BrookLyn's Journey by Coffey Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

fear too, because she never stood up for herself either. That didn’t lessen her anger.
    “I thought I heard you talking in here?” Her mother peek ed around her, looking for a body that belonged to the voice she thought she heard her talking to.
    “No, I was looking at my homework. I was reading it aloud . ” BrookLyn point ed to a closed spiral notebook , which she had never used , hoping her mother didn’t feel the need to open it. Her lies were starting to stack up.
    BrookLyn’s mother pushed her aside , walking all the way into her room. Her mother did this a few times a week , for no real reason , because before last night, she had no secrets. School and church were her life , and they would never stop being a part of it. A s much as she missed Gabby right now, she knew that she would n’t be her only focus. BrookLyn couldn’t be a bad girl because she didn’t like getting into trouble , but she definitely thought things would be different now .
    She rolled her eyes behind her mother’s back as she watched her walk around her bed room looking for something to be different. There never was , only today there was a change, but it was within her . Her mother could look all she wanted and she wouldn’t find it. Eventually it might surface , but not today.
    Her mother didn’t say anything . S he just looked at BrookLyn then smiled . She walked away holding her disappointment in her empty hands as she swayed down the hallway.
    God, I hate you, Mother . I know I’m not supposed to feel that way. You’re my mother and you gave birth to me , but that doesn’t mean you have complete power over my life.
    For now she did , though . Earlier , BrookLyn had felt as if the sun was shining bright on a different side of the street. On that sunny side of the block, her heart danced with Gabby ’s — she could see in color . N o one was going to put her back on the dark side where she used to live.
    “BrookLyn?” h er mother called down the hallway.
    “Yes.” She stood in the door wondering what was next. She didn’t want to deal with her mother anymore. To her surprise, her mother offered unexpected solace for the weekend.
    “ You made me forget what I came to say. We going out of town when him gets home. Aunt Meely fell ill. But don’t you be getting no big ideas. We get somebody to watch over you here. ”
    “When are you coming home?” She only cared so she could have a fun weekend.
    “W e coming home w hen we get back, huh?”
    BrookLyn nodded without uttering another word while she tried not to dance around excitedly.
    Her mother left again, and BrookLyn went into her closet to get the phone out of her shoebox and put it in her pocket. She peeked into the hallway to see where her mother had gone . Not see ing her , she assumed she was in her bedroom or downstairs. BrookLyn went into the bathroom , closed the door , and pulled out the phone .
    “Hello?” Gabby answered on the first ring .
    “ I have an update.”
    “ What’s up?”
    “ My parents won’t be home this weekend.”
    “ Will you be home alone? ”
    “ No. They don’t trust me. Ms. Cora will be over, I’m sure.”
    “Ah, you have a babysitter,” Gabby joked.
    “She’s just the one on duty when the parent s are off. But at least she trusts me enough that I should be able to sneak away for a while. She always goes to bed early. She’s older than dirt, I think. ” BrookLyn was excited and nervous about the weekend. At least she’d be doing something different. “ But listen, Gabby. If I come , I have to be back before my paren ts are , and in time to get some sleep before school on Monday.”
    “I know. I know how much you like learning.” She mocked BrookLyn.
    “School is my ticket out of here. It’s the only way that I’ll get away from them. Once I finish high school it’s off to college.”
    “Damn, you got your whole life planned out . ”
    “Don’t you?” BrookLyn thought everyone did.
    “Well yeah , but your stuff