Daisha awoke to the sound of Roger and Mark shuffling around in the
hallway. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her face still felt clammy, but
she felt a lot better than she had yesterday. The door opened suddenly,
revealing Roger.
"You feeling okay?" he asked, seeing that she was awake.
"Yes. I feel much better," she said, smiling. "I'm sorry I had to use your bed."
"It's no problem. Any sister of Mimi's is a sister of mine," he said, winking. Mimi appeared beside him, peeking into the room. "Are you feeling better, Daish?"
Daisha nodded. "I am. I feel a lot better."
"Do you want to check your temperature again?" Mimi asked.
"I'll do it myself," said Daisha, I don't want to be anymore trouble.
Roger left the room and fished the thermometer back out of the medicine cabinet, and came back into the bedroom, handing it to Daisha. A moment went by, and Daisha slipped the thermometer back out of her mouth. "Ninety- Eighty point Eight," she read aloud.
"Thank God," Sighed Mimi. She lay down on the bed beside Daisha. "What did Joel do, exactly?" she whispered, biting her lip.
Daisha paused, and looked up at Roger. "I'm going," he said, nodding, and closed the door behind him.
Daisha sat up in bed, with the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "He hit me a lot," she said, softly. "Sometimes for no apparent reason. It was always when Mommy wasn't around."
Mimi nodded slowly, remembering how Joel used to treat her the same away.
"Recently he started acting really weird . . . like, he'd come up behind me and tell me I was pretty, or touch my chest or behind and pretend it was by accident." Tears were starting to form in the corners of her eyes. "The final straw was when he told me he wanted to sleep with me."
Mimi's mouth dropped open.
"I don't know if he was drunk or not, but it scared the hell out of me. I packed my stuff and left. Thankfully, I ended up here."
"Thankfully," Mimi agreed, hugging her younger sister tightly. "I'm so sorry, sweetie- he used to treat me he same way. That was partly the reason why I left."
"Why DID you leave?" Daisha asked softly, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand.
"My disease," Mimi said quietly. "When I told Mama, she wouldn't talk to me. Joel just became enraged, he was like an animal. He called me a whore and told me if I slept around with whoever I pleased, I might as well be sleeping on the streets, rather than living under his roof. And that's what I did."
"I HATE him," Daisha trembled, starting to tear up again.
"So do I, Chica. It'll be alright though," she soothed, patting her on the shoulder.
"Do you promise?" Daisha whispered, looking up at her older sister.
"I promise."
***
A loud knocking on the door woke Roger from his reverie on the couch.
"Coming," he called, annoyed. He opened the door. He didn't even need to look twice to know that it was Mimi's sister. She had the same color skin, the same brunette curly hair, the same smile, even the same small button nose. The only difference was that she was taller, standing almost as high as Roger."
"Hi," she said, smiling. "Does Mimi Marquez live here?"
"Well, she doesn't LIVE here, per say," Roger said, stupidly. "She is here though, yes."
Mimi's sister eyes widened with excitement. "Could you tell her Isabella is here?" she said, practically whispering.
"Sure. You can come see her yourself. She's talked about you," he said.
"She has?" Isabella asked, looking pleased.
"Yup. Daisha's here too."
"Yes, I know. She called me from a pay phone yesterday and told me where she was. She gave me the address of the building." She paused and glanced at a crumpled pair of leather pants on the floor. "Those are definitely Mimi's," she laughed.
Roger kicked the pants to the side with his foot, embarrassed. "Oh, um, you know, that was just from when . . ."
"I understand," she said winking.
"Alright," he said, blushing. "I'll get Mimi for you." He knocked on the door of his room. "Meems? Someone's here to see you and Daisha."
"One moment," Mimi's voice answered through the door. Isabella looked overjoyed to hear the sound of her voice again. The knob turned, and Daisha and Mimi walked out. Daisha smiled with pleasant surprise when she saw Isabella. Mimi stared, her mouth wide open.
"Izzie?"
Without warning, Isabella ran over to Mimi, sweeping the smaller Latina who was a head or two shorter than her into her arms.
"Oh-My-Gosh, Mimi, I've missed you so much!" she cried, squeezing her tightly.
"Iz, you're killing me, here," Mimi giggled from behind Isabella's arms.
"Sorry," laughed Isabella, unable to hide her excitement. "You look great, Mimi! God, I can't believe it's been almost two years . . ."
"Me neither," Mimi sighed, hugging her back.
Isabella looked over her shoulder at Daisha. "I guess you two have already been re-acquainted."
