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“Have you heard from my mom? I’ve been trying to call her, but she’s not answering for me,” Nikki said.
Laura and La-La looked at each other for a second before they both answered.
“No,” they said in unison and a little too loud for Pain’s liking.
He was sure that there was some bullshit going on with the sisters.
“Does she even know that I’m in the hospital?” she asked.
“She knows, but she’s way too busy to miss work and come down here. Besides, you’ve got Pain sitting here with you. I’m sure she’ll come as soon as she can,” Laura said. “Don’t get yourself sick waiting for people that you care about to show that they care about you,” she continued to tell Nikki.
“When did she start working? The last I knew she was sitting home smoking up her state checks. Just tell me the truth. She’s out there on her knees sucking somebody’s dick for a smoke of whatever drug is in front of her. My mother was never concerned about my wellbeing. I learned that a long time ago. I was just hoping that something would change with her. I shouldn’t have asked that question in the first place,” Nikki said.
Laura hoped that excuse would stop the questions about her mother. They both knew the question was coming. They had prepared for it, they all did.
“La-La, come walk with me to the cafeteria,” Laura said, hoping her sister caught the hint.
When La-La got up, they both headed out the door.
“I know you don’t need shit out of the cafeteria, so what’s up?” La-La said as soon as they stepped on the elevator.
“We need to figure out what we’re going to say about her mother. That’s not gonna be her last time asking about her,” Laura said.
“Tell her ass the truth. It’s been long enough, and she needs to know. I don’t know why you’ve never told her. Shit was different back then. You should’ve went about it a different way anyway,” La-La said.
Laura had been avoiding this topic all her life. There was no denying that her secret would come out sooner or later. She had always felt overprotective of Nikki because her sister, Letitica, wasn’t the
best mother around. Laura had stepped in by having Nikki over to the house as often as she could. Letitica was the wild one of the sisters. She would sneak out of the house all the time or sneak boys in.
Laura felt that she was giving her sister some time and space, so she could get her shit together, but she only partied harder. Her occasionally smoking a blunt turned into and addiction to heroin, all within a time span of a year and a half. They never told any of the kids about Letitica’s drug problems. Although her sisters tried to help her out as best they could, she never wanted to help herself.
Laura remembered the day everything hit the fan. She had gone over to get Nikki, only for Letitica to tell her that she was gone with her daddy’s people for the summer.
“What do you mean she’s with her daddy’s people, Trice?” Laura asked.
“Just like I said. Do you want me to write the shit down for you?” Letitica said.
“You don’t know who her damn daddy is. Who the fuck has my niece for the summer?” Laura asked.
“I’m her mama, and I sent her off for the summer. End of the fucking story,” Letitica told her sister.
Laura couldn’t understand why her sister would send her daughter off with strangers because whoever it was, they damn sure weren’t family. She loved her sister, but she was going to have to put hands on her.
“You need to get help while she’s gone. That’ll be perfect timing,” Laura said.
“I only need help getting you off my porch. Get your ass away from here. Don’t you have your own kids to worry about instead of being here looking for mine?” Letitica said.
Letitica knew there was a chance that her daughter could be in danger. She also knew that if she didn’t send her daughter off every summer that there would be a greater chance of her dying. She had let the drugs take over, and now her daughter was probably being made into the biggest hoe at her young age. As long as she sent Nikki away every summer, she could smoke all she wanted. In her mind, as long as they didn’t kill her, she would be okay. If her sisters found out the real reason for Letitica sending Nikki away, they would beat her ass.
There was a brief pause as the sisters looked at each other. Laura knew her beautiful sister was no longer there. The drugs had messed her up so badly that she was putting her child in the hands of strangers.
“Are you okay?” La-La asked.
“I knew something was fishy when she kept sending Nikki away. I should’ve stepped in and stopped it. You need to find your sister, so she can explain herself to her child,” Laura said.
“You need to let that go. Letitica made her choices. Don’t lose your daughter because you feel guilty about not helping her way back then. There was nothing you could’ve done,” La-La said.
La-La felt that Laura was doing too much with how she was dealing with this Nikki situation. She loved all her nieces, but her daughter came first in all situations. La-La wasn’t going to go against Nell, but she didn’t care for Allen either. In her mind, Allen was taking her daughter away from her. While she was standing there looking down on her sister’s actions, her own weren’t any better.
