tommy asked walking toward me. “He said his name is Andrew Crenshaw, he is a professor, and he is marries,” he stopped looking at the floor sadly. I could see tears forming in his eyes. “What’s wrong?” I asked wiping the tears that were now rolling down his brown cheek. “He told me had kids. A 14- year- old boy named Roger and a little girl named Angela; I think he said she’s 10. He has kids; he has a whole life without me. He said he wants me apart of it, but I don’t know”.
He sat there and tears rolled out of his eyes. We stayed in silence for awhile until I got an idea. “What if we go and visit him and after you can make your decision,” hoping his spirits would be lifted up. “You know what that’s a great idea bay, what about the girls?”He asked sincerely. “On our way back we can go visit them,” I replied. So we told Mrs. Clarabelle, who had finally stopped crying, she was a little happy since Tommy hadn’t made a decision to leave yet. After talking to him, we packed lightly and were on the road headed for Dallas.

It took about 4 hours to get there, but the drive was worth it. When we pulled up to the house it was beautiful. It was nothing like Mrs. Clarabelle’s mansion, but it was in a beautiful suburban neighborhood. The house was made of red brick and had a beautiful porch, and it was a 2-story house. “Wow, bay, you know even though you live in a mansion-““This is perfect,” Tommy said cutting me off.
As we got out of the car a tall well built man came out. “Excuse me sir,” Tommy said nervously. The guy looked at Tommy for a second then replied, “Are you looking for someone?” “Well yes, I’m looking for… um, Andrew Crenshaw,” Tommy said reaching for my hand. “Well, who are you?”The man asked walking towards Tommy. “I’m… his son,” Tommy said getting tense. “Well, son it’s nice to meet you,” Mr. Crenshaw said, “Come on; let me show around the house,”
When we were inside we heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Then this really pretty short lady came. “Honey, I thought you said… Oh we have guest… hello,” she said. “Yes, well this is my beautiful wife Gabrielle. Gabrielle this is my son Thomas or what is it you go by…Tommy! Oh and this is…” Mr. Crenshaw stopped and glanced at me, “I’m sorry, but who are you?” “Oh, I’m Roxanne. I’m Tommy’s girlfriend. “I said feeling a little awkward. “Ok, I guess my son has his fathers charm on the ladies!” Mr. Crenshaw joked. We all burst with laughter.
“So, I bet you want to meet your sister and brother; kids come here please!” he yelled and in less than two seconds they were down. “Kids I want you to meet your brother Tommy and his girlfriend Roxanne,” Mr. Crenshaw introduced us smiling. I wish I could say that everyone was smiling, but Angela wasn’t smiling at all, roger on the other hand was just chill.
“Oh, what’s up my brother form another mother,” Roger laughed giving Tommy dap. “Hey, so what’s going on Miss Angela,” Tommy said as Angela just stood with an annoyed face. “Angela Nicole Crenshaw, you know to treat guest polite, especially family!” Mrs. Gabrielle yelled. “Ugh, hi, look I honestly don’t have a problem with you, but I already have a knuckle head big brother, I don’t need another one!” Angela shouted. “Well, he is a little bit of a knuckle head but trust me if you give him some time he can seem really cool,” I said to Angela. “If you say so,” and with that Angela gave Tommy a hug, and then said sorry.
“Well, I hate to be the one to break up this sentimental moment. I have to go honey, I have a meeting and I might be home a little late.” Mr. Crenshaw said then gave Gabrielle a kiss.
After, Roger and Angela wanted to show us the neighborhood. ‘So Tommy, this is your girl?” Roger asked smiling at me. “Yea, sexy isn’t she?”Tommy replied. “Bay, stop, not in front of your little sister,” I laughed. “Girl, I’ve heard worst,” Angela said rolling her eyes. We all stopped for a second and laughed at her.
“Tommy, where have you been living at?” Roger asked walking us to the park. Foster mom has been taking care of me,” Tommy said. I guess roger felt badly about asking because he dropped the conversation.

When we got to the park there was already girls and basketball players. The girls were mostly sluts. I could tell who was a girlfriend and who was a slut from the way the sluts would stand on the sideline screaming what I guess they thought were sexy things like, “Darnell I like the way you hoop, your going to have to show me sometime.” Or my favorite was “Baby boy, when you done come to my house to uh show me how to stretch,” It was all just nasty!
