Chapter 44

The warm, spewing rain persisted all the way to Lynnette's neighborhood. The woman's slothful stride
had remained the same ever since clearing Hollis Estates over two hours earlier.

The brightness of the day that had unexpectedly come back seemingly after hours of inactivity was
once again progressively making its descent back into darkness the natural way. But Lynnette knew the
way home by the various communities that she had passed along the way.The street lamps all began
flickering on simultaneously causing a glossy glare to shine upon the slick sidewalk upon which she
treaded and splashed.

Her entire face was soaking wet. Isaiah was snoring away in her arms and that was exactly the way
she wanted it. Lynnette couldn't bear to see her son's face, not after all that they had endured over the
course of the past few hours, or even the past few months for that matter. She was no longer skittish of
Isaiah, but that didn't mean she had happened upon the courage to face the boy. There would always
and forever be a dark, looming cloud hanging above them both for as long as they dared to breathe,
and sooner or much later, Lynnette knew that she would have to answer for the storm.

The young lady kept on a few more paces before turning into a yard via the saturated lawn and
stomping up onto the porch. She didn't reach into her pockets for her key, instead, she simply pushed
open the surprisingly already unlocked front door and let herself inside.

Before she could even shut the door behind her Lynnette stood and exhaled as deep as she could.
Once she was through she pulled a soaking wet Isaiah away from her chest just as her mother,
dressed in her bathrobe, came rushing into the living room from the kitchen.

With the most stunned look on her face, the woman squealed out, "Where the fuck have you been?"

Lynnette was dripping rain from just about every portion of her body. The floor beneath her sneakers
was a soppy mess. Just staring on at her fuming mother's red face caused Lynnette to realize that



whatever spell the woman had possibly been under for the past few days had all but worn off. She was
no longer afraid of her mother; she went back to being weary and agitated of the woman.

"I've been calling the police ever since last night!" Her mother raged on. "And every time I call them and
tell them that Isaiah is missing they hang up on me! And here you show up, out of nowhere, looking like
a wet possum!"

Still, Lynnette had nothing to say. She could speak, but words had no meaning at that juncture. All she
wanted to do was stand and drip.

"I asked you a question, dammit! Where have you been?" Her mother advanced towards her.

Lynnette stood her ground until her mother attempted to grab her by the shoulder; that was when
Lynnette yanked herself away screaming, "Don't you touch me!"

Her mother stood back but only for a brief moment before trying to take hold of her daughter all over
again.

"Where have you been with that baby?" She yelled.

But Lynnette only wrestled both herself and Isaiah away from her mother before grabbing her mother's
right wrist and restraining it.

"I said don't touch me!" She tossed the woman's hand back down.

Her mother stood there in the middle of the living room looking completely thunderstruck. She, much
like Lynnette was breathing in and out heavily.

"We're here now!" Lynnette hollered. "That's all you and daddy need to know! My boy and I are here!"



Shaking her head in utter disbelief, her mother pulled a rag from out of her robe pocket and pressed it
against her forehead before sighing, "I don't know what's been going on since—

"Mama, you don't have to know." Lynnette adamantly remarked. "Like I said, we're here."

Pacing the partially lit living room, her mother kept pointing her finger at Lynnette saying, "You're just
like your damn sisters. You and them are always doing what you want to do."

"I am not like them!" Lynnette angrily struggled to scream. "Not one of those bitches is worth a damn!
Not one of them! You, daddy and my sisters don't have a clue as to what...I'm done."

She relented. For what seemed like countless minutes, both women stood in the living room while the
rain outside sounded as if it were becoming increasingly louder and irate along with the beleaguered
mother and daughter. It actually possessed its own rhythm and tone.

Lynnette soon found the strength to turn and walk towards the stairs only to have her mother attempt to
follow her.

"I just wish someone would tell me just what in the hell has been going on around here these past few
days!" She desperately yelled. "I just wish you would let me inside!"

Lynnette, nearly losing her grip on Isaiah, spun around on the first step and said, "Let you in? Mama,
how can I let you in when I myself don't want to be inside? You don't know what me and this little boy
have been through these past few months!"

"That's because you won't tell me, Lynn! These past few months you've been in and out of this house
like an alley cat! Now look at you! You look like you were torn apart by something!"

Lynnette wanted to cry all over again, but she reserved herself while staring into her mother's pain-
stricken eyes that looked as though they wanted to break down. It wasn't what she had expected, but



that didn't mean she didn't understand her mother.

"I've been hooked on drugs these past few months." Lynnette exhaled all the air out of her lungs in one
breath.

