CRACKED

2. Babygirl

My heart nearly dropped out my pussy when I heard her voice. I took a look in the mirror to straighten out my clothes and took a deep breath. As I made my way towards the stairs I became conscious of the sound my heels made on the hard-wooden floors. Oh my God she can hear me walk! I carefully came down the stairs and followed the sound of the conversation between Braye and my momma.

"Who's upstairs grandma?" Braye asked her grandmother, with her back turned to me.
"Sweetness, someone is here and exited to see you..." Said my momma while she made a hand gesture for Braye to turn around.
"Huh?" Braye slowly turned around for her eyes to lay on me. I immediately started to tear up.
"Hi Braye. Do you remember me?" I tried to crack a soft smile.
She looked at me up and down in disbelief.
"Are you Riveny? My mom?"
"Yes. Yes I am. How are you baby?"
"Gran, you gotta be kidding me. Why didn't you tell me this murderer was out?!" She threw her bag on the floor. I lightly jumped up. My heart was completely shattered.
"Young lady, show some respect to your mother! She is not a murderer! We've talked about this a lot of times" My mother defended me.
"Yes, she is. I don't have a dad because of her!"
"Momma, it's okay."
"No, Riveny, it's not!" My momma yelled.
"Gran I'm going to my room!" Braye yelled back as she picked her bag back up.
"Can I get a hug from you?" I tried as I slowly extended my arms towards her. At this point I was sobbing my face off.
"Get away from me!!" She pushed past me and left the living room in a hurry. My mother shook her head and stared at the floor.
"My baby..." I slowly lowered myself into the couch and let myself sink away. A few seconds later I heard a door slam shut upstairs.
"Riveny, I promise you it's going to be okay. Give her some time to process. You surprised her after all." My momma sat down next to me. I nodded and stared into the distance.
"Momma, she looks just like me."  I could hardly finish that sentence. My voice was shaking and my hands were trembling like crazy.
"I made us some tea. Do you want some?" Momma pointed at the table were she had set up a tray with a fresh pot of tea, 3 mugs, some cookies and a little vase with a subtle bouquet of flowers. I gave it some thought.
"Actually, yes." I put my fingers to my temples. Momma stood up to get me a mug of tea. The smell took me straight back to those happy days when I thought my life was so bad as a teenager.
"Momma, is this the same blend you used to make?" I asked.
"I see you remember." She faintly smiled as she poured me a mug and handed it to me. The warmth of the mug in between my palms provided some sort of comfort. I carefully sipped my tea as I tried to calm down.
"You're doing great Riv," My momma assured me. "You handled her reaction very well. You're still the strong girl I raised you to be."
"I just love her so much, momma. I'll do anything to build a relationship with her and I will be there for her through everything, even though that won't make up for the time I missed. I know it's impossible to change that, but I'm still going to try." I said as I wiped my tears away. My momma nodded agreeing with my statement.
"I'm gonna start cooking. Will you join me when you're ready?"
"Yes momma. I'll be there in a sec." I smiled at her and she left the room. I took a few minutes to pull myself together and joined my mother in the kitchen.
"Will you chop the potatoes for me baby?"
And for a few seconds, it felt like everything was normal. Just me and my momma cooking with Michael Jacksons music playing in the background. Like the old days.

When dinner was ready my momma went upstairs to talk to Braye. I don't know what she told that girl, but they came into the dining room together. Braye wouldn't look at me, but her being here meant something to me. My momma said a prayer that involved being thankful for having me back and we started to eat. Braye hadn't said a word during dinner, none of us did. After dinner Braye helped cleaning up and went back upstairs.
"I can tell she had calmed down a whole bit." Said my momma.

I cried myself to sleep that night. It felt strange being back in my bed. I had cried the whole night last time I slept here, because of Devaun...
"I'm going to fight for you and our daughter Devaun. I will pick my life back up. I love you baby." I whispered into the universe.

April 8th, 2017 — 09:17 AM
Because of my probation there wasn't much I could do. I've been trying to get a job for a few months, but of course no one would hire an ex convict. I also realized that I was depressed sk I started therapy and reached out to one of my old friends Castella. We have met few times to have some coffee or go to the nail salon. She's a very busy woman nowadays, since she owns a business now. That's why I decided to walk around Central Park today. The weather is finally starting to normalize so I figured a walk would do me good.
I spotted a few people going for a run, but other than that the park was pretty much abandoned, just the way I like it. Out of nowhere I heard footsteps approaching me fast. I turned around ready to throw these hands if I needed to, but no one was there. I stayed and looked around for a few moments before I decided to get the hell out of this place. As I was about to turn back, I see a shadow in the corner of my eye. I slowly follow the shadow with my eyes. There she was. Sitting on a bench in a tacky velours tracksuit just looking me dead in the eye. Her blonde wig sat perfectly on her head as always, like she was an innocent bitch. It seemed like she was reaching for something out of her pocket. That was my cue to RUN. I ran as fast as I could. Adrenaline rushed through my body as I was focused on getting OUT. THE BITCH WAS GOING TO KILL ME. I kept on running as hard as I could until I got out of the park. My surroundings were clear but I still wasn't feeling safe. I peeped a man walking his dog across the street.
"Sir! Sir!" I called as I crossed the street to meet him.
"Hi.. Can I help you?" He was clearly confused.
"No it's just that... I..." Everything started to spin around me, double vision and shit. I squinted my eyes in attempt to make it go away.
"Are you okay?" The man pulled his phone out.
"Yes.. I mean no." I looked back at the park. Her platinum blonde wig stood out from all the nature around her as she stood by the edge of the park. I lost my balance and fell flat on my back. For a moment the world was completely silent and everything was moving slow. At this point the dog stood over me as the man kneeled down beside my numb body and started to shake me and call for help. The only thing I saw were flashing images of baby Braye, Devaun, my momma and my dad. As if the universe was trying to show me all people I had let down. People started to gather around me out of nowhere. Their faces were all the same, hers.

"Ma'am I'm calling 911!"