"American Family"

Chapter Nine



On the seventh day of their week of collection every one agreed on throwing a party. The party was held at Lydia’s house, her yard was the largest and she had a pool. They agreed to charge $3.50 at the door to enter the party but drinks and food were supplied. This idea turned out to be the best of all. Never had Lydia thought she could fit so many people into her yard.

Lydia looked out at the crowd and smiled. She flipped a burger and began whistling. It was a nice turn out. Suddenly, Danny showed up with a camera and began filming Lydia in front of the grill. “Hey Peaches,” He said, “Got anything to say to Danielle?”

Lydia smiled and flipped another burger. She said into the camera, “Hey Danielle! I hope you know I love you. I’m throwing a party for you at my house, I must love you! I hope you get better. I have to get back to the grill but, your father will continue going around. Hey, did he ever tell you how he used to work at KFC? For a while he’d go crazy over friend chicken!”

“PEACHES!” Danny yelled, moving onto a new victim. Lydia laughed and continued on her work.

Only a minute later, yet another person approached her. This time it was Chrissy and she said, “Hey Lyd, there is a guy on the phone who says he needs to speak with Kiral, only I can’t find him.”

“Oh, Well, I’ll find him if you cook these burgers,” Lydia said. Chrissy nodded and they traded. Lydia took the phone and Chrissy took the spatula. Lydia hurried through the crowd that laughed and partied till she was in her home. The house was quiet and cool.

Deciding to see who it was Lydia held the phone to her ear. “Hello,” she said. When no one answered she assumed they’d hung up. Heading up the steps she’d thought she might as well find Kiral anyway. Assuming he’d be where he always was she headed directly for the baby’s room. She opened the door and found him standing over the crib and staring out the window.

She watched him for a minute until she said, “What are you doing up here?” When he didn’t answer she took a step forward. She said, “You know it’s rude to throw a party at your home and hide away. You can’t stay in here forever.”

“Can’t I?” He said, “There are too many kids down there.”

“There are kids all over the world. That doesn’t mean you should never go out,” Lydia said to him.

“Yes, it does.”

“Why can’t you act like you actually care?”

Lydia was shocked. His words were painful. Angry, she glared at him. Suddenly, she threw the phone at the wall, making it shatter. Shocked, Kiral jumped, but made no move to get closer to her. Lydia stared at him and then turned around. Without a word she left the room slamming the door behind her. Within minutes she was back at the grill standing next to Chrissy.
“So, did you find him?” Chrissy asked.
“Yeah, but just so you know, you won’t have to worry about the phone anymore,” Lydia said to her. Lydia returned to flipping burgers and remained silent.

*****************************************************

Jolene stood outside of the gates that led into the party. Next to her stood Zhi, who worked as her security. It was hot and it had been a while since some one had paid there way in. She was starting to think the party was going to die down. Jolene turned around and looked at the large banner they had made with Danielle picture and the word welcome. In small letters it explained that it was a charity event.

Jolene heard the sounds of car doors opening and received a tap on her shoulder from Zhi. When she turned around she saw that news reporters had just shown up. She watched as they set up their equipment and then approached her.

Standing in front of her was a petite woman dressed in a grey business suit. She wore about a pound of make up and lip gloss. She smiled with the most perfect teeth and said, “Hi, how are you?” Before Jolene could answer she continued. “I’m Emma Geralds reporting for ABC news,” She said. She extended her hand and Jolene managed to shake it with out throwing up.

“How may I help you?” Jolene asked. She couldn’t stand this woman’s smile. It was wide and fake.

“Well, I’m here to do a report on this found raiser you are running for that young girl with lung cancer. We think it’s amazing that you guys have actually taken on paying for her surgery and believe it is worth reporting. These days there is terrorism on the news and we at ABC think it is time to bring the good out in this world. Would you mind letting us in so that we can begin this?” she said still smiling.

“Sure, you can go in. Only $3.50 per person,” Jolene said trying to mimic her fake smile.
“Are you serious?”

“It’s for a good cause,” Jolene said.

