The Story Behind A Pretty Face

Chapter 2

My feet were absolutely killing me. Dad had given me the keys to the Dodge Charger and a credit card; he told me to go to the mall and pick up Trinity's and my school clothes, since he was going to go shopping with Chase tomorrow. We'd been to at least 11 stores.

Trinity was walking beside me, carrying 3 huge bags. She was adjusting to our new, lavish life extremely well. I smiled down at her. She reminded me so much of Mom. She hadn't asked for her yet, but she's only 6. I know it's coming. And when she does ask, I honestly won't be able to tell her when we'll see her again. I shuddered as I remembered the days leading up to our arrival in ATL.
***Flashback***
I sat on the one lone sofa in the living room. I honestly didn't want to be home, but Mom had disappeared... again. There was no one to watch Trinity. Ugh summer just started and it's already sucky. The cable was off, no WiFi, guess I'll play on my phone. Hell bet that's about to go off too.
I was beating level 78 on Candy Crush when Trinity came running in.
"Mika! Mika! Mika! There's a nice car outside!", she screamed as she bounced from one foot to another.
I rolled my eyes, "Trin, I'm sure it's not for us. It must be for the neighbors or something."
She shook her head as I heard a rap on the door. I raised an eyebrow and raised myself off the couch.
"Who is it!? ", I yelled with an attitude as I made my way to the door.
I heard a laugh. It sounded so familiar. I whipped open the door.
I gasped, "Dad? What are you doing here?"
"Not happy to see your old man? Give me a hug! Both of ya! ", he embraced Trin and I.
I glanced down at her. Trin never really got to spend time with Dad, but honestly neither did Chase and I. He had left my mother when Chase was 5 and I was 4. Trinity was the product of one of my father's few visits. Him and mom had a quick fling and she was calling him 3 months later to tell him she was pregnant. He wasn't ecstatic, but he did come see about mom during the last month of her pregnancy and the first two weeks of the baby's life. Then he hauled ass, again.
I believe that was one of the last few things that began to send Mom off the edge. After Trin turned 3, she began drinking and smoking. It eventually led to some heavy drug use, and ever since then, well I've been taking care of Trin and Chase has been... doing him and at least making sure we had a couple of dollars and something in our stomachs.
Dad let himself in,"Where's your mother? She's never here when I come."
I shrugged, "She must be at work. Working late."
"But I thought mommy had lost her job a long time ago",Trin said as she picked up a doll.
I threw a pillow at her and Dad turned to me, "Something going on sweetheart? You know you can take to me."
No I don't. "Yeah dad. I know. Everything's fine. We're getting by fine."
"Where's Chase?", he asked while looking around the room.
"Um, he's out somewhere. Probably with some friends."
We all sat there awkwardly talking for the next couple of hours. It was 6 when Chase walked in.
"Okay guys I bought you guys some food. Probably haven't eaten all day. I know you guys are starving!", he yelled as he came through the back door. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Dad.
"Son! There you are! "
Chase glances at me, just as puzzled at Dad's presence as I was,"Dad, you didn't tell me you were visiting."
"I was in Chicago on business, so I decided to stop by."
Chase nodded his head. Then they began talking about school and sports.
I had been dozing on and off. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 12. Dad was on his phone on the other side of the couch. Trin and Chase had disappeared.
He glanced at me," They're asleep upstairs. You should follow. I'll wait down here for your mother. "
I shook my head. He could be waiting here for days. I began to get an uneasy feeling. Something isn't right.
" Go on upstairs", he insisted.
-2 Days Later-
Mom still hasn't come home and Dad's furious with us because we won't tell him what the hell is going on. He hasn't left this house unless it was to get us something to eat. Time is running out, hell it is out. Even when Mom does make an appearance, it's not going to be good. I wasn't worried about her. The longest she'd gone missing was 10 days. She's going on day 4.
I was in the living room on my phone. I glanced up. Trin was unusually quiet. I walked upstairs and heard Dad talking.
"Do you know where mommy is?"
"No", she said.
"Does she do this a lot? "
I couldn't hear Trin's response, so I'm assuming she nodded.
" Is something wrong with mommy?"
"She's upset all the time. She's gotten mean and cranky. Sometimes all she does is cry. But that's just mommy. "
" Oh baby, oh kay. It's going to be okay. Something is wrong, but daddy is going to fix it. Okay? "
" Okay"
I walked through the doorway,"Trin it's 12. So guess what? It's nap time. You should be asleep, now."
Trin flipped over in our bed and immediately closed her eyes. Dad immediately raised from the bed and followed me out the door. I could tell he was going to ask me something, but someone had entered the front door.
I assumed it was Chase, but I came face to face with my mother. She was leaning like crazy. Her eyes were bloodshot and she reeked of smoke and alcohol. Her clothes were filthy.
"Andre....what are you doing here? ", she asked bewildered.
" Karmen we got some serious things to talk about",he looked at me,"Tamika, go upstairs with your sister."
I looked at my mother and slowly made my way upstairs to the top step and sat.
"What the hell is going on? Karmen where the hell have you been? I've been here for 3 days! And you were nowhere in sight! These are kids! They need an adult-a responsible adult!", Dad yelled furiously.
I could hear mom sob, "Things are just hitting me right now, Andre. Okay? I'm going through some things.",She paused and then cleared her throat," You have no right to come in this house judging me anyway! You're barely a father to your own kids, so don't come up in here trying to play daddy to me!"
"I don't care what the fuck you're going through. You got kids! "
" I'm tired of this. Get the fuck out of my house! Now!", Mom screamed.
There was a long pause,"Okay I'm leaving. And I'm leaving with my children."
I froze. What?
"You ain't taking my kids!"
"OUR children need structure. Our children need someone who can give them a stable environment. No wonder Chase almost flunked last semester. Mika stopped her extra curricular activities. Poor Trinity is probably scarred. I can give them the world. And I can at least see about them until you get your act together. Please, Karmen. ", Dad's voice had went from hostile to soft halfway through his lecture.
I didn't hear mom's response. I just heard the door slam shut. That night when Chase got home we packed our bags. The next morning, we were on a plane to Atlanta.
***End of Flashback***

I shook my head to clear my kind of the last image of my mother. I glanced down at Trinity. We had stopped walking and were perched on a bench in the middle of the mall.

"Mika can we go to Aeropostale now? ", she asked.

I smiled,"Of course baby."

She hopped off the bench and led the way. I love my little sister like she's my own. I'll be damned if our fucked up mother, or our recently returning father, ruin her childhood. If nobody else has her back, I do.

***Deep and probably a kind of boring chapter to some. I just wanted to give more background to their lives. Next chapter will have more fun to it. Their first day of school.  :) Oh and Trinity on the side.