Prologue #2
There was just enough room between us and the seat in front of us for the small, emergency stroller I kept for Emorey.
Sometimes, it proved to be the best fifteen dollars I’d ever spent.
Though it was cheaply built with only bones and absolutely no support or padding, it got the job done in a crunch.
Tonight was definitely one of those moments.
I unfolded it while still standing in the aisle and pushed it between our row and the one in front of us.
Once I realized there wouldn’t be any leg room for me, I pushed it closer to Essence’s end to create space.
I placed a sleeping Emorey inside, never disturbing her beauty rest. She was a hard sleeper, just like her sister. The two of them didn’t hear anything once they closed their eyes. The world could be ending and they wouldn’t know until they woke up in the afterlife.
After getting her squared away, I pushed the bags that I’d brought onboard underneath the seats in front of us so that they wouldn’t be in our way.
They were filled with snacks, juices, and small games that didn’t require too much space but would keep the children entertained if necessary.
I hoped that the late trip would help them rest, but one never knew with children.
A trip with them could be a dream or it could be a disaster.
“Hhhhhhhh.” I sighed loudly as I sat down, finally.
“Mom, I’m tired.” Essence yawned. “Can I go to sleep with you?”
“Of course, love.”
She placed her feet near the window as she maneuvered until her head was in my lap.
I could feel her little breath tickling the thin strands of hair on my legs as she sighed, too.
My heart ached for her, for us . She, too, was feeling the effects of our sudden relocation.
My babies deserved to be home sleeping in their beds, but things beyond my control had led us here with the three of us crammed into a space designed for two.
“I love you, kid,” I reminded her, smoothing her frazzled curls back into the low ponytail she’d attempted to keep her long, sandy hair out of her face.
“I love you, too.”
Exhaustion had worn my baby down, and I wanted nothing more than for her to rest well and get comfortable, even if it made me uncomfortable. I was willing to suffer if it meant she wouldn’t. There wasn’t a question about it.
The chattering of the passengers picked up slightly after everyone was seated near or next to their loved ones.
Each time a deep, unfiltered baritone sifted its way through the crowd, my head darted in its direction – needing a face put to it immediately.
My anxiety wasn’t any good for situations as such, but I had to survive it. This was the only option left.
The bus driver made the final call for boarding as he prepared to close the doors for our trip to begin. I pressed the side button on my phone to light the screen. It was nearly one-thirty, our official departure time.
A sense of relief washed over me, allowing me to finally breathe once the doors closed and the bus proceeded from the gate. For the first time since I’d packed as much of the girls’ and my things that would fit into the three large suitcases three hours ago, I could close my eyes.
Dewayne had put his hands on me for the last time, and instead of retaliating or physically harming him as payback, I chose my sanity and safety.
Because mentally and emotionally, I’d left him two years ago.
I was just waiting for the physical aspect to follow.
My only fear was the lack of financial resources that I had for myself and children, but after so long, being broke wasn’t the worst of my fears. Staying committed to failure was.
Starting from ground zero had never sounded better. With only four hundred dollars to my name, I bought my children and I tickets to Channing, leaving me with only two hundred dollars. With a place to stay already lined up when we touched down, I knew I could figure the rest out when it was time.
Lyric was a godsend. When I called her asking to crash in her spare bedroom with the girls for six months, she agreed without hesitation.
Neither did she hesitate to tell me she’d been waiting for us to make the move.
Her joy for the decision I’d finally decided to make spoke volumes because she’d never truly voiced her opinion about my predicament.
She simply listened when I needed an ear.
“I couldn’t force you to be ready. When you were, I knew you’d leave and never look back,” she told me as we cried on the phone together. They weren’t tears of sadness, but of happiness and joy. I’d finally put myself first and that was worth the tears.
The same tears that I’d cried on the phone with her, I felt dropping from my eyes as I closed them.
