Free Married to a Balla by Jackie D. Page B

trashed the room, she still didn’t wanna ignore the fact that he could’ve been behind of all this.
    Skye watched as they drove another ten minutes before turning down a dark, poorly lit road and drove a few more miles into a deep secluded area. Nobody’s gonna find this shit, she thought . Minutes later they finally pulled up to a white colonial style house that sat on about an acre and a half of land. The house was in desperate need of a paint job, but the two big columns in front and rocking chairs added lots of charm.
    Skye turned off the car and turned around. “Listen up guys, when we get in there, we can’t tell anyone who your father is. It’ll be safer that way. Don’t even mention him.”
    “I still don’t understand why we gotta come here,” Kareem said looking around. “This place don’t look right.”
    “Look, I’m not thrilled about this either, but right now we don’t have much of a choice.”
    “How long are we gonna stay?” Jordan asked.
    “Hopefully not long. As soon as I talk to Asia and she sends us some money, we can leave. Whoever broke into our room stole all we had left.” Both of the boys were quiet. “I promise. Things will work out.”
    “Okay,” Jordan said. Kareem replied shortly after.
    “While we’re staying here, I’m gonna be using the name Janelle,” Skye informed them.
    “Do you have to change ours? I like my name,” Jordan said with a concerned expression.
    “It probably would’ve been better if we changed your names too, but something tells me you’re gonna forget anyway, so you all can continue to use your real ones. But don’t tell anyone our last name is Washington. We’ll use Coleman for now. Got it?” When both boys shook their heads, Skye adjusted her wig then opened the door. “Okay, let’s go.”
    They all got out the car, grabbed their bags and walked behind the officer. He kept looking at Skye like he wanted to ask her more questions but didn’t. Moments after ringing the doorbell, Mercedes came to the door.
    “May I help you?” She held a stern look.
    “Is Mr. Mitchell here? I’m officer Hicks. Deacon Jones should’ve called, he’s expecting us.”
    “Who?” Mercedes looked as if she was expecting him to say something else.
    The officer looked at her, then remembered the deacon saying, “if you don’t know the password you won’t be allowed inside.”
    Skye put her bags down and was getting ready to speak when the officer stopped her.
    “Oh, yes…Breaking the Cycle,” he blurted out.
    “Thank you, welcome to BTC, come on in,” Mercedes replied with a smile now formed on her face.
    Once inside, Skye noticed the tall ceilings, beautiful woodwork and old antique maple floors. However, all that changed as soon as Mercedes escorted them inside a large family room that was really outdated with purple shag carpet and striped wall paper. Mercedes told Skye and the boys to have a seat on the old cracked leather couch.
    Jordan looked around wondering how many families lived inside the large crowded house. It was shit everywhere.
    “I’ll be right back,” Mercedes said then told the officer to follow her down the hall to see Mr. Mitchell.
    Sticking out like a sore thumb, it didn’t take long for everyone in the house to direct their attention toward them. From the teenagers in the family room watching T.V. to the group of women peeking out from the kitchen, everyone was trying to figure out who they were because unlike most families who came, Skye and her family still looked like a million bucks to them. It was almost as if everyone could smell money.
    All of a sudden one of the women who appeared to be in her late thirties spoke up. “What happened to you? Did your husband catch you charging too much on your Saks card? Or are you mad because your husband bought the Maserarti instead of the Aston Martin?” she laughed crazily.
    Skye gritted her teeth and shot a look back thinking, Bitch, you don’t know me !
    She then turned her