by Dawn Desiree
The ride to Sunshine’s new home was peaceful, with only light conversation on the way. Sunshine felt that it was best not to get too much information about her new foster home before she experienced it for herself. Although she was leery, she would rather wait to form her own opinion once she got there. She couldn’t choose where she wanted to live or who she wanted to live with anyway. All the arrangements were already made and organized for her. Her new life was in the state’s hands.
Ms. Waters took it upon herself to inform Sunshine that her new foster parent was a single woman just as Ayanna had been. “She lives in a quiet, well-kept neighborhood close to Georgetown. She’s been caring for children for a little over six years. She is a wonderful woman, and I know you’ll like her,” Ms. Waters added.
Sunshine liked the idea of being parented by a single mom. Maybe it would resemble being raised by her own mother, although no one could outdo Ayanna.
Sunshine was almost tempted to ask more questions about her new home, but she held back. Instead, she asked Ms. Waters’ permission to turn on the radio.
“That’s cool with me,” she answered, “just as long as we don’t have to hear about how somebody shot their mama in the back to get a stack, or stole a bankroll to get a little gold in their mouth.” Ms. Waters began to wave her hand from side to side in a hip-hop motion as she bopped her head to an imaginary beat. Sunshine had to laugh at the woman’s weak attempt to criticize rap music.
“Okay, I’ll keep the music nice and clean, so as not to disturb the senior citizens in da house,” Sunshine teased.
“Oh, this kid’s got jokes. I like it. I like it a lot,” Ms. Waters mocked.
Sunshine reached over to turn up the soft R&B tunes that lifted the air. The music helped Sunshine relax. She leaned her seat back and hummed to the smooth melody of Chante Moore.
“Did you have breakfast already, or shall we stop and get something?” Ms. Waters asked as they rode past a strip of fast food restaurants.
Sunshine’s stomach yelled, Please feed me! but her heart cried, No, I’m not ready to eat!
“No, thank you. I ate something before you came to get me,” Sunshine lied.
“Well, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll stop and get me a bite.” Ms. Waters pulled into a small diner on the corner and went inside. She ordered two blueberry muffins and two orange juices. She had a feeling that Sunshine wasn’t being honest about having eaten breakfast. She couldn’t let the poor child starve.
While Sunshine waited for Ms. Waters to come back to the car, she briefly took inventory of her surroundings. She wanted to keep up with landmarks, so she would know how far away she was from her old home.
They were still in Northwest D.C., but it seemed like a whole new world from Monroe Street, where she had lived. Her neighborhood was a majority of Blacks and Hispanics, with a few Caucasians. The part of Northwest they were in now seemed to be filled with mainly Caucasians and a few upper class Blacks. Sunshine wasn’t familiar with this part of the city, but it wouldn’t be too difficult to find her way back home if need be. All she had to do was walk backward until she saw the first group of Latinos posted up by the big playground.
The aroma from the diner battled Sunshine’s previous denial of hunger. She was relieved when Ms. Waters came back to the car and handed her the warmest, fluffiest blueberry muffin she had ever tasted and some ice-cold orange juice to wash it down.
Ms. Waters watched in amazement as little Miss “No, thank you. I’m not hungry” Sunshine demolished the poor muffin before they pulled out of the parking lot.
“You know I could go back in and get you a value meal or a couple of number threes. Money is no object,” Ms. Waters joked.
Sunshine blushed, feeling slightly embarrassed. “No, thank you. I’m all right,” she said quietly.
As they pulled back onto the highway, Sunshine focused her attention on the shiny, silver jewelry that dangled from Ms. Waters’ wrist and complimented her fingers. It matched perfectly with the sky blue pants suit and silver heels that made her look like an official diva.
“Do you enjoy your work?” Sunshine asked, trying to make small talk.
“I am devoted to what I do, and it makes me feel good knowing that I make a difference in children’s lives. I have a caseload of twenty-seven children, and every so often I like to gather them up, five or six at a time, to go hang out for a day. We might have a picnic, go swimming, or tour the city down by the Monument. That’s if they’re behaving and following their house rules. So, I hope that encourages you to do the right thing, so you can join in the events. However, I don’t see that being a problem for you,” Ms. Waters said.
