Chapter One: Home Sweet Gone
January 1st 1983, the day of my birth, my mother Jamie Rucker depended on me for a new life. She believed that i was a miracle sent from the heavens, that would end the horrific reality she'd been living for three and a half years before i arrived. "Raelynn" was the first word that her pale and bruised lips spoke as the nurse placed me in her arms. Jamie could barely hold me even with the support of the young nurse helping her on the side. The nurse questioned whether my mother was being authentic about her strength. My mother stared at me with a crooked grin on her face , due to the broken jaw she received the previous night. She then focused at the young woman's name tag and read out "Nancy" when she then lifted her head and said softly yet firm, " It's hard to explain."
The next afternoon the hospital released my mother and I to go home. Jamie drove a scratched heavy red toyota truck (which my grandfather Roy donated to her for her 17th birthday) that drove us downtown into Rock-Walls Apartments which was owned by Oswald Mcfly, the owners grandson. Jamie brought me into the small apartment and set my car seat and I on the caramel colored carpet that was covered with dark red and brown stains. Dust bunnies glided across the busted and faded cherry wood flooring and the scent was slightly overwhelming until Jamie started whipping up some cream of corn and cheesey potatoes to satisfy her hunger.
Minutes later you could hear my father, Michael Matthew, pull up in the apartment building's parking lot , complaining about his horrific day at the car shop he worked at a few minutes down the street ,which his uncle Jimmy owned. His footsteps up the chipped concrete steps leading to the apartments seemed as if they could be heard for nearly ten blocks down the road even with the busy street racking up some crazy noise. He then stood at the door for a moment to catch his breath, leaning his forehead against the rough black metal door with hatred in his heart and anger in his fists.
BANG! BANG! BANG! "Let me in now Jamie!" he said in a heavy voice. Jamie quickly set her white china plate on the glass table and pushed her petite body off the black leather mini sofa. She ran over to me and threw a pink baby blanket with elegant butterflies over my car seat. "Jamie, Now!" , he screamed. An elder woman named Rose that had grayish brown hair and pale soft skin that made her hazel eyes stand out greatly, at room 206 walked out and asked " Sir, may you please lower the tone of your voice? My grand baby is taking a nap." He turned his head quickly " Why don't you shut your mouth and waddle your way back into your apartment and stay out of my damn business!" he said sharply. Her mouth dropped and a concerned yet heated look grew upon her face. She turned slowly shaking her head and walked quietly back into the room.
Jamie was quietly unlocking the door with her eyes sealed shut praying he wouldn't overreact but Michael lost all of his self control and kicked the door so hard that it knocked off the latches holding the metal door and the frame together. Jamie fell and slid across the bumpy wooden flooring when she then got up and ran over to the couch trembling with a fluffy rustic green pillow covering her face hoping it'd prevent some serious bruising and concussions. Bam! Biff! Bash! Significant screams came out of Jamie's mouth, and Michael didn't even take the time to acknowledge that she had the baby. (He hadn't been home for three days due to drinking at the local bar and staying at a friends house.) The corner of the pink blanket that rested over my gray carseat was left wide open for me to witness everything. Although I of course wasn't old enough to get help myself, all i could do was cry for help. So i did what i was best at doing at the time, cry. Rose heard Jamie and I, she ran over to the apartment to see my mother getting almost beaten half to death. She panicked then darted down the hall back to her apartment. Moments later wee-oo, wee-oo, wee-oo! echoed through the empty dark streets. Michael looked up and saw me sitting in my seat and then looked at her and said " You didn't tell me?" "We'll i thought you'd notice when you punched me in the stomach, you a**!" Michael turned and grabbed me then ran out the doorless frame and down the chipped concrete stairs into his mint and cream colored cavalier station wagon.
My mother was screaming bloody murder while chasing after my beast of a father down the stairs. Thankfully a dozen of cop cars blocked off the exit , but my father went for it anyways. I guess you could say he put the petal to the metal and rammed into officer Jones SUV. Luckily Jones was out of his vehicle , policemen then whipped out their guns and aimed at my father. It was too much for him to take at once, his eyes crossed and he went unconscious, he slammed his forehead off the rusty metal steering wheel so hard that it gave him a concussion. Chief Lawson called in for help and the ambulance was on its was instantly.
Lawson ran over to the vehicle with his guard still up expecting the worst, he slowly opened the door and scanned his gun through the car when he noticed me half naked and the passenger seat almost crushing my body. His eyes grew wider and his expression drowned deep into his heart. He whipped his head back " Men we have a 5022 over here , i need backup!" Every standing man rushed to the car side and helped get my father and I out of that old beater.
My mother nearly scared to death ran to the car side and checked my body for wounds. Sergeant Thompson asked " Ma'am is this your child?", my mother looked up with tears streaming down her soft red cheeks and because she didn't have the nerve to say a word, she just nodded her head and squeezed her eyes shut and wailed. The man looked at her with sorrow in his rough striking green eyes, he bent down and through his arm around her, " I don't know you ma'am , but i have two beautiful twin girls and a lovely wife , I know how hard it would be to watch them be injured in something as dramatic as this." , he said. " Let me go talk to Chief Lawson and i'll be right back to inform you on what needs to happen." . My mother whispered softly " Thank You."
He returned a few minutes later which had seemed like forever for my mom, " Well ma'am , i don't have the gut to tell you this so my Chief needs to have a word with you over there." , he pointed toward the balding yet slightly gray haired man who had the gut of a pig. Obviously he has enough gut to tell my mother this oh-so-dramatic something that Sergeant Thompson didn't have to say to her face. My mother gets up off from her knees and stands up straight to approach the man that's supposedly giving her bad news but instead he looks like hes going to pick up my mother and eat her whole. " Sir, uhm Mr. Thompson sent me to speak to you?" He turns his head while trying to resist another mouth full of raspberry jelly doughnut. " Ah yes," he says " Well you see your husband will be sent to Kelly's county jail for 5 days until his trial and from there he'll be relocated to Prince's local prison down all the way past Marathon ave. and Dixon st." The expression on my mothers face filled with excitement and sorrow all at once. She really didn't know how to raise a child all by herself, she had no siblings growing up, but then again even if my dad was around he'd never help around the house. He said in a firm voice " That's not even the worst part, your daughter , Jamie or Lizzie or what ever her name is , will be taken and sent to the foster care system tomorrow morning 7:30 sharp, no if and or buts about it." I guess my mother didn't have to worry about raising me after all.
