AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“See you tomorrow, Bright Side.”
Chapter Seven
Trish
Food trucking could bea seven-day-a-week adventure if I wanted it to be.
But I needed at least one full day to spend with my daughter. I was doing this for us, though it was no good if we lost each other in the process. If I started making excuses now because she was a baby, it would carry over. I refused to let anything get in the way of my family of two.
She was my angel.
My lifesaver.
I needed one whole day just for us.
After a little experimentation, I discovered Sunday was the slowest day. So on this particular one, Ella and I decided to venture into the world. Sonya had invited us to a Little League game at a park not too far from Paths of Purpose. On the way, we’d stopped for coffee, and I’d read Ella a couple of Berenstain Bears books while we enjoyed the nice weather on a park bench.
I had separation anxiety when it came to my daughter. When we were together, I could hardly bear to put her down. Apart, I had to force myself not to worry. Not to miss her. I recognized my issue, but I couldn’t turn it off. The older she got, the worse I feared my anxiety would get. I didn’t want to smother Ella, so I was speaking with a counselor about my issues. So far, we’d yet to find the best strategy to employ when I became distressed.
Cradling her to my chest, I kissed her forehead and her cheeks. I showed her the updates to the website I’d built myself after one of the girls at Paths had guided me in the right direction. She smiled, and my whole world was perfect.
These were the moments I lived for. I didn’t care what I had to do, I would never give her up. She was mine to protect. I’d die before I let her suffer.
“Hey.” Baker approached, her purse slung across her body. “What are you and Ella up to?”
“Solving the world’s problems,” I teased. “Aren’t we, sweet girl?” I nuzzled Ella’s nose.
“Come up with anything good?” She plopped down on the bench next to me.
“Not yet. But we will.” I shifted Ella in my arms. “Where are you headed?”
“Back home.” The shelter was our home. Neither of us were ashamed of that, but we didn’t advertise it.
“Want to go to a Little League game with us?” I asked.
The look on Baker’s face said she’d rather do anything but. “What the hell?” She covered her mouth with her hand. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s all right. If that’s her first word, I’ll know who to blame.”
Baker bumped my shoulder with hers. “You’re a pretty cool mom.”
“I hope this one thinks so in about thirteen or so years.” I picked Ella up, reluctantly strapping her into the stroller.
“Sorry to tell you, but I don’t think there’s a chance of that. It’s in the teenage DNA to think parents are uncool.” Baker got to her feet. “So where’s this baseball game?”
Sonya sat nextto Vivian Elliott, Muriella Jacobs, and Mulaney Carter on the rickety bleachers at the ballpark. The second she saw me, she stood, waving her arms over her head.
“Trish. Ella. Baker. Over here!” she yelled. Even the kids on the field turned to look.
I waved back, though I wanted to crawl into a hole.
“Sonya,” Baker yelled back, flinging her arms up just as frantically as Sonya had been.
I laughed at the gesture. “You’re as crazy as she is.”
“No one would dispute that.”
Vivian held out her arms the second we approached. “Gimme. Gimme. Gimme.” As an afterthought, she added, “Please.”
