Somee Cole #2
Neither of us had a clue where she was. The Tylers hired a private investigator who had yet to be successful in finding her.
It was like she’d disappeared. Felicia wasn’t a terrible parent but she also wasn’t great because who left their child?
I glanced at Rylee, hard at work coloring again, and my heart clenched because she didn’t deserve to be abandoned.
Then I smiled, because even if her mother didn’t want to love her, I would.
We would figure this out.
The lights in the living room flashed, alerting me that someone was at the front door.
I wasn’t expecting anyone but it could possibly be my neighbor Caroline who sometimes came over to borrow things.
She was sweet and we often looked out for each other but Caroline typically texted first to see if I had what she needed.
I glanced at Rylee who placed the iPad down and crossed the room, heading in my direction with her little brows pinched.
“Someone is here.”
The first night Rylee was here with me and learned about all the accommodations I had in order to function independently, she became fascinated with learning how things worked.
The lights signaling different things, the phone which translated calls, and even having closed captions onscreen for TV.
I also had speakers built into the walls that allowed me to feel the vibrations when I played music.
It hurt my heart that she’d lived in silence for so long with her mother. And yes that sounded strange for a deaf person, but life didn’t have to be silent. Rylee existed without accommodations that would make her life more functional and that had to make her feel isolated.
“Yes, let’s see who,” I signed back and we headed toward the door. I tapped the camera and smiled when I noticed my best friend Marlee on the porch. Once I turned the lock and stepped out of the way, Marlee entered and kneeled in front of Rylee, speaking to her first.
“Hey, kid. What you doing?”
Like always, Marlee spoke clearly and signed as well. Rylee was still learning to read lips. She was decent but not the best. Reading lips wasn’t as easy as most thought. Marlee was helping me fine tune her skills by always speaking to Rylee as she signed to her.
“I’m coloring. Do you want to see?”
“Of course.”
Rylee ran back to the living room to get the iPad while Marlee greeted me, speaking without signing. I had been reading lips since I was a child and did well with it most of the time.
“Still nothing?”
“No,” I signed.
“Have you applied to foster her yet?”
I shook my head. I glanced at Rylee who had her attention on the iPad as she made her way back to us.
“She has a brother. They’re going to contact him to see if he can help.”
“Help as in get custody?” Marlee signed.
“Not sure, maybe.”
“Is he hearing?”
“I don’t know. They haven’t told me anything about him. It’s weird that they’re being so secretive.”
She frowned briefly but smiled when Rylee shoved the iPad her way. I glanced at the screen, which was a cluster of butterflies Rylee had colored beautifully. All of them in different shades of purple, her favorite color.
“You did good, Rylee,” I signed.
She grinned, bouncing in place. “Thank you.” But she was more interested in what Marlee had to say. So when she tucked the iPad under her arm and signed, “This is so good. Can you send it to me?” Rylee beamed and shook her head.
“No, it’s in an app. You can take a picture with your phone.”
“Let me do that because I have to keep this.” Marlee spoke and signed before she placed the iPad on the counter, dug her phone out of her pocket, and snapped a picture. She then cropped it, saved the image, and made it her screensaver, which warmed my heart. Marlee was the best.
When she held it up to show Rylee, we were blessed with that beautiful smile of hers. I yanked one of her braids, then signed, “Go watch TV or color a bit more. I’m going to make dinner.”
“Burgers?” she signed giddily.
I nodded and signed back, “Smash burgers with extra cheese.”
“My favorite,” Rylee responded.
I winked. “I know.”
She headed back to the living room, and after I noticed she turned on cartoons, I began removing things to make dinner while Marlee got settled at the counter lining one side of the kitchen.
We were able to speak freely now that Rylee was occupied.
“You staying?”
“It’s smash burgers. Hell yes.”
I grinned.
“Greedy.”
“For those, I sure am. Let’s just agree that you’re the cook in this duo.”
I began the process of seasoning the ground beef with garlic and onion powder, Italian seasoning, and smoky flavoring.
Once everything was blended, I started making the patties, pausing every so often to respond to Marlee who was asking for more details about Rylee’s situation.
Details I didn’t have, which led to me expressing how I planned on officially applying to foster her if this didn’t get resolved soon.
Having Rylee here was great but legally my hands were tied.
If anything happened, I wouldn’t have the authority to speak on her behalf and that worried me.
It was also why my mother was worried. Rylee being here could cause me legal problems because I had no right to keep her.
I loved Rylee but my mother was concerned.
“What if the mystery brother is sexy and doesn’t know ASL? He’s going to need someone to help him.”
I frowned. “Or he could leave her with me because I’m the better option and he loves her enough to not disrupt her life.”
Marlee rolled her eyes. She and I had been friends since elementary school.
The reason I knew how subpar public school resources were for the deaf was because unlike Rylee, my mother couldn’t afford a school like Harrington Academy.
We didn’t have the benefit of someone footing the bill.
I spent my formative years in public school and was luckily smart enough to garner a full ride to Bridgewater University for the Deaf and Blind.
I elected to attend Hartman University instead.
My mother was livid with my decision because she thought it was best for me to stay submerged in a world where I would be fully embraced for who I was, a deaf woman.
I understood the majority of the world was hearing and instead chose not to close myself off, learning to be fully functional in their hearing society, because clearly it wasn’t ours.
Even if I had no interest in dating hearing men, I also wasn’t interested in sequestering myself like my mother did.
Almost all of her friends were deaf or hard of hearing.
She worked at a resource center that catered to the Deaf community and only dated deaf men.
Deep down inside, I felt that was her way of protecting herself.
I respected the decision after how my father hurt her but elected to exist in both worlds.