Daisha nodded, smiling.
"You had me and Mama worried," she continued. It wasn't a surprise to Mimi that Isabella didn't add Joel.
"I'm sorry," said Daisha, quietly. She shuffled her feet on the wooden floor.
"It's alright, at least I know your safe," Isabella smiled. She turned to Roger. "So, who are you, handsome?"
"That's my boyfriend, Roger," Mimi said, quickly.
Isabella eyed him again, more closely than she had when she had first walked in the door. "Not bad," she said, approvingly. Both Roger and Mimi blushed.
"Who's here?" Mark's voice rang out, as he walked into the hallway. He stopped when he saw Isabella. "ANOTHER one?" he exclaimed, seeing the resemblance to Mimi.
"Hush, Mark," Mimi said, slapping him lightly on the arm. "This is my sister, Isabella."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said automatically, shaking her hand. Then he turned to Mimi. "There aren't any more Marquezes, are there?"
"Unfortunately, no," Mimi laughed.
"Thank God," he pretended to be relieved.
"Quiet, Cohen," Roger joked, punching him lightly on the shoulder.
There was another knock on the door suddenly, louder this time.
"I thought you said there weren't anymore," Mark said, raising his eyebrows.
"There aren't," Isabella said.
Roger went to answer the door. "Well, the whole gang's here," he announced, as Maureen, Joanne, Collins and Frankie entered the apartment.
"Jeez," said Isabella.
"This is Maureen, Joanne, Collins, and Frankie," Roger recited, pointing to each. They all waved and said hello, looking confused.
"This is my younger sister, Daisha," Mimi said quickly, motioning her head towards Daisha, "And this is my older sister, Isabella."
Another chorus of 'Helloes' rang out.
"Well, this is a bit new," Collins acknowledged. There was an awkward silence.
"So!" Maureen piped up, breaking the ice. "Who's hungry?"
***
"Be sure to give him a big tip," Maureen whispered to Mark as Seb left the table. The look on his face when he'd seen the large group coming had been priceless.
"God, I haven't eaten in a restaurant in so long, it seems," Daisha said, as she wolfed down her cheeseburger.
"Hey there, don't choke," Frankie exclaimed, from the opposite side of her.
"Don't worry about it. The kid could use some meat on her bones," Isabella joked, leaning back in her chair.
"I'm not a kid," Daisha shot back, from behind the cheeseburger.
"You're fifteen. Technically, you're not considered a grown-up until you're eighteen. In conclusion- you're a kid."
Daisha stuck her tongue out at Isabella and continued eating.
"You're such a bad influence," Roger whispered to Mimi, teasingly.
"What?"
"I'll bet she got that tongue thing from you."
"Oh . . . Well the OTHER tongue thing, I patented myself," Mimi joked.
"Mimi Conchita Marquez," he gasped, feigning shock.
"What's wrong?" Maureen asked, looking up from her plate of Sushi.
"Nothing," Mimi giggled, and Roger winked at her.
Maureen shrugged and turned to Joanne. "So Jimmy's coming in about an hour. I've gotta get all my artwork out to show him."
"Alright," said Joanne, glancing at the others. "Aren't you going to tell them?"
"Nah, I wanna surprise them," Maureen said.
Joanne shrugged. "Alright, it's your art."
"That's the beauty of it," Maureen winked.
"So, where's your apartment?" Frankie asked Isabella.
"Oh, not too far from here," Isabella paused. "About five blocks away, I think. Not too far."
Frankie nodded, smiling.
"So, how long have you been together," Isabella asked, motioning to Collins.
"Us? We've been together for a couple of months now," Collins said, wrapping his arm around Frankie.
"That must be nice," sighed Isabella. "I haven't met a guy that hasn't tried to screw me over yet."
"Still?" said Mimi, raising her eyebrows.
"It might be easy for you, Meems, but for others, we actually have to meet a guy rather than fall into her lap."
A hurt expression came over Mimi's face.
"Oh, God, I didn't mean it like that, Mimi."
"Of course you didn't, Mimi said, quietly. "Excuse me," she made her way past Roger, Daisha, Collins, and Frankie's chairs and went outside.
"Crap, I screwed up," Isabella said, angrily. "See, THIS is why I can ever meet anybody. My big mouth."
"I'll go talk to her," Roger offered, getting up.
He found Mimi outside, sulking against the wall of the restaurant.
"She didn't mean it like that, Meems," he said softly, reaching out to stroke her cheek.
