Jaicyn shook her head. She should have accepted the ride and scared the hell out of the snooty white girls by taking them to her side of town but she didn’t feel like it. Besides, the bus was about to round the corner any minute.
During the bus ride, Jaicyn decided that she would go through the phone book and make a list of every elementary school in Washington Heights. Rickie and Bobbie have to be in school somewhere in the city. First, she’d call the school, explain her situation, and see if they’d tell her if the girls went there. If that didn’t work then she’d go up to the schools every morning and see if she spotted her sisters.
After the bus dropped her off, Jaicyn went into the house, changed out of her suit and cooked dinner. She ate alone in front of the television. After cleaning the kitchen she settled down in the living room with the Washington Heights phonebook and a notebook. She was still making her list when Rayshawn walked through the door a little after midnight. She smiled when she saw him.
“Hey you,” Jaicyn said. “You’re home early.”
Rayshawn looked exhausted. He’d been spending days down in the Park readying the troops for a potential battle with a bunch of dealers from New York that were scoping out the drug scene in Washington Heights. Plus he’d been making trips to Cincinnati with King.
“Man, I’m so tired,” Rayshawn said. “But I have good news.”
“What?” Jaicyn was hoping that they were moving to a better apartment. The last thing she wanted to do was spend any more time in this house. New paint on the walls and tacky new furniture didn’t take away all of the bad memories. She’d been trying to talk Rayshawn into moving for weeks.
“I found out where the girls live.” Rayshawn grinned.
“Are you serious, Rayshawn? Don’t play with me.”
“I’m serious. I figured we could pick them up after school and chill with them. That’ll be cool.”
It was the best thing that Rayshawn had ever suggested, except Jaicyn didn’t want to spend a few hours with Rickie and Bobbie. She wanted them for good.
“What if we went and got them from school in the morning. That way we could spend the whole day with them?”
Rayshawn shook his head. “We can’t do that. First, we don’t know where they go to school, and second, if they don’t show up at school their foster parents are going to think that something happened to them.”
“No,” Rayshawn decided, “we’ll go over to the house after school lets out.”
Rayshawn went upstairs, walking heavily like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He worked hard to stay at the top of his game. He lived with the threat of someone plotting to take over his spot but Jaicyn had never seen him so worried about it before. Something bigger was happening, but getting him to talk about stuff like that was nearly impossible.
Jaicyn wanted to talk him about getting a new place again. Now that her sisters would be visiting, they had to move. They had bad memories of the place too and Jaicyn didn’t want to bring her sisters back to a place that they hated.
With her job and Rayshawn making so much money they could afford a nicer place. They could even stay on the south side. She just had to convince Rayshawn that it was time to move.
****
At precisely four o’clock the next afternoon Rayshawn pulled his Lexus to a stop in front of a gorgeous house in a brand new subdivision. Jaicyn stared at two bikes lying on their sides, knowing that the purple one had to belong to Rickie and the orange one was definitely Bobbie’s. She dreamed about seeing her sisters again for over two years and it was finally happening. She stared at the bikes until Rayshawn tapped on her window. She hadn’t even noticed that he’d gotten out of the car and was waiting for her.
“Are you getting out?” Rayshawn asked. He didn’t understand what was wrong with his girlfriend. She’d talked him into going to the mall and spending crazy money on the girls but she’d been acting funny all day, even at the mall. She was indecisive and nervous and it was driving him nuts.
“I’m coming,” Jaicyn said, taking a deep breath and opening the door.
She was nervous and scared that Rickie and Bobbie wouldn’t want to see her because she hadn’t come sooner. She got out of the car anyway and walked hand in hand with Rayshawn to the front door. When she hesitated to ring the bell, Rayshawn did it for her.
Jaicyn looked around the neighborhood where her sisters had lived for the last two years. Kids could play outside without having to worry about getting hit by a bus here. A thought crept into her mind.
Would bringing Rickie and Bobbie back to the south side be a good decision?
Jaicyn head footsteps approaching the door and she squeezed Rayshawn’s hand a little tighter.
