Tragedy

Four

"I mean I want them to have access to everything. I want them to be better. They should still be in the hospital right now but I can't keep them there for weeks at a time because I can't afford it. They're still so little, they can't stay home alone, now all the pressure is on you to go to work and pay bills and that's not fair to you. You didn't sign up for this."

"I did, I did sign up for this. The minute we exchanged these promise rings I signed up for this. I promised to be there for you and that's what I'm doing. This is what I'm supposed to do, that's why I don't complain about it. We can't really control what happens but we can control how we react and handle things. Things are tight right now but we're making it work. I could be wrong but these kids seem happy to me and at the end of the day as long as you're happy and they're happy.im happy. If you truly feel like you can't then we can do it then what we have to do. Where do you want them to go?"

"I don't want to get rid of my babies, Jade. But I feel like I can't take care of them properly and it's taking a toll on me"

"I know but what if they stay with your dad for a few months, then with us for a few months. Then when they get a little older maybe they can choose where they want to stay."

"Okay. Maybe that should give us enough time to work and move to a bigger apartment, right?"

"Yes. Thank you for talking to me. I appreciate it"

"Thank you for listening. I love you"

"I love you too. I want you to stop drowning yourself in wine and liquor. I don't want to find you piss drunk on the floor or any crazy shit like that. it's not good for you. You're going to damage your liver and I can't give you my liver"

"You can"

"Can i?"

"Yeah. Part of it, then it will grow back"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah"

"I didn't know that. Well. I'd give you part of my liver but not for you to drown it in alcohol, baby"

Leigh-Anne smiled, pecking her lips.

"What do you think they did with her?" Leigh-Anne asked out of nowhere.

"Cremated her"

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

"How do you know?"

"They told me in that paper" she pointed to the paper near the stack of mail.

"Why didn't you say anything!" Leigh-Anne got down off the counter and began to angrily rip through the papers.

"It's right here" Leigh-Anne snatched it, her eyes scanning the paper carefully.

"Why didn't you say anything!!"

"I did baby. That's why it's not mixed in with those papers. I put it to the side and told you to take a look. You said okay and obviously you never did."

"But. . ."

"I showed it to you baby, you saw her name and crumbled a little bit. That's why I told you to look at it later."