Janet- "Okay so maybe we shouldn't try riding bikes in a dress just yet" I say as Toni laughs as we walk around the park. "I don't think me flashing these people will work out so great" she says giggling and I shrug. "Maybe not, but you can flash me later on if you want" I say smirking and she bumps me with her elbow making me laugh again, "shut up" she says playfully.
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"Okay okay, so what else is there to know about you Ms. Braxton?" I ask reaching out to hold her hand and she intertwines her own with mine before sliding closer to me. It's a warm night outside with the wind blowing gently so neither of us don't need a coat. But being this close to each other is always nice and welcoming. "Mm are you sure you want to hear more about my sad childhood?" She asks jokingly but I know she is serious deep down. I stop walking making her pause and turn towards me as I do the same to her. "I want to know all I can about you Toni, the good, the bad, the happy, and the sad. You don't have to hide from me Juice" I say looking her right in her beautiful eyes so she know just how serious I am.
She holds eye contact for awhile searching my face softly before she smiles shyly. She tugs me forward to keep walking and I fall into step beside her. "I was born in Savannah Georgia to Tina Braxton and David Braxton the youngest child, Alice being six years older than me. My mother was a seamstress and my father was a cop in the day and a gambler at night. Him and my mother didn't didn't have the best relationship, but she never left. She should have...after my surgery we moved here to Boston because they had better doctors. My father got promoted to Chief but due to his gambling and my medical bills we always struggled and eventually it was too much for my mom, she killed herself when I was fifteen" I gasp when she says that and hold onto her just a bit tighter.
"That's when the gambling became addictive...it got so bad he would steal from the suspects they brought in. He got caught and fired, he became abusive...Alice got married at the age of twenty one and moved out and she moved me in and away from my father. She saved me...things were good until her husband died and she became...different. I didn't know who my sister was anymore. I went to college and meet Jill and we became best friends. We moved in together and then my father found me so I moved into my own place to protect her. And then one day I received news that my father was killed at a gambling ring, drug deal gone wrong. That same day Alice dropped Caleb off and took off to God knows where." She finishes shaking her head and I look at her in shock.
This woman has been through so much and she is still so kind, so strong. She never let her past define her, drag her down. "I am so proud of you" I say meaning that and so much more. She looks at me intensely before moving even closer to me and I wrap my arm around her shoulder drawing her into me. "My dad left me his car that I still have, and my mom left us each thirty thousand dollars that I put up for Caleb for when...it's been hard but we are making it" she says. "If you ever need anything I am here Tone, anything at all" I tell her and she just nods.
"Your turn" she says after a moment of silence as I take in everything she just told me still not being able to get over everything this woman has been through starting at such a young age. "I was born and raised here actually to Katherine and Johnny Jackson. I am a middle child, my brother Micheal is the oldest and Tamika is the youngest. She was the woman at the house earlier" I tell her and she hums in acknowledgment. "My mother is a child psychologist, and my father is a neurologist, he actually works at a hospital over here. Micheal is a photographer in New York and Tamika is a social worker" I tell her as she listens intently.