“Who is it?” a child’s voice called and Jaicyn smiled. It seemed like an eternity had passed since she heard Bobbie’s voice.
“Bobbie,” Jaicyn answered, “It’s me, Jaicyn.”
The door swung open and Jaicyn’s seven year old sister was staring at her.
“Rickie,” Bobbie screamed, “Jaicyn’s here!”
Bobbie practically leaped into her sisters arms while Rickie came dashing around the corner.
“Oh my God,” Rickie cried, running up to her sister and hugging her. “I knew you’d come!”
The reunion was almost too much for Rayshawn. He felt tears come to his eyes as he watched Jaicyn, Rickie, and Bobbie hug and kiss one another. He cleared his throat.
“I guess y’all didn’t miss me at all,” he joked to the girls.
Both girls looked up and squealed at the same time. They turned their attention to Rayshawn and squeezed him just as tightly as they did their sister. When he looked over at Jaicyn he saw that she was crying. He took her hand and squeezed it gently.
“Baby, it’s going to be okay,” Rayshawn whispered to Jaicyn. She nodded and wiped her face. She turned to the door way when she heard more footsteps approaching.
“Rickie, Bobbie,” a lady’s voice called, “I know you two didn’t go outside-” The middle aged woman stopped talking when she noticed the scene her front porch.
“Excuse me,” she said, “what’s going on here?”
Jaicyn looked and the woman who’d been keeping her sisters from the last two years and decided to be nice. She needed this woman on her side.
“Hi, I’m Jaicyn. I’m their sister.” Jaicyn head out her hand but the foster mom looked at it as if Jaicyn had boogers on the tips of all five fingers. So much for being nice.
“Yes, I figured that. I’m Paula Blair.”
“Nice to meet you, Paula,” Jaicyn answered, still trying to be nice.
“Jay-Jay, come see our bikes,” Bobbie called, trying to drag Jaicyn and Rayshawn down the porch steps.
“Hold on, Bobbie,” Paula stopped the little girl. “You and Rickie go to your rooms. I want to talk to your sister.”
Jaicyn noticed the confused expression on her sisters’ faces as they eased back into the house. They didn’t go to their rooms. Jaicyn watched them standing in the foyer watching her.
“Jaicyn is it?” Paul asked.
Paula Blair, in Jaicyn’s jaded opinion, appeared to be one of the saditty Black women who looked down on those who weren’t as fortunate as her. She was probably one of those people who grew up in the hood and was determined to forget where she came from. Her clothes, her house, and her attitude showed it.
Paula Blair wasn’t pretty. Jaicyn guessed she was in her early forties. Her light blue skirt and matching top gave off the impression that she either worked in a bank or was somebody’s secretary. In fact, Jaicyn thought she looked like a school secretary.
“Jaicyn,” Paula continued, “how did you find out where I live?”
“Why?” Jaicyn asked, not bothering to be nice. She didn’t want to waste time talking to her when she should have been visiting with her sisters.
“I told her,” Rayshawn spoke up.
“And how did you find out?” Paula asked Rayshawn.
“I have my ways,” was Rayshawn’s short answer. The way he said it indicated to Paula and Jaicyn that he wasn’t going to elaborate.
“Is there a problem?” Jaicyn wanted to know. “Because, I’m here to see Rickie and Bobbie. If you don’t want us at your house, then we’ll be more than happy to take them somewhere. But I didn’t come here to see you.”
Paula was a bit intimidated by Jaicyn’s rough demeanor. She’d been warned by Kim Hill about Jaicyn from the start and wasn’t surprised that she was just as ghetto as Kim described. Kim hadn’t told her that Jaicyn was back from Job Corps and would want to visit the girls. Even though she was surprised that Jaicyn had come to her house, Paula was willing to stand up to the girl on her porch.
“The girls have had a hard life,” Paula stated, looking down her nose at Jaicyn and Rayshawn. “They don’t need this type of distraction.”
“So I’m a distraction?” Jaicyn asked but didn’t allow Paula to answer. “Look lady, I don’t know what they told you but my sisters have had a pretty decent life. I made sure of that. Has anyone thought to ask Rickie and Bobbie what their life was like or did you and those bitches over at DFCS just assume that I wasn’t taking care of them?”
