Forever and a Day - By Jasmine Barber Page 0,38

lie.

"Ma, I ran away from my house. I'm a foster child and they don't even care about me," Tyrese started.

"That's why he's been staying here so much lately," Kiyan added.

"So when were y'all going to tell me," she questioned.

"I think Tyrese was going to tell you today before you called us in," Mercedes answered.

"We didn't lie ma," Cam added. He didn't want a whopping today, Alonzo didn't either that's why he stayed silent.

They went on to tell Anyah how Tyrese's foster parents didn't even know when he wasn't home. They never spoke to him and they wouldn't even use the money that the state gave them for him. Then Tyrese went on to tell her about the bank account his real parents left for him when he was 11. Anyah couldn't believe the secret that all her "kids" had kept from her these past 2 years. She promised them that she would take care of the situation.

After that day Anyah went down and requested full custody of Tyrese. His foster parents didn't respond to none of the letters sent to their house and when the agent from the adoption agency came to inform them they no longer had custody of Tyrese, they told them that Tyrese was always home with them. Knowing that Tyrese had been with Anyah for the pass 2 months, they quickly deemed them as unfit foster parents. Two days later, Anyah was granted full custody of Tyrese. There was nothing she wouldn't do for her kids whether she birthed them herself or inherited them from their friendship with Kiyan.

Mercedes smiled thinking about how much closer they all became with Anyah after that process was done. Mercedes loved her boys; she was basically one of them. She was the only girl in the group. Whenever you saw the boys, you saw her. When Anyah use to buy the boys matching sneakers, you best to believe Mercedes had a pair of them same sneakers. When Anyah bought season basketball tickets, Mercedes was always included. She was like their little sister, since she was two years younger than Kiyan, Cameron and Tyrese. She was only one year younger than Alonzo.

Mercedes came to Jersey to help Kiyan with his girl problems, but she secretly wanted to move to New Jersey to be closer to her brothers. She had planned to start looking for somewhere to stay. She didn't tell any of the boys yet, because she wanted to surprise them. She also hoped that Kiyan didn't make any plans for her right away because she didn't pack anything. She was ready to shop until she drop all on the expense of one of her brothers, and Kiyan just so happened to have been the one who picked her up from the airport.

They got in the car and Kiy drove off in the direction of the mall. He knew Mercedes like the back of his hand. Mercedes didn’t bring one bag with her, so that meant she wanted to go to the mall to shop. Even though she got treated like one of the boys, her girly side always came out when shopping was involved. He looked over at Mercedes and said, “I missed your big headed ass yo.”

Mercedes smiled and said, “ I missed your aggy ass to, but you know you paying for everything and carrying my bags.”

Kiyan laughed and replied, “You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t make me do that shit.” He missed his little sister and he knew her visit would be good without her bossing him and his boys around.

Chapter 19

“Kiyan may have a girlfriend but not for long." -Michelle

It was Thursday almost the end of her workweek and Brielle was beginning to stress herself out. So she went to the only person who knew would give her the best advice. Her mother was the only person who didn't mind telling Brielle the truth no matter if it was harsh or not. Brielle was an only child, so her relationship with her mother really meant a lot to her. They became very close over the years. They were basically best friends. Brielle knew her father, but even if he were on fire in front of her she wouldn't acknowledge him. He left her mother all the responsibility of raising a child that they made together. Therefore, Brielle wanted nothing to do with him. Brielle got out of her car and proceeded to take her keys out to her mother's house.

"Mommy, where are you?" Brielle yelled.

"In