"I KNOW what she meant," Mimi snapped, angrily. "She thinks I'm a whore."
"She doesn't," Roger protested, lamely.
Mimi sighed. "You didn't live in our house, Roger. You don't know all the shit we went through."
"Because you never told me," Roger said, getting annoyed. "I didn't even know you had sisters before yesterday.
"Well maybe I never mentioned them because I thought I'd never see them again, and I didn't want to remember," Mimi shot back.
Roger threw up his hands, in defeat. "Fine, Mimi. You win. I'm going back inside."
Roger disappeared back into the building.
Mimi folded her arms against her chest, frowning. She could still remember the conversation that she'd had with Isabella the day she left home. She could remember it like it was yesterday.
***
"You whore!" Joel screamed, grabbing fifteen-year-old Mimi by her slim trembling wrists.
"STOP IT, Joel," she cried, trying to wrench away from him.
"Don't call me Joel- I'm your FATHER, understand?" he shouted, shoving her away from him. Mimi collapsed against the wall, crying softly.
"Did you LIKE it?" Joel snarled, walking over to her. "Or was it a bunch of different people? Did you enjoy it? Letting all of them FUCK you?"
"YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER!" Mimi screamed, tears streaming down her face.
Enraged, Joel raised his hand, preparing to strike her.
"Joel, STOP IT," Isabella's voice yelled from behind him.
Joel turned to her. "Why? You're sister's a slut, Isabella. And this is how people like you end up!" he yelled at Mimi, who was sobbing uncontrollably.
"Get out, Joel," Isabella said, in a tired voice.
Anger flashed in Joel's eyes. "I don't want to see you when I come back in here," he said to Mimi, coldly. "I don't care if you're in your room, or out on the streets, but I don't want you in my sight." He turned sharply on the balls of his feet and stormed out of the room.
Mimi could hear him and Conchita, Mimis mother, fighting, and ten-year-old Daisha pleading with her mother to stop screaming.
"Why do you do these things, Mimi?" Isabella sighed, sitting down next to her crying sister.
"I told you that that club wouldn't lead to anything good."
Mimi leaned her head against the wall and wept.
"Was it Ryan that gave it to you?"
Mimi didn't answer.
"Or was it someone else?" Isabella said angrily, her voice turning cold her. "For God sakes, I don't even know how many people you've been sleeping with over the past month, Mimi! Why the hell do you do this to us?"
"I don't know," Mimi whispered, weakly. "I'm sorry."
Isabella shook her head, disgusted. "The problem with you, Mimi, is that you're selfish. You think you can just do whatever the hell you want and it won't hurt anyone else? Well, it's time to WAKE UP, Mimi. Get your head cleared from all the drugs you've been doing, and all the needles you've been shooting up on and get some fucking RESPONSIBILITY!"
Mimi bit her lip, so hard that she tasted blood on the tip of her tongue.
Isabella shook her head again. She got up, and started to leave.
"Isabella," Mimi whispered, weakly.
Isabella turned around. "You heard Joel," she said, coldly. "You better get up and get into your room and out of his sight before he comes back in here."
"I'll do better than that," Mimi said, through gritted teeth, as Isabella left the room. She went up into her room, quietly taking an old duffel back from her closet, stuffing it with some clothes, and her wallet. An old picture frame caught her eye. It was of Mimi, Isabella, her mother, and her father. The picture had been taken before Daisha was born. Mimi considered taking it. Then she decided against it. She gently placed the picture facedown, and got up to her feet. She tore a piece of notebook paper out of one of her school binders and scrawled a note to Isabella.
Iz- You and Joel told me that I'd best get out of your sight. So I'm doing you a favor. I'm getting out of your sight. PERMANENTLY. Tell Mama I love her. Don't come after me. -Mimi
She placed the note on Isabella's bed, as the two of them shared a room. Finally, she crept quietly down the stairs, and left.
***
"Earth to Mimi," Mark said, waving a hand in front of Mimi's face. Mimi snapped back to reality. "What?"
"Jeez, you really must have been zoned out," Mark said. "We're all done. We're ready to go."
Mimi looked up at the others. Isabella smiled weakly at her. Mimi turned away. "Are you coming?" Mark asked.
"I'm coming."
"You sure you're okay?" Roger asked Mimi, as the group walked on ahead of them.
"I'm fine." Mimi forced a smile.
"Alright, if you're sure," Roger said, although he sounded like he didn't believe her. He walked up ahead of the group to talk to Mark.
