A Degrassi Fanfic
Titled: "Why Me?"
Chapter 6: Better Place
Tiyanna sat in the living room quietly and watched TV. She was dressed and ready to attend her sister's funeral. The 15-year-old had been living with her father for about 2 days now, and she felt totally different. She was at peace, with no one to order her around. But today she was absolutely sad. She didn't know how she would react to seeing her sister. She felt a funny feeling in her stomach, she was very nervous.
Tiyanna turned off the TV and got in the car with her father. In no little more than 15 minutes they were at the funeral home. They were the first people there. Greg had Tiyanna sit in the lobby while he checked things out. In about 20 minutes people had already piled in. From family members she hadn't seen in years, to her Chanell and her grandmother.
She walked out of the lobby and looked at the people standing around the small casket. Then, looked at Chanell who, stood besides her grandmother popping gum. Looking, as if she was at a very boring movie. But, maybe she was trying to hide her emotions. But Tiyanna didn't believe it; Chanell just yawned and sat down with her hand on her chin.
Tiyanna walked over to the casket and looked at her baby sister. She was just so tiny, but yet she looked so peaceful. Tiyanna refused to believe that her baby sister was dead. It couldn't be. She looked like she was sleeping. Yup, that's it, she's just sleeping. Tiyanna just shook her head, like as if she was in a bad dream.
She just wanted to convince herself that her baby sister was sleeping. "Di'Andra baby wake up. Wake up for your big sister please" Tiyanna said crying. "Show these people your alive baby, they think your dead. Show them please mamacita" Tiyanna urged the dead little girl. Tiyanna continued to sob, while people looked at her as if she was crazy. Her aunt came over to her and comforted her. Tiyanna felt a bit better, she felt loved. No one had done that in years. Some one actually cared enough to try and relieve her of the pain.
"Its okay baby, God got her. He wants her in heaven" her aunt said to her as she embraced her and stroked her hair. "I never even got to know her, she didn't even get a chance in life" Tiyanna said continuing to sob. Letting go of her aunt Tiyanna sighed. "Thanks so much auntie Rita, I really needed that" Tiyanna said wiping the tears off her face.
"Go see Di'Andra" Tiyanna told Chanell. Chanell looked at her as if she was crazy, and shook her head no. "I'll go with you, just go see her" Tiyanna insisted. "I said no, now leave me alone you cry baby" Chanell said with a grin, as she went back to talking with her cousin.
Slowly walking away Tiyanna couldn't believe Chanell's behavior. How could she act that way? That was her own flesh and blood, in a casket about to be buried. But instead of even getting a glimpse at her, she preferred to chew gum and run her mouth. But then she heard something that made her heart skip a beat. Those words just echoed in her head. "Not to be mean or nothing, but I'm glad she dead, cuz she wasn't gonna take my spot as the baby girl." Tiyanna couldn't believe that her sister could be that cruel.
How could someone even have the courage to say something like that, even think up a thing like that? Tiyanna turned around and grabbed Chanell by her dress and picked her up. "How dare you say that about our sister! How can you be so damn cruel Chanell? I understand if you hate me, that don't matter, but Di'Andra? She didn't even LIVE Chanell. How can you be so damn selfish!" Tiyanna said shaking Chanell.
Then Yvette made her way over to the altercation. "Get yo damn hands off of her" she remarked, as she grabbed Chanell and tried to make sure she was okay. "What's your damn problem Tiyanna, it's your fault you the one who did this" her mother added.
Tiyanna just shook her head and made her way across the room. She wasn't even going to bother with her mother anymore. Plus, she also didn't know what the hell was going on with Chanell. But God needed to help her. Because the thoughts that were in Chanell's head were unbelievable.
The Following Monday At Degrassi
Theresa strolled through the halls of Degrassi. It was good to be back. She had actually missed school. It was better than being cooped up in her room doing homework all day. But it was a bit different. The school seemed to have a different atmosphere. Going to her locker, she passed by Emma who was at the lockers talking to Derrick, who seemed to be annoyed by her.