So I knew I had to keep my eye on them girls when Tommy started playing. I mean Tommy was sexy. He was fine, dark and tall; who wouldn’t want him? “Hey Roger, who’s your boy over there?” one of the sluts on the side line asked. “How about you ask his girlfriend over here,” Roger replied pointing at me. “So ugh, what’s his name?” she said rolling her eyes at me. “Tommy, why do you want to know?” I asked staring at her. “Dang! I can’t know a brother’s name, shoot with his fine self,” she laughed walking pass Tommy rubbing on him. Tommy looked her up and down, laughed then walked toward me. Grabbing me, he leaned and kissed me deeply and even added some tongue. “Ewe! I think I’m going to lose my lunch,” the slut said now standing with her friends. “Stop hating!” Roger said hugging on some girl. “Ugh, whatever!” she yelled walking off with her friends.
The drama didn’t stop there, though, soon a couple guys came to play but one had his eyes on me the whole time. Tommy saw it too; actually I think everyone saw it. Then the dude looked at me smiled, winked, and made a shot as if he was dedicating it to me.
A little later, Tommy and Roger wanted to go home but, Angela wanted to stay longer. “I’ll stay with her,” I said. “You don’t have to, she always tries to get her way,” Roger announced. “If she wants to stay a little longer, I’ll sit and watch her; we won’t be long though,” I replied looking at Angela who was smiling for the fist time since we’d been at the park. “Okay, bay.” Tommy said then kissed me quickly.
So Tommy and Roger left and I stayed with Angela. I walked over to a wooden bench when I heard a deep voice say, “Hi miss beautiful”. “Umm, hi,” I said turning to see this chocolate average height guy standing in front of me. He was cute, I’m not going to lie, and his voice was making me hot. So since I had a man this was not good. “My name is Marcus, what’s yours?” he said sitting beside me. “Look, I have a man,” I whispered watching Angela, making sure she didn’t hear me or look over here. “Well, that’s a weird name, but any name on you is beautiful,” Marcus said scooting closer to me. “Ugh, my name is Roxanne, but really I’ve got a man- and” cutting me off Marcus said, “I know you have a ma. I saw him hugging and kissing on you, but I want to be your man,” he whispered in my ear sending chills down my back. “I love him, and you don’t know me,” I whispered. “I know more about you than you think, but anything else I don’t know you can tell me,” he replied rubbing my thigh then my back. What the heck did that mean and how long could I resist his touch? “Umm, ugh, stop, I can’t do this,” I said almost giving in. “you don’t have to do anything, let me,” he smiled.
He started to lean in for a kiss and suddenly there was a scream. I looked over and saw Angela holding her ankle. I ran to see what happened and Marcus quickly followed. “Angela, what happened, where does it hurt?” I asked wiping her tears. “My ankle, hurts, I fell off the monkey bars, Roxanne I want to go home,” she cried in pain. “Ok sweetie, I’ll call Tommy, he’ll be here soon, ok,” I took my cell phone out of my pocket when Marcus came and took it out of my hand. “I can give you a ride,” he said giving me my phone back. I was going to say no but he had already picked up Angela holding her as if she were a baby. We got into his car which was really nice, it was a 2007 Camaro. “Which house is it?” he asked speeding down the road. When he stopped in front of the house, Roger and Tommy were outside. “Roger, your sister she’s hurt,” I shouted. Marcus picked her picked Angela out the car. She was still crying and her ankle was swollen up.
“I’ll go get my ma,” Roger jetted off. ‘It’s ok,” Marcus whispered to Angela. As Tommy tried to take Angela from Marcus, Marcus firmly stated, “I’ll take her, trust I know how take care of her,” Now even though Marcus had Angela in his arms, Tommy and I knew that Marcus wasn’t talking about her. “What happened?” Tommy asked following Marcus inside the house. “It was an accident; she was playing on the monkey bars and fell,” I stated following him. “So who’s the guy?” he asked facing me. “He was just there when she fell and gave us a ride that’s it,” I said.
“Thanks Marcus, you my boy!” Roger said. “No problem little man. Well, I have to go, but Roxanne before I go there is something you need to know. If I could see you tomorrow I’ll tell you,” Marcus smiled kissing me on the cheek. “What the hell, man get out of here for I have to whoop you!” Tommy yelled. “Marcus, what the hell, Tommy it’s nothing calm down,” I cried as Tommy pushed me and stood in front of Marcus who was just laughing. “Calm down my man, she’s with you not me. She told me to back off alright?” Marcus said pulling me off the floor. “Shoot, anyone who pushes their girl deserves their face to be smashed though,” “Marcus you need to get out! Don’t come near my girl ever again!” Tommy yelled pushing Marcus out the door then shutting the door.
