Bernice

21

November 5
Bernice,

I have a lot to do today. I started off with making breakfast for the kids and then I did the laundry. While doing laundry I got a call from Trina's father asking me to get Trina to call him or her mother. They moved to Texas to help take care of Bondeko's children. Bondeko and Seraphine are Trina's siblings and they support her.

I took the laundry basket to my room and then went back to the laundry room to get the other basket. "Mommy, pee pee." Ashley said. "Let's go." I picked her up and took her to the bathroom so she could use it. After helping her I started to fold the laundry.

Lucinda has started calling me everyday. I'm not ready to talk to her but she doesn't understand. I have been ignoring her calls. Violet doesn't know about this. I'm sure she's not in contact with mom so I wonder how she got my number.

It took me an hour to fold and put the clothes on the hanger. The clothes August buys for the kids stay at his place since I don't have enough space. I went to Violet's room to ask what I should cook today.

"I'll talk to her mom." Violet said. She was sitting on her bed and talking on the phone. When she noticed me, she widened her eyes and dropped the call. "Violet." I said. "Yes, sis." She answered. "Who were you talking to?" I asked. "Nobody." She said.

I raised my eyebrows. "I heard you say mom." I mentioned. She stayed silent. "Fine. I'll tell you. Please sit. Just promise me you'll be calm." She told me. "You were talking to Lucinda." I stated.

We hated her and know she's talking to her. For what? I sat down on the bed. "I know she hasn't been a good mother to us but I have forgiven her." She revealed.

"That woman did nothing for us but torture us since dad went back to Congo. She hated us and you're going to forgive her just like that." I scolded. Violet sighed. "I talked it out with her and she's very sorry. She just wants you to see her." She mentioned.

"I can't and won't forgive her. She took Ashley from me. There's nothing she can say or do that'll make me forgive her." I said. That's the truth. She made me fail as a mother. My mind's made up and she'll just have to live like that.

"I'm not saying you should forgive her but please see her. I know you have unanswered questions and I can't be the one to tell you." She informed me. I don't want to see her. Not anytime soon anyways.

I stood up from the bed. "I just came to ask you if you have any suggestions for what I should make for lunch." I said. I left the room before she could say anything. I ended up making white rice and chicken with peanut soup.

I gave the children the food. Aaron can feed himself but Ashley still needs a little help. Violet came into the kitchen and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. "Are you going somewhere?" I asked. "Yes. I'm going out to meet some friends." She said. I fed Ashley some chicken. Violet said bye to the kids and then left.

After the kids ate we watched pj mask together. I picked up my phone. I had two missed calls from August. I called him back.  "Hey." He answered. "Hi. When are you coming back?" I asked. "Soon. What are the kids up to?" He asked. "They're watching pj mask. I made some rice with peanut soup which they ate a lot of." I mentioned.

Ashley accidentally turned off the tv and Aaron started crying and hitting her. Then, Ashley started crying. I sat my phone down beside me.  "Aaron, stop. You should never hit your sister." I shouted. Aaron stopped and started crying more. took the remote from Ashley and turned on the tv. Aaron slowly stopped crying. I picked up Ashley to soothe her.

"What's going on?" August asked. "It's your kids." I asked. "What'd they do?" He asked. "Aaron started crying because Ashley turned off the tv and he took his anger out on her. Then Ashley started crying." I mentioned. "Can I talk to them?" He asked. "Sure." I gave Aaron the phone so they could talk with their dad.

August asked me for a favor. He said I should go to his house around six thirty, open his safe, and take two hundred dollars from it.  Some guy will be coming to the house to get it. He owes someone money for the weed he bought for himself.

Trina came into the house after I put the kids for a nap. "Hi, Trina." I said. She was looking for something in her bag. "Hi. Where are the kids?" She asked. "They're sleeping." I told her.

"Let me go to my room and freshen up." She said. I nodded. I've applied to some in state schools but some have declined me. I have also applied to some out of state schools but I haven't heard anything back. I'm not ready to go out of state but if that's all I get I'll have to take it.

Trina came downstairs and went into the kitchen. "We need to talk." I said. She came out of the kitchen with a plate of food that I made. "I just got a job and you're kicking me out already?" She wondered. She sat across from me at the dining table. "I'm not." I closed my laptop.

"Ok. What is it?" She asked. I know she isn't going to go with what I say but I need her parents off my back. "It's about your parents." I started. She immediately rolled her eyes. "You need to talk to them. I'm tired of them calling me and asking me to tell you to call them. Every time you refuse but this time you have to face them." I said.

"I won't. I should tell them that I'm a model and they'll just hate me more than they do now." She shook her head. "Maybe they want to apologize. I really don't know but I need them to stop calling me." I affirmed.

"We ended up with bad parents huh." She laughed. "That we did." I laughed. I explained to her the situation with my mom which is way worse than the situation with her parents. Dad left us because he had no choice. Mom is a big headache.