Prologue

Finally home she gazed at the door she realized that she’d much rather turn around and walk away. Sighing, Arianna took out her keys and unlocked the door. Red, blue and white party balloons cover over the floor, ripped up wrapping paper covered some chairs and the sofa and a half-eaten birthday cake sat on the table in the dining area with a few unfinished slices. After tossing her coat, purse and high heels to the side she took a quick shower, combing back her curly wavy hair into a ponytail. As soon as changing into something more comfortable clothes she grabbed a trash bag and got to work straightening her home up.

She dragged the broom across the hardwood floors, flashing back to little kids singing  Stevie Wonder’s 'Happy Birthday' and adults laughing at their silly dance moves. Picking up shredded pink and blue wrapping paper another flash of a little girl after opening the last present then running up to Arianna to hug her waist. Taking deep breaths trying really hard to keep the tears from escaping as she cleaned.

Gathering all the opened presents and storing them in the coat closet she knew that some would go to Goodwill, others might might be sold. The leftover cake she wrapped and saved in the fridge, she might share with her neighbors instead of tossing it. When the apartment was finally clean she made herself a grilled cheese sandwich and sat down.

The lack of energy in the small apartment made her chest ache, and it didn’t help that there were pictures of her lost family surrounding her. Each photograph was another reminder of what can never be come back to her. And yet any second now Arianna was expected to hear the pounding of feet and her name called out in a high pitched squeal. However, the sweet voice was now replaced the sounds of couples arguing, babies crying and a man-child blast his music without a care in the world.

This was it. After the call and getting everything set up for the funeral, there’s no way she could stay here any longer. After placing the dish into the dishwasher she pulled out her phonebook, skimmed through the pages until she found the familiar name and number. Arianna grasped her phone as she dialed the number and calmly waited for somebody to answer.

“Hello, Miss. Howell's office.” Said a soft kind voice.

“Hi Mabel, it’s Arianna,” There was a slight pause between the two.

“Oh, please hold on a sec.”

Arianna heard faint shouting before a familiar voice appeared on the phone. “Hello, Ari.”

“Hello Miss. Howell… are you busy tomorrow afternoon?” Arianna asked.

“No, what time would you like to come in?” Miss. Howell asked.

“I’ll come in sometime around 3: 30?” Arianna asked.

“Yes, that’s fine… I’ll see you then.” Said Miss Howell, Arianna thanked her and ended the call. During the conversation she didn’t realise it started raining until soft thunder rolled through the clouds and the pitter-patter of rain hitting the windows made her relax only for a bit. Her shoulders slumped as the activity from three days away from home and cleaning up caught up to her. Needing a good rest she shuffled toward her room pulling back the covers and crawled into bed.

Arianna slept the morning and the rest of of the day away to be awakened by her 10: 30 am alarm. Slamming her hand on the snooze button she slowly sat up and arched her back until she heard a faint pop. Looking at her phone she noticed a few missed calls and texts, most of them from someone she really didn’t want to talk to right now. After stretching a few more times Arianna grabbed some clean skinny jeans, a bra and red t-shirt  for her to change into after a shower. Once she was clean and brushed her hair into a high ponytail she made herself some pancakes with bacon and an orange.

Grabbing a small remote she turned on the stereo playing one of her custom CDs. The first song to play was Josh Groban & Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s 'Lullaby'.

'This was our song.' Arianna thought.

Half way finished with her pancakes the sound of the doorbell got her attention, pausing the song and walking up to the door. Looking through the hole she sighed knowing who was behind the door. Opening it she was meet with a tall black man with dreads. In his hands he carried a large present, it looked heavy since he was having a hard time holding it.

“Hey baby, you mind letting me in, this isn’t exactly lightweight if you know what I’m saying.” He said. Stepping to the side to let him in so he can set the present down. “Dear God, that thing is heavy! How can a dollhouse weigh that much!”

“Why are you here, Roy? Didn’t you have a meeting to go to in New York?” Arianna asked, placing her hands on her hips and arching a black skinny eyebrow.

Roy chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her into his body. “I was able to finish it early, so I took a plane and came back. I know that we can work things out between us if you just listen to me,” leaning forward he nuzzled his face into Arianna’s neck, giving her light kisses and trailing his lips across her skin. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for three days, where have you been baby?”