Theresa just shrugged it off, her mother told her to stay out of people's business. So she actually decided to listen to her mother for once. So since that was Tiyanna's business she decided to leave it alone. After getting her books, and making sure she had her re-admit slip with her, Theresa made her way to class.
"Wow, it's been a week already? Welcome back" Chris said as he saw Theresa in the hallway. "Yeah, I know you missed me" Theresa said with a smile, and then continued on to class. Walking into the classroom, she noticed Manny just sitting there, with a huge grin on her face chatting with JT.
Just the sight of her and her slutty laugh pissed Theresa off. That was the person that she tried to help out. Theresa couldn't even remember what was going through her head when she did what she did. She regrets ever helping out Manny, but that's all in the past. She just has to worry about keeping out of trouble for the rest of the school year. Or just being slick like Manny and Paige.
Taking her usual seat, Theresa began to take down notes that were on the board. Class had started but Manny was still chatting it up, with mouth full of gum and laughter. Nothing could be that funny, for her to be making all that racket. The late bell was going to ring any minute now, so JT and Manny exited the room and headed to their class.
That's when Theresa realized who they were back there laughing it up with. What she saw wasn't bad at all. He was Elijah Fonseta, cute, mature, sexy, and a jock. With his jet black hair, and beautiful green eyes, and fit body, he was the talk of Degrassi ever since he first came to the school, which was in October. The girls were crazy about him, and the guys envied him, or were one of his many friends.
Theresa was shocked that he was in her class, maybe he changed classes for some strange reason. But whatever reason it was, Theresa loved it. Her class seemed to be "Hottie Central". It was filled with the cutest and best dressed students of the Degrassi. Theresa also noticed that his hair grew out a bit. That suited him very, very well.
Turning back around she saw Derrick walk into the room. Damn a week sure did a lot Theresa thought. Derrick seemed to have gotten much cuter. Theresa remembered when she used to crush on him. But her crushes never really lasted. They would come and go, and eventually come back again. But Derrick stopped, and sat right next to her. This made her a bit nervous, until he opened his mouth and mentioned Tiyanna. "No, I haven't spoken to her, I've been on lock down my whole suspension" She replied. "Aight, if you ever plan on stopping by her house tell me" Derrick said, and with that he walked away to his own seat.
Derrick didn't even mention the twin's situation to Theresa. They really aren't the best of friends, and if Theresa was to be her friend if she heard about the twin's, it would probably be out of pity. This was something that Tiyanna didn't like. So Derrick decided to leave it alone, he shouldn't have even mentioned about the visitation thing. Because he doubted that Tiyanna could even have visits.
Theresa on the other hand shrugged it off. The boy crazy female was happier than ever. Elijah had asked her to see her notes. So while he sat down next to her and copied, she sat there loving his scent. The boy really smelled good. Elijah must have of known because he made a comment. "Smells good aye? It's Tagged Body Spray. You smell good yourself" Theresa flashed him a smile and replied. "Thanks."
Elijah always looked at Theresa just as a typical Degrassi girl, with her typical friends. But since she was expelled she was basically the talk of the school. Theresa was pretty much known as a sexy Latina, with a bad temper that could kick some ass. With hazel being the pretty Somalian that could fight back. That's when Elijah wanted to know more about her, since he had a thing for Latina's.
So, who other to tell him, then the beautiful Filipino Manny Santos, who was now throwing herself at him. So they would talk, and Manny would tell him about Theresa, but she would get annoyed at him always wanting to talk about Theresa, instead of her. But Manny wouldn't complain, she'd just give him some looks, and be a bit touchy while changing the subject.
"So, what's ya background?" Elijah asked. Theresa had such an exotic look and you could tell she was Hispanic. "Well, I'm Hispanic. But to name them all. My mom is Guyanese and Puerto-Rican, and my dad is Brazilian and Cuban." Theresa replied, she was a combination of those four things, and you could basically tell. She had a natural tan, beautiful light brown eyes, dark brown hair, eyes that were a bit chinky, curves, and a sultry voice when she spoke.
