Kenisha. If you're getting ready to ruin my day, you can at least act like you know me."
"Okay," he said slowly, as if he were talking to someone who was emotionally unstable."Here's the deal, Kenisha. The tumor has shrunk enough for us to be able to operate."
She had been holding her breath, but once she heard Dr. Lawson's news, she let out a sigh of relief as she jumped out of her seat."What's wrong with you? You had me so scared. That's good news, and you should have said that when you walked through the door."
"Please sit back down, Kenisha."
"Why?" Kenisha said as she put her hands on her hips."So you can rain on my parade? No, thank you. Just tell me what else you have to say."
"Look, Kenisha, I'm not trying to be all gloom-and-doom like you said. I just feel an obligation to let you know exactly where we stand. So will you please sit down so we can discuss this?"
Kenisha sat back down. She took a deep breath and said, "Let me have it. What's the bad news?"
"Our biggest problem is the late detection."
"I'm only twenty-three years old, Doc. I didn't think I needed to run to the hospital for every ache and pain," Kenisha interrupted.
Dr. Lawson steepled his hands in front of his mouth. When he moved his hands, he said, "I understand that, Kenisha. And most people your age would be perfectly fine not going to a doctor, but you had cancer, and even though the tumor has shrunk, I'm not sure that we got to it in time."
The look on Kenisha's face displayed the bewilderment she was feeling."I don't understand what the problem is. You said the tumor shrunk, so you can operate, right?"
"Yes, we can operate. I'd like to schedule you as soon as possible. You'll be in the hospital for a few days after the operation, so you'll need to find someone to keep your children. Will that be a problem?"
With the family she had, yeah, that was going to be a problem. Kenisha wanted to ask Dr. Lawson if he'd like to watch three well-behaved children while she had a couple of tumors pulled out of her. But then she thought about something Kevin had said about Jimmy Davis owing them a debt. Although she would never in a lifetime ask that man for anything, she had no problem with making Angelina pay her father's debt.
Angelina had spent her life being pampered by that perv and worrying about nothing but studying and getting good grades. Angelina was Martha's pride and joy. Mommy dearest had always favored Angelina just because her father had a good job. But if Martha had been any kind of mother, Jimmy wouldn't have had a job at all, because he would have been in jail. So as far as Kenisha was concerned, today was payday, and Martha could scream to high heaven if she wanted to, but the princess was going to be babysitting."Yes, I do have someone to keep my kids while I'm in the hospital. It won't be a problem."
"Good, then I'll get you scheduled for next week."
"All right, then, I'll make arrangements for my kids." Kenisha stood up, preparing to leave.
Dr. Lawson closed the file as he said, "I don't want to get your hopes up, Kenisha. We'll do the surgery and then some chemo. But there are no guarantees."
"Doc, hope is all I've got. So when you open me up, I need you to be full of hope that day too, okay?"
He nodded."Okay, Kenisha. I'll do what I can."
"I've got three kids, Doc. You're going to have to do better than that," she said as she opened his office door and walked out. She raced out of the hospital as fast as she could, tears streaming down her face. She was suddenly claustrophobic and needed air like a fish needed water.
As Kenisha walked to the bus stop, she called Angelina and told her all about how her father had raped her when she was a child. She then told Angelina that she owed her a favor, because somebody had to pay for what Jimmy Davis did. By the time Kenisha hung up the phone, Angelina was in tears, but she had agreed to keep Kenisha's children while she was in the hospital, and that was all Kenisha cared
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