Mimi dragged behind in the back, pausing to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye.
a/n: Em0- No violence yet :-p. Sorry to keep you guys waiting.
"You feeling okay?" he asked, seeing that she was awake.
"Yes. I feel much better," she said, smiling. "I'm sorry I had to use your bed."
"It's no problem. Any sister of Mimi's is a sister of mine," he said, winking. Mimi appeared beside him, peeking into the room. "Are you feeling better, Daish?"
Daisha nodded. "I am. I feel a lot better."
"Do you want to check your temperature again?" Mimi asked.
"I'll do it myself," said Daisha, I don't want to be anymore trouble.
Roger left the room and fished the thermometer back out of the medicine cabinet, and came back into the bedroom, handing it to Daisha. A moment went by, and Daisha slipped the thermometer back out of her mouth. "Ninety- Eighty point Eight," she read aloud.
"Thank God," Sighed Mimi. She lay down on the bed beside Daisha. "What did Joel do, exactly?" she whispered, biting her lip.
Daisha paused, and looked up at Roger. "I'm going," he said, nodding, and closed the door behind him.
Daisha sat up in bed, with the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "He hit me a lot," she said, softly. "Sometimes for no apparent reason. It was always when Mommy wasn't around."
Mimi nodded slowly, remembering how Joel used to treat her the same away.
"Recently he started acting really weird . . . like, he'd come up behind me and tell me I was pretty, or touch my chest or behind and pretend it was by accident." Tears were starting to form in the corners of her eyes. "The final straw was when he told me he wanted to sleep with me."
Mimi's mouth dropped open.
"I don't know if he was drunk or not, but it scared the hell out of me. I packed my stuff and left. Thankfully, I ended up here."
"Thankfully," Mimi agreed, hugging her younger sister tightly. "I'm so sorry, sweetie- he used to treat me he same way. That was partly the reason why I left."
"Why DID you leave?" Daisha asked softly, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand.
"My disease," Mimi said quietly. "When I told Mama, she wouldn't talk to me. Joel just became enraged, he was like an animal. He called me a whore and told me if I slept around with whoever I pleased, I might as well be sleeping on the streets, rather than living under his roof. And that's what I did."
"I HATE him," Daisha trembled, starting to tear up again.
"So do I, Chica. It'll be alright though," she soothed, patting her on the shoulder.
"Do you promise?" Daisha whispered, looking up at her older sister.
"I promise."
***
A loud knocking on the door woke Roger from his reverie on the couch.
"Coming," he called, annoyed. He opened the door. He didn't even need to look twice to know that it was Mimi's sister. She had the same color skin, the same brunette curly hair, the same smile, even the same small button nose. The only difference was that she was taller, standing almost as high as Roger."
"Hi," she said, smiling. "Does Mimi Marquez live here?"
"Well, she doesn't LIVE here, per say," Roger said, stupidly. "She is here though, yes."
Mimi's sister eyes widened with excitement. "Could you tell her Isabella is here?" she said, practically whispering.
"Sure. You can come see her yourself. She's talked about you," he said.
"She has?" Isabella asked, looking pleased.
"Yup. Daisha's here too."
"Yes, I know. She called me from a pay phone yesterday and told me where she was. She gave me the address of the building." She paused and glanced at a crumpled pair of leather pants on the floor. "Those are definitely Mimi's," she laughed.
Roger kicked the pants to the side with his foot, embarrassed. "Oh, um, you know, that was just from when . . ."
"I understand," she said winking.
"Alright," he said, blushing. "I'll get Mimi for you." He knocked on the door of his room. "Meems? Someone's here to see you and Daisha."
"One moment," Mimi's voice answered through the door. Isabella looked overjoyed to hear the sound of her voice again. The knob turned, and Daisha and Mimi walked out. Daisha smiled with pleasant surprise when she saw Isabella. Mimi stared, her mouth wide open.
"Izzie?"
Without warning, Isabella ran over to Mimi, sweeping the smaller Latina who was a head or two shorter than her into her arms.
"Oh-My-Gosh, Mimi, I've missed you so much!" she cried, squeezing her tightly.
"Iz, you're killing me, here," Mimi giggled from behind Isabella's arms.
"Sorry," laughed Isabella, unable to hide her excitement. "You look great, Mimi! God, I can't believe it's been almost two years . . ."
"Me neither," Mimi sighed, hugging her back.
Isabella looked over her shoulder at Daisha. "I guess you two have already been re-acquainted."
Daisha nodded, smiling.
