Free A Street Girl Named Desire: A Novel by Treasure E. Blue Page B

side. Hattie Mae decided to just let Desire be that night, as she had on so many others.

     
    Two months passed after Desire learned the truth of where she had come from. Desire was settled in at Hattie Mae's and enrolled in her first year of high school. Hattie Mae's only request of Desire was that she attend church with her every Sunday and go to school without fail. Desire agreed, but also asked to make a request of her own.
    “Of course, chile, anything yo grandma can do. What is it?” Hattie Mae said.
    Desire went to her room and immediately came back out and reminded her, “Now, remember, Hattie Mae—I mean Grandma—you promised me.” Hattie Mae looked at Desire with a wide smile and nodded. Desire turned toward her room door and yelled, “Tiah, you can come out now.”
    Suddenly, the young girl that Desire had befriended from 42nd Street appeared. She walked timidly into the kitchen. She and Desire had continued to wild out in the streets, but now Desire faced the fact that it could be time to stop all that. She felt safe enough that she could try to change things in her life. Desire'sabsence from the streets had affected Tiah terribly, since the girl had no one else to truly care about her. She had several older brothers but they were more concerned about the streets than her. For weeks, they had been meeting secretly. As Desire slowly pulled herself out of the gang's mischief, Tiah had become more desperate. She had begun asking Desire to sneak her into Hattie Mae's apartment in the middle of the night so she could have somewhere to sleep. She always left before dawn. It had been Desire's idea to see if Hattie Mae would let her stay permanently.
    All smiles, Desire said, “Grandma, this is my friend Tiah. She ain't got nowhere to go.”
    Hattie Mae was stunned as she stared at the girl in front of her. Tiah's shoes were battered and her clothes looked too small. Her hair had been sloppily done. Tiah shook so nervously, a whisper could have blown her over. Hattie Mae said nothing then. She needed to think about what she wanted to do. She simply grabbed Tiah's hand and brought both girls into her wide arms.
    “You want something to eat?” she asked Tiah, as the frightened girls pressed into her chest exhaled.

     
    Tiah was also a ward of the state, with no guardian in the picture. Part of the reason for that was because the authorities couldn't find her. Tiah had disappeared from the face of the earth as far as most of her state caretakers knew. Minimal effort was put forth to find her, because most social workers' case files overwhelmed them. They had chalked Tiah up to just another set of numbers that needed to be entered into a database. There were codes for everything, even missing children. They knew that she wouldturn up again, someday, and become an active case again. Until that day, they had to write her off and go on to the other piles of folders that had overtaken their desks. Hattie Mae was determined that this child would not be a case closed.
    Hattie Mae knew that it was God's will to place Tiah in her life, just like it had been His will to bring Desire to her. She knew that her age was an issue and reached out once again to her old friend Judge Ross for a favor. The women had not forgotten the horrible incident that they both had been a part of correcting. They had not forgotten the role they played in truly rescuing Desire from what would have been certain death had she stayed with Nika when she was a baby. And once again, Judge Ross expedited the case and granted Hattie Mae total guardianship of another true unfortunate—Tiah. That same day, Desire asked and was granted that her name be changed legally from Desire Mitchell to Desire Evans. Tiah could not believe what was happening. Everything had happened so fast, it was as if she were dreaming. One day her world revolved around running from authorities, stealing to keep money in her pocket and finding a place to crash for the night and