Behind Closed Doors: My Life As Ke'Ladriah Wallace

3.

I woke up feeling the same as when I went to sleep. I sat up on the couch and looked at my surroundings. It's finally Friday. I stretched and got up trying not to make too much noise. I know how my mother is when she doesn't have those pills. I hurried and got dressed and went to wake my brother up. "Wake up Trent. Y'all gone be late." I went and got Miyah and wiped her face off. "Stop!" She moved away from me got up and hit me. I dressed her while Trenton waited and played with his fingers. I picked her up and grabbed my keys. "Where are YOU going ?" That simple sentence made us all freeze in our spots. "Mo - Momma I have to take them to school." She walked over to us. "Which one of y'all took my pills?!" What would I do with pills? What would Trenton do with them?  "You took em momma. They all gone." I looked up at her as she squinted at me. "You a liar! You took my pills and sold em! You went and bought those shoes with them pills didn't you! You thief!" She raised her hand at me and I flinched. "I'm not even gonna hit you. Just cause you have my baby." She grabbed ShaMiyah from me and she started whining. "Shut up! All that crying and for what? Nobody gonna hurt you pumpkin." She kissed ShaMiyah's cheek. "Now run along now." I tried to walk away as fast as I could with ShaMiyah back in my arms but I was stopped. "Hey! Don't ever touch my pills again, or you're not gone like it." She smiled that evil smile of hers and walked back to the kitchen before I closed the door and stomped down the steps. "Is what momma said true Keke? Did you steal her pills for real ?" I looked down at Trenton and wanted to slap him straight across the face! "No I ain't steal no pills!" I snatched away from his hand and kept walking with ShaMiyah only a few feet away from the school. I didn't pay him much attention and I heard brakes screech. "Trenton!" I ran and grabbed his hand again putting ShaMiyah down. I spanked him about five times and the white lady got out of her car. "I am so sorry. Is he alright." She looked at me while she squatted down looking at Trenton. "Yea he fine." I looked at him while he wiped his tears kind of embarrassed. We got out of the road and I picked ShaMiyah back up and we kept walking. "Boy what's wrong with you? Embarrassing me in front of them white folks! You know they don't think much of us!" He started to cry as he looked up at me. "KeKe I seen something shiny! I thought it was money! KeKe I been trying to get a whole lot of money! If we got money you don't gotta steal nothing no more!" Tears streamed down the sad boys face as he looked me, his big sister in the eyes and said those words. I looked up to the clouds knowing my daddy was in heaven, or somewhere, watching us suffer. "Why?" was all I could say right before we walked in that building.