Chapter 1 #2
“Mama, I was just studying,” Brooklynn squealed in exasperation as she snatched open the door.
Brown skin. Oh, how she loved her baby’s brown skin and those black eyes and those pretty, pouty lips where her lies lived.
Brooklyn was a replica of Cairo. She was the one thing they had gotten right, a beautiful creation that came from their love.
“Girl, you must really think I’m dumb. Don’t insult my intelligence. Studying what? The semester ended today, so what the hell you studying, Brook?” Ellie fussed. She hated this new, sneaky version of her daughter. It was like, as soon as Brooklyn hit sixteen, all hell broke loose.
“I was just reading.” Brooklyn would feign innocence until she was blue in the face.
“Is that weed I smell?” Ellie asked, walking past her daughter, and stepping fully into the room.
“Mama, no! You’re tripping!” Brooklyn denied.
Ellie followed her nose to the adjoining bathroom and pushed open the door. Sure enough, there was evidence of ashes floating in the toilet. Ellie hit the lever. “You got to flush twice to get rid of evidence, genius! You think you’re too smart for your own good. Where’d you get the weed from?”
“I was just holding it for a friend! It’s not even mine!” Brooklyn cried out.
“Brooklyn, I’m fed up to here with you,” Ellie said, saluting her forehead.
“What is going on with you? You don’t do drugs.
We don’t do drugs! Do you know how many kids out here dying behind these drugs?
This shit could be laced with anything! Have you ever heard of Fentanyl!
? You don’t smoke anything! Don’t take anything!
Not even a Tylenol, Brook! We’ve talked about this! ”
“I wasn’t, Ma!” Brooklyn wailed. Her pretty, perfect daughter was a bold-faced liar, and it broke her heart.
It shouldn’t have. She remembered her own lying phase through her teenage years, but being on the parental side felt horrible.
She was losing control of her little girl, and it didn’t feel good at all.
Ellie snapped her fingers closed right in front of Brooklyn’s lips.
“Stop talking, just stop lying. Your eyes are red, Brook. You’re high!
Don’t do that. Don’t lie to me. Telling the truth is a sign of respect and love.
I can’t protect you if you lie to me about your actions.
We’ll deal with the truth. But don’t look in my face and tell me lies.
Love me better than that. You don’t lie to people you love, and we can’t come to common ground if I can’t trust you.
You grown enough to smoke in my house, be grown enough to admit it. ”
Ellie took a deep breath and calmed herself because she didn’t want to be the screaming mom.
She wanted to be the mom that her daughters felt like they could come to about anything.
Frustration was making her handle this poorly, and she didn’t want to push Brooklyn away.
Brooklyn stood frozen, like a deer in headlights, and she knew that her child was too afraid of punishment to deliver the truth to her in this moment.
It disappointed her, but she knew accountability wouldn’t be learned tonight.
She sighed. “I’ma let your father deal with it.
Please just finish packing and get some sleep.
We have an early flight.” Ellie was defeated. “And keep this door open.”
“Okay now, Miss Mamas. I need you to keep this baby in here for a couple more weeks. We want baby’s lungs to develop a little more before he makes his arrival,” Sloan said as she withdrew the ultrasound wand from her patient, Monica.
She snapped off her gloves and then stepped over to the sink to wash her hands before turning back to face the mother-to-be.
“I’m sorry. I just panicked. I felt that contraction and saw the blood in my panties and just rushed here,” the woman replied. “We’ve been waiting so long for this to happen. I just don’t want to take any chances.”
“Me either. I’ve seen you guys through from the tears of thinking you couldn’t get pregnant to hearing this little nugget’s heartbeat. I’m invested, and I’ma see it through all the way until this baby is in your arms.”
“Still, I feel bad. I didn’t mean to call you into the ER in the middle of the night.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sloan said, smiling.
“And everything looks fine. It’s just Braxton Hicks and a little spotting, but your cervix looks good.
Don’t hesitate to come back if you have any concerns.
The nurses know to call me when any of my patients hit this door, it doesn’t matter the time,” Sloan said.
“You’re the best,” Monica replied.
“Remember that when you’re in labor and I’m asking you to push,” Sloan answered with a chuckle. “The nurses will get your discharge papers. I’ll see you after Christmas break.”