Family Lies

Dottie

It took hours for Treasure to fall asleep and when she did it was well after midnight. She just cried and asked why and cried and asked why. But once she was out she was out. When I realized she was asleep I was tempted to get up and go knock on Donna's door because I heard her come in at least an hour ago. But I just laid there holding my daughter for a while in an attempt to make up for lost time. Before this weekend it had been twelve whole years since I had the pleasure of seeing my baby let alone holding her like this. Even though the circumstances were drastically different, holding her still felt the same. She'd still sigh in her sleep every now and then. And she still couldn't lay still worth a damn. But I really didn't mind none of that kicking and moving if it meant holding my little girl. Just when I thought that I realized she wasn't such a lil girl no more and that alone had me ready to cry.

I kissed Treasure's forehead before sucking up all of my emotions and I tried to close my eyes to get at least a couple hours of sleep. I didn't end up getting any though. I was still laying there awake when that clock on the dresser read six a.m.

I knew Donna still liked to go to church on Sunday's so I decided it would probably be best to get up and talk to her before she got up and started waking up these kids. I kissed Treasure's head one more time before I took her arm from around my waist and laid her head on the pillow. I sat up slowly and quietly before creeping out of the room and using the bathroom real fast. When I finished and got myself together I went to stand on the other side of Donna's bedroom door and I knocked quietly. "Donna," I whispered as I cracked the door open. Inside I found Donna asleep with her head under a pillow and Jam knocked out at the bottom of her bed the same exact way. If I wasn't about to break such crazy news to her I probably could have laughed and went to find a camera to take a picture to blackmail her with. But I just knew now wasn't the time to play. I sat on the edge of her bed and started shaking her arm. "Donna. Wake up," I said quietly and she began to stir. "Huh? What?" Donna sat up looking confused and tired. "What you doin' here so early Dot? You goin' to church with us? Ain't you was wearin' that yesterday? I never knew you to recycle an outfit let alone wear it two days in a row." She reached for the water bottle on her night stand.

"No I'm not goin' to church. I don't think you gone end up goin' either," I mumbled that last bit to myself as I looked away crossing my arms. "Well what's wrong?"

I looked back to my big sister. "Raymond's dead."

"What? That ain't funny Dot. Really. What's wrong?"

I shook my head as I kept eye contact and soon Donna realized I wasn't playing. "Oh my God... you serious ain't you?" I just nodded. 

"What happened? How'd you find out?"

"I dropped Treasure and True off at the park around Dollie's yesterday then I went back to the hotel for a little bit. I told Treasure I'd be back in a couple hours to get them but when I got back that street was blocked off by the police and folks was standing around talkin' bout somebody got shot, somebody got killed. All I could do was panic I kept calling your job while I was looking for the kids but they was giving me such a hard fucking time on the phone. I found them at Treasure's friends house and she was so tore up she couldn't even barely tell me what happened."

"Did she see who shot him? Where is that boy? Did he have somethin' to do with it?" I shook my head while looking away. "I don't know... he wasn't around there though."

"This some shit," Donna said while shaking her head. "Let me go use the bathroom... what the hell I'ma tell these kids?" Donna rambled on under her breath as she got up and left her room. I heard the bathroom door close and then a soft knock came to Donna's door. "Aunt Donna?" Treasure came in looking all disheveled with fresh tears streaming down her face. "Oh. Hey Aunt Dot," she looked down.