How It Happened

I've been trying to blog about the how's since we got home. Unfortunately, I've also had an extra pair of eyes along side me since we returned, and I'm not talking about A's.

The day after we arrived to Mem.phis, we were told A was not going to be allowed to go home with us. After driving damn near 14 hours, I was pissed. I didn't worry too much though, these people change their minds every few hours (or days). I knew if I could get them to say "She can go.", we would get on the road.

I decided to take my sister to lunch on Monday the 6th to talk to her about her life. I haven't sat down and talked to my sister in a few years. She agreed to go. NYEBoy, sweet guy that he is, told me to take her to the most expensive place I could. He wanted her to realize a real man will help take care of his family. So, we took his money and went to Firebird's. Delicious, as always. I won't even talk about how we went back three times that week because we can't find a good steak place in Talla.hassee.

My sister and I (and A) had a nice lunch. We talked a bit about how she didn't have to live in the situation she was living. She deserved better. I told her our uncle's offer still stood. He could help get her in school. She could work part time. In a year or two, she would be in such a better place that she wouldn't even recognize herself.

We spent the next two days convincing my mother that things needed to change. Now. Not "oh, we'll think about it", not "oh, next week", not "one day", but now. Today. NYEBoy and I went to see a lawyer about Thugboy's rights, or I should say, the lack thereof.

On Saturday night, we talked to my sister about moving. Now. Today. She said she needed to talk to Thugboy, of course. We were on pins and needles until we talked to her again. The next day, we took A back home for her to give Thugboy a chance to say goodbye. When we arrived, Thugboy had locked himself into an outside storage room telling us he may as well kill himself to go be with his dad if K and A were leaving him. My mother talked to him for a long time while I was inside talking to my sister, feeling her out, seeing where her head was. We were worried K would change her mind. We were worried about a possible hostage situation when we got ready to pick them up the next day. I even contacted a cop friend of ours, just to get reassurance.

We were due to pick up my sister and A the next morning. We agreed that if they changed their mind, we would have DHS called out to the house for neglect. Then, we would start the process to take A away from them. A is three years old now. She's going to remember things. This is not the type of life she needs to grow up with.

The next day, my mother and I drove out to the ghetto to pick them up from his Momma's house. Of course things didn't go smoothly at first. We hit a massive storm 3 exits away from their house. Once we arrived, we talked with their family for a few minutes while we waited the monsoon-like rain storm we were experiencing.

K was ready, though. We packed them into the car and said our goodbyes. I even hugged Thugboy. Not because I really care about him, but because I had to do whatever I could to get those two girls out of the house as calmly as possible.

As we drove away, I sighed a big sigh of relief. I think my eyes, my mom's eyes, and K's eyes were all welling up with tears. I could cut the relief with a knife. My mom and I were glad K made the right decision. K was glad to be able to breathe again for the first time in years.

On the way to my Grandma's we stopped by the doughnut store. Once we arrived at my Grandma's we sat around the table eating doughnuts and thinking to ourselves, "Holy shit, she finally fucking did it."

After we ate, K took a shower while we packed the car. We spent the next 14 hours on the road. We talked about what she had been through. We talked about their future. As K slept in the back seat with A, I was relieved. I looked in the mirror in disbelief. She finally did it. She finally made the right decision for her and A.

They be with us for two weeks. We're spending this time to bond as sisters, as a family, before she heads to my Uncle's to begin getting her life back on the right path. A's future is still to be determined. We're still trying to decide if she's going to stay with us during the week and visit them on the weekends in 0rlando or if she'll just be there full time and come here to visit.

I know we made the right decision for them, but my heart broke when A cried for her Daddy about an hour from Talla.hassee. She'll understand better one day. I'd rather her grow up without a father in her life than for her to grow up in the situation she was.