When she’d first taken the girls in, it was supposed to be an emergency situation. Paula was told that their mother was a drug addict and they were living with their sixteen year old sister on the south side. That’s all the information she’d been given. When she first met Rickie and Bobbie they were quiet and withdrawn and they’d only talk to one another. Paula assumed it was because of their traumatic situation. For weeks they cried all the time. She had no idea that they were crying for their sister.
Rickie and Bobbie were smart and well behaved girls and Paula tried to give them everything she thought they weren’t getting at home. It didn’t work. But after two years, Rickie and Bobbie were finally coming to terms with their situation. The last thing that Paula wanted was Jaicyn popping up and throwing things out of wack.
“Jaicyn, I know you probably tried your best to care for your sisters but they need a real mother and now they have it. I don’t want to mess that up.”
Jaicyn balled her hands into fists and held them tightly at her side. Her voice quivered as she tried to keep her temper in check. How dare this stranger act like she wasn’t good enough to be around her own damn sisters!
“First of all, my sisters don’t need anyone except me. I’ve been the one taking care of them. You’re the fucking distraction.”
“Jaicyn, you will not use that type of language here and you will speak to me with some respect,” Paula insisted. “This is my house and I have the girls. They don’t need you anymore and it would be best that you don’t come to my home ever again.”
“You aren’t going to keep me from my sisters,” Jaicyn yelled.
“I’m only doing what’s best for Rickie and Bobbie, and when the adoption goes through, you won’t have a choice,” Paula snidely answered.
“What adoption?” Rayshawn asked. He hadn’t wanted to get in the argument but it was going too far.
“I’m going to adopt the girls.”
“It’ll be a cold day in hell before I let you adopt my sisters,” Jaicyn warned.
Paula grimaced. Jaicyn reminded Paula of everything she tried to escape and didn’t want Rickie and Bobbie to grow up around. She cared about the girls and was willing to provide them with the stability and love that they needed. It was a shame that Jaicyn couldn’t see it.
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Jaicyn, but I’m just doing what’s best for the girls. Now please leave or else I’m going to call the police.”
“Call the police,” Jaicyn said to the woman. “All I’m trying to do is spend a little time with my sisters and you’re trying to stop me! Yeah, call the police.”
Rayshawn put his arm around Jaicyn. Feeling his touch, Jaicyn snapped at her boyfriend.
“What?”
“Let’s just go. This lady doesn’t want us here so we’ll figure out another way to see the girls.”
With much resistance and still more yelling, Rayshawn managed to guide his girlfriend off the porch and to his car. He didn’t want to be around if the police were called. In this neighborhood, they’d probably be there in a heartbeat.
Rickie and Bobbie saw Rayshawn pulling Jaicyn to the car and ran out of the house, calling their sister’s name. Paula stood on the porch and called for the girls but they ignored her. Jaicyn cried as she tried to explain what was happening.
“Take us with you,” Rickie cried.
“Yeah,” Bobbie agreed. “We want to go with you, Jay-Jay.”
“I know you do,” Jaicyn answered, “but that lady is going to call the police and they will take me to jail so we have to go home now. I promise I’ll be back to get you and then you’ll live with me and Rayshawn, okay?”
Seeing Jaicyn and her sisters hug each other and cry broke Rayshawn’s heart. Their separation devastated him. He thought coming here would be okay but now he’d have to come up with a better plan. Jaicyn was lost without her sisters and they were lost without her.
“That’s what you said the last time, Jay-Jay,” Rickie cried. “And you didn’t come right back. We don’t want to live here anymore!”
“Yeah,” Bobbie cried. “You promised you’d come and you didn’t. Take us with you now!”
“Last time was different,” Jaicyn said. “I’m serious this time. I’m going to get you out of here really soon.”
Rickie looked doubtful, even when Jaicyn hugged her tight.
“I miss you so much,” Jaicyn sniffed. “I know you don’t want to be here but I can’t just take you home with me. But soon, Rickie, I promise.”
