How Loud Can I Cry (on hold)

Hlcic chapter 1

 Chapter 1

                     It’s hot, it’s humid.   No air condition, no fan. So dog on hot with nothing to eat accept stale bread. That my sister,  brothers and I are fighting over. A big piece fell near my foot It’s hard as hell. I try to pick it up, until my big brother snatches it from me. You know I’m crying right ,until my brother turns back and gives it to me, before saying big baby! 

               Nothing in the refrigerator either, television doesn’t work, just sitting on display.  The house looks like we just moved in except no living room furniture. My brothers are jumping off the bump bed, while my sister is dancing to the radio, my big brother found a week ago, someone one threw out- cause the knobs were missing and part of the antenna is gone.

                  I’m sitting in a corner crying mama.  My mama has been gone five days and who knows when she’ll be coming back. The sheet on the bump bed smells like piss and I need my diaper change. Someone opens the front door and I’m walking and falling and crawling to get outside my big brother runs after me. My pamper was half off my butt and people and cars are going by and I’m waving like I know them.

            It isn’t long before one of the neighbors called social service but a neighbor stopped us while we were in the front of the house  and asked us for our mother. My big brother said where your mama! the rest of the family said she is not home.

                  It must have been one hour later before we see these strange people in blue suits. They introduce themselves as po-les my big brother then says I saw you before. The po-les asked my brother because he was the tallest. Where was our mother we all had no clue, but my big brother said at the store. Then the po-les ask how long had my mother been at the store my brother said a while. Then the po-les asked my brother what’s a while my brother responded I don’t know you seen her!  Someone called our aunt lotta mae and she cleared things up she said she would keep us for the night, but she kept us longer than we expected.  After a few days we were sent to a few foster homes before we were told we would all be going to this lovely ROSS family who was willing to take all six of us in. My aunt Lotta Mae lived in Westbury. The foster family they lived in Hempstead not far from Martin Luther King drive.

              On the trip there once in  Hempstead we passed this hoagie place I ask my brother what’s a hoabie my sister said sit back and be quiet. It’s hoagie not hoabie. Finally we made it there. The foster parents came to the door they introduce themselves said “welcome” come in.  

         We all said our names one by one, once inside we all sat on the plastic cover couches which stuck to our little legs. We were all skinny not like our bones was sticking out, but you could tell we needed a mama touch especially because our hair was nappy. I mean real, not been comb for weeks nappy, and my brothers they could use a serious haircut.

        We all sat on the plastic cover couches looking around when the foster mother asked are we hungry and we all said yes. Our stomach was growling we tried to act like we weren’t hungry we were starving. The food was off the charts, I mean finger looking good, not cause we hadn’t eaten, the food was singing a song in my stomach it was good did I say good, good!

            The foster mother showed us where we would sleep. My big brother kept clowning around picking me up, throwing me in the air and when I said stop, he would swing me around til I got dizzy and ran into something. It was almost 8pm. We all started  getting ready for bed we all had to take a bath. Once we finish taking our baths we said good night to each other and we went to sleep.