Price of One

Chapter 1

Jalen rolled out of bed at five in the morning after turning her alarm clock off. She was tired and felt sluggish, but she ignored it as she made her way into the bathroom. She turned on the shower, allowing it to heat while she washed her face and brushed her teeth.

Once finished, she stripped off her t-shirt and panties, stepping into the shower. She allowed the warm water to wash over her body, waking her up slightly. Jalen stood there only a moment before beginning to clean herself.

She finished her shower and dressed in purple scrubs and tennis shoes.

She pulled her hair into a high ponytail before going to her younger siblings’ rooms. It was almost five forty-five, so she woke Kodi and Landon first. She knocked on their door before slowly pushing it open, only to find Kodi standing at the closet rifling through her clothes and Landon nowhere in sight.

“Where’s Landon?”

“Bathroom,” Kodi replied without taking her eyes off the clothes in front of her.

Jalen turned her attention to the hall bathroom as she heard the shower come on.

School had only been back in session a couple of weeks, but they’d easily fallen into a routine.

Deciding that she had a few minutes before she needed to wake up her other siblings and start breakfast, she went into the living room and picked up the book she’d been studying out of the night before.

She had a test the following night, and she wanted to make sure she was more than ready.

It wasn’t until Kodi came down the hall that she realized she’d lost track of time.

“The twins are up getting dressed, and Mikal’s in the shower,” Kodi informed her.

“Thanks,” Jalen responded before closing her book and heading into the kitchen.

Once there, she pulled the sausage from the refrigerator and the oatmeal from the cabinet. She put on water to boil for the oatmeal and took out a skillet for the sausage before taking out the plates and stacking them on the counter. She then took out six cups.

Jalen fixed breakfast as her siblings filed into the living room. When it was ready, she made plates and handed them to Kodi to place on the table as Landon poured orange juice for everyone. Once they were all sitting at the table, they said grace before digging in.

Jalen looked at the clock on the microwave and saw they only had about fifteen minutes before they needed to leave the house or she would be late for work after dropping them off.

“Guys, finish up, put your dishes in the dishwasher, and get your backpacks. We have to leave soon,” she informed, then took her plate to the dishwasher and placed it inside.

Going down the hall, she entered her room and grabbed her watch off the dresser, putting it on before grabbing her backpack, phone, and keys.

She turned off the lights and passed Nathan and Omari as they skipped past her, heading to their room.

By the time she made it to the living room, the rest of her siblings were headed down the hall to grab their things.

“Landon started the dishwasher, and I pulled out Mikal and the twins’ lunches,” Kodi told her on her way down the hall.

“Thank you,” Jalen called after her.

She honestly didn’t know what she would do without Kodi. She had been so caught up in studying that morning for her test that time had passed her by. However, Kodi had combed both of the twins’ hair and made sure that they were dressed.

Jalen often felt that she put too much on Kodi, relied on her help far too often, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Their abusive mother hadn’t been in the picture for a long time.

She’d pop up for a few weeks at a time and then disappear again.

It had always been that way. From the time Jalen was old enough to take care of her siblings.

However, when she turned sixteen, the times her mother would stay would be shorter.

The times she showed up were few and far between.

When she had turned nineteen, she got legal custody of all her siblings.

It was hard, and no one thought she could do it, but Jalen had proven that she could work, take care of them, and go to school.

At first, they were only making ends meet, but that was five years ago.

Back then, she wouldn’t have been able to do it without Ms. Ella. Their neighbor at the time.

She earned her CNA license in high school and started working immediately after graduation while studying for her nursing degree. She held her LPN and was taking classes toward her RN.

Kodi helped a lot as well. The girl was a beauty magician when it came to hair, and she did a few heads a week to bring in extra money.

When Jalen had gotten her LPN, the pay was better, and she was adamant that her younger sister use her money on things she needed or wanted.

However, she was much like Jalen and used it on household things or to ensure everyone had lunch money.

The sound of her siblings coming back into the living room pulled her from her thoughts. She waited while they grabbed their lunches, and then they all headed out the door. After locking the door, Jalen followed them down the breezeway of their apartment building, and they climbed into her SUV.

The first stop was at the twins’ elementary school.

When she pulled up, Landon let them out of the backseat.

Jalen told them she loved them and to behave.

She waited for them to walk into the building with some of the other kids before pulling off and heading to the middle school.

She dropped off Mikal, telling her the same things she told the twins before heading to the high school.

When she pulled up, she remembered she had forgotten to give Landon lunch money.

“Hey Lan, hold on. I forgot to give you lunch money.” She told her, reaching down for her backpack that was on the floor of the front seat.