"You had me and Mama worried," she continued. It wasn't a surprise to Mimi that Isabella didn't add Joel.
"I'm sorry," said Daisha, quietly. She shuffled her feet on the wooden floor.
"It's alright, at least I know your safe," Isabella smiled. She turned to Roger. "So, who are you, handsome?"
"That's my boyfriend, Roger," Mimi said, quickly.
Isabella eyed him again, more closely than she had when she had first walked in the door. "Not bad," she said, approvingly. Both Roger and Mimi blushed.
"Who's here?" Mark's voice rang out, as he walked into the hallway. He stopped when he saw Isabella. "ANOTHER one?" he exclaimed, seeing the resemblance to Mimi.
"Hush, Mark," Mimi said, slapping him lightly on the arm. "This is my sister, Isabella."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said automatically, shaking her hand. Then he turned to Mimi. "There aren't any more Marquezes, are there?"
"Unfortunately, no," Mimi laughed.
"Thank God," he pretended to be relieved.
"Quiet, Cohen," Roger joked, punching him lightly on the shoulder.
There was another knock on the door suddenly, louder this time.
"I thought you said there weren't anymore," Mark said, raising his eyebrows.
"There aren't," Isabella said.
Roger went to answer the door. "Well, the whole gang's here," he announced, as Maureen, Joanne, Collins and Frankie entered the apartment.
"Jeez," said Isabella.
"This is Maureen, Joanne, Collins, and Frankie," Roger recited, pointing to each. They all waved and said hello, looking confused.
"This is my younger sister, Daisha," Mimi said quickly, motioning her head towards Daisha, "And this is my older sister, Isabella."
Another chorus of 'Helloes' rang out.
"Well, this is a bit new," Collins acknowledged. There was an awkward silence.
"So!" Maureen piped up, breaking the ice. "Who's hungry?"
***
"Be sure to give him a big tip," Maureen whispered to Mark as Seb left the table. The look on his face when he'd seen the large group coming had been priceless.
"God, I haven't eaten in a restaurant in so long, it seems," Daisha said, as she wolfed down her cheeseburger.
"Hey there, don't choke," Frankie exclaimed, from the opposite side of her.
"Don't worry about it. The kid could use some meat on her bones," Isabella joked, leaning back in her chair.
"I'm not a kid," Daisha shot back, from behind the cheeseburger.
"You're fifteen. Technically, you're not considered a grown-up until you're eighteen. In conclusion- you're a kid."
Daisha stuck her tongue out at Isabella and continued eating.
"You're such a bad influence," Roger whispered to Mimi, teasingly.
"What?"
"I'll bet she got that tongue thing from you."
"Oh . . . Well the OTHER tongue thing, I patented myself," Mimi joked.
"Mimi Conchita Marquez," he gasped, feigning shock.
"What's wrong?" Maureen asked, looking up from her plate of Sushi.
"Nothing," Mimi giggled, and Roger winked at her.
Maureen shrugged and turned to Joanne. "So Jimmy's coming in about an hour. I've gotta get all my artwork out to show him."
"Alright," said Joanne, glancing at the others. "Aren't you going to tell them?"
"Nah, I wanna surprise them," Maureen said.
Joanne shrugged. "Alright, it's your art."
"That's the beauty of it," Maureen winked.
"So, where's your apartment?" Frankie asked Isabella.
"Oh, not too far from here," Isabella paused. "About five blocks away, I think. Not too far."
Frankie nodded, smiling.
"So, how long have you been together," Isabella asked, motioning to Collins.
"Us? We've been together for a couple of months now," Collins said, wrapping his arm around Frankie.
"That must be nice," sighed Isabella. "I haven't met a guy that hasn't tried to screw me over yet."
"Still?" said Mimi, raising her eyebrows.
"It might be easy for you, Meems, but for others, we actually have to meet a guy rather than fall into her lap."
A hurt expression came over Mimi's face.
"Oh, God, I didn't mean it like that, Mimi."
"Of course you didn't, Mimi said, quietly. "Excuse me," she made her way past Roger, Daisha, Collins, and Frankie's chairs and went outside.
"Crap, I screwed up," Isabella said, angrily. "See, THIS is why I can ever meet anybody. My big mouth."
"I'll go talk to her," Roger offered, getting up.
He found Mimi outside, sulking against the wall of the restaurant.
"She didn't mean it like that, Meems," he said softly, reaching out to stroke her cheek.
"I KNOW what she meant," Mimi snapped, angrily. "She thinks I'm a whore."
"She doesn't," Roger protested, lamely.
