Riches To Rags

Chapter 13: Clarity

Chapter 13: Clarity

"There's nothing quite as intense as the moment of clarity when you suddenly see what's really possible for you."

~Unknown

Carla glared as if he was right in front of her, able to see her face. "Nothing is more important than her right now!" She shouted into the receiver. Her voice  was a bit higher than her expectations,  but she had to let it be known. Her feelings that is. 

Her blood boiling and if only she had the power to reach inside the phone and grabbed Frank by his collar then she would. At a time like this, Carla believed in her heart that Rae needed her family. Any time anyone went through anything like this, family was the closest thing to an actual antidote. The closest thing that can potentially make things go back to normal.

A small cure that can temporarily take the pain away.

But for some reason- a reason that Carla couldn't figure out- Frank wouldn't bulge. He was sticking to his word and of course like any other day, his word was final. Something that Carla thought she would be use to it by now, especially after all these years. 

"I can't come right now," he voiced. "It's way to soon for me to show up."

Carla frowned. "What the hell does that mean?" She snapped. "This was your idea! Your daughter is thousands of miles away from home. Not once have you directly spoken to her and it's going on almost three months. You need to come out here and get her. She's hurt."

She waited for him to respond, but all she got was silence on the other end. It was taking everything in her to not curse him out. Holding her tongue for the past couple of decades seemed like a mistake now. 

"So that's it, your gonna leave her?" She questioned him in disbelief. Pacing back and forth in her kitchen, she laughed. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised right? I mean this is your M.O. Love, leave, and forget right?"

"And what exactly do you mean by that Carla?" Frank asked. She heard a hint of confusion mixed with anger in his voice."

"You know exactly what I mean!"

"I did everything I could for you," he mentioned loudly."

"And we both know that's a lie," Carla huffed.

She knew that she was beginning to test his patience, but it was the start of a conversation that was long overdue. He was the love of her life and she allowed him to just throw her away like old news. Tossed her like yesterdays garbage. It was still an open wound and it seemed as though his choices and words poured salt into it every day.

Protecting Rae was the only thing that mattered at the moment. She'd be damned if she allowed him to do the same thing to her... Rae. 

"I swear I tried Carla," he told her.

The last thing she wanted to hear was his excuses as to why they never made it. It was very clear back then that he wanted someone with substance and who had an impeccable background. She had neither. Her parents were both textile workers in the south and the only thing that they could afford at the time were basic things in order to survive. Extravagant items were never given to her on birthday and holidays. She'd be lucky if she got a gift at all.

That was until she meet Frank Harris. Grandson of a very prestigious businessman in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His grandfather was well known throughout a neighborhood call Greenwood where most African Americans moved to the area around the early 1900s. The neighborhood flourished and was a great place to restart, rebuild and be away from slavery and other harsh treatments that they had to endure.