Crooked

Seven

Crooked

Seven

         Epiphany cried on Ty Ty's chest as he consoled her. Loud sobs resonated throughout the funeral home. The fake love for Nicholas Williams Sr. was evident. His old coworkers and friends filled the room, but nobody reached out to Epiphany and Leroy when they were on their own for 3 years.

They all chipped in to pay for the funeral since Epiphany and Leroy couldn't afford it, but Ty Ty paid the most. Epiphany and Leroy barely had any family in the Bronx. Their father and mother were originally from North Carolina but moved to New York where they had Epiphany and 4 years down the road had Leroy. Epiphany didn't know what to do anymore. She was certain she had the most fucked up life on the planet. Although Epiphany was 18, she knew that it was a possibility that Leroy would be taken from her. Their NYCHA apartment lease had their father as the head of household and now that he was dead, there was no head of household. She knew that she didn't even have a job to qualify for the income requirements needed to keep up their apartment. Snitching didn't count as a job. Epiphany just sobbed even harder.

Leroy just sat next to Epiphany in his dress shirt and church slacks, biting his fingernails. No tears stained his face, nor did he even cry once he heard the news of his father's passing.
Everybody had a different way of grieving, so nobody judged the young boy for how he was acting. Leroy loved his daddy. He looked up to and wanted to be exactly like him. Leroy really didn't care for their mom because she was never there for them. She was put in a mental asylum right after Leroy was born and they hadn't seen her since.

It was their father that took care of them. His eyes trailed over to his sister beside him who couldn't stop crying since the news last week. He wasn't even sure she attended school since then because every time he came home, she would be in the back room with the door locked. His stomach started churning and his heart started aching seeing her like that. Tears blurred his vision, but he quickly blinked them away as he turned his head to look back down at the floor.

He wanted to stay strong. He wanted to be a "man."

Epiphany couldn't stay inside of the funeral home any longer, watching the pastor give his sermon. She had to go outside. She reassured Ty Ty and others that she was okay and that she needed to be alone for a minute. Shay sadly watched her as she walked out. She came to the funeral because regardless of what she did, Epiphany was still her best friend even though Shay may have not been hers for the moment. Epiphany didn't say a word to Shay the whole time even though she did appreciate her for coming.

Once she got outside, she sat down on the steps that led into the funeral home. She put her head in her arms and started to reevaluate her life. She didn't even know if she wanted to live anymore. She wasn't dumb--- she knew her father was going to die sooner or later, but she didn't expect it to be this soon. Now she had way much more on her plate then trying to feed her and Leroy.

Now she had to make sure that they didn't get put out of their apartment. Epiphany felt like she was sitting there forever until she felt warm hands touch her, making her slowly look up.
"Oh my God, Epiphany I'm so sorry..." Aaliyah cooed. She had on a midi black dress with laced sleeves and black flats. Epiphany noticed the big black sunglasses she wore, and her cheeks stained with tears. "Thank you," she murmured.

"I know how you feel," Aaliyah took a seat next to her. "And Epiphany I just want you to know if there's anythin', I mean anythin' you need, I got you. All you have to do is just ask me."

Epiphany turned her head to look at her. "Thanks Aaliyah."

"No problem," Aaliyah smiled, before she wrapped her arms around Epiphany, bringing her close. Their faces touching made Aaliyah's sunglasses go crooked.

"Oops," Aaliyah smiled, taking off her sunglasses to fix them on her face.

That's when Epiphany noticed Aaliyah's watery eyes and a bluish-purplish bruise around her left eye. "Aaliyah... is th---"

"Epiphany, stop it. This is not about me. This is all about you and your father, please stop." Tears started to pour from Epiphany's eyes again like a waterfall.

"Don't worry about me, Epiphany, I promise you I'll be fine." Aaliyah smiled at her.

Epiphany just stared at the hopeless girl in front of her. Aaliyah was able to still smile after everything she was going through. Maybe Epiphany didn't have it as rough as she thought.


                                                                           •••

"Waddup sis." Leroy spoke as he entered the living room with his basketball in his hands.

It had been a couple of days since their father's funeral. Their crackhead brother, Nicholas Jr. didn't even show up. They circled around the Bronx streets to try to find him, but they couldn't. Epiphany was sitting on the couch with mail surrounding her. She looked up from the letter she held in her hands and gave Leroy a small smile.

Even though she tried to put on a poker face, Leroy could still tell she had been crying. "What's that, E?" Leroy inquired, looking at the letter.

"Nothin' don't worry about it."