Country Born, City Raised

Settling In

Every morning was the same routine. Get up at 6 take turns in the bathroom and be ready by 715. Before we could eat breakfast, Regina would give us the test. She would sniff every area of our bodies to make sure we were clean and our clothes were clean. It was very degrading. She would put her nose in our clothes and sniff our behind like a German Shepherd looking for a dope bag. Mama just stood holding Deon and watching. She could have checked us her self but she being so nieve and trying to fit in, never said a word regardless of how embarrassed we looked while this was going on. After we passed the test, we were allowed to eat breakfast and then it was off to school. Deon stayed at home with Mama.

Regina had two boys, Charles and John. Charles was our age, 11, while John was 17 and a senior high school. Since He was the oldest, he was always on charge whenever mom and Regina left. He would turn on the stereo, which we were forbidden to touch. He would be outside smoking weed and shooting dice with his friends. We wouldn't dare tell on him for fear he would beat us up later. He was always flinching his shoulder at us as if he was going to hit us. Even though he never did I felt as if he would....

Since living with Regina, Mama dove deep into the church. It was way across town but they felt it was worth the drive. Mama isn't stranger to the church, we just didn't have a church home. But whenever she was invited, she never missed the chance to enlighten her soul. It didn't matter what religion the church was, Mama was there, whether it be the Catholic Church or the Kingdom Hall. She didn't discriminate. Soon after getting settled going to church became a regular thing. The church was big and all the way across town. We usually ride with Regina but sometimes we had to ride with Regina's mom Oda Mae or her sister Felicia because there was so many of us. I didnt mind riding with them because they were nice and friendly....that is until church was out. The ride home usually was a mobile talk show on how 'sister so and so' was looking or how brother such and such was looking at another chick. I knew so many people business in that church it was ridiculous. I bet sister so and so would not like to be the topic of a panel which discussed her 'domestic affairs'. Yet these were people of God that attended church regularly and paid tithes. I didnt know if this was good but it definitely didnt feel right.

On Wednesday nights was Bible study. Mama and Regina usually left around 6 to meet up with Reginas' mom and sister. That left John in charge. Tip and I were upstairs finishing up our homework so that we could take a bath. John came up stairs and said let's play hide and seek. Of course, we joined in. The house was three stories, so there were a million places to hide. I ran down to the basement with Deon and we hid under the laundry load while Tip was upstairs and Charles was outside. So after about ten minutes of hiding, I didn't here any noise. I didn't want move because John could still be looking but something just didn't feel right. So I waited a few more minutes and then i started slowly toward the stairs. I left Deon under the clothes and told him not to move. Just as I reached to top stair and opened the door, John jumped out at me with a butcher knife yelling. I quickly closed the door and started back down the stairs and dipped through the side door. I ran around to front of the house and hid on the porch. I was out if breath and deeply confused. How did a game of hide and seek turn into running for my life? I wasn't sure if he was playing or if he was serious. The next thing I knew Charles came crashing through the front door and onto the front porch. John was right behind him wielding that butcher knife and yelling like a mad man. I quickly turned and jumped off the front porch and headed for the back yard. I ran behind the grapevine, through the gate and into the alley. There was Tip, kneeling behind the trash dumpster. I was glad she was ok but she was shaking and scared almost to tears. We slowly crept behind the garage so we could get a better view of the house. As we were peeking to see if John was coming, we took a glance behind us and Charles was running up the alley screaming like crazy. When he finally reached us he was out of breath and in tears. Tip started to cry. I wanted to cry but i knew Mama would be home soon because it was starting to get dark. We had to go back in the house. After I calmed the younger two down, we slowly began to move toward the house. Once we got close enough, we ran to the back door hoping it was open and it was. As soon as we close the door, John jumped in the window. We locked the door and ran to the living room to try and lock the front door. Charles locked the door and we took deep breaths as our hearts were beating outside of our little chests. Just as we were getting comfortable, the side door opened and we all began to scream. It's was Mama and Regina. They were startled. Just then Deon came upstairs crying uncontrollably. We had no choice but to tell her of our night of terror with John. Mama took us upstairs and Regina looked for John. He had taken off outside when he saw her coming. At first she didn't believe us until she found the butcher knife on the porch. Needless to say when she caught him, she beat the crap out of him. I had nightmares for a few days but I eventually was ok.