Braylee’s hair was now almost as short as her little sister’s pixie cut. And, now that Stephanie had dropped almost twenty pounds – nearly two hundred if you include her ex-fiancé Maurice, she was more confident in herself. However, they were still as different as night and day. Stephanie’s sun kissed skin was more of a smooth dark chocolate to Braylee’s, caramel. While Stephanie was also a foot shorter than Braylee, what she lacked in height, she more than made up for in personality. Her smile was contagious too. It was wide, and her perfectly white teeth spread across her entire face. However, when she marched into Braylee’s office, there was no evidence of it. As a matter of fact, her scowl was pretty intimidating.
“Do you think I would have driven all the way up here if I hadn’t tried your cell first? It’s going straight to voicemail.”
Braylee pulled her phone out of her purse only to find it was indeed off! That never happened. “Oh my god. I must have forgotten to turn it back on this morning. I didn’t want to be disturbed when Alex came home yesterday.” She turned it back on, and the pinging from all the missed messages began. “Anyway, what’s so important?”
Stephanie’s scowl turned sheepish. “I need to borrow a few dollars.”
Braylee stared at her with a blank expression on her face. “Really? Are you serious?”
“Come on Braylee, I haven’t asked you for any money in a long time. I have a job with the Chicago Police Department and my own place. I’m being responsible.”
Braylee pressed her lips together.
Stephanie ignored her. “I just need a few dollars to tie me over until I get paid on Friday.”
“If you were being responsible you wouldn’t be asking me for money to tie you over until Friday. Don’t you think you’ve asked me for enough money from that damn wedding alone?”
Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Oh. My. GOD! I made a mistake okay? How long are you going to hold that over my head?”
Braylee pushed herself back from her desk and crossed her arms. “As long as I feel like it. After all, it was my money you wasted. Look, I hate to do this, but the bank of Braylee Hinsdale is closed! You’ve got to learn to be more responsible and manage your money better.”
“I knew I shouldn’t have come to you. I should have just asked Alex.”
Forcefully, Braylee stood up. “What! I would kill you if you ever asked my boyfriend for money.” She narrowed her eyes. “Wait…Stephanie, what’s going on that you would even think about doing something so desperate? Because you’d have to be in a real bind or ready to die. I think you might want to live at least a few more years.”
At first, Stephanie didn’t respond, but she couldn’t withstand the death stare coming from Braylee. Finally, she swiped away at a tear that appeared out of nowhere. It escaped from the corner of her eyes before rolling down her cheek. Stephanie plopped down in the chair in front of Braylee’s desk. She responded. “This is too much and too heavy to continue to carry by myself. It’s mama. She’s not taking her blood pressure medicine.”
Braylee responded in a near whisper. “What?”
Stephanie was overwhelmed. She wasn’t sure if venting to Braylee was the answer, but she couldn’t continue to shoulder the burden. She wasn’t Braylee Hinsdale. It had always been her role to take care of everybody. “I didn’t want to have to tell you, but I went over to the house to check on Mama since Daddy’s been in rehab. She didn’t look so great. You know that faraway look she gets sometimes. I didn’t know what to do so, I just did everything including taking her blood pressure. You always handled that stuff. Anyway, it was through the roof. She’s not taking it Braylee, and she won’t go to the doctor either.”
Slowly, Braylee sat back down in her seat. She swallowed deeply before speaking. “I still put money in her account every month. I can’t make her spend it.”
Braylee couldn’t help but think about the last time she’d spoken to her mother. The memory and the pain in her chest were still just as raw as the day it happened.
Braylee was seething as she sat in her mother’s living room. “Did anybody in this house even know that I was caught in that tornado last week?”
Stephanie’s hands went to her throat. “My goodness, no. I had no idea.”
Braylee threw the magazine back on the table and stood up. Now it was her turn to scream at the top of her lungs. “Of course, you didn’t! You had no idea because no one in this house seems to give a shit about me unless they are asking for money!”
Katherine Hinsdale grabbed Braylee by her arms. “Braylee Ann Hinsdale! You’ve been beside yourself lately, and you will not come into my home and disrespect me. I won’t have it!” She shook her. “Do you hear me, girl?”
The tears started to form in her eyes. “I called you Mama. I called you that night. I didn’t know if I were going to live or die, and you did what you always do…you turned me away. I never understood why? WHY do you always turn me away?”
“You’re being ridiculous Braylee. Stop acting a fool.”
“I will NOT! I deserve some answers.” Braylee snatched her arms out of her mother’s grasp. “When I was younger, and you would go into your dark place sometimes for days at a time…I took care of you and Stephanie!” Braylee beat on her chest. “It was