“Kodi gave me some,” Landon responded. “Love you. See you later.” With that, she closed the door.

Jalen turned to Kodi. “Kodi.”

“It was just lunch money, Jae. Besides, she’s my sister too, and I’m going to help you out, regardless. After two years of my helping, you should get tired of giving me the ‘Keep your money’ speech.” Kodi told her with a smirk.

Jalen shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Get out, little girl.”

Kodi laughed. “Bye Jae. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Jalen watched as Kodi got out and slung her arm over their little sister’s shoulders before the two of them began walking towards the front door of the school. Pulling away from the curb, she headed towards the hospital.

????????????

Rohan sat at his desk, looking over the advertising concepts his team had proposed to him.

He liked a few of them. With minor tweaks, he was sure he would love them.

Other ones, however, he knew they would need to get together and work on.

He and his team had a reputation for creating one-of-a-kind, innovative advertising concepts.

He wasn’t one to toot his own horn, but they were the best within Murphy’s Advertising.

Looking at his clock, he saw he had about half an hour until his lunch. His niece was in the hospital, and he planned to go see her. She’d had appendicitis and had to have her appendix removed. She was recovering now and would be in the hospital for a few more days.

“Rohan, can you come into my office, please?”

Placing the concepts he was looking at on his desk, he walked out of his office and down the hall. He knocked before entering to find his boss sitting behind her desk, typing away. He took a seat opposite her.

“It looks like I’m going to have to work through my lunch today. Will you tell Alynn that I will see her when I get off this afternoon?” she questioned, looking up at him.

“Sure thing, Mom.”

“Thank you. How are the advertising and marketing plans coming along for the new products I gave you and your team?”

“They’re good. We have a few concepts that we’re working on. I think you’ll approve once we’ve gotten them done and smoothed out.”

“Excellent. Is there any way you could get me a rough copy by Friday morning for the wireless speakers? The client is coming in for a meeting that afternoon. Their assistant just emailed Laura,” she stated, referring to her assistant.

“I don’t see why not. I’ll get with the team today after I come back from lunch, and we’ll have it done for you,” Rohan informed her.

“Thank you, son.” She smiled at him. “Now, get out of here and go see my grandbaby. Tell that brother of yours I haven’t forgotten that he skipped out on dinner Sunday.”

“Will do.”

Rising from his seat, Rohan headed back to his office, grabbed his keys and phone, and then headed out. He informed one of his team members that he was leaving and to call if they needed him.

Taking the elevator down, he stepped off in the parking garage before heading to his vehicle. Getting in, he pulled out and drove to a nearby shopping strip.

Rohan exited his car and entered the bakery to get a few of his niece’s favorite snacks. Once he purchased those, he walked next door to the Edible Arrangements and picked up the order he’d called in that morning, then continued to the hospital.

Walking into the hospital, he went straight for the elevator and pushed the button for the pediatric floor. When he got there, he checked in with the woman at the front desk before going to Alynn’s room. He found her sitting up in bed watching cartoons, while his brother typed away on his laptop.

“Knock, knock,” he called as he entered the room.

“Uncle Rohan!” Alynn exclaimed happily.

“Hey Shrimp,” he stated, calling her by his nickname for her. “Hey Trent.”

“Hey,” Trent said, looking at his watch. “You’re early. I didn’t expect you here so soon.”

“I left work early,” Rohan replied, walking over and placing the items he’d gotten for Alynn on the tray by her bed. “I got you some things,” he told her, watching her little eyes light up at the sight of the fruit arrangement.

“Lynn, sweetie, I have a few calls to make for work. You’ll be okay while I’m gone?” Rohan listened to his brother ask while standing.

“Because you’re clearly going away forever.” The eight-year-old stated sarcastically before popping a grape into her mouth. Rohan chuckled while his brother raised an eyebrow at his daughter.

“Just because you had surgery doesn’t mean I can’t give you an IOU for a spanking,” Trent told her before walking out the door.

Rohan took his brother’s chair and sparked up a conversation with his niece while she ate her fruit. He could tell that she was already tired of being in the hospital, but was in no hurry to get out, because then she’d have to go back to school.

“Marco?” a voice called from the other side of the door after a quick knock.

“Jalen!” Alynn replied, bouncing with excitement. “Polo,” she called back.

Rohan watched as a young nurse walked into the room.

She was wearing purple scrubs that complemented her cocoa complexion.

Her hair was in a ponytail, and her hazel eyes shone bright as she smiled at Alynn when she entered.

She was gorgeous, and Rohan had to admit he was excited too, just differently from his niece.