Something Unexpected

SEVEN: A Hard-Knock Life

Serena grabs her backpack, which also had her valuables in it, and walks downstairs. I take Maya's hand and follow close behind.

I wait silently on the porch as the girls ate breakfast. I wasn't particularly hungry-actually, I haven't had much of an appetite for a while now. My clothes were starting to fit loosely and my face looked more sunken. So now my body reflected just how deprived and poor as I felt.

Finally, we get into the car and travel towards the office where our caseworker was stationed. Once we get there I notice that Maya is more quiet than usual, but then again we've all been quieter than usual since none of us have been in the mood to talk lately.

We wait in the lobby of the office building until we are escorted into our caseworker's office. As soon as Serena opens the door, I squeeze Maya's hand to remind her that I've got her back.

Penelope Greene spun around in her high backed leather chair and purses her lips as her cold grey eyes stare me down. "Sit."

I take the first seat and pull Maya into my lap, while Serena took a seat next to me. "I called you here because I've found possible homes for you three."

"Homes that are willing to take in all three of us?" I ask.

Penelope pulls out a file and rubs her fleshy chin. "No. I have three homes interested in Maya. And a home willing to take you and Serena in. It's the best that I can do at the moment."

"Then we'll wait until you find something better." I respond. Penelope narrows her eyes and I'm almost intimidated-almost.

"Excuse me?"

"I told you that we need to stay together. That's the best thing for us. We're all each other has."

"I can arrange for visitations."

"That's not good enough."

"You are so ungrateful. There are over two hundred thousand kids out there without homes-kids who will have to wait months, maybe even years to be adopted. Then here you are, trying to turn down decent homes!"

"We told you that we wanted to stay together!" Serena yells. Her hands gripped the handles of the chair tightly and her eyes were narrowed.

"Have some respect young lady! No one wants to adopt a rude child who doesn't know her place!"

"The bottom line is that Serena and I are old enough to be a part of the placement decision and you have an obligation to keep us together. We're a sibling group and we are going to stay that way." I say with a tone of finality.

Penelope wags her finger at me. "You'll find out soon enough that not everything in life goes your way."

"We've all learned that lesson already. Did you forget that we've lost both our parents and a grandparent? Do you think that we wanted to have to our lives uprooted? You think we planned to be put into the foster care system? Do you think that we dreamed of sitting here in this fucking office waiting for you to fling your shit at us?"

"Watch your mouth!"

"Last time I checked she has the right of free speech. We do live in America right?" Serena crosses her arms and leans back into the chair. I would have high-fived her at the moment but we had to keep our focus on Miss Prickly Butt.

Penelope rubs her forehead and sighs heavily. "Have it your way then. I'll just have to move you three to another temp home. You are no longer wanted at the one you're at."

"The feeling is definitely mutual." I mutter.

"Fine. Now get out of my office."

As soon as we leave the office Serena starts mumbling angrily under her breath. "Are you kidding me? We came all this way for that?"

"I know. It's stupid."

"I need Starbucks. My nerves are all bad now." Serena rubs her forehead and sighs.

"I wish I could get you some but I don't have that much money to spend. Plus, there's a very important day coming up." I look down at Maya who perks up.

"Are you talking about my birthday?" She sings.

"Of course! What else would I be talking about Baby Bop?" She smiles and Serena tries her best to seem happy.

Maya's 6th birthday was coming up and I hardly knew what to do. I didn't want to spend my emergency stash and I only had half of my last paycheck left in my account. Serena and I would have to plan something while she took her nap.

We make it back to the house and run up to our room. Maya lays down for her nap and I decide to check my email. I was still getting all kinds of college advertisements and recruitment letters. Plus, the woman from Carmichael Prep never stopped emailing me, even after I told her that I wasn't interested.

"So what are we doing for her birthday?" Serena asks.

"We can try baking her cupcakes and maybe buying her some new coloring books or a sketch book." Serena sits on the windowsill and crosses her arms.

"How are we going to do that? These people have us on a tight leash since they think we'll run away and be homeless."

I didn't even bother mentioning that the thought had crossed my mind, but I knew that it was a horrible idea. I couldn't even consider leaving my sisters behind in a place like this and I most certainly wasn't about to have them live on the streets.

"We'll figure out something. But if we can't, is there something else you think we could do? Has she said she wanted anything?"

"She just said that she wanted a nice home with a new mommy and daddy where we would all be safe."

I sigh and look at my baby sister who was curled up in the bottom bunk of the bed. "That's what we all want."

♡ V o t e ♡

☆ C o m m e n t ☆

♡ S h a r e ♡