The Weeping Widow

XIV

(time for the families to meet)

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My granny and I spent about an hour in the grocery store getting everything we needed for dinner. She ended up doubling everything so there would be enough food for everybody. While we were in the store she let me use her phone to text Jacky and let her know what was going on; hopefully doing that eased her distress cause I just knew she was losing her mind over me being taken.

My granny and I returned to the house and once everything was brought in I sat at the table and began to pick the greens that were for dinner. As I was doing that my granny and I held light conversation.

"So tell me about your foster family." She said making me pause.

"Uhh well it's not necessary a permanent home for me since I'm turning 18 soon. After my accident my bestfriend's aunt took me in and it all just went from there. You're gonna love them, Jacky stays cooking just like you do." I said with a smile.

"Well tell me some more about them so I won't have to ask so many questions when they get here." She egged on causing me to laugh.

"Okay I'll tell you now that way you aren't shocked when they get here but, my bestfriend Vicky was adopted by Karen Clark Sheard so my foster family is the Clark Sisters." I said making her look back at me in shock.

"Are you serious?! The Clark Sisters are about to come to my house?" She said with a dropped jaw. I began to laugh but nodded making her jaw drop further.

"Yeah. I'm staying with Jacky, she's the eldest. I call her Apple Jack though." I said as I continued to pick the greens.

"Why Apple Jack?" My granny questioned as she returned to what she was doing.

"I use to go over her house this last summer and whenever I would come over she would have a box of Apple Jacks or Honey Bunches of Oats for me cause it was my favorite thing to eat after track practice, so I call her Apple Jack and she calls me Honey Bunch." I said with a smile before continuing.

"And I call Karen 'Special K' cause everything she does is simple yet kind of bougie. I call Dorinda 'Sunny D' cause her laugh and smile brightens up the room and Twinkie is just Twinkie." I said explaining the rest of their nicknames.

"Those are some cute nicknames. You have a special nickname for everyone else in the family as well?" She asked as she came over to get the greens I had to picked. She collected them all and took them over to the sink that was filled with cold water to wash them off.

"Basically. Their family is pretty big though so I only do that cause I can't remember everyone's name." I confessed as I moved on to peeling the sweet potatoes.

"I understand. I can barely remember some of your cousins name sometimes. I'll say everyone else's name before I get to theirs." She said with a laugh that made me laugh as well.

We continued to talk and prepare dinner until it was just about ready. I was done helping and the kitchen chair was hurting me so I got up to go sit in the living room when the doorbell rang.

"I got it." I called out as I slowly walked to the door. I unlocked and opened the screen door to see Jacky, Karen and Candace standing in front. I smiled widely as I unlocked the door and called out to my granny.

"They're here!!" I said excitedly as I walked out onto the porch and hugged Jacky tightly.

"Apple Jack! I was just talking about you guys. Come inside, my granny wants to meet you all." I said as I released her from the hug and led them inside.

My grandmother was wiping her hands off on a paper towel as we walked into the kitchen. She turned around and greeted everyone with a smile before introducing herself.

"Hello everyone. My name's Tanya but everyone calls me Tammy or Mama T." She said as she waved.

"Nice to meet you Tammy. I'm Jacky, these are my sisters Karen, Dorinda and Twinkie and everyone else behind us is either one of our kids or our spouse." Jacky said introducing everyone with a light smile.

"Nice to meet you all. I know its a little tight in here but everyone go ahead and make yourselves at home while I finish up dinner." She said warmly.

"Come on Apple Jack I wanna show you my baby pictures." I said once everyone started dispersing throughout the house.

Jacky

Emrys led me into the living room and I took a second to pause and look at the pictures hanging on the wall. There were pictures almost everywhere and the ones I saw of Em made me smile.

I turned my attention back over to her and sat next to her on the couch, leaving her in the middle of Karen and I as she pulled out a small pink box that had three different photo albums in it. She pulled out one of the books and opened it up showing me the first picture of her. She was in a blue princess dress with a tiara and a magic wand.

"This was my 4th birthday party. It was princess themed and I was Cinderella." She explained as Karen and I looked at the picture.

"Aww you look exactly the same! And look at all that hair." Karen said as she smiled at the picture.

"Yeah I've pretty much looked this way forever."She said as she turned the page to show us more pictures.

We sat and looked at the pictures for about twenty minutes before something told me to get up and go speak to her grandmother.

"Keep showing Karen the pictures Honey Bunch. I'll be right back." I interrupted as I got up from the couch walking towards the kitchen.

As I walked towards the kitchen I asked God to give me the right words to say and to keep my emotions leveled. Hopefully she could tell me the full story of Em's previous life.

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word count: 1,058
edited