Just as Sunshine was about to inquire about Ms. Waters’ other clients, she turned the car into the driveway of a huge two-story home. Sunshine was instantly impressed by the home’s curb appeal. A pure, white picket fence wrapped around the home to mark its territory. Perfectly manicured bushes stood proudly along the walk leading up to the front porch. Cream marble rocks sat along the path, adding an eye-catching flair to the home’s exterior. The front porch was adorned with a white outdoor loveseat and a patio table engraved with gold leaves. It could seat two people comfortably. All the curtains on the windows were open, allowing the sunshine to light the home’s interior.
The scenery was so inviting from the outside that Sunshine almost felt guilty for being anxious to get her bags inside. This extravagant house was like heaven compared to the run-down apartment from where she had just come.
Ms. Waters noticed the look of sinful enthusiasm on Sunshine’s face. “This is a brand new beginning for you, Miss Sunshine. Your mother and I talked frequently before her unfortunate death, and she made it clear that I put you in the best home we have in our system. I put in a lot of research, and your mother and I decided this would be a good home for you.”
It brought tears to Sunshine’s eyes knowing that her mother had actually helped in deciding this new home for her. Sunshine quickly wiped away her tears, determined to be mature and strong, as her mother would have wanted her to be. She closed her eyes and said a quick prayer.
Father, please bless me in my new home, with my new family, and please let her like me.
She slowly opened her eyes, unsure of what to do next. In a way, she wanted to jump out of the car and run back to the neighborhood where she had grown accustomed to the trash littering the grass, the familiar stray cats strolling the sidewalks alongside the dope fiends begging for money and the determined drug dealers patrolling the streets, trying to get paid. Did she really want to leave all that? She wasn’t sure if she was truly ready to unload her belongings and go into the picture-perfect home with its unknown lifestyle.
Ms. Waters made the decision for her. “Okay Sunshine, enough stalling, girl. Let’s go get ’em.”
Sunshine forced a small smile on her face.
The two ladies exited the car and dragged all the luggage to the front door in one trip. Ms. Waters rang the doorbell that sang the popular baseball anthem, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” The scene made Sunshine feel as if she was in a movie, a ridiculous movie. Who would have that silly song playing just to announce visitors? A simple ding-dong would do.
Seconds later, the woman Sunshine assumed to be her foster mother answered the door. Sunshine was caught off guard when she saw that the woman was white.
The lady reached to shake hands.
“Hello, Ms. Waters,” she said. “And this pretty girl must be Sunshine.” The white woman cheerfully greeted Sunshine and Ms. Waters while gesturing for them to come inside her home.
Cathy’s house smelled like a rose garden, like there were PlugIns plugged into every outlet. Sunshine inquisitively sized up Cathy, slowly looking her from her short, black, shag haircut all the way down to her Armani pants suit. Nice.
It didn’t take long to size her up. She was every bit of five feet tall. Cathy was petite and shapely, and flawlessly fit like Halle Berry. Her frame was shaped like a work of fi
ne art, as though someone had chiseled each and every voluptuous curve to make a masterpiece. The two-piece suit she wore fit almost like a body suit, emphasizing her curves even more. The outfit was stylish and looked like something Sunshine would like to own once her own body blossomed a little more.
The lady continued talking. “My name is Cathy Stone. Please call me Cathy.” She looked at Sunshine as she spoke. “Let me show you to your bedroom so you can situate your bags. Are there any more bags I can help you with?”
“No, this is everything,” Ms. Waters answered.
“Well in that case, follow me,” Cathy said.
Sunshine followed behind the two women, noticing all the creative decorations and furnishings along the way. She was so entertained by it all. Finally, they arrived at her new bedroom.
“Just set your things down, and you can unpack while Ms. Waters and I discuss some business, okay?”
Sunshine nodded her head in approval and was relieved when the two women left her alone in the room. She needed a minute to take in this new scenario.
