Freaks Cum Out PT1 Kindle (5 page)

After Sabrina was given the approval to take care of Corey, there was no turning her away. She wanted to be with him all of the time. Corey recovering and being healthy was now Sabrina’s main priority.

Rounding the corner, Sabrina heard Corey before she saw him.

“Is that him crying?” Momma Montgomery asked.

“Yep, it sure is. Lungs are getting strong.” His car seat and diaper bag were in Sabrina’s hands and she couldn’t wait to get him home.

The nurses explained things in a hurry. Sabrina took notes as Momma Montgomery dressed him to go home. They handed her prescriptions for medicines and all of the possessions he had accumulated in his stay.

“We’re gonna miss you, little Corey,” one of the nurses said, holding Corey’s miniature hand as he was buckled in his car seat.

“Alright, this is everything,” another nurse said. “We gotta walk you down to your car, per hospital policy.”

A nod of the head was Sabrina’s only response. Corey was quietly bundled up in his car seat as they made their way to the entrance.

“I’ll go get the car. You all wait for me at the door,” Sabrina said. Making her way to the car, doubt began to set in. 

Can I do this? She asked herself as she got in her car and pulled up to the hospital entrance.

Momma Montgomery emerged, smiling and holding the car seat that contained Corey. Sabrina got out and securely placed Corey in the backseat of the car.

“Alright, Core. There you go,” Sabrina whispered as she finished buckling his seat in.

Closing the door softly, she turned to the nurse that was patiently waiting and talking to Momma Montgomery. Sabrina shook her hand and said a brief thank you as she and Momma Montgomery got in the car. Things were no longer fun and games. She was now responsible for a human life. A life that had already had a rough start.

Driving away from the hospital, there was no other sound in the car.

 The tension was felt by Momma Montgomery as well. She searched her mind for scriptures as she looked out the window. 

Sabrina hoped she would be quiet through the ride home. She wanted peace. Can I do this? Sabrina repeated the question to herself.

This time, as she thought about it, there really was no answer to the question. It was more rhetorical than responsive. Her approach was that she had to do it. There was no other alternative.

 Of course I can. I have to, Sabrina told herself as she pressed down on the accelerator. She moved between the cars towards home. Towards her newfound mother and sisterhood.

Dawn

Of

The Freak

CHAPTER 4

“Corey, hurry up! We gotta get you to school,” Sabrina said as she hurried around the living room, picking up papers, putting them in her backpack, and grabbing her purse.

“I’m doing number 2,” Corey screamed from the bathroom.

“Awww, come on, Core. You always gotta use it when we are about to leave,” Sabrina said, laughing.

“You’re gonna be late for your first day,” Sabrina said loudly in his direction as she gathered their things.

Corey’s only response was the flush of the toilet and a running faucet. A few minutes later, he emerged from the bathroom with his uniform shirt neatly tucked into his blue khakis and his black, wire rimmed glasses placed securely on his face.

He was much taller than the other kids his age, making him look more like a little man than an eight-year-old third grader.

I taught him well, Sabrina told herself as she gave him a quick glance over as he put on his jacket.

She was glad she didn’t have to fuss over him about his personal hygiene or straighten his clothes. Corey always wanted to look nice.

My conceitedness must have rubbed off, Sabrina thought as she grabbed her keys and handed Corey his backpack.

“Ok, you got your lunch money and your keys, right?” Sabrina asked as she opened the door and went through her mental checklist.

“Yep, and I’ve got my cell phone. Do you have your phone?” he asked as he walked out the door.

“Nope, glad you said something. Take the keys and go start the car. I’ll be out in a minute,” she told him as she went looking for her cell phone.

 Buried between two couch cushions, she found her phone. 

“Ok, that’s everything,” she said as she set their house alarm and locked the door.

Sabrina walked down her porch steps and smiled at Corey’s bouncing head in the car. The radio was loud enough that she heard it from the porch steps. Her high heels clicked on the pavement as she made her way to the car with her purse and shoulder bag in hand.

Getting in the car, she immediately turned down the blasting radio. Some song was talking about putting “swag on,” She had been too busy to keep up with the latest songs. If it wasn’t for Corey, she wouldn’t know any of them.

“So, you ready for your first day?” she asked Corey as she drove away from their house.

“Yeah, I was tired of that raggedy old school,” he said, looking out the window at their new neighborhood. A lot of things had changed for them in the past few months.

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I had to get you into a better school and the both of us into a better neighborhood,” she said turning on her blinker to make a turn.

How much this school is costing me, it better be nice, Sabrina thought to herself as she pulled into the school parking lot.