The way he held and touched her use to send delightful chills through her body, Roy always had that effect on her. Until a few months ago when she caught him with her neighbor’s daughter. Now all she felt was disgust and pity for the man, being the son of a power CEO rejection didn’t come naturally for him.

Arianna scoffed and pushed him away. “Roy, our 'relationship' ended the moment you went behind my back with a freshman!” Looking down at the gift she shook her head. “And why do you have that?”

Roy scoffed. “Its a birthday present, for Sapphire! I would’ve given it to her, but you two disappeared for three days without a clue!”

Arianna step back and shook her head again “Safiya, my sister’s name is Safiya! I’m sorry to say that you’ve wasted your money, please leave right now, this not the best time to talk.” She turned to finish her pancakes but Roy grabbed her wrist.

“What is your problem Ari?! Look, I’ve made a mistake, the girl came on to me and I tried to tell her that I already have you but she wouldn’t let up! Please let me show you that you are the only one for me!” He declared and his words nearly sent Arianna over the edge.

Whipping her head toward him “Roy, I’m not stupid! You were right next door and I heard everything you did with Victoria! Up to the point where her father came in and threatened to shoot you!” Arianna yanked her wrist from his grip. “I cannot trust you! So your words mean nothing. NOW GET THE HELL OUT!” She demanded pointing toward the door.

Roy opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the shrill ring of a phone on the end table. Taking a deep breath so she wouldn't sound rude Arianna answered the phone. “Hello.”

“Hi Ari, its Miss. Carl Safiya’s homeroom teacher from Walton Elementary.” Arianna’s breath caught in her throat. Looking back at Roy she pointed toward the couch, motioning for him to sit down.

“Hello, Miss. Carl, how is your morning?” She asked.

“Its good, I called to see how Safiya was doing. You didn’t pick up your cell so I figured that the two of you would be home. When will your sister come back to school?” The teacher asked.

Arianna sighed and sat down on the couch as well. “Miss. Carl… Safiya will not be attending Walton Elementary anymore.” She said. The line was silent as Arianna patiently waited for a reply from Miss. Carl.

The teacher sighed and said in a soft voice, “Ari, I’m so sorry. Safiya seemed so…”

“Its OK, Miss. Carl,” Arianna interrupted her, “She’s in a better place. And I want to thank you for being there for her...for both of us.” Her lips pulled back into a smile as she remembered how her old teacher encouraged the two of them to be strong when they lost their mother and father. Especially when Arianna was struggling with convincing the court to let Safiya stay with her while she finished up her last year of school.

“Oh Ari, please call me any time, you know I’ll always be there for you.” Miss. Carl said.

A small tear escaped her eye as Arianna’s lips pulled into a smile. “Thank you, I’ll call you soon Miss. Carl.” Her old teacher said her goodbye and the line went dead.

Arianna forgot that Roy was still her until she felt his hand on her arm. “Ari, what happened to Sapphire?” She sighed at him mispronouncing  her name yet again but didn’t have the energy to point it out at that moment.

“Back in March, for two weeks Safiya suffering from a nasty cough. I took her to the hospital three times, but all they said was she had a sore throat and giving her cough syrup would be just fine. The cough got worse,  She wouldn't eat.  She lost  weight really fast and was suffering from high fevers.

I brought her to the hospital for the  fourth time and they finally diagnosed her with  tuberculosis...originally they said that treatment for tuberculosis would take six months. But strangely after two months of treatment it was gone. She began to eat more, she stopped coughing and she was deemed healthy and went back to school.”

Arianna’s throat felt like it was closing up as she fought back the tears from escaping. After gaining some control she continued, “On Saturday, we were in the middle of her birthday party. Safiya finished opening her presents, her and her friends were in the middle of eating her cake. She started coughing and I thought that she just had something stuck in her throat so I gave her a glass of water… then she coughed up blood. She said her lungs hurt like it was filling up with water. I called 911 and we rushed her to the doctors she had two months ago. Her tuberculosis came back, but it was like nothing they’ve seen before. Her lungs was filling up with blood fast, they all did their best. But she ended up drowning in her own blood.”

By now, Arianna was sobbing with Roy’s arms cradling her. As much as she hated him there was no way she wanted to be left alone.

Author's Note

Please ignore any grammar problems, what do you think of the dialogue and the intro to these characters