Elise Riley-Tate moves through life in search of her happily ever after. After suffering a devastating loss, Elise questions her womanhood and place in her life and marriage. An unfortunate sequence of events leaves Elise in a conflicted situation...
Heyyy! So let me say that discussion was lit. I loved seeing you all interact and being able to read your perspectives on things. Especially on the issues that I kind of left up in the air. I might do those more often, pick an interesting comment and discuss it ( Hm!!).
Anywho, please keep in mind that this is a short story and should be over somewhere around Chapter 50-ish. Without further delay... what you really came here for... See you shortly. ~Kay
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"Man," I sighed in frustration as the screen on my tv showed that I had lost a game of 2k. Today was just not my day. I had fun spending time with my mom and dad during the party, but in the end, my mom was being mean for no reason. I understand she wants to spend time with us sometime, but I want to see my dad too.
We spend the weekdays with my mom and the weekend with my dad. I thought that was the way things worked. Last school year, we used to stay the week at my dad's sometimes, and he and Mama El would take us to school, but that stopped a long time ago. I wonder why? Did my dad not want us around?
I heard my door creak open drawing my attention towards it. In walked Zakiyah, dressed in her frozen nightgown with the plush purple blanket that she took everywhere with her.
"Kese (Kee-see)," she whispered, "can I lay with you," she said coming further in the room. I usually don't let her come in here, but I knew she was sad. When dad left at the skating rink, she layed her head on my lap and cried silently. I didn't know what to say, so I just rubbed her back like dad does when she starts crying.
" Come on," I said scooting over and patting the space beside me. Kiya crawled up on my bed and sat close to me with her head on my shoulder.
" Whatchu was playing," she said squinting at the tv screen.
"2k," I responded shortly.
"Can we play the legos game for a little while," she said to me. I turned my head slightly to see her looking up at me fluttering her eyelashes.
"Sure go put it in," I said giving in to her puppy dog face. She tossed her cover to the side and scooted to the bottom of the bed. She then hopped off and made her way over to the entertainment center. She used her index fingers to scan the games before she paused and said, " Why is mama so mean Kese?"
Her question caught me off guard. " What do you mean Bae Bae," I questioned already knowing what she meant.
"Every time I ask her to go to daddy's house or to use her phone to call him, she gets mad and yells at me. I don't want Mama to be mad at me. I just want to talk to or see daddy sometimes. I miss him," she almost whispered the last part. I saw her reach her hands up to her face and wipe it with the back of her hand. She was crying. Ugh, not this again.
" Bae Bae, I don't think mommy is being mean, she just wants to spend time with you-"
" But we're here all the time Kese," she semi- yelled flailing her arms in frustration. I didn't know how to respond because she was right. We were at Mama's house the majority of the time. Usually, when we're out of school, we go to daddy's for the break, but not lately. For Thanksgiving break when Mama had to work, we went to Aunt Christiana's house.
" I know Kiya," I stressed. " It will get better. We just have to ask Dad to talk to Mama-"
"Tuh," Kiya scoffed. " She don't like him either," she said folding her arms across her chest and stomping her foot on the floor. I didn't have a response to that. I'm nine, what do I know.
"Put th game in, let's play," I said grabbing the controller. Kiyah bugged her eyes at me but continued on to start the game.
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I heard them. I heard it all. I heard movement from Kiya's room, so I got up to see what she was doing and saw that she was going into Kese's room. I stood by the door listening for a moment to see what they were up to. Those two together could conjure up a plan that would put Dennis the Menace to shame. But what I heard, from my children's mouth, shattered me.
My daughter thought I was mean and that I intentionally kept her away from their father. Sure I would get jealous when they would ask to call or see him. Zach never mentioned them wanting to leave him to come to me, so I felt like they prefer him over me which only made me cling on tighter to them.
However, despite my own insecurities, I never wanted to break their hearts. I never wanted them to see me as the big bad wolf. Had things really gotten that bad? Dear Lord, I was becoming my mother. It was going on nine pm, and the kids had already been fed and bathed so I couldn't take them out into the night air.
To Zach: You can come to get the kids in the morning just let me know what time. Is it okay if they stay until Christmas Eve? I think they would enjoy spending some time with you.
It took everything in me to send that text. I had never replied to his text from earlier nor had he reached out again. I presume he said all that he had to say. I wanted so badly to blame this on Elise, who seemed to be the root of all our problems. However, listening to my kids talk, I knew that this was all on me.
From Zach: I'll be there around 9. I know how cranky Kiya can be in the morning. Is it possible for them to come home early Christmas morning? Maybe we can put a note under the tree at my house letting them know that Santa had left something for them at your house. Or perhaps we could do Christmas altogether. Just let me know what works for you.
From Zach: Thank you Jhene.
So.... how are we feeling?
Do ya'll miss Elise... I do
Shout out to my new readers! I see yall reading, voting, and commenting
