was trying to keep from blowing away. A teasing smirk was plastered across my lips. I remembered Tabby taking that picture when we were downtown at the Taste of Chicago, a huge festival that was held every summer. We were hanging out overlooking Lake Michigan when Tabby started taking pictures. Across my chest in a super cool font were the words WILD CHILD. The image reminded me of a wicked cool book cover.
“Wow, this is badass.” Addison traced her image and the words WILD BEAUTY graphically designed over her picture.
I turned the page and there was picture after picture of me, or me with Tabby, or me with the rest of my sisters and Mama Kerri. I kept turning. It was years’ worth of pictures. More than a decade’s worth. I went to the very back. The first image was one she’d had to have taken when she first got the camera at fourteen. I would have been just barely twelve. It was a selfie of me and Tabby. Under it she wrote, Soul Sisters Forever.
Soul Sisters.
That’s what we were.
That’s what she died for.
That’s why I had to accept her sacrifice as the gift it was intended to be.
I reached for Sonia’s and Blessing’s books. Addison took Liliana’s and Charlie’s except hers said Charlotte which was her real name. I didn’t look inside to see what she’d named them, though I hoped one day they would share. For now, whatever was in their picture book was for them and Tabby alone.
Sonia frowned when I stood in front of her with the heavy book.
“We found these picture books in a chest. There’s one for each of us.” I handed her the one with her name on it.
The only way I could see how affected Sonia was in that moment was because her hands shook when she reached for the book that had Sonia in beautiful silver etching down the spine.
She ran the flat of her hand over it lovingly then looked up at me. Her eyes were filled with tears when she said, “Thank you.”
I handed Blessing’s to her. She reached for it, saw her beautiful name, and held it against her chest as she looked up at the ceiling. “God dammit, Tabby, why did you do this to us! I miss your face. I miss your awkward hugs. I miss your bony white ass dancing around Mama’s house taking pictures. I miss my sister!” She sucked back a sob. Sonia got up and pulled Blessing into her arms.
“Me too, Bless, me too.” She cooed over her shoulder.
“We didn’t get enough time with her.” Blessing sobbed which truly was a miracle. The woman was such a hard ass, she rarely shed tears. Her response to emotional conflict was usually to get mad and get even. There was no getting even when the person you’re mad at was no longer living.
“Sister, it would never have been enough time.” I ran my hand down her back as Sonia served as her rock, holding Blessing up while she gave in to the grief.
Addison gave the other girls their books and I went back, got Genesis’s and Mama’s, and brought them to where they were boxing up Tabitha’s small bedroom items. I handed the respective books to Gen, then to Mama.
Mama put her hand over her heart and sighed, then took the book and immediately opened it. The first page was of course an image of Mama Kerri. It was a candid shot of her dancing in the yard. I remember exactly when it was taken too. Mama Kerri had just turned fifty. Tab would have been just hitting twenty. That had been a great party because we were all mostly old enough to enjoy it. I was around eighteen, and Addison, the youngest, was seventeen. Mama Kerri wore a bright yellow dress with flowers and vines running all over it. She was spinning around, her hair aloft, and the dress was flowing with the breeze.
I ran my finger over the image as Mama Kerri stared at it. “She was extremely talented. I wish she’d known that,” I confided.
Mama nodded. “I tried to tell her. Get her to enter photo competitions but she said her images were for her and her alone. To capture the good she had in her life, because it was too easy to focus on the bad.” She sighed, turned the page, and traced an image of Tabitha’s pixie-like features. There was no smile there. Tabitha had never been known for