Close My Eyes (Prequel To Sweetheart)

Rejection.

June 5, 1973
Long Island, New York

"You gotta sit still for me Mariah", Addison said as she tried to comb through the toddler's thick curly hair.

Ever since Mariah had arrived at the orphanage 3 years ago, Addison (or Nana Addy as Mariah called her) had been her main caretaker. The orphanage had very few black children, let alone mixed ones so Addison took it upon herself to care for Mariah since the other caretakers wanted nothing to do with her.

"Oww it hurts!", the cranky toddler cried as she moved her head away to avoid the comb.

"Come on Mimi. Be still and I'll give you a treat", Addison bribed and Mariah immediately sat still.

"Good girl", Addison said as she gave her a lollipop.

Now that Mariah was sitting still and preoccupied, Addison was able to finish up her in no time. The end result was french braids with two bows at the end.

"Nana Addy what we doin' today?", Mariah asked as she continued devouring her lollipop.

"We taking you to meet a mommy and a daddy that may adopt you today", Addison said trying to sound cheerful. She had become attached to Mariah and didn't want to see her go but she knew she needed parents that could take care of her.

"What does adopt mean?", the confused toddler asked.

"It means that a mommy and a daddy come here and take a child home to live with them for forever", Addison explained in the simplest of ways.

"Is the girl ready yet?", Barbara, a stout caucasian woman, said in an annoyed tone.

"She's almost ready. I just have to dress her", Addison replied back ignoring the woman's attitude.

"Well hurry up. The couple is here and they're waiting", Barbara said with a devious grin as if she had something up her sleeve.

Addison ignored the woman and began to carefully dress Mariah in a pink dress that she had handmade for her.

She finished the look by putting on babydoll socks and shoes.

"You ready Mimi?", Addison asked as she look over the child.

"I'm scared", she replied.

"Don't be scared. I won't let anything happen to you okay? You know how much Nana Addy loves her little Mimi", Addison grinned to fight back tears. "Come in let's go".

They soon made their way downstairs to where the prospective couple was waiting.
It was a blonde haired, blue eyed young woman and her older husband.

"Here is the girl. Her name is Mariah and she is three years old", Barbara said as she basically snatched the child from Addison's arms.

"Oh isn't she a sweetheart and she's very gorgeous", the woman said, taken aback by the beauty of the child.

Mariah just stared at the couple shyly.

"What do you think about her David? I wanna take her home", the woman said to her husband.

"If you like her, I love her", the man said wanting get this over with.

"There is on thing about her that I must disclose", Barbara said, giving Addison a sly look. "This child is mixed race".

The couple immediately frowned and gave a puzzled look at the little girl.

"What do you mean mixed race? She looks white to me", the woman said.

At this point Addison was seething with anger and was trying her best to control herself.

"Oh but she is", Barbara said as she began to spew out lies. "She has black blood in her, she's the product of a black man raping a white woman."

"Oh my! Well I think we better get going now. Maybe we'll come back and the other children another day", the couple said as they quickly got up and left.

"Now why the hell would you say something like that!", Addison yelled and as she took Mariah from Barbara's arms.

"Nobody's gonna want that mulatto child. I would throw her away if I could", Barbara said in a mean-spirited tone.

"This child hasn't done anything to anyone. She needs parents to take care of her! You should be ashamed of yourself!", Addison said as she stormed back upstairs to Mariah's room and that was placed away from the other children.

"Nana Addy why are you crying?", Mariah asked as Addison sat her down on the floor with her babydolls.

"Because I love you Mimi", she said as she tried to dry her tears.

"I love you too", Mariah said as she walked over and hugged Addison's leg.

"You are a precious little girl", Addison said as she picked Mariah up. "You are worth it and don't let anybody tell you any different."