Lynnette's mother dropped the rag that she had pressed against her forehead to the floor before
paleness took control of her once blushing face.

"That's what I've been hiding from you all these months. Your daughter is a junkie bitch." She plainly
stated.

And with that, Lynnette carried both herself and her son up the stairs, leaving her already lonely mother
in an even more claustrophobic state than she was before.

***

And the rain kept falling:

In the warm bathroom, and on her sore knees, Lynnette washed Isaiah from head to filthy toe in the
bathtub. She herself was still a brazen mess of cuts and bruises, but her well-being was the furthest
thing from her mind. All she could do was stare at the child who appeared completely drained and
disoriented more than anything else. With her own grimy fingernails she washed the boy's hair with
soap. With every scrub she laid upon the child the more she began to realize she was actually touching
him.

Lynnette had her hands all over Isaiah and she didn't even flinch. It had been months since she had
been so tender to him that the sudden revelation just crashed upon her like a sledgehammer to the
head.



Her own bleary eyes every so often would recall the events back at the Estates, from watching Akoni
transform to racing like a scared mouse through a haunted building. Her stomach would drop every
time she would hear a vehicles loud engine outside rip by the house, thinking it was something she had
just escaped on her way to come and get her.From time to time her hands would become limp as she
washed Isaiah's hair while her eyes aimlessly drifted from one end of the tile in front of her to the other.

"Do you miss your daddy?" she asked in a listless fashion.

Isaiah just looked up for a moment and babbled, "Daddy."

"Your daddy," Lynnette's mind wandered. "Do you know that I can't even go back to our old house
anymore? I'm too scared to."

Isaiah began splashing in the water but Lynnette gave his frivolity no attention whatsoever. She just
kept on babbling to herself as if she were the only one inside the bathroom.

"Your daddy and I once had a favorite song. 'Maybe Tomorrow.' You know the Jacksons cartoon you
love so much?"

"Jacksons!" Isaiah blurted out in subtle excitement. "On TV!"

"Yeah...your daddy and I would listen to that song over and over again until we wore out the record. It
was our favorite song."

In her head Lynnette really had no clue as to what she was saying. She was pondering on Isaac, but
the words that were coming out of her mouth were unbeknownst to her.

All of the sudden, the young mother stopped scrubbing her son's hair the second he began to whimper.
She removed her scarred hands from his head and sat back. It was like someone had taken a dark veil
away from her eyes at that instant. Her lips started to quiver as did her hands the longer she stared at



the child. On the outside he was absolutely oblivious, but she could see in his eyes that something was
off kilter.

Lynnette's breath was escaping her. She tried to get up from off the floor but no sooner did she attempt
such a task that something caused her to wobble off balance. She leaned her aching back up against
the wall for a moment as the entire bathroom began spinning around and around. The whole jarring
experience caused her to open the door and stumble out into the darkened hallway.

The second she came to the stairs a sudden case of vertigo captured her. Before she could even set
one foot onto the first step she clutched her thumping heart. With the greatest of ease she took one
step at a time down the tall stairs until she reached the living room.

She was being compelled, by what was beyond her, but Lynnette had to keep moving. She kept on
towards the front door, onto the porch and out into the warm, soaking rain.It was by then completely
dark outside as she ventured further into the front yard where she stopped directly in the middle of the
lawn and stood. Distant rumbles of thunder rolled by every other minute or so.

The rain beat upon her body so hard that it seemed as though it could knock her over at any second.
Then, without any warning whatsoever Lynnette simply collapsed to her knees on the ground and
remained there.

In all truthfulness she hadn't been completely dried off from her initial drenching earlier, so receiving
another shower was inconsequential.

Her own hair began drooping down to where it was blinding her eyes, but there was nothing to see
anyways but the street lamps and a couple of passing cars.

"I'm sorry, Isaac." She whimpered to herself before shutting her eyes.



Behind her she could hear something scratch and move about in the grass. It sounded close, like it was
on her back. Soon, it began to grunt and growl, but rather than clinch her body, Lynnette instead let go.

The growling chorus carried on for at least two whole minutes before the sound ultimately ceased.
Lynnette then opened her eyes and turned around to see nothing behind her. Whether anything was
there at all or not didn't concern the woman.

Lynnette's knees started to sink slowly into the muddy ground the longer she remained in the kneeling
position.

"Arthur!" She screamed out in anguish. "Oh my God...Arthur," she then pounded her fists on the grass.
"I'm so sorry, Isaac." Her voice weakened more and more.

By then, she couldn't move...


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