Family Over Everything (3 page)

Delicious smiled mischievously as she watched Relisha take a few puffs from the blunt before she awkwardly looked at it. “It's laced, you dumb bitch!” Delicious laughed.

A
s time progressed and months turned into years, Relisha transformed into a full-blown drug addict. Since the day that she had smoked her nemesis' laced marijuana, she went from smoking them three times a week to sniffing pure cocaine daily. She watched as her body went from petite to emaciate in a matter of months after she'd gotten addicted to the drug. Relisha was on a path of destruction and with her twin sons seldom on her mind, another challenging situation seemed to draw her thoughts on her boys back.

One day, Relisha walked through the cold streets of Northview with a vial of cocaine in her hand. Wearing disheveled clothing, she stared around the dull neighborhood through her bloodshot eyes, searching for a place to take her drugs. When she finally found a place in a dark alley, she threw herself against a dirty wall and slowly slid down it. Reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small mirror and a rolled-up dollar bill, she took the vial of cocaine, poured it on the mirror and proceeded to divide it into three lines until she felt a sharp pain shoot through her stomach, causing her to drop the mirror and double over.

“Ugh!” she screamed as she felt an extreme amount of pressure coming from her lower abdomen.

With her chest heaving, she spread her legs and arched her back when her uterus contracted and she felt something ripping through her vaginal canal.

Shifting her body from off of the wall, she then placed her elbows on the ground as she lay on her back and took slow, deep breaths. Closing her eyes tightly, she released a loud scream as her body started to shake uncontrollably and she then felt a strong urge to push.

Sitting up, she kicked her sweat pants off as she continued to push and scream. Reaching in between her legs, and touching her vagina, her heart almost leapt out of her throat when she felt the head of her unborn child crowning. She clenched her teeth and tossed her head back as she continued to push. Five minutes later, she reached back down, grabbed the baby by its shoulders, and pulled the rest of its body out of her before she cradled it in her arms.

The baby lay almost motionless in her arms as Relisha then took her small mirror, smacked it against the ground, took a broken piece, and cut the umbilical cord. Picking up her sweat pants, she wrapped them around the baby before mustering up what strength she had within, and rose to her feet. Panicking, she ran out of the alleyway with the baby in her arms and aimlessly walked through Northview. When she saw a garbage can in the distance, she started to walk toward it until she thought about her twins. She turned and walked in the opposite direction. When she made it to Melissa's porch, she placed the baby on the ground, banged on the door, and then ran off the porch, disappearing into the dark night.

Melissa sat at her kitchen table, tears seeping from her eyes. With her hair pulled back in a tight bun and dressed in a knee-length skirt with a white shirt, she turned her face away from
eight-year-old Deion, who ran around the kitchen with his toy truck in his hand.

Peering at the stack of bills on her table, she dropped her head into her hands as Deion walked up to her and asked, “Are you okay, Mom?”

Melissa looked at Deion, trying her best to mask her pain as she flashed a fake smile and nodded her head. “Yes, baby, I'm okay . . .why do you ask?”

“I thought you were crying.”

“I'm fine, baby. Go ahead and play with . . .”

A loud knocking coming from her front door interrupted her. She hopped out of her chair and walked toward it. Looking out the peephole, she didn't see anyone there, and she shook her head and opened the door. “I'm so tired of these kids playing on my darn door!”

When she gazed around outside and still didn't see anyone, she started to close the door until she caught a glimpse of what lay on her threshold. Bending down as tears formed into her eyes, the sight of a thin, pale baby wrapped in wet rags burned a hole through her heart. She lifted it into her arms and stepped back inside before she closed the door behind her.

The infant's skin was cold and pasty as Melissa unwrapped the dirty sweat pants from its body.

“Whose baby is that?” Day'onne asked, hopping off the floral sofa.

“I don't know, Day'onne. Deion, please go get my purse and keys from off my bed. Hurry up!” she yelled.

Judging by the umbilical cord that still hung from the infant's body, she knew it was birthed into this world not too long ago.

“Here you go, Mom!” Deion yelled as he handed Melissa her purse and keys.

“C'mon, y'all, put your shoes and coats on!”

The twins nodded their heads as they ran to the living room closet and stepped into their shoes and coats. When they were ready, they ran out of the front door with Melissa, who was still holding the motionless baby, following right after them. She strapped the twins in her car before handing the baby to Deion. “Be careful, baby. Hold it until we get to the hospital.”

Nodding his head, Deion stared at Day'onne, who was frowning at the baby, before he asked, “Do you think it's dead?”

“I don't know, and I damn sure don't care,” Day'onne replied before he turned toward the window and stared out it.

“Don't worry, baby, we'll save you,” Deion whispered to the infant as Melissa placed her key in the ignition before driving off.

When they finally arrived at Allegheny General Hospital, Melissa quickly hopped out the driver's seat before running to the backseat, opening the door, and gently taking the baby out of Deion's arms. With the twins following behind her, she ran to the emergency department, and yelled, “Help me, please!”

A handful of doctors ran to her, noticing the pale, almost lifeless infant dangling in her arms. One of the doctors gently took the newborn and placed it on a gurney.