We’d hardly made it out of the station, but the freedom I felt was indescribable, so instead of attempting to place or describe the feeling, I allowed myself to just feel.
That’s all I wanted and needed. To feel.
It had been a day from hell, but my girls and I were safe and headed to our new home. It was only temporary, but there we didn’t have to worry about their father’s temper, distaste for anything remotely close to living the life that a real man was supposed to, random fights, or long nights.
Unlike Dewayne, Lyric was predictable. She went to work, came home, loved on her family, and repeated the process, again.
I knew because I’d been her friend for the last ten years and that’s how it had been since we had gotten close.
We met at my cousin’s wedding over eight years ago and fell into a friendship.
It was one that I never knew I needed but definitely did.
That was before I’d gotten accepted into a culinary school for my degree and moved six hours from Channing. That was before I met Dewayne and put my dreams on pause, quitting school mere months before I was set to graduate.
It was before Essence and even Emorey. It was even before I’d discovered my pregnancy with Dylan and lost him. She’d been by my side through it all, making trips to see me as often as I needed her presence. This time wasn’t any different. When I called, she was to my rescue.
Though I’d closed my eyes briefly, rest was truly impossible. My thoughts were all over the place. They all screamed at once, demanding my time and attention. There was only one that caused my eyes to pop open only fifteen minutes into our trip.
I need employment… and fast. With only about two hundred dollars to my name, I knew I was walking a fine line and would soon have nothing.
I hadn’t been broke since I’d gotten my first apartment and lost my job right after.
It was the year before throwing caution to the wind and moving away.
That year had been tough but this year was even tougher.
I unlocked my phone using face recognition and opened the Safari browser. Google had gotten me very far in the past, and I was hoping it did me justice once more. In the search bar, I began describing my needs.
On-the-spot hiring in Channing City , I typed. Instantly hundreds of results popped up, but there was one that stood out to me a little more than the others. I clicked the title and it took me to a gorgeously designed website for a popular eatery in the city.
I’d heard great things about it, but I’d never gone myself.
It was partially because I no longer lived in Channing, but also because I was always in and out when I did visit.
They weren’t frequent, and they were never pleasure trips.
I always came for a reason and left within forty-eight hours of my arrival.
There wasn’t time to do much of anything.
Baisleigh’s House . The brunch house was hiring for a new waitress and special events coordinator. The roles were intertwined and after a quick glance at the base pay, my interest was piqued.
According to the listing, the special events coordinator was paid thirty dollars per hour for the coordination of large party brunches, birthday brunches, corporate brunches, and more.
Outside of coordinating events, waitressing was the chance to make money when an event wasn’t being planned or hosted.
The base pay was twelve dollars in addition to 100 percent of the tips received daily.
Coordinating was only part-time. Waitressing was daily guaranteed income. That’s exactly what I desired. I didn’t have three to five weeks to wait for a check from a nine-to-five. I needed money to be flowing through my hand from the time I walked through the door until I walked out.
Without hesitation, I clicked the link that led me to the simple application.
The questions were straightforward, occupying my thoughts and helping me think of something other than my current situation for once.
I scrolled, tapped fill blanks, and uploaded documents stored in my files before submitting the application for consideration.
As I shut off the light from my cell, I rested my head on the seat and reclined it approximately three inches.
It was as far back as the seat would go, but for now that would be enough.
Sleep wouldn’t find me. I knew that for a fact.
Rest wasn’t my goal – not until the girls and I were safe and with Lyric.
The silence of the bus as the passengers settled and dozed off lulled me into a state of calm and quiet that not even my thoughts could interfere with. Though I wasn’t at peace, the moment was peaceful. The creaking of the bus as it trudged down the highway, mile after mile, remedied my soul.
Almost , I reminded myself. Almost out of the city that had caused me more pain than it had brought me progress.
Almost away from the man who’d cornered me with his financial, physical, emotional, and mental abuse.
Almost back where I started. Almost where I belonged and where I could thrive. Almost home.