Mimi sighed. "You didn't live in our house, Roger. You don't know all the shit we went through."
"Because you never told me," Roger said, getting annoyed. "I didn't even know you had sisters before yesterday.
"Well maybe I never mentioned them because I thought I'd never see them again, and I didn't want to remember," Mimi shot back.
Roger threw up his hands, in defeat. "Fine, Mimi. You win. I'm going back inside."
Roger disappeared back into the building.
Mimi folded her arms against her chest, frowning. She could still remember the conversation that she'd had with Isabella the day she left home. She could remember it like it was yesterday.
***
"You whore!" Joel screamed, grabbing fifteen-year-old Mimi by her slim trembling wrists.
"STOP IT, Joel," she cried, trying to wrench away from him.
"Don't call me Joel- I'm your FATHER, understand?" he shouted, shoving her away from him. Mimi collapsed against the wall, crying softly.
"Did you LIKE it?" Joel snarled, walking over to her. "Or was it a bunch of different people? Did you enjoy it? Letting all of them FUCK you?"
"YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER!" Mimi screamed, tears streaming down her face.
Enraged, Joel raised his hand, preparing to strike her.
"Joel, STOP IT," Isabella's voice yelled from behind him.
Joel turned to her. "Why? You're sister's a slut, Isabella. And this is how people like you end up!" he yelled at Mimi, who was sobbing uncontrollably.
"Get out, Joel," Isabella said, in a tired voice.
Anger flashed in Joel's eyes. "I don't want to see you when I come back in here," he said to Mimi, coldly. "I don't care if you're in your room, or out on the streets, but I don't want you in my sight." He turned sharply on the balls of his feet and stormed out of the room.
Mimi could hear him and Conchita, Mimis mother, fighting, and ten-year-old Daisha pleading with her mother to stop screaming.
"Why do you do these things, Mimi?" Isabella sighed, sitting down next to her crying sister.
"I told you that that club wouldn't lead to anything good."
Mimi leaned her head against the wall and wept.
"Was it Ryan that gave it to you?"
Mimi didn't answer.
"Or was it someone else?" Isabella said angrily, her voice turning cold her. "For God sakes, I don't even know how many people you've been sleeping with over the past month, Mimi! Why the hell do you do this to us?"
"I don't know," Mimi whispered, weakly. "I'm sorry."
Isabella shook her head, disgusted. "The problem with you, Mimi, is that you're selfish. You think you can just do whatever the hell you want and it won't hurt anyone else? Well, it's time to WAKE UP, Mimi. Get your head cleared from all the drugs you've been doing, and all the needles you've been shooting up on and get some fucking RESPONSIBILITY!"
Mimi bit her lip, so hard that she tasted blood on the tip of her tongue.
Isabella shook her head again. She got up, and started to leave.
"Isabella," Mimi whispered, weakly.
Isabella turned around. "You heard Joel," she said, coldly. "You better get up and get into your room and out of his sight before he comes back in here."
"I'll do better than that," Mimi said, through gritted teeth, as Isabella left the room. She went up into her room, quietly taking an old duffel back from her closet, stuffing it with some clothes, and her wallet. An old picture frame caught her eye. It was of Mimi, Isabella, her mother, and her father. The picture had been taken before Daisha was born. Mimi considered taking it. Then she decided against it. She gently placed the picture facedown, and got up to her feet. She tore a piece of notebook paper out of one of her school binders and scrawled a note to Isabella.
Iz- You and Joel told me that I'd best get out of your sight. So I'm doing you a favor. I'm getting out of your sight. PERMANENTLY. Tell Mama I love her. Don't come after me. -Mimi
She placed the note on Isabella's bed, as the two of them shared a room. Finally, she crept quietly down the stairs, and left.
***
"Earth to Mimi," Mark said, waving a hand in front of Mimi's face. Mimi snapped back to reality. "What?"
"Jeez, you really must have been zoned out," Mark said. "We're all done. We're ready to go."
Mimi looked up at the others. Isabella smiled weakly at her. Mimi turned away. "Are you coming?" Mark asked.
"I'm coming."
"You sure you're okay?" Roger asked Mimi, as the group walked on ahead of them.
"I'm fine." Mimi forced a smile.
"Alright, if you're sure," Roger said, although he sounded like he didn't believe her. He walked up ahead of the group to talk to Mark.
Mimi dragged behind in the back, pausing to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye.
a/n: Em0- No violence yet :-p. Sorry to keep you guys waiting.