The Story Of Renee

Chapter One (EDITING)

The Story of Kaliyah

Renée

I was born June 17, 1989, at 11:42 pm to a 17yr old girl named Kaliyah Woods. On that night she gave birth to twins Renée and Jenaé Woods, and what was supposed to be a joyous moment was something far from it. Because on that same day after giving birth Kaliyah died.

You see Kaliyah was a teen runaway addicted to drugs and spent most of her pregnancy high and you would think the drugs are what killed her but it wasn't...

It was her addiction to Draymond Aka Dray.

Draymond was my mother's on-again-off-again boyfriend. He was the kind of guy who comes into your life during some of your darkest moments and seems to be the light at the end of a tunnel but actually turns out to be the devil in sheep's clothing.

According to my uncle, When they met she was only fourteen years old and Dray was twenty-two. He met her when she was vulnerable and he knew he could use her pain against her to manipulate her. My uncle believes Dray was literally the worst thing that could've ever happened to my mom, everyone knows he completely took advantage of her and her situation. When he first told me the truth about my mom he said sometimes the devil will dress up his best tricks as pretty gifts from God.

Before getting pregnant at seventeen, she was pregnant at fourteen. Young, dumb, and in love with her high school boyfriend she learned pretty early that once you open your legs for a boy, you can easily be replaced. Before she could even find out she was pregnant her boyfriend dumped her. He got what he wanted out of her and then dumped her. I mean what do you expect from a freshman-year-old boy dating an eighth-grader? When my grandparents found out she was pregnant they beat her. They beat her so bad she felt forced to run away from home and was gone for months. My uncle said it had been nearly a year before he saw her again. But when he did she had Dray by her side and no baby.

No one knew exactly how they met. But we know that he was twice her age and a total bastard. She was homeless, jobless, poor, young and susceptible to love and Dray was kind, he took her in and cared for her. There was no way she could've ever known that she was laying with the devil himself.

After she gave birth to me and my sister her brother and his wife had to take us in. Our mother died not because of child birth but because she was high and beat up. When she arrived to the hospitals the doctors could tell that she had been physically abused and her lab results showed that she had enough coke in her system to overdose. It's honestly a miracle me and my sister made it to see the day of light.

Because of Dray my sister and I were premature babies and because of him we have no mother. All three of us almost died that night, but God covered us than blessed us with a rescuer, my uncle Tom. That night he was coming to rescue my mom from the life she lived, he knew what Dray was doing to her and he planned on putting and end to it and maybe even him, but he came too late and even though he didn't make it on time to save her, he made it on time to save us. Because of what he did for me and my sister my uncle Tom will forever be my hero. Him and his wife Stacy raised us along side their three kids. Lexus, Jordan, and Stephan right here in L.A.

Stephan was their oldest, when we moved in he was 5, Lexus was two and Jordan the baby was only three months old. You can only imagine how difficult it was for them to raise us all.

"I know that time for them was extremely difficult. Your uncle Tom sounds like a stand up kind of guy." Dr.Quimby said empathatically.

"Yeah, he really is." I said with a slight smile.

"Please continue, I'm listening" She encouraged

Well, because we were so close in age, Jenaé, Lexus, Stephan, Jordan, and I were the best of friends there was no separating us. At six Jordan, my sister, and I all started kindergarten together and we all got suspended together that same year too.

I couldn't help but laugh while thinking about how we all got suspended

See what had happened was we were all playing on the playground me and my twin were on the swings and Jordan was on the monkey bars. Then out of nowhere, this girl throws a rock at Jordan, BOW, the rock hit her right in her back and she fell clean off the bars.

But she didn't cry oh no, her daddy taught her better than that.

One of Uncle Tom's many mottos was:

"When the world throws a punch at you, you punch back."

We ate, slept, and breathed Uncle Toms mottos, he made sure we were tough, confident, intuitive, and tactful.

So after Jordan got up and dusted herself off she said

"Aye stupid why did you hit me?"

"Because you were in my way ugly." was the girl's reply. Childish I know, but we were kids.

Before my twin or I could even think to say something all we heard was "Oh really?" then no words after just hands.

Jordan attacked, she was on her so fast you would've missed the whole thing in a blink of an eye. But the question is how did I and my sister get in trouble too?.... Well another one of Uncle Toms's mottos was

"ONE FIGHT ALL FIGHT."

So my sister and I had no choice but to jump in and all three of us got suspended.

"Interesting," Dr. Quimby said with a slight laugh while taking notes on her notepad.

"Do you know a lot of kids who've been suspended at age six?" I questioned

"I talk to a lot of people Ms. Woods, I hear a lot of stories, and this is nothing compared to some of the things I heard in my career. I actually find your family dynamic interesting and can't wait to hear more. But it's going to have to be on our next session because our time today is up." She stood up and put her hand out to help me up.

I grabbed it and straightened myself out.

"Talking to you wasn't as bad as I thought."

"I think in time you'll come to see the importance of mental health and self-reflection. You never know you just might find that piece of you that's been missing within these conversations," she said with a slight smile.

"Yeah maybe, I will," I said with a little laughter and a hint of sarcasm

Dr. Quimby rolled her eyes and laughed right along with me. She walked me to the door and said "Ok, I know you can't see it now, but eventually you will. I'll see you in three days, please schedule your appointment with my receptionist on your way out okay." I nodded and did as she said.

On my drive home, I couldn't stop reminiscing about my childhood. I can't even remember the last time I thought this deeply about my past. It was overwhelming, to say the least, but it was also refreshing.

When I lay in my bed that night I went to sleep playing a reel of memories through my mind. Only focus on the good things. The things I miss...the people I miss.

Maybe, just maybe, therapy really could be something good for me.

Maybe...