Book 3 [ The Untitled Series ]

Chapter Twenty-One

Ashley

After speaking to Raegan's school I was in full panic mode. I called my mother's cell phone back to back with no answer. Ten times in a row I called her and ten times in a row I got her voicemail.

I forgot all about Leon sleeping in the bedroom and grabbed my car keys before rushing out of the house. Making sure that my daughter was safe was my number one priority.

I drove to my mothers house, hoping to find some answers but her car wasn't in the driveway. Even so, I went up to the front door and banged on it like my life depended on it.

Nothing.

I drove around for two hours, my mind of course conjuring up the worst.

What if they were hurt- car accident, robbery, shooting.

What if my mother was strung out again- she could sell Raegan. That was something that I wanted to say that my mother would never do but I had lived the first fourteen years of my life with both my mother and father on hard drugs. There was nothing I could put past my mother when she was like that.

So many times I had to pull over to the side of the road to catch my breath so that I didn't crash. It was just that my heart was pumping blood so fast it was making me lightheaded. But every time I caught my breath I pulled right back onto the road and continued searching.

Two hours turned into four easily, and those ten calls that I'd placed to my mother had now grown to about a hundred.

I was close to calling the police when my phone vibrated, finally lighting up with my mothers number. It was a text message, and all it said was ' I'm on my way to your house'.

I tried to call but just like the previous ones, she rejected. Taking a deep breath I tried to calm myself but nothing was working. My anger was getting the beat of me, and the more I tried to suppress it the more my eyes began to water.

My emotions were spilling over and I couldn't control them.

She had disappeared with my child all day without a single explanation and now she was just on her way to my house like nothing had happened? Who the fuck did she think she was?

I got to my house moments before my mother did, parked outside and was pacing back and forth out front when she pulled up. She and Raegan emerged from the car at the same time.

Raegan was smiling as she ran over to me, almost like she had no idea that anything was wrong.

I kneeled down in front of her, ignoring the fact that when I'd sent her off to school this morning her hair hadn't been relaxed. What was normally afro textured hair was now bone straight hair that flowed effortlessly down past her shoulders. But she was okay.

I smiled looking into her eyes, just grateful that she was safe. " you okay, baby?" I asked, my voice shaking. I brought my hands up and cupped her face gently. My brain was saying that if i touched her too firm she disappear but she wouldn't.

' she's okay.' I reminded myself several times before she answered my question.

Raegan laughed, her teeth glistening in the mid afternoon sun. God, the sound was like food for my soul. " I'm okay, mommy. Grandma took me to get ice cream and then we went to get my hair done at a salon. I've never been to a salon before."

" did it hurt, baby?" I asked glaring up at my mother as she approached. She got the hint, stopping just a few feet shy.

" no, now we're twins. We have the same hair. Look!" She grabbed some of her hair in one of her hands and some of my hair that had fallen out of my bun in the other.

" yeah we are." I said quietly. " go get your book bag and go in the house so I can talk to grandma."

" but grandma said that we could-"

I ground my teeth, allowing my anger to get ahold of me for a moment. " I don't care what grandma said. I'm your mother, and I said... get your book bag and go in the house"

Raegan looked saddened by my tone of voice but went and grabbed her book bag like I'd said. On her way past me into the house I gave her a small- and forced- smile to let her know that I wasn't upset with her. " your dad is asleep inside-"

Her eyes lit right back up.

"- but he doesn't feel well so don't wake him."

She shook her head up and down and ran the rest of the way into the house.

And now it was just me and my mother. I wanted to release my anger to her over what she'd done. Hell, it was taking everything inside of me to stay calm.

I cut my eyes at her. She was fidgeting slightly but other than that there was no indication that she felt the storm that was brewing. " if you were anybody else I would drag you into the street and shove your face in the gutter."

I turned, fully expecting that to be the end of our exchange. There was no way she would be keeping Raegan again after this stunt. I'd stop working all together if I had to but this proved one thing to me- that she couldn't be trusted.

" I thought you'd be happy. Hell, I'm tired of fighting with her hair and I know you have to be too."

" her hair is-" I breathed deeply unsure of what to say. Still I didn't turn to face her. " I've forgiven you for everything you've ever done to me but this... I don't know."

She called my name as I walked away, trying to plead her case, I didn't reapond. I didn't give a fuck.

Back in the house, in my bedroom I found Raegan doing the very thing I'd told her not to do. She was standing over Leon poking him continuously on his stomach- the side that wasn't bandaged.

I went and grabbed her quickly before Leon woke up. She pouted, clearly wanting to spend time with her father but she didn't put up a fight.

Most of the rest of the night was uneventful- save for me staring at Raegan in absolute adoration. The thought of me losing her kept coming to my head, bringing tears to my eyes. I loved her so much.

Raegan and I showered and changed clothes before cooking dinner together. We ate, did her homework, and watched a movie before she fell asleep.

It was close to ten o'clock at that point. I put her to bed in her room and climbed into my own with Leon. I made sure to keep a safe enough distance so as not to hurt him and fell asleep.

It wasn't until three in the morning that Leon finally awoke, groaning in what I could only imagine was absolute agony. He wouldn't talk, just kept his body tense and his eyes squeezed closed most of the time.

I followed Tyrone'a instructions, giving Leon two shots from a bottle of Tequila I'd forgotten I had even had. That didn't help though, so I gave him another two and he eventually drifted back to sleep.

I stayed up the rest of the night, watching Leon sleep. If he knew, he'd make fun of me but I couldn't help it. I was worried about him and needed to make sure hat he was okay, and the only way I felt that I could do that was to watch him.

The rest of the weekend passed in the blink of an eye. I didn't work, just stayed home with Raegan and Leon. Leon didn't speak all Saturday, just laid in bed- only getting up to pee. When he was finally well enough to come out of the bedroom Sunday afternoon Raegan almost ruined the whole thing. She rushed him, almost sending them both folded in a heap on the floor. Luckily for them both, Leon wasn't as beat up as he looked.

Thoughts of my mother kept coming to my mind the entire weekend. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to cut her off but she was my mother.

She was one of my only weak spots.

No matter what she'd done to me- and she'd done a hell of a lot- I always let her back in and this time was no different.

I knew I would let her back in eventually but the best course of action currently was a break- from everything. I needed to focus on my family.

I LOWKEY HATE THIS CHAPTER... but it's not terrible. Let me know what you think! Who's ready for the chapter next Friday? There's going to be a cookout and EVERYBODY is invited...