“Okay, Daddy,” Brooklyn replied with a disappointed tone. She truly was a daddy’s girl, but she was beginning to see him through the lens of a teenage girl, not the little girl he remembered.
Brooklyn headed down the walkway, and Sloan gave Cairo one final piece of advice.“She’sthe kid. You call her on Christmas. You come to her on Christmas and don’t come with gifts for one. Get your shit together.” And with that, she was gone.
When she got to the car, Brooklyn practically jumped over the passenger seat to hug her neck.
“Thank you, Auntie,” Brooklyn whispered.
“Did that bitch or her brother touch you?” Sloanasked.
Brooklyn shook her head.“No, ma’am.”
Sloan grabbed her niece’s chin and looked her in the eye.“Did he touch you?”
Brooklyn shook her head, and Sloan sighed.“Okay,”
She reversed out of the driveway, and then put the car in drive, and sped away from the house.
By the time Ellie returned her call, she was pulling onto Bishop’s street.
“Hey, girl, sorry. My phone was on Do Not Disturb,” Ellie explained.“I’m just now getting home, and bitch, I have to catch you up! You good?”
“I’m almost at your papa’s house; open the door,” Sloan said, answering the question.
“Oh!” Ellie exclaimed.“Okay, cool.”
Sloan’s heart stopped when she noticed Cassidy’s carsitting on the curb.“Fuck,” she whispered as a sudden nervousness crept into her chest.
She pulled into the driveway and turned off her car. Before she and Brooklyn got out, she said,“I need you to take it a lot easier on your mom, Brook. I know you’re going through your own thing with your dad being gone, but so is she. She loves you. Stop making all these bad decisions. The smoking, the grades,” Sloan stated.“Now, I understand the boys because, baby, Auntie Sloan had them niggas lined up when I was your age,” Sloan gloated, snickering.
Brooklyn blushed and smiled widely.“But she can’t trust you with no little boy if you can’t show her that you make good decisions with other things. You’re smarter than the choices you’ve been making,” Sloan said gently.“And if you need help with something, or you feeling a way and you can’t talk to her, you know you can talk to me. Or your auntie, Shy, or your auntie, Court. We are your village. We will keep your secrets and help you through anything you feel like your mom won’t understand, baby girl. We’ve been in your life since before you were thought of. You were a name in a notebook when Ellie thought she would marry Greg Dawson in 8th grade,” Sloan laughed at the thought.“We are here for you.”
Brooklyn nodded and dropped a tear.“Can we maybe talk before we leave town, Auntie? Can I spend a night with you one of these days? You’re just always so busy.”
Sloan knew that her job got in the way of a lot. Brooklyn wasn’t lying. Maybe Sloan needed to be more available to her niece.“How about this? When you guys leave to go back home, I’llcome with you and stay through the New Year. I have more vacation time. I’llspend New Year’s Eve with you guys.”
“Really?” Brooklyn perked up.
“Yeah, really. You can introduce me to your friends and show me around, and I’lleven show you how to check your vape and weed to make sure it ain’t laced,” Sloan said.
Brooklyn’s eyes widened as if she wanted to deny that she smoked at all.
“I’m not your mama. Can’t lie to me. I can see that you’re high just by looking at you. I’m a doctor, Brook. But this shit is killing people out here. It’s not the same as it used to be when me and your mom were experimenting. You’re being stupid,” Sloan said.“And I want you alive. Of course, I’d prefer if you didn’t smoke at all, but I’m not naive enough to think you never will again. So, yeah, I’m coming to town to get you together before something bad happens to you.”
“I wish my mom was more like you. I can talk to you,” Brooklyn said.
“Your mom is so much better than me. Your mom is the best woman I know. So, respect my friend. If you give her a chance, she will be your very best friend, but you’re her daughter. You’re her cub. You grew inside her body, Brooklyn. That’s hard work. That’sthe hardest work a woman ever has to do, and a mother is going to protect that work. If you make her feel like she got to protect you from yourself, then you will never get the side of your mother that doesn’t have to worry. You taking it easy on her makes her take it easier on you,” Sloan preached.
“I understand,” Brooklyn nodded.
“Okay, now let’s get in here,” Sloan said.
Sloan climbed from the car and walked behind her niece. They didn’t knock. They walked in because Sloan had been walking in unannounced her entire life. She was a fixture in the Whitlock home, so their doors were always open to her.
“Brook!” Tessa screamed at the top of her lungs as soon as she saw Brooklyn.
Brooklyn laughed as Tessa ran into her at full speed.
Ellie shot Sloan a confused look but opened her arms wide for her daughter.“Oh my god, baby, I didn’t know you were coming home. I’m so glad you’re back!”Ellie exclaimed.
