𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇.

twenty.

𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐧. 𝐣𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬
𝙳𝙴𝙲𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 || 𝙱𝙰𝚃𝙾𝙽 𝚁𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙴, 𝙻𝙰.
-

"I wish ya'll would sit down and shut up."

I rubbed my forehead as the twins jumped around singing and shouting, making a whole bunch of unnecessary noise.

"Neno, you good to watch them for a couple hours?" I turned my head to see Essence looking at me with her purse in her hand.

"Where you going?"

"I got a few things to take care of.."

I laughed, "Well I got practice in forty five minutes."

"Fuck." She sighed and put her purse down, frustratedly sitting on the couch next to me huffing and puffing.

"If you would've told one of us that you got plans we could've worked something out. I can never miss practice but Ant is just out with some girl, so he could've watched them." I shrugged.

"I'm tired of being a mother to kids that ain't mine."

I patted her shoulder with the white people tight lipped smile, "I was raising you and Ant when I was seven years old. It's not ideal, but it's our life."

"I just wish things could be different that's all."

I hated that our life had to be like this and seeing Essy sit on the couch sad and disappointed in a full face of makeup made me upset. But as terrible as it sounded, I didn't have time to get emotional or sentimental because this had been our life since we were kids.

This was nothing new.

"You think mom coming back?" Essy looked at me.

It had been two days since we saw our mother and she had told us that she was going to a job interview and to run a few errands. Knowing her, she probably went out to buy more drugs, did them, and was somewhere sprung out by now.

"Nope, she did her annual pop-in and now she's back to her normal selfish self that leaves us to fend for ourselves. If she isn't back in five days I'm changing the locks and telling y'all to never let her in this house again."

"As much as I hate her, I think she should always have a home to come back to." Essy removed her strip lashes as she spoke.

"She doesn't deserve a home to come back to since she keeps abandoning it. But once I go off to college maybe and you become head of the house, then that can be your decision.."

"You plan on leaving?" She asked, sounding like she really wanted me to say no.

"I have offers coming in left to right but I don't really know what I want to do. I gotta make my mind up but I got time and options."

As much as Coach Lee liked to act like it, I was not a mediocre player. I was one of the best on our team and the recruiters that I had scouting me speak for themselves.

I had lots of offers from places all over the world but I didn't know how far I was willing to go and how much of my past that I was ready to let go of. Like leaving my siblings here is hard to think about and stomach. But I can't become a product of my environment by staying here.