caradonna pov (refer to picture above)
"yes, ma. i promise i'll call you when i can." i kissed my mother on her cheek. she was making it so hard not to cry.
i was moving half way across the country, not too long after my grandfather passed away. but, my father asked for help with taking care of my grandmother. he said i could be her home health aide while i still went to school for my masters degree. i wanted to be a therapist and chicago is a great place to start.
so many children turn into adults who have witnessed violence and chaos around them all of their lives. i want them to have a safe space to express their feelings. to have somewhere where they feel they belong. i hate seeing people turn to the streets.
no one knows about the big move yet on my father's side aside from my dad and my aunt. my mom's family raised me for the most part so they were all included in the decision. they threw me a surprise going away party last weekend, full of things that i would need to furnish my own apartment. toasters, seasonings, rugs, even gift cards for places like bed, bath, and beyond and bath and body works.
i am so grateful to have a family like them.
my dad told me to wait till i got to chicago to tell jay that i was actually going to be living there.
me and jay weren't really close. i checked up on him every once in a while and he never returned the favor. we've had a rocky relationship since we were kids. me and jay are project twins. my birthday is august 9th and his birthday is august 6th.
my mom never lived in chicago, but visited friends and family out there whenever she was able to. my dad was in a relationship with jay's mom at the time, but didn't tell my mom and had a one night stand. my mom got pregnant and so did jay's mom.
my mom tried to contact my dad and let him know he had a baby on the way but he never got back to her. so my grandfather and grandmother went all the way to chicago to tell dad that he had a baby on the way and that we was going to step up.
this just so happened to happen in front of jay's mom.
once me and jay were born, our moms had something like a sit down. my mom explained that she had no idea that dad wasn't single when they hooked up and promised jay's mom that it was only a one night stand.
jay's mom said she understood. she still stayed with our dad.
i spent years alternating when i was going to chicago or staying in new york and which side of the family i was going to be spending the holidays with. jay's mom was mean and her and dad stayed together until we were thirteen, so i dreaded spending the holidays with them.
her name is eva. she's fair skinned, with loose curly hair and hazel eyes. eva was skinny in the way that models were when we were younger. i thought she was so beautiful.
she told my mom that there was no hard feelings during the sit down but that was a lie. eva made my life hell when i was with my dad. i ran errands, cooked, cleaned, walked the dogs, basically doing whatever needed to be done while jay sat on his ass all day.
i'd have to be up from the time dad left for work, which was around six thirty. i'd make breakfast for eva and jay. then i had to go shopping with eva. then i'd come home and eva would make me do jay's laundry and clean his room. jay would be outside playing with other kids in the neighborhood while i was slaving away.
