Thread: Southern Sins (Kassy & Reaperlament)

Five years was long enough to change a person from the sweetest honey to the bitterest lemon. Sophie had experienced life in a full circle and now she knew she wasn't happy. A better explanation would be content with her position in life. Nothing had gone the way she thought it would. At the age of fifteen, she had watched her mother die on their yellow kitchen floor. Sophia had watched and cried as Jenny had convulsed on the floor, while the ambulance took their time coming to the rescue As her own fingers gripped her mother's chest in horror, she could also feel her perfect little bubble pop. She had never realized until that day how very sheltered she was from the surrounding reality. She was no longer the apple of someones eye, but just another colored child. The memory clutched on to her attention, keeping it for a little longer than she was comfortable with. It was only when she smelled the aroma of sweet batter did she come back to the present. Foolish, mama. The pancake flipped in the skillet, hissing a little as it hit the butter. The top side was not quite a golden brown and it was shaped in a mishap circle. It was a testament to her lack of cooking skills. Jenny hadn't passed on a lot of knowledge when it came to such things. So Sophia had never had dishes in the sink and the pots had been good for nothing but boiling water to drink later. Instead, her papa and herself lived off of neighbors good charity and the wages she collected as a waitress. It didnt hurt either that folks here were a tight knit group so if someone struggled there was always someone to fall back on. So when her papa retreated away from her, she had the others. What little money she made was pocketed into maintaining the house and the bills that came with it. Clothing had been restitched and let loose countless times. It was the one skill she had gained from her mother. Everything else had been handled by her father, who had managed to keep finding construction work. After, he had bought his fair share of liquor he gave the rest of money to her. It was a good system. James drank himself into a quiet stupor and she pretended as if their lives were okay. Some days, like today when the heat was especially sticky, he would lock himself in the room. Their conversations would dwindle down to a few sentences on the best of days, but when he escaped to his room, the small home was like a ghost town. Sophia had hated the distance initially when she was younger, but then she got used to it, accepted it as she accepted most things in her life. Jenny had been the only bridge to her father and that was gone. There would be no reaching the man and Sophia grew to be ok with that as well. It helped her grow up a little faster, her skin a little thicker. Sophia scooped the pancake out of skillet dropping it on a plastic plate. It sat there steaming as she stared out into the backyard. The window was open so she could smell the night air, could hear the crickets rubbing their wings and she could hear the truck. The sound picked up on the gravel path that made up the driveway and It took her a few moments to actually realize it was her home the truck had come up to. Sophia lifted the dry pancake to her lips, waiting to hear the telltale sign of boots on the porch as if needing further confirmation of someone coming to her home so late. She stood still for a long time, feet plastered to the floor while her head full of rollers tilted sideways. The front window that looked out to the porch was open, a good breeze whistling in. The neighborhood was safe enough so she had no reason to feel worried, at least at first. A few seconds pass and then there was a light thud on the door, followed by the smooth voice of the law. The rest of her reactions came in quick succession pummeling through fields of worry and fear before halting at quiet dread. It was tempered of course because she didnt want to escalate the situation and in these days it was easy to do so. Sophia hadnt realized she been taking steps, cutting the distance in half, even as she contemplated what she should say. There was a real good amount of fear running through her and making her next words shaky. He ahhe sleepin. The words were out her mouth before she turned the knob, she regretted them instantly. She didnt sound confident even though she knew her papa was sleeping as hard as a rock, it didnt help that it also wasnt much of an excuse. Sophia didnt have much time to think about it as she faced the tall white man at her door. She only knew he was tall because she had kept her eyes looking straight forward and he went past her view. He aint wake, whacha need him four?