Can Anybody Hear Me?

Chapter 1

I came home and the sweet smell of cinnamon filled the air. I couldn't wait to see what Mrs. Brown was cooking. I went into the living room, dropped down my bag and took off my jacket. The smell was coming from the kitchen room, so I figured that's where she'd be.

"Hey baby. How was your day?"

"It was good. I could see yours was goin well."

"Its' more like smell than see."

We both shared a laugh, that was well due. I looked at her face and could see she was truly happy.

"I'll be back Mrs. Brown. I gotta go do homework."

"Alright baby."

As I looked into her eyes again, I could see that my words were hurting her. The glow in her eyes had die down and even the joy in her voice was gone.

I couldn't do it though. Call her mom. That's what she wanted. I'd lived with her the since the day after my mother died, but I couldn't do it. I wasn't ready yet. I kissed her cheek and went upstairs to my room.

The truth is, I wasn't gonna do no homework. I was anxious to pack my things up and move back to the hood. I'd missed it so much. It was all I had known for the majority of my life and I couldn't wait to get back to it.

As, I was thinking about it, I fell asleep. I woke up around 7:30, 8 'cause someone kept ringing the bell. I opened up my door, and the smoke rushed into my room.

"What the hell? What's going on?

I called for Mrs. Brown, but no one answered. What the hell was burning?

"Mrs. Brown, what's going on? You don't hear the door."

I rushed down the stairs and opened the door. An officer grabbed me while firefighters ran inside. What the hell was going on? I was praying that Mrs. Brown would hurry up and wake me, but for some reason it didn't feel like a dream. A paramedic rushed over to me and told me that I needed to be taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. I didn't want to go. What if she was still in there while the house was burning? Then what, I would be motherless again?

"I can't leave. Not until I see her. She gotta be fine. When I see that's she's fine, then I'll go."

"No ma'am. We need you to come with us now. Later can be too late. She'll be fine."

"I can't leave her though. She's the only mother I got. I can't lose two mothers in one lifetime."

The lady left. I stood there anxiously waiting for her to walk out the door so that we could go to the hospital together.

Five minutes passed. Nothing. Ten minutes past. Nothing. Fifteen minutes passed, and when there was nothing, I began to panic. The lady came back over and forced me to go with her.

I was at the hospital, getting ready to leave, when I saw the officer. He had the same face that the officer did the day that my mom died. I knew it right then and there that she was gone. I started crying. How could this happen? Why me? Why again?

"Excuse me, are you Legacee (LEG-uh-CEE) Williams?"

"Yes. I am her."

By the time he had come into the room the tears had stopped, the grief was gone. It was just shock.

"I...I don't know how to say this. You've been through so much already."

"You ain't gotta tell me I already know."

"What you mean?"

"When you came in. The way you came in. I knew. You had the same look on your face, the same look the cop had the day that my mom died."

"Yeah, I heard about that. I'm sorry for your loss. It's hard to lose a mother, but to lose two. You're a strong person and you'll make it through this."

"Yeah, that's what everybody keeps tellin me. Ima make it through this. Can somebody tell me how Ima make it through this? Can somebody tell me why? Why is it me? Both my mothers gone. Why? Where am I supposed to go now? What am I supposed to do? Who is gonna take care of me? People always got answers, but they never know the questions."