Chapter 2

A Chapter by MeratheRestless

April 2006

"Stop!" Amaris whined turning her body away so she could hold the coveted object further out of Machlon's reach.

"You stop and give it back too!" Machlon grabbed a handful of her shirt exposing the straps of her sports bra as she reached for the doorknob, because he knew if she made it out of their shared bedroom then she would automatically win the disagreement, whether she was right or wrong. He had lived 13 and 1/2 years, but less than two of those years had been peaceful before his beloved mother and whatever man she created them with, added this royal pain to the mix.

Princess my a*s! He thought to himself bitterly. His mother often captioned pictures of him and his younger sister referring to them, her two youngest children, as her prince and princess. It had been his long held belief that 11 going on 12 year old Amaris was the most manipulative creature who ever walked the Earth. So quiet, shy, and timid whenever she was around strangers ie people who didn't live in their mother's house, but difficult to please and incredibly spoiled behind closed doors, doing whatever she pleased without fear of any real consequences. When brother and sister got into it, which happened almost daily, Machlon always got the blame as Amaris, who had not only their mother but all three of their older half-siblings wrapped around her fingers, turned on the waterworks and played dumb.

"Ouch, don't hit me!" Machlon lost his grip when Amaris's bony palm landed in the center of his chest.

She wrenched the bedroom door open, stumbled out into the hallway, oriented herself, and then dashed towards the stairs.

The cogs in Machlon's head turned quicker than he could decipher his own train of thought. He sprung to his feet and took off after her, easily catching up. For what happened next, he would never accept responsibility.

His hands made contact and there was a gasp.

Then Amaris was falling and falling.

She was in a heap at the bottom of the staircase motionless, surrounded by holographic Yu-Gi-Oh trading cards which had been in the metal tin that she snatched from Machlon's side of their bedroom, blood oozing from her nose.

He calmly walked down the stairs and began gathering up his prized cards before they got ruined with her blood and the dark green stuff seeping out of her mouth. With nothing better to do, he then returned upstairs and after stashing away the tin in the back of the closet ,lounged on his bed watching the TV perched on a dresser. Soon the TV was watching him.

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"It's okay, Mommy." Machlon said for the umpteenth time as he held his mother's hand. "I'm sure she just tripped."

A second later, his ear rang and the left side of his face burned, from her powerful backhand.

"It's not okay d****t!" Mommy yelled as she laid into him with heavyhanded blows about the face and head. "Your sister has had f*****g emergency surgery for internal bleeding and these white folks want to put me in jai!"

As best he could without angering her further, he shielded his head and wished he had stayed home. Mommy always acted this way when Amaris was in the hospital, something that wasn't uncommon, although she'd never been there for injuries before, only illness. It didn't help that the ER staff weren't being very nice to Mommy either. They wouldn't answer her questions or let her see Amaris and this to her meant only one thing.

"Mrs. Lewis!" A matronly looking nurse snapped tersely.

Instantly the assault stopped and they resumed playing as devoted mother and well behaved son. It was all they could do in response to the embarrassment of being the waiting room's center of attention. Mommy hated when she attracted critical scrutinizing glances from strangers and her children knew from their earliest years never to bring such reproach on her.

"Can I see my baby now?"

"No, no, not yet." The nurse shook her head for emphasis. "She woke up briefly, but she's sleeping again now. Does the name Risi mean anything?"

"Yes." Mommy glared at the woman. "That's my older daughter. Well her name is Karisma, but No-No couldn't say that when she started talking."

17 year old Karisma had also been the one to find Amaris, jarring Machlon awake again from his impromptu nap by her panicked hysterics.

"No-No?" The nurse queried.

"Yep, cute isn't it?" Mommy affirmed. "Amaris usually goes by one of her middle names, Janoah." There was a twinge of hurt in her voice, obviously dismayed that No-No had not asked to see her.

It was a hurt she would have to get use to though, because for the entire 8 days No-No was in the hospital, she was not allowed to visit once. If she wanted to see her child then she needed to give some answers, explanations that she did not have for injuries she knew nothing about. She wept angry and frustrated tears at what she viewed as a racially motivated conspiracy to steal her two youngest children and give them to the white man who had fathered them.

She could not....would not....lose her children to the likes of him.

"If you could." 18 year old Isaac spoke suddenly pouring himself yet another shot of their mother's clear Christian Brothers' brandy. He was on the couch while Machlon sat on the floor as he and Amaris usually did when they watched TV downstairs in the den. "Would you want to live in Florida or Texas?"

Machlon bristled at the mere thought giving his prepubescent voice a hostile hardness. "Neither, I want to live right here at home in Kentucky with Mommy." The only reason he did not shout his outrage is because he knew she lay upstairs reeling with one of her debilitative migraines, the kind not even a whole blister pack of Imitrex couldn't alleviate.

"You say that like I'm asking you to live with strangers, little brother" Isaac laughed.

His mood ruined, Machlon shifted to rise to his feet and leave the room in a huff.

"Sit your a*s back down!" Isaac barked.

Reluctantly the boy complied knowing he had no other choice. Not if he knew what was good for him that is. It hadn't been too long since both of his older brothers still lived at home, serving as de facto man of the house in the absence of any other male influence since their mother wasn't one for shacking up.

"You could see Mama every month if you wanted." Isaac resumed talking to his younger brother's back as if nothing had happened. "Talk to her every day too."

"I'm not leaving my mother." Machlon said again in case Isaac had not understood his initial refusal trying to hide the fear in his voice.

"Mama needs a break." Isaac countered. "She''s burned out. Not to mention DFACS wanting to take ya'll away, but we won't go there."

It was the elephant in the room. What everyone suspected yet could not prove, his role in this fiasco. Why he looked so guilty and stricken when his mother cried.

"If you don't, she won't be able to keep custody." Isaac sensed his kid brother's childish stubbornness weakening as reality set in. "You might even have to go live with that man and you already know that he won't let you see her!"

There was no greater threat and much better the devil you knew then the one you didn't.

"If I go with you, I'll still see Mommy every month?" Machlon acquiesced. "Promise?"

"She's my mother as much as yours'." was the vague reply.

It was the beginning of the end of everything Machlon had known and held to be true.

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