"That's hot, well I'm Greek and Italian" Elijah replied, some would say they knew by his features. His dark hair would give him away most of the time. "Cool, so why did ya change classes?" Theresa asked wondering. "Why? You don't want me in your class or something?" Elijah asked with a grin. "No, nothing like that. I was just wondering" Theresa said while doodling on a scrap sheet of paper.
"Okay, I was just checking. I changed classes because I wanted to. The other class was pretty lame, and I changed like the day after you got kicked out." The green-eyed Elijah commented. "Okay, but that's pretty good since its only December" The Latina replied. She had a feeling that she would get him. But then again, Manny and her slutty laugh could push her off the game.
"So what's with you and Manny, are ya'll like going out or something?" Theresa asked, she hoped that her guess was wrong. "No, we're just friends ya know" Elijah said finishing up on the notes. Theresa hoped that Elijah and her could be friends, if not more. She didn't want him to think of her as a nerdy school girl, that he could just use for her notes on a daily basis.
"Oh okay, I was just wondering. Cuz ya'll were havin some laughs back there" The Latina Bombshell added, she didn't want to come off as jealous, but she was just speaking her mind. "Oh, we were just back there talking ya know. Me, her and JT. JT and I would crack a couple jokes, and she'd just go hysterical." Elijah said with a grin. "I think she has the giggles or something" Elijah added.
So she was just showing off, with that slutty laugh. Maybe trying to make me jealous. It worked a bit. Theresa thought. Then looked back into Elijah's green eyes and smiled. "Thank's for the notes" Elijah commented handing Theresa her notebook. But he didn't move back to his seat, he sat with her as they started on their class work. Not bad for my first day back, not bad at all. Theresa thought.
Back At Greg Moore's Apartment
Tiyanna sat back, and looked at her room. She had finished decorating it, in the colors of Red, black and white. This just happened to be the colors of the Trinidad and Tobago flag. Sitting down she thought about Saturday. How could her sister behave that way? That wasn't at all human. But Tiyanna knew her sister was in a better place. She had plenty of talks with her father, and she decided to be strong.
Every night Tiyanna and her father would pray together, and pray extremely hard for De'Vante, Chanell, Yvette and Tiyanna's G-Ma. God did something very positive, by allowing Tiyanna to move in with her father. But Tiyanna knew that things would get better, and she was very grateful to have a father like Greg Moore.
Turning on the TV, Tiyanna decided to have some laughs. So she put a movie in the DVD player. King's Ransom seemed to be a pretty good movie. Tiyanna decided to watch it. That could take time away from the sadness and have a good time. The brown eyed female sat with hot buttered popcorn, and Pepsi, and started to relax.
The movie seemed to be good so far, and Tiyanna understood how Cory felt. He would always have people bossing him around, as if he was a robot. Until, he couldn't take it anymore and retaliated. That's how Tiyanna felt at times herself, and that's how she felt that day with Ashley. That was the day she couldn't take it anymore, and so was Saturday. Flipping out on Chanell wasn't really good, because Tiyanna wanted to bond with Chanell, not have Chanell hate her even more than she already did.
But Tiyanna couldn't keep letting Chanell push her around. She had to show the little brat who was older, because Chanell had to learn something. Life isn't about getting everything you want, it's about working for what you want. Having fun, living life, and having goals. Not always depending on people 24/7. Looking at Cory's house, Tiyanna couldn't help but giggle.
The 15-year-old wondered what her mother's house looked like now. With only Chanell and her G-ma in it. The 11-year-old Chanell would always eat and leave trash everywhere. She never cleaned up after herself or anything. Tiyanna was getting pretty excited. She had 2 weeks left of suspension and she would be back to Degrassi.
But she would only be in school for 4 days until they went on break for winter vacation. But Tiyanna was just glad that she would be coming back to school. She never even imagined that she'd be kicked out of school for so long. But it was a reality, and she learned a lot from it.