“What happened at the park Roxanne?”Tommy shouted. “Baby, Tommy, nothing happened. He was just there,” I was now crying and Tommy wouldn’t let me walk away. “Let’s go outside, ok?” I asked pulling Tommy as he jerked away from me, “Tommy, if your going to act like this then take me back! “I yelled as hot tears rolled down my cheek. Tommy made a loud sigh and said, “No, bay, I want you here. That guy just pissed me off. I love you Roxanne Williams and just forgive me baby, please,” he cried pulling me close to him. “Tommy, I… I...” that was all I could say.
He pulled me closer and he sat down in a chair on the porch. “Roxanne, forgive me.” He sat me on his lap and I leaned over to him and kissed him. “I forgive you, baby, just know I love. I don’t want anyone but you. I’ve never met a guy who liked me as much as you and I’ve never me a guy who I liked as much as I like you. Plus, you’re my sexy chocolate love,” I smiled hugging him. “Are ya’ll ok?” Mrs. Gabrielle said poking her head out from a window. “We are perfectly fine” Tommy said as we got up and went inside.
Ring. Ring. Ring. “Hey, I’ll be inside in a minute bay,” I said answering my phone. “So how’s your man Miss Roxanne?” it was Marcus. “How did you get my number?” I asked a little freaked out.

“I had your phone right in my hand love” his deep voice put me in a trance again. “Bye Marcus!” I yelled hanging up on him. I went inside to the kitchen where Tommy was making himself a sandwich. “Who was that on the phone boo?” Tommy asked. “Umm you don’t want to know bay,” “Who was it baby?” He asked again. “Umm, ok, it was Marcus. Honestly, I don’t know how he got my number, I said giving Tommy puppy dog eyes. “Ok, but if he calls back bay, give me the phone,” Tommy said
Too bad Marcus didn’t call back. I really thought he needed to be cussed out. At night surprisingly, Tommy and I were allowed to sleep together. I liked his body pressed against mine. I could feel the warmth of his body on me and I wondered if life could get any better than this.
The next morning we ate breakfast, got ready to go, said our goodbyes and left. Tommy let everyone know that we’d be back soon. “So, now to see Sam and






Lia, right?”I asked when we got into the car. We went to the foster home and asked to see Samantha and Lia. “Oh, who are you?” said a woman at the front desk of the foster home. “Friends,” Tommy said sweetly. ‘Well, it turns out that both were adopted by a kind woman.” said the secretary. “Oh okay,””I said sadly. The ride back to Tommy’s house was quiet. Once again I had let the girls down by not getting the chance to visit them.
When we walked inside Tommy and I heard laughter, then Samantha came running down the stairs. “Roxanne, omg, I’m here for good, can you believe it!” she screamed jumping in my arms. “Lia! Come here she’s here!” she yelled “Roxanne! Tommy! Wow, I actually missed you guys!” Lia yelled running down the stairs.
Tommy was so happy until Mrs. Clarabelle came in. She looked dreadful. It was only a day since we saw her but her eyes were really puffy and her hair was a mess. “So, you come to get your stuff? Are you leaving?” she said whimpering. “Ma, I’m staying here, dad and I talked. We agreed that I’d finish school here and over summer and winter breaks I can stay there,” Tommy said hugging his mom. “So my baby is happy?” she smiled. “Yes, very happy ma,” he replied. Tommy hugged her again before she left to get some much needed sleep.
“Well, I guess everything is going to be alright” Tommy said holding me while we lay on his bed. “Yep,” I smiled. Then, breaking the moment, my phone rang. “Hello Roxanne,” it was Marcus. “Oh my gosh, Marcus!” I snapped. Tommy sat up and was truing to get the phone from me. “No wait Tommy, I’ve got this,” I told Tommy as lay back on the bed upset.
“Marcus, what do you want?” I yelled. “Roxanne, calm down please. I really needed to tell you something but you left before I got the chance,” he sounded upset. “Go on,” I said cooling off. “I really liked you that night and your mom, who’s my school counselor, she’s been looking for you and when I saw you I knew it was you. She always talks about you and she said she just wanted you to be happy. She said your foster parents sent pictures making sure she was able to keep up with you. I’d seen the pictures around her house; I know where she lives and everything Roxanne, and I know she wants you to see her soon. I told her I found you and that I really really like you a lot Roxanne….”
To be continued.....