Sunshine glanced around the unfamiliar room. It was huge. Her old bedroom couldn’t compete with this one. Back home, her bedroom was only big enough to fit her twin mattress that lay on the floor, and a small nightstand.
This bedroom was refreshing and much more appropriate for a nearly sixteen-year-old girl. The walls seemed to reach heaven. They were decoratively splashed with soft, mint green paint. All the accessories inside the bedroom complemented the paint color. The mint green rug felt so soft, Sunshine needed to take her shoes off. Ahh, this carpet feels good enough to sleep on.
When she looked at the queen-sized bed covered with a light green Ralph Lauren comforter set, it looked even more inviting. She was overjoyed when she noticed the miniature entertainment center, which proudly displayed a 32-inch Sony flat screen TV with a five-disk DVD player. It sat above a five-disk Sony CD player with dozens of unopened CDs.
Sunshine suddenly felt very fortunate to be there. She decided to get comfortable with her new surroundings. She eased herself onto her new bed, lay back on the soft, silk comforter, and felt as if she had been swallowed whole. She decided to rest her eyes before unpacking. All these changes were starting to take their toll.
Just before she dozed off, she joked to herself, Was that woman really white? This can’t be Constitutional.
Sunshine strained to hear Ms. Waters and Cathy conversing, but all was silent. She closed her heavy eyelids and began to think of Ayanna.
“This place is nice, Mama, real nice, but I’d still rather be back at home with you,” Sunshine whispered. She let her mind drift back to when her mother was alive and well. Recent memories floated through her mind until she fell asleep, and the memories became a pleasant dream.
Sunshine didn’t hear Ms. Waters come back into her room to say that she was leaving. A warm smile spread across Ms. Waters’ face as she watched the peaceful, angelic expression the young girl wore as she slept like a newborn.
Noticing the unpacked bags, Ms. Waters assumed that Sunshine must have had a restless night and decided against waking her. Instead, she walked over to the dresser and set her business card in plain view for Sunshine to find when she awakened. On the back, she scribbled a short message: Call me any time. Quietly, she exited the room and walked downstairs.
“Is everything okay?” Cathy asked Ms. Waters, surprised to see her returning downstairs so soon.
“Yes, she is fine. Fast asleep actually,” Ms. Waters answered.
Cathy shook her head in a sorrowful motion. “That poor child. She’s going through a lot right now for such a young thang.”
Ms. Waters nodded. “I couldn’t agree with you more,” Ms. Waters responded.
“She’ll be fine here, though,” Cathy reassured her. “I’ll even prepare one of my special meals for dinner: sweet barbeque meatloaf and my famous baked macaroni and cheese. You’re welcome to stay, too, if you’d like,” Cathy added.
“Thank you. The invitation sounds delicious. However, I really must be going now. I have two other clients that need to be relocated, and I’m already behind schedule. I’ll call later in the week to check on Sunshine and to see how things are working out with the new arrangements. This is her first transition, so we should expect some type of withdrawal behavior.”
“Not if I have anything to do with it,” Cathy responded.
Cathy followed Ms. Waters as she headed to the door to leave. “Will you be able to find your way back to the highway?” Cathy asked.
“Just as easily as I found my way here,” Ms. Waters said, smiling.
* * *
As Cathy prepared dinner, she couldn’t help but feel excited. It always made her feel good to cook for other people, especially children. Just as she began to mix diced onions into the ground beef with her hands, the telephone rang.
It never fails. She giggled to herself. Someone is always trying to reach me while my hands are full. She quickly rinsed and dried her hands.
Cathy answered the phone and was surprised to hear her partner, Caesar, on the other end.
“What’s up, Cee-Cee?” Caesar asked, using Cathy’s nickname as if it were a casual friend-to-friend phone call. Cathy was instantly irritated.
“Hello, Caesar. What are you doing calling me on my home phone? You know that all business calls are handled on my cell. So, what’s up?”
“My fault, Cee,” Caesar apologized. “I didn’t realize that I had dialed your house number. My mind is somewhere else.”