Tiyanna had forgotten to tell Derrick about the changes that had went on. Since they hadn't spoken, since their little heart to heart. But Tiyanna missed Derrick; she hadn't seen him in like forever. But she knew that she shouldn't be all into him like that. What if in the end she got her heart broken? Why was she even caring so much? Could she be in Love?
"You can't love anybody" Tiyanna commented out loud to herself. But deep down she knew having this attitude wasn't a good thing. Not everyone you loved would hurt you. There were some people out there who truly loved you, and would be by your side through thick and thin. Her father was a prime example. Tiyanna always acknowledged what she and Derrick had as puppy love. Because she felt that she wasn't ready, or wasn't old enough for the real thing.
The young woman just didn't want to get hurt anymore. These days she was contemplating breaking up with Derrick, but a part of her still wanted to be with him. As the movie started coming to an end, Tiyanna slowly closed her eyes, and got some rest. It felt good to just sit back and chill.
Thursday
Yvette laid in the hospital chair fast as sleep. She had prayed so many times, for god to help her son make it through the operation. She truly believed that Tiyanna cursed her; she was feeling nothing but hate towards her oldest daughter. It was as if she found Tiyanna as a threat to her. At times Yvette found it fun to put Tiyanna through abuse. She just enjoyed how Tiyanna would try and be so strong.
It shocked Yvette, through all those years, seeing not a single tear come out of the girl's eyes. That's when Yvette thought she was inhuman, or actually practicing witchcraft. So Yvette believed that this was Tiyanna's way of getting back at her mother. But Yvette didn't know just how wrong she was. Tiyanna isn't at all one to know a thing about witchcraft. She just bottled up her emotions.
So when Tiyanna finally started to cry, Yvette felt as if the girl lost her "powers" or she was just pretending. Yvette feared for her life when she saw Tiyanna in the room looking at De'Vante. But sometimes a part of her would want to grab her daughter and embrace her. But there's something inside of her, which just wanted to mistreat Tiyanna, for trying to be so perfect, and trying to be all goody goody. But once Yvette started she didn't know how to turn back.
Even if she apologized and tried to fix things, Ms. Winston didn't believe that Tiyanna would forgive her. Because if She was in Tiyanna's shoe's, she wouldn't forgive herself either. But it was as if, Yvette had an angel on one side, and a devil on the other. At times she'd feel like she wasn't doing anything wrong. That it was her mother causing all of this.
Grandma Mary was a childish person. She loved to play games with little children. She was a "Childish Manipulative Bitch" as her ex husband would put it. She simply treated Tiyanna badly because she called it "karma". She felt that Tiyanna had put her life through hell, so she would do the same to her. When Yvette had Tiyanna she was happier than ever. All Yvette focused on was Greg and Tiyanna, Greg and Tiyanna, blah blah blah. Greg wants this, Tiyanna needs this, and so on, and so forth.
Yvette didn't have time to hang out with her mother anymore, leaving Grandma Mary all alone. Since her husband Marcus would always hang out with Greg. Calling him the son he never had. Grandma Mary had no one. It was a Saturday, hot summer day. A day that Tiyanna was spending with her grandfather.
Tiyanna being only 2 years old, but very chatty was at the super market with her grandfather. She saw a beautiful middle aged woman and ran to her. "Ooh, dat's a pweedy fwowa in ya hair" the young Tiyanna commented. "Thank you, here, one for you, for being a pretty little girl" The lady responded and handed Tiyanna a plastic flower for her hair also. Tiyanna thanked the lady and started to keep her company with conversation. The woman barely understood her but she listened. Her grandfather and the woman also started to have their own conversation, and they really hit it off.
Now, Tiyanna's grandfather had been having affairs for years. Grandma Mary had a couple of her own. He just didn't feel that he should be with her any longer. He felt that if they had one more altercation, over some little thing, he would really leave her. When they got home Tiyanna played with the flower and played dress up. Mary noticed the flower and asked young Tiyanna where she got it from. "Umm, I got it fwom auntie Claudia" Tiyanna said happily. "Aint it pweedy" Tiyanna added.