“What happened here, ma'am?” one of the doctors asked as they rushed the baby toward the NICU department.

“I don't know; I found her in front of my house. Someone placed her there,” Melissa replied as she ran with the doctors, refusing to leave the baby's side.

“We're going to need you to stay out here while we do our jobs,” another doctor said when they finally reached NICU.

Nodding her head, she stopped in her tracks as she watched the doctors disappear into the distance.

For the next three days, Melissa had been at the hospital consistently
to answer questions from the police, who were trying to find the mother and to get an update on the infant who had stolen her heart. The doctors hadn't been any help, only alerting Melissa that the baby was doing much better than before. But on the fourth day, Melissa and the twins walked into the waiting room and she started to demand more details.

A doctor walked right up to her. “Are you Melissa Johnson?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Okay, my name is Dr. Harrison and I'm sorry we haven't given you a lot of details on the baby. We aren't used to someone dropping off a baby they found and then sticking around.”

“It's fine. Please tell me what's going on with the baby?”

She watched nervously as Dr. Harrison removed his bifocal glasses from his face and placed them into his lab coat. Taking a deep breath, he stared into Melissa's eyes. “It's a girl. This child has been born addicted to crack cocaine, Ms. Johnson. Her health was steadily decreasing and she had a low birth weight. We ran tests to make sure she wasn't born with any mental problems, too.”

“Was she?”

“No, she wasn't born with any mental problems. That child is a fighter, Ms. Johnson. Her health is increasing and she's doing much better.”

“Can we see her, Mom?” Deion intervened with a bright smile on his face.

Gazing at the doctor with pleading eyes, Melissa smiled when Dr. Harrison smiled back at Deion and nodded his head. He started to lead them toward the NICU until Melissa noticed Day'onne still standing in the waiting room.

“Are you coming, son?” she asked as she walked back toward him.

“No, I'm not going. I don't want to see that baby,” he replied with knitted eyebrows and a twisted mouth.

“Why not, baby?”

“I'm just tired, Mom. I'll wait for y'all in here,” he lied as he took a seat.

Eyeing him one last time, she nodded her head before she turned around and walked quickly, catching up with Deion and Dr. Harrison.

Once they reached the unit where the baby was located, Dr. Harrison opened the door to a small room and led them inside. “You two have five minutes.”

They nodded their heads when they watched him walk out of the room. Walking up to the baby's incubator, Melissa and Deion smiled as they peered down at her.

“Wow, she's beautiful, Mommy.”

“Yes she is, son. She's almost the same color as you were when you were first born.”

The baby's skin color was now a light brown, no longer pale. She had jet-black, wavy hair and a pin-straight nose.

When the baby opened her eyes, Melissa couldn't help but think of how familiar her light, slanted eyes look. Gasping, realization hit her and everything started to make sense. The baby being born addicted to cocaine, and her light eyes led to one conclusion. She glanced at Deion's slanted eyes before she stared into the baby's eyes.

“What's wrong, Mom?”

“Deion, baby. This is your sister.”

“How? You didn't have her?” he asked confusedly.

“No, baby. Remember your other mommy I told you and Day'onne about?” Eyeing the floor as he nodded his head. “That's her daughter, baby. Y'all have a sister!”

For the next couple of months, Melissa busied herself with work, looking after the twins, and making daily visits to the hospital.

Over time, the drug-addicted infant's health drastically improved, and one day when Melissa came to the hospital for her regular daily visit, she found a surprise.

“Hello, Ms. Johnson, My name is Diane Puchiarelli, and I'm from Child Protective Services.”

“Hey, Ms. Puchiarelli, how may I help you?” Melissa asked skeptically, shaking the woman's hand.

“I've been assigned to this case. The infant in question was born addicted to crack cocaine and abandoned. I've been told that you've been a consistent visitor?”

“Yes, but what are you getting at, Ms. Puchiarelli?” she asked.

“Well, I have been informed that this child's health is improving and she's healthy enough to be discharged. They're ready for her to be released and since we don't know who her biological parents are, it's my job to get her into a foster home or assign her a legal guardian, immediately.”

“Okay, is that where I come in?”

Ms. Puchiarelli shook her head as she folded her arms under her breasts. “I'm not certain. I did a brief background check on you and discovered you live in the high-crime area, Northview Heights. This child has already been through a lot, and it's my job to make sure she's properly taken care of and in a safe environment.”

“Are you saying because I live there, it isn't safe for her?”

“Yes, but—”

“Excuse me, but for your information, I took in two twin boys over seven years ago whose mother, like that child in there, abandoned them. Because I live in Northview doesn't mean she'd be in danger. There's danger everywhere in this city, not to mention
this world! That child in that nursery waiting to be released is mine!”

Ms. Puchiarelli nodded her head as she remained silent for a moment, trying to choose her words more carefully before she spoke. Having dealt with numerous cases where children were placed with money-hungry, careless guardians who only wanted them for the paychecks the government provided for them, she could tell Melissa was different.

“I can see that you care for this child. Perhaps I should reconsider my position. I don't want her to go through any more than she's already been through.”