| It was an blistering summer evening in June, as Mercedes, a normally demure 25 year old woman with almond browned skin,sat crying on her older sisters' couch thinking of her life and what had brought her to this point.She could remember the day well,15 years ago her father came to the kindergarten she was attending and had her brought to the office along with her coat. She looked up innocently and smiled into her father's face and thought to herself "Hope daddy isn't mad because I spilled my cereal in his shoes this morning".She gave her father that smile she had learned to use when she was in trouble, he never could resist "daddy's lil girl" though Paige was the real "daddy's lil girl" as always she was second.He looked at his little baby girl with a solem face and said"Chanta, we need to go home" as he said this he looked into her deep sapphire blue eyes the same eyes as her mothers' and winced then grabbed her hand to leave,Mercedes knew her daddy only called her "Chanta when something was wrong,usually when she was in trouble for something...when they picked on her ,her daddy and sister, she would go to her mommy and tell , her mother always smelled of flowers and perfume and always called her"bright eyes" kissed her on the head and made everything better. To Mercedes the world began and ended with her mother. |
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| Hello I am Mercedes Chantel Jean- LaVeau and this is my story....... |
| On the drive home he stopped and picked up his oldest daughter Paige, she had the same long black silky smoothe hair that both his wife and youngest daughter had, one day it would flow like his wife's had...at the thought of his beloved he let tears fall down his cheek, Paige turned to her daddy and asked what was wrong? ,Mercedes leaned up in the front seat and wiped the tears from her father's cheek she had never seen him cry before he had always said ,"only babies cried", so why was he?Alexandre Chevalier Jean-LaVeau shook his head and turned left onto their lil house which was on Canal Street.He got out the car and told the girls to come in the house and sit down on the sofa.Once inside Mercedes just knew that her father was angry because of the cereal but why did he get Paige from school and what had she done to make him cry? Alexandre walked solemnly into the room and looked at the two girls,he focused his attention on Paige because he could not bear to look into Mercedes eyes, he knew that they were his daughters but.."Girls , I have some horrible news to tell you concerning you mother", at this he began to sob. Their uncle Theodore Jean,"Ted for short" ,came into the Parlor and held poor Alexandre as he was racked with sobs, their Grandma Beth (Mercedes mommy 's mother))ran over and hugged Paige and stretched her arm toward Mercedes who could not understand why her father was now openly crying and so was Paige, didn't they know that "Only babies cried?" Paige had broken into tears because her father had and little did Mercedes know that this would be one of the last times she would ever see her sister cry or her father show any emotion around her aside from contempt. |
| Grandma Beth finished what Alexandre had started ,and to this day 15 years later ,Mercedes secretly thought if her Grandma had not said those words nothing would have changed all would be well to this day. Grandma Beth wiped the tears from Paige's eyes and held her back from her a little but seemed ready for Paige to fall back into her arms as if she were about to say something that would make Paige cry again. She spoke clearly and Mercedes remebered every word she uttered, but of course it couldn't be true ..no her mommy was ok."Girls", |
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