STOP!

Chapter 1

She drove down the street with ease as she neared her place of comfort. Her shoulders became less tense. She loosened her grip on the steering wheel. Even the pain in her back from a long day of work started to decrease. She started to smile a little as she felt the closeness of her home. Then, the closer she got to her home the more she could see a crowd of people hovering over something.

'What's going on?" Kayla asked herself.

She slowed down to prevent hitting anyone. As she got even closer she noticed the crowd on the curb in front of her home. As her car approached the crowd she noticed some people walking away. A little girl appeared, holding a charming light brown teddy bear with a red corduroy hat and green bow tie.

No

A woman walked away holding a beautiful floral quilt.

No, no, no,no, no

She parked her car, hopped out, and ran towards the people in a frenzy.

"STOP!"

"HEY," she shouted after a boy that ran away with Azariah's game system and games, another boy walking away with Azariah's Jordan's that he used for basketball, and a little girl running away with Aaliyah's favorite doll. She looked at her rose gold watch and grabbed what she could. She'd just gotten off working eight hours at a job with a bunch of lazy coworkers and ungrateful customers. She was tired and wanted to sleep.

"Come on Rick! Give me one more week?"

"It's Mr. Brown! I ain't giving you another damn minute."

She wondered how he could do this to her and her children. 'How could anyone feel good about themselves after throwing kids clothes, toys, and games out into the street for greedy neighbors to claim,' she thought?

She looked at her watch again. Aaliyah would be out of school soon and Azariah would be getting out of basketball practice soon. She wished he hadn't forgotten his basketball shoes. She knew he was going to be so upset when he saw Terry's son walking down the street with his Jordan's on. She quickly picked up as many things as she could and put it in the trunk of her small red car. The trunk overflowed and she had to put some things in the back seat while also trying to make some space for Aaliyah's booster seat.

"Put it down! Leave it! Don't make me tell your mom on you," Kayla yelled in an effort to stop adults and kids from stealing her belongings. She had lived in the neighborhood for eight years. 'How could my neighbors be so cruel?' Not one had helped her put anything in her car. No one tried to stop anyone from stealing from her. Everyone just stood around watched her in the same way they did when the police were in the neighborhood searching for someone or arresting someone. If she didn't have so many things on her mind she might've been embarrassed.

Her children usually came home on the school bus but Kayla didn't want them to come home on a school bus to see their belongings on the street and a huge bright orange "EVICTED" sign on the front door. She really didn't want Azariah to be embarrassed. His school bus stopped in the front of the house. Therefore, all his classmates would've seen that they had been evicted. Not only would Azariah be embarrassed but he would be really upset with her. Kayla hated when Azariah was upset with her. It was like having your coat snatched away from you in a snow blizzard. It didn't feel good and it left you feeling cold, bitter, and wishing you had fought harder to keep the warm cozy feeling you once had.

After loading her car with as much of their things as possible, she got in the car and immediately called her sister.

"Hey Denise! How are you doing," Kayla asked?

"Hey Kayla! I'm good. How are you," Denise asked?

"Not good. I just got evicted."

"What?! How did that happen? I thought you were doing good."