Chapter 10

Karisma updated Amaris's memorial page on Facebook, adding to it Machlon's flyer. The pictures for the flyer had come from this page itself, shared by strangers whose names Karisma was keeping a log of and investigating in her spare time, since God knew Dorinda had no remotely current pictures of her youngest children from after they had moved to Florida. To circulate the poster in Kentucky would do little good seeing as their last 3 years had been spent in Florida and though Kentucky police had taken the missing person's report because Kentucky was their legal habitual residence, something told Karisma they weren't really interested. If Machlon was going to be found then this was their best bet.

Missing since: November 3, 2009

Missing from: Louisville, Kentucky

DOB: November 5, 1992

Age now: 17

Sex: Male

Race: Biracial(Black/White)

Hair color: Brown

Eye color: Green

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 140 lbs. 

Circumstances: Machlon goes by his middle name, Wisdom. He is believed to be in Tampa or St.Petersburg, Florida

His family does not call him by his first name. He goes by one of his middle names, Wisdom, hence why I refer to him on here as 'Wissy'. If you call him Machlon then you don't know him at all. Simple as that. 

No, that's NOT a typo! Both Wissy and No-No(Amaris or Janoah as she went by) are indeed biracial having a black mother(my mother) and a white father! I'd love to know where you think my little brother's gorgeous green eyes and my baby sister's waist length silky black hair came from! 

My family is doing just thank you very much and we have NO NEED to exploit my baby sister's memory or exhort anything from anyone! We know EXACTLY where Isaac gets his money from and don't want anything to do with it or him. We just want him and the rest of you goons to tell us where Wissy is, alive or dead!

Every single time without fail when Karisma logged in and updated this page she found herself confronted with numerous ignorant and hateful comments, most of which she allowed to remain and responded to. Ibrahim had told her that was a bad idea, she shouldn't write things about their family for the whole world to see, but she steadfastly refused to allow anyone to badmouth her mother or misrepresent the basic facts of the situation. People, who knew nothing, had no place putting their two cents in.

As she continued scrolling down to be certain she had responded to all of the haters and to see if there were any new pictures she could print off for her mother to have, a rant popped up in her feed. She perused it and felt her chest constrict. Her fingers trembled on the keys though she had no difficulties whatsoever finding the right words.

It's nice to finally hear from you big brother. Yes I know it's you, Isaac, so don't bother lying. You haven't changed a bit. I saw you. I was seeing you all the time through the crack in the door and from around the corner. I know better than anyone else in the family what you were doing to them. Their blood is on your hands.

There was so much more that she wanted to say, yet refrained realizing Ibrahim was right. The whole world didn't need to know everything that had gone on behind closed doors. Particularly in the case that no even everyone in the family knew about what had happened.

 Blind eyes, family loyalty, and silence had been Amaris's true murderer. She had resided with her mother and four older siblings from the day she was born, coddled and spoiled, sheltered and protected from the dangers of the outside world. She had never wanted for anything and was surrounded by love, strangers, her own biological father included, not allowed anywhere near her. From within this insulated cocoon she had met her doom. 

Out of respect for her mother's adamant wishes, Karisma had not mentioned Sebastian Gessinger in either of the obituaries she had written for Amaris or Machlon. Nobody had made any attempts to notify him of Amaris's death and honestly, Dorinda didn't want him to ever find out, because she knew she would be judged harshly as a stereotypical unfit black mother. If someone figured out that Machlon was missing and more than likely dead somewhere also, she'd be labelled a total failure not only as a mother but human being. Speculation that perhaps Wissy had gone to his father's place rather than returning home to Louisville had quickly been vetoed since the boy had not seen the man since he was a toddler and did not want to see him either. They had been alright without Sebastian Gessinger for 15 years and didn't need him or that wife of his around disrupting things now.

Almost as an afterthought, Karisma logged back into Facebook to get some other things off her chest, now that she had the right audience. 

Ibra already bought Wissy's grave, right next to No-No's. He keeps the bills paid and if Mama had let him take them to Texas, they'd both still be alive. Yeah we know Wissy is dead, just waiting to get his body back, and we know you're the reason No-No died too. You didn't have to do what you did, you didn't have to put them through all of that, didn't have any reason or right to do it. Time can't be turned back, so I just want you to tell me why. Put us out of our misery already, Isaac.

She logged off again and shut down her laptop to avoid further temptation. With her daughter still in Louisville, her apartment was eerily silent. She did not know why this suddenly bothered her so much. Hayvn always spent more time in Louisville with Dorinda than here in Indianapolis with her. Karisma preferred it this way, because unlike her mother, she had not welcomed teenage motherhood. Tonight she only wanted the little girl here to alleviate the unsettledness she was feeling. 

"Go to bed." She told herself. "Turn on the heat, get yourself a nice hot shower, and go to bed."

She made it to step two of her plan.

Her persistently ringing cellphone cut her shower very short, refusing to be ignored when the caller redialed as soon as they got the voicemail. A call like that is never good news. Karisma was relieved to get it out of the way hoping her sleep would be deep and peaceful now.

All she heard were Dorinda's frantic screams on the other end. Something about pictures on a phone, a video, and blood in a car. What the exact significance of these items were she could not convey to Karisma. 

"He's dead, Mama. "Karisma sighed exasperatedly. "Ain't nothing going to bring either of them back."

"I know, I know...." Dorinda calmed a bit. "But why mine? Why my babies? Can somebody please just tell me why?"

There was only one person on Earth could answer those questions for her.

Or so they all thought. 

Reviews

[SweetNutmeg]

Well, I am left hanging here, dying to know what happens next. I hope you update soon. Please send me a read request when you do. I wouldn't want to miss the next chapter for the world.

General thoughts on the work so far: the characterization, plot and structure are fantastic. The whole piece is a bit low on environmental detail. I know very clearly what the people look like because you do a good job describing their appearance, but I don't really know what Dorinda's house looks like, inside or out. You gave some description of Issac's house but not in much detail. I'd love to know the nitty gritty details of how awful Issac's home was. I'd also like to see the children's bedrooms. A person's possessions can tell a lot about them. How you organize your living space says a lot about your personality. I'm a visual person and able to fill in blanks with my own images, but not everyone does that. The topic of environmental detail interests me because it is possible to provide too much, but you do want to guide your reader's imagination. It's a tough balance.

You're doing great in all the places where I have trouble. I admire and envy your writing skill.

[MeratheRestless]

Thank you very much for your helpful comments and I will be certain to send you a request for chapter 11. I will also be looking for a new chapter of Tinder Island and it's a little shocking that you enjoy my writing skills since I thoroughly enjoyed your work. As far as more involved descriptions of Isaac's home, would you expect that to be in contrast to their mother's home and life in Kentucky? I was concerned initially that readers would not be able to follow the story with my alternating present circumstances with glimpses into Amaris earlier years and how it all fell apart, so it is nice to here that it goes together well. More than anything I wanted readers to know and have no doubt that, against typical negative stereotypes, it is possible for the children of black single mothers to be beloved and well cared for. Thank you again for taking the time to review 'Sleep My Angel'.

[SweetNutmeg]

Yes, I would expect Issac's house to be a drastic difference from Dorinda's wholesome, safe home. Dorinda cooks up a storm for her children but Issac has druggies in his kitchen. I have imagined a pretty detailed interior for both residences, but I am rather creative when it comes to things like that and most readers need more to go on, to really fix themselves in a a place.