Now Mary never heard of an Auntie Claudia. So later that day when Tiyanna went home, an argument broke off, Mary threw things around the house. She yelled, she accused, she slapped, she cursed and everything. Her husband couldn't take anymore. He packed his bags and filed for divorce. He dated Claudia for about a year and then married her.
At 3 years old, Tiyanna was the flower girl at their wedding. While Mary was a lonely woman at her house. Blaming Tiyanna for loosening her tight bond with Yvette, and ruining her marriage, since she after all was the one that put her grandfather and Claudia together.
But why hate a child because of that. Plus never tell anyone the reasons why? Then hate her father for breaking her mother's heart. But hate the child for that also, because she had eyes identical to her father's. But Grandma Mary had some mental problems in the past. A problem that was supposedly fixed back home when she was 13. Maybe that was what caused her to behave like a selfish child at times. No one really knew.
Yvette didn't even know about the mental problem. Even if Grandma Mary knew herself that the problem was back. She wouldn't tell anyone. Since, she just wanted to be "normal".
But waking up from her five minute nap, Yvette knew that her son was having an operation. A 10 hour operation. Not knowing a thing about medical science, Greg looked at every single thing the doctors did to and with his son. He wanted to make sure they knew what they were doing, and if any mistakes happened he would be a witness. He also prayed that everything went all right. He had always wanted a son, and he finally had him.
No matter how small his son was, he was still his son. And God had big plans for him. That was his boy, and Greg was positive that De'Vante would make it into the world. The operation just started, and Greg couldn't wait for his baby boy to be out of the hospital. "After the Operation. Ms. Winston, you and the baby need to go back to your room. He has to stay here for 2 days, so we can check him out, to see if all is well. Then you can take your baby boy home." One of the nurses commented. Yvette shook her head, showing that she understood, and watched as they were going on with the operation. De'Vante was only a week old, and having his first operation. Yvette shook nervously as she started to pray over and over again. At times she would yell and scream, and just cry out.
She was then asked to step out, because her shouting and carrying on was disturbing the doctors. Yvette left the room. She couldn't take it, seeing her little baby's flesh; it just hurt her so badly. But she hoped that everything would be worth it. That Sunday morning she would be taking her baby boy home.
Boy was she right. Sunday morning rolled around, and the nurses handed her some papers, and her son's medication, and she was so excited. She was ready to go home. Grandma Mary came and picked her up, and drove home. It seemed as if De'Vante changed everyday. He looked healthier and he would actually grin a bit, showing off his gums. The neighbors noticed Yvette coming home with a baby in her arms. They congratulated her, and greeted her, and asked the gender and all that stuff.
As soon as Yvette stepped into the house it was completely different. The sink was full of dishes, the fridge had spilled pop stains, and the stove was dirty. The carpet had lots of dirt on it, as if no one in the house had hands to vacuum it. The kitchen floor was sticky. Making her way to the living room, she saw a water bottle on the floor. A dirty table, a stained TV, and a dusty entertainment center.
Yvette was suddenly angry, coming back home to find her house filthy. She headed upstairs to her room. She layed De'Vante in his crib, and walked down to Tiyanna's room. Opening the door, and about to yell she stopped. Looked around and saw the room pretty bare. Then realized that she was gone.
She seemed to be in a daze. She really had lost two daughters. One dead, and the other she lost emotionally. "I'm sorry baby" Yvette said slowly, as a tear fell down her cheek. Shaking her head Yvette closed the door, and headed to her room. Ms. Winston never realized how much Tiyanna did in the house, all that she did without a thank you. Without rest, and without respect. Mostly she did so many things without even complaining. I'm the worst mother in the world Yvette thought to herself, as she headed back into her room. Shutting the door, she looked at De'Vante who was now wide awake.
Taking him out the crib, and holding him in her arms, she sat down on the chair, and started to breast feed him.