“Rickie, take this,” Rayshawn said, handing the weeping eight year old the cell phone he’d bought her. “Do you know how to use one of these?”
Rickie nodded, confused about why Rayshawn was giving her a phone. Jaicyn looked up at Rayshawn, confused too. But Rayshawn knew something like this was going to happen. Especially when his aunt Tina told him where Rickie and Bobbie lived. He had a feeling that things weren’t going to be as easy as Jaicyn had expected it to be so he came prepared.
“Put the phone in your room where Paula won’t find it. I put our phone numbers in there. And whenever you want to talk to Jaicyn just call her, okay?”
“Okay,” Rickie answered, still sad but happy to have her very own cell phone. She knew exactly where she would hide it and liked the idea of being able to talk to her sister anytime she wanted to.
“We have to go,” Jaicyn said. “I love you guys and I’ll be back soon.”
Both girls nodded but didn’t say anything. Jaicyn watched her sisters walk away slowly, not even stopping to acknowledge whatever it was that Paula was saying to them. Paula glared at Jaicyn with a look so piercing it actually made Jaicyn shudder. She responded back with a look that could have and should have made Paula rethink her next move. Rayshawn started the car and pulled away from the curb. Once the house was out of site Jaicyn burst into tears.
“Jay-Jay,” Rayshawn began to speak softly, knowing that she was hurting and he didn’t want to piss her off more by being too harsh with her.
“Jaicyn,” he began again when she didn’t answer.
“What?”
Rayshawn pulled his Lexus into the parking lot of a Pizza Hut and turned off the engine. He put his arm around Jaicyn and let her cry on his shoulder for a few minutes. When she pulled herself together, she looked away from Rayshawn, embarrassed by her emotional breakdown.
“You okay?” Rayshawn asked. He couldn’t think of anything else to say to break the uneasy silence.
“No,” Jaicyn answered. “I’m far from okay and I don’t know what to do about it.”
Jaicyn was hurt and upset that things hadn’t turned out the way she wanted them to. She just needed to put aside her emotions and think. Jaicyn always had a plan. Maybe not right away but Jaicyn was always able to come up with something. T
his time wouldn’t be any different.
“Baby, you know what to do. You’ve been talking about it for weeks. You’re going to talk with that lady from DFCS and do what needs to be done to get the girls. We know where they live and that bitch is not going to be able to keep us from seeing them. We’ll get them from school if we have to.”
Jaicyn nodded at Rayshawn’s encouraging words. That horrible woman couldn’t stop her from seeing her sisters. First thing in the morning she’d be sitting in Kim Hill’s dingy office. Paula might have a big house in a white neighborhood but Rickie and Bobbie didn’t want to be there.
Chapter 20
Jaicyn scowled as she sat in the waiting room at the Department of Family and Child Services, surrounded by single mothers and crying children. She’d never been down to the office before and wondered why anyone who didn’t absolutely have to would willingly subject themselves and their children to such an awful place. Like most government agencies, the service was rude and the place was nasty.
As she looked around at the young mothers, Jaicyn felt herself becoming more pissed off at the system all over again. Some of the girls looked younger than her and nobody was trying to take their kids from them. If a girl could have a child at fifteen and keep it, why shouldn’t she be allowed to keep her sisters? Why’d they have to take them away?
“Jaicyn Jones,” the receptionist called from across the room. “You can go back to Miss Hill’s office. Through that door,” she pointed, “second office on the right.”
Jaicyn stood up and followed the receptionist’s directions. She found Kim’s small cluttered office and walked in. Kim looked up from the pile of paperwork she was buried behind. She barely remembered Jaicyn. She pulled the file to jog her memory of what Jaicyn wanted to see her about. The Jones girls were one of many caseloads she had and when the younger girls were placed with the Blairs and Jaicyn went to Job Corps, her job was done. She’d moved on to the next case.
“Good Morning,” Kim greeted her pleasantly. “How are you?”
Jaicyn ignored the greeting and sat down in the metal folding chair across from Kim. She didn’t feel like being cordial. She hated Kim for ruining her life in the first place.
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