New Year's Eve
Dorinda drove down her childhood street in the late hours of the night before the new year. She had told her husband she was just going for a drive. They were gonna celebrate by taking Nikki out to an amusement park the next day so they decided to hold off on any celebrations this evening.
She wanted so desperately to see Karen, all of her sisters really. She wanted to explain why she had left. She wanted to not feel so scared every time she left the house for herself and her family. But she knew until it stopped, she wouldn't be able to come back home.
So, once she took off on the road, she made up her mind to drive down to Detroit. She ignored Greg's calls for the past two hours asking her where she was because she knew he'd just get upset with her, but she wanted to see them. She just had to.
She pulled over about four houses down from her childhood home and got out the car. She had on a thinner coat than the fur she wore the other day.
Underneath, she had on casual clothing, a blouse, jeans and some tennis shoes. She hadn't originally planned to come here but her heart took over. She strolled down the sidewalk, approaching her childhood home.
She saw that only the porch light was on and all the other lights weren't. She let out a disappointed sigh assuming that they were probably already asleep. She made a move to turn back to leave but heard the door to the Sheard's home open.
She stepped back a little, out of the shine of the street lights and beside a fence. She watched as Drew had come out of the house with Karen right behind him. She smiled as he seemed to pull her down on the steps to sit with him.
She watched as they talked while holding hands and felt ecstatic for her little sister. She had finally found somebody. It's something she had always wanted for Karen — to find someone who loved and understood her for who she was.
Dorinda could tell by the way they looked at each other just how much they meant to one another. She smiled to herself throughout their entire interaction and she even laughed to herself when Denise came outside to tease them.
She had finally felt something other than sadness and anxiety since the day she left. She moved away from the fence, heading back towards her car when she saw another woman exit the house to address Drew.
Dorinda's eyebrows furrowed in curiosity. She wondered why didn't Karen come back to get him back inside. The sound of the door opening at the house she stood in front of snapped her out of those thoughts and she scurried off back to her car before they could call out to her or see her face.
She got back in her car and drove further down the street in front of The Sheard's house. It was seconds to midnight and she decided to stay parked until the clock stroke twelve.
She let out a deep, heavy sigh as she thought about all the time she had lost with her sisters. She wished that she could undo it all. But, just by sitting here, knowing they were all here, comforted her.
And as she watched the clock on her car strike twelve, an explosive sound startled her and she looked out the window to see that The Sheards had set up fireworks for the occasion. She smiled through her teary eyes and wiped them away as quickly as they had appeared.
She whispered to no one, "Happy New Year," and drove out of the neighborhood.
♡
It had been two months since Karen returned to the facility. She had been improving vastly to the point where Dr. Winans was speaking with Jacky about an earlier release.
