Surviving the Valley- Murda She Wrote

15. Truth Be Told

After a few hours of contemplating of actually leaving the hospital and attempting to let her high die off, Alicia finally manages to makes her way to her momma's house. A red cookie cutter house, with a green emerald door sits before her. The grass freshly cut like a tapered fade, with a colorful garden peaking out the side of it's brick wall. Ironically, her momma always had the prettiest yard in the hood, groomed and colorful. If only the calming aesthetics outside, matched within the house. Tanita's house was a safe haven for plenty. Somewhere to rest their head or their stash but for Alicia, the last three decades managed to feel a mixture between forbidden grasslands, or prison. Somewhere Alicia was not welcomed or was not fit for. She walks up the door, almost hesitating between knocks.

𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬...𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬

The door opens, revealing a lighter and rounder version of her own face and body. " 𝘽𝙖𝙗𝙮 𝙜𝙪𝙝!" Tanita says, immediately embracing Alicia and kissing her cheeks, in one of those hugs that leaves you rocking side to side. Despite the unpredictable words and feelings they were bound to spew at each other in these visits, they could never reject the temporary embrace waiting for them at that emerald door. "𝙃𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙢𝙖" she says through a nervous chuckle. "𝙄'𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪—𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙡 𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙚" Tanita says, interlocking her arm with Alicia's.
"𝙃𝙤𝙬'𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣'?" she asks eagerly. "𝙄—" Alicia attempts to respond before getting cut off "𝙄𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙮? 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣' 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙄 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙚. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙬𝙤𝙮 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙖𝙩" Tanita finishes, unlocking arms, and backing up a few feet to get the full report. "𝙊𝙝, 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙝 𝙢𝙖𝙢𝙖...𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙" she says trying to hide the bursted bubble in her throat."𝙃𝙚'𝙨 𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙒𝙤𝙙𝙙𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣' 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙬...𝙗𝙚𝙩 𝙝𝙚'𝙙 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣' 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝" she says

"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬" she says, snapping and pointing her finger the same way Murda would. She makes her way to the kitchen, grabbing aluminum foiled plates of food out the oven. "𝙊𝙤𝙤𝙝 𝙬𝙚𝙚! 𝙉𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨" she says. The aroma of fresh fried chicken, mash potatoes, green beans and warm yeast rolls fill the air. Knowing what Alicia knows about her momma, she wouldn't be at all surprised to know that 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 was the main reason she was summoned here...Alicia makes her way to the other side of the counter, pouring herself a glass of lemonade from it's pitcher. She now stands before her with a head-shaking smile on her face at her mother's rant about him. "𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧" she goes on, holding up a short stack of plates and tuppaware that could feed a village if he'd share. "𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙮 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙚𝙖 𝙢𝙚? 𝙔'𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙣' 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙬𝙤𝙮 𝙣𝙖 𝙤𝙧 𝙮'𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩" Tanita says. "𝙊𝙝, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬" Alicia says, taking a sip from the cup. Her hands begin to shake a little and Tanita notices.