Ms. Toni took a seat beside her and reached for her hand. “Hey, baby. I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you.”
“It’s okay, Ms. Toni. I don’t mind not being seen right now.”
Ms. Toni gave a sympathetic smile. “You were a beautiful girl, but you’ve grown into such a gorgeous young woman. These curls are still wild and free.” There was a short bout of silence before she spoke again. “How are you, baby?”
“I’m okay. I’m here.”
Ms. Toni nodded. “I hope things haven’t been too hard on you. You deserve some peace. I’ll be praying for you, sweetheart.”
Alayah offered a half smile. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“Can I hug you?”
She nodded slowly. Ms. Toni wrapped her arms around her and squeezed tightly. When she pulled away, she cupped Alayah’s face and kissed her forehead. She lifted her chin and spoke softly to her.
“Don’t hold your head down. You have nothing to be ashamed of, you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. I’m gonna send Wanda over here to get your orders in a second. It’s on the house.”
She didn’t give me time to protest before she slid out of the booth and fled the table. I sat back, adjusting in my seat. My gazed drifted to Alayah, who was nervously plucking at her nails again.
“What can I do for you?” I asked.
“I,um…I need some legal advice.”
“About your case?”
She shook her head. “No, no not about that. It’s my sisters. I want to know if I have visitation rights as their sibling.”
I sighed. “Well, siblings don’t have automatic legal visitation rights like a parent would. Now, some jurisdictions do recognize the importance of sibling relationships, and they will allow you to petition for visitation rights in certain circumstances.”
“Like what?”
“The most common are instances where foster care or adoption separates siblings, divorce or separation of parents with children from different relationships, or the death of a parent. In other cases, they consider what is in the best interest of the child and the nature of the existing relationship between the siblings. If they are old enough, the courts might consider their wishes. It really all depends on the jurisdiction.”
“So basically, I’m screwed.”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“What judge is going to take me seriously, Killian?”
“Did something happen?”
She sighed. “I,um…I went to the house. I know I shouldn’t have, but I was emotional and missing my sisters. I really needed to see them.”
“Did you?”
She nodded. “For a few minutes. Adrienne wants nothing to do with me. She seems so angry. And Amiyah…I feel like I have a chance with her. She gave me her number, and she hugged me. Killian, I needed that so bad.”
Tears laced her voice as she spoke, and I could tell this was weighing heavily on her.
“I’ve had to live without them for ten years. I know they have a lot of questions and even more feelings about everything. I just want to sit down with them, and I can’t. Kennedy has already threatened me if I came near them again.”
“Wait. You saw your mother?”
“Don’t call her my mother,” she snapped. “And yes, I saw her. She pulled in the yard right after I walked away. She damn near chased me on the bus. If the driver hadn’t stopped her, she would have gotten on and tried to fight me. I’m not afraid of her. I could have held my own, but who wants to fight the person that gave birth to them? Even if she deserves to have hands put on her, I don’t want that to come from me. I’m not that person.”