“Alright, I’ll see ya later,” Corey said, grabbing his backpack off the floor and reaching for the door handle.

“Hold up, hold up. Now, tell me again what you’re gonna do when you get off school,” Sabrina quizzed him.

Corey took a deep breath and recited her instructions that she had drilled into his head the previous week.

 “I’m gonna go straight home, put the code on the alarm thing. I’m gonna lock the door, set the alarm again, and let you know I’m home. If someone tries to grab me, I’m going to kick, scream, and run,” he said the instructions perfectly.

“My man, give me some dap,” she said, extending her hand for their traditional fist pat.

Corey laughed at his sister and how hip she tried to be.

“Ok, I’ll see you later. I should be home at 4:30. Then, I’ll take you to Momma M’s while I go to class, ok?”

“Yep, love you,” he said as he opened the door and shut it behind him. He ran towards the school and she couldn’t have been more proud.

As she watched him blend in with the rest of the blue khaki clad students, she marveled at the stark wardrobe change from baggy jeans and metal detectors. Good thing for that partial scholarship, Sabrina thought to herself.

She took one final glance at the school and saw Corey walk inside with the other students and she felt at ease. I can’t believe he is growing up. Feels like yesterday that I brought him home, Sabrina reminisced on those hard nights back when Corey was a baby.

The sleepless nights staying up, holding him as he cried for no reason. One of the many side effects of the drug abuse he suffered.

Not to mention the multiple doctor’s visits and the many hours she spent praying that he would turn out normal.

Thank you, Lord, for answering those prayers, she thought as she pulled away from the curb. She felt good about things and how she had raised Corey.

 That feeling was fleeting as she drove away and her thoughts flipped to bills and tuition payments.

Damn, I’m late for work, she said. The red numbers on the car radio read well after seven-thirty. A buzzing on her thigh stole her attention. Feeling inside her slack’s pocket, she found her vibrating cell phone.

“Yeah, CeCe, I’m on my way,” Sabrina said.

“Girl, I was getting worried. I thought you were coming in early,” Sabrina’s co-worker asked.

“Yeah, I was. I woke up late. I’m still trying to unpack,” she said as she drove with one hand on her phone and the other on the steering wheel.

“Aw, ok. You drop Corey off yet?”

“Yep, I just did. I can’t believe how mature he is. I’m just so thankful.”

“I know you are. I don’t know many that could do what you do.”

“I got to, C. Who else would do it?” Sabrina said, placing her index finger on her blinker to switch lanes. No one came to mind when she wondered who else would take care of Corey.

“I already know, girl. You want me to clock you in?” Cece asked, already making the move to Sabrina’s desk to log her in.

“Yeah, girl, please do. I’m gonna be there in, like, umm, fifteen minutes.”

“Ok, cool. Hurry up and get yo ass here so I can tell you about some shit I found out last night,” Cece said, lowering her voice.

 “Tom is coming. Hurry up. Bye,” Cece whispered before hanging up the phone.

Sabrina laughed as she imagined her friend hurrying off the phone to avoid their boss. Sabrina allowed her thoughts to depart from her bills and drift to whatever juicy gossip Cece would drop on her once they were firmly planted in their cubicles.

Making a few turns, she made it to her job quicker than she estimated. So many things had changed in her life over the past few months.

A new commute with a new house and a new school to drop Corey off ,meant that she needed to leave the house a bit earlier than usual.

Turning into the parking lot, she maneuvered her car all the way to the end. Getting to work early had its perks of close parking spots. Getting there late meant a few extra steps in your work pumps.

For the last four years, this was where she went all day. “Gotta go pay the bills,” Sabrina whispered to herself as she grabbed her shoulder bag and made her way through the parking lot.

Cece’s gossip would get her through the day, but her real reason for rushing to this place was for one person.

Sabrina thought of him as she made it into the building past all of the already parked cars. This is all for you, her mind chanted as she walked into the building

*   *   *

“Thank you for calling LandTrust, this is Sabrina speaking,” she stated the words as she began typing the loan number that the inconsiderate customer was yelling into her ear. “I do apologize for the mishap. One moment while I look that up,” she said.

I can’t wait till I get away from this place and no longer have to kiss these peoples’ asses, Sabrina thought to herself as she moved her mouse across her computer screen. She finished her call and threw her headset down

“Girl, what’s wrong with you?” Cece asked after hearing Sabrina’s crashing headset.

“Just another call.”

“Well, come on, lets go to the break room so I can show you the video,” Cece said, leading the way to their break area.