“Yeah, well you need to find it,” Cathy said half-jokingly. “So tell me, what’s up?”
Caesar hesitated for a short moment. “I don’t know. You tell me,” Caesar began. “I’m sitting here in my car in front of the Penthouse waiting on your man, Tee, and he’s twenty minutes late, so his grace period is up. I’m about to leave this joint. I wanted to know what you want me to do with this situation.”
Cathy picked her cell phone off the kitchen table. She dialed Caesar’s cell number to get him off her home line. “Pick up your other line, that’s me calling you.”
Never handle business on your home phone, she reminded herself.
“Okay, listen to me,” Cathy began. She knew she needed to say something convincing to put this man at ease. He probably thought the spot was hot and that Tee had something up his sleeve. Tee was a newcomer, which meant that until he showed true loyalty like everyone else, he was still considered hot and needed to be watched and observed.
“I don’t know what’s up with Tee. He’s usually on time when it comes down to business. Maybe he ran into some traffic or something. You know they doing roadwork on Florida Avenue. He probably got caught up in it. Give him another five minutes. If he doesn’t show, then you call me back on my cell, and I’ll meet you out at Lakeland in front of the basketball court to get that load up off you,” Cathy assured.
“A’ight, Cee, but you know I’m not feeling this, riding around with all these dirty clothes.”
Cathy liked his choice of words. Street codes were important and almost mandatory when talking over the phone. You never knew who could be listening, and you never wanted to get caught up. Cathy read between the lines and understood that Caesar didn’t like riding around with the 18 ounces of pure cocaine he had hidden under the bumper of his car and the loaded nine millimeters he had posted on each hip.
“Don’t get paranoid on me, Caesar. The feds are not gonna fuck with you, if that’s what you’re trippin’ about. Why would they? You are driving the Honda, right, and not that hot-ass El Dorado with the midnight windows?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m in the Honda, and I’m not paranoid. I’m just trying to make this move so I can get on top of my game. I’ve got peoples waiting on me, too, you dig?”
Cathy had to respect that. “I hear you, Caesar. Just give the man five more minutes. If he’s a no show, then it’s his loss, and we’ll move to Plan B. Call me back either way to let me know.”
Cathy
slapped her cell phone shut. As she washed her hands, she thought about calling Tee herself to find out what was going on.
On second thought, he should be calling me. I don’t need his money; he needs mine.
She continued making dinner, speeding up her pace just in case she had to meet Caesar herself.
Cathy managed to get the meatloaf in the oven within five minutes. Ten minutes later, the noodles were boiling for the macaroni, and her extra cheesy sauce was in its pot, ready to be poured all over the pasta.
Fifteen minutes later, Cathy was beginning to get concerned. She hadn’t heard from either Tee or Caesar yet. She picked up her cell phone and dialed Caesar first. Relief set in when he answered on the second ring.
Before Cathy could say anything, Caesar spoke. “Yeah, Cee, everything is all good. Tee is right here looking at the clothes, making sure it’s all here.”
Cathy was satisfied. “That’s all I needed to know,” Cathy said. There was no need for her to talk to Tee unless he wasn’t pleased with the product. She knew that wouldn’t be an issue, because she sold the best butter in town. She had been in the game for too many years and had put in a lot of work to become who she was today: a low-key, certified hustler.
Only a few cats knew her name, and she liked to keep it that way. She didn’t need every nigga on the block who struggled hustling nickels and dimes knowing that she was the one putting bread on their tables and in their pockets. She liked watching them on the sideline, stacking their dough to re-up, so they could try to be on her level.
* * *
Sunshine could smell the delicious aroma of a decent home-cooked meal in her dreams. It was so real she could almost taste the food. She woke up with soaring hunger pangs. Once she realized that the tasty aroma was actually coming from downstairs, she jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom to freshen up. She peeked at her watch and couldn’t believe that two hours had passed. Just as she was about to unpack her belongings, Cathy appeared in the doorway.
“Well, Sleeping Beauty has awakened.”