Grace

7

Destinny added, "Grace, I want you to stay, I really do but we need this space. Money is tight right now, plus soon you'll be off to college soon. With all the money you have saved from us allowing you to live rent free, it could hold you up whole you stay on campus or pay your house bills. I'm willing to still help you through it all, and if you're not ready by then, my brother has a place you can stay out here. You remember him?"

Grace could vividly remember her uncle. They had met maybe once or twice. He was always out of town, or either busy. Destinny went by to see him frequently but Grace preferred not to. He was cool, but she didn't like him enough. He was always coming with lame jokes and political conversations. But this whole apartment talk had her nervous. She knew she was going to be living with him.

"Destinny, I just want to know when will I ever have a stable place? A place I can really call home? What am I going to tell my future husband when he asks about my childhood?" Grace stood up, leaving the room.

She laid across her bed, staring down at the homework on her bed. The paper's ink became blurry as she felt a teardrop make its way down her face. She sat up, burying her face into a pillow. And the tears continued to come. They flowed naturally, her heart breaking more and more.

First, it was her home situation. Nobody ever really loved her. She had no one ever tell her that they cared about her, or even loved her. Jeremy didn't give a damn if she had a toe tag, and Destinny was his little, obedient puppy. She could clearly remember Destinny having her back. Then, it all changed when Jeremy got fed up of both girls treating him any kind of way.

Their household was broken. Destinny was pregnant with her abusive boyfriend's baby, making her entitled to him for the rest of her life. She had no choice but to deal with him. Their baby would grow up with so many issues from home, more depressed than Grace. That is if Jeremy decided to let his seed live, instead of beating his baby mother to a pulp.

Grace was convinced Destinny had more problems than her. She could never tell Grace she loved her because she didn't know how to love. Jeremy had taken the true meaning out of that word. She probably cared about Grace, but not enough to ever protect her like she promised she would. On countless times, Destinny loved to mention how Grace's mother begged her to watch over her baby.

Yet, what was Destinny doing? Allowing Jeremy to take yet another person from her life.

Then, Sammy couldn't appreciate her trying to be a good girlfriend. He wanted her to be perfect with incredible grades. Grace was only one person. She couldn't satisfy him all the time. Although he made her happy, he just didn't understand that she was deeply pained. She was unsure about love. It just felt right to say, but she did care. She cared but not enough to continue being his girlfriend.

Now that she had been hit with this burden, she decided to start focusing on herself rather than the well-being of others. It either would or wouldn't work out so good for her in the future.

"Where are you going to go?" Michigan inquired, "They did this on purpose. I always thought Destinny was the cool one. I guess not."

"My uncle's."

"The sexy one I saw at the cookout? Oh, girl, you lucky. He live out there in those big houses, too. I'll be over there all the time. Watch." Michigan laughed, tossing her breakfast tray into the trash can.

Grace thought back to the cookout. Desman was a pretty cool man, he just wasn't used to teens. He didn't know how to make jokes either, but he tried and she could appreciate that. Grace knew he wasn't the best but he was a guaranteed place to lay her head until further notice. She was willing to deal with lame jokes, busy trips, and deep conversations until she went off to college.