They all paid and entered the party. Jolene asked Zhi to watch the front and she followed the crew. Slowly but surely every ones attention focused on the news crew. No body could believe that a small time church trying to help one person could ever get news coverage. Jolene looked up at the sky and gave thanks.

The truth was this was going to help them a lot. With the announcements at church and the article Kiral wrote and had publish in the New York Times, people began to really care. Everyday they received mail with money orders and checks. This would be the perfect time to thank the public.

*****************************************

Walking toward Danielle’s room Danny smiled. His day went by great and he couldn’t wait for Danielle to see the footage he shot of all the people at the party. He couldn’t wait to tell her that she would have her surgery. Everything was going to be alright.

To his surprise, sitting in a chair outside of Danielle’s room was Brianna. Danny approached her with a smile but when he saw her face he knew there was no reason to smile. Her eyes were red and her cheeks looked soaked with tears that had found their way down. Seeing him she jumped up into his arms and held onto him tight. Unsure of anything Danny said, “What’s wrong? Is everything alright?”

Brianna shook her head and let out a sob. “No, no,” She said.

Danny felt his eyes begin to sting and he needed to know what was happening. He pulled Brianna off of him and made her look at him. Tears flowed in her eyes and he said, “Bree baby, what is going on?”

“She’s gone!” Brianna screamed with a sob.

“Gone?” Danny asked. “No, no, she can’t be gone,” He said. He released Brianna and rushed into the room where he found an empty bed. Falling to his knees, he held his face in his hands. Brianna came down to the floor and hugged him. For a while they stood on the floor, trying to comfort each other.

“Let’s get out of this hospital,” Danny whispered to her. She nodded and they rose from the floor. Within minutes they were in Danny’s car and heading to Lydia’s house where Danny knew, without a doubt, that they were trying to clean up a bit after the party.

“I don’t see why this had to happen. We have the money now,” Brianna said in a weak voice.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Danny said trying to believe it.

“What is the reason I had to loose my daughter? My baby girl,” Brianna said.

“I can’t say I know,” Danny told her.

“What do we do with the money?” Brianna asked.

“Spend it on the funeral and whatever is left we donate to studies dedicated to curing cancer,” Danny said. “She would have wanted that.”

“She would,” She agreed.

Before soon they were at Lydia’s house. Danny looked at the house and to his surprise, Lydia sat at the front steps. Brianna and he exited the car and headed toward the house. Danny looked at Lydia but didn’t get a response. He continued on his way into the house. On the couch sat his children. His heart ached. “Ady, D, can you guys come here?” Danny asked but meant it more as an order.

They came to him and he swept them off their feet. He hugged them tight and kissed them. He turned to Brianna and said, “Kids, this is Brianna. Brianna this is Adyli and Darrien,” Danny said. Brianna said hi and smiled at them. He was surprised she was able to render such a smile.

“Why, Hello,” Jolene said, watching them.

“Hello,” Brianna said. Danny put the kids down and sent them to the living room. He asked that they speak in a different room. They all moved to the kitchen where Zhi stood in front of the sink washing dishes. Danny found it odd that he was. He knew that at the party no one had used real dishes.

They all stood around and Danny reached for his wife. “I have bad news,” he said. He held her tight before continuing his words. “Danielle died,” He said. Jolene looked up at him shocked. She leaned into him for comfort but then pulled away and turned to Brianna. Though they had never met each other or even been introduced, still his amazing wife reached out to comfort her. She hugged her and together they mourned this death.

Taking deep breaths Danny stepped away from this scene. Something drew him away. His feet traveled toward the living room and directly to the front door. When he opened it, he saw Lydia, sitting there on the porch. For some unknown reason he was here. Danny took a seat next to Lydia and for the first time, he opened his mouth and talked about the death of Lydia’s baby. “It hurts, I know,” He said.

“Do you?” Lydia asked turning to him. Her eyes were watery.

Danny nodded and said, “Danielle died today.” It was as if the words were beginning to get harder to say rather then easier.

“Oh Danny,” Lydia said before leaning into him and crying some more. Danny hugged Lydia and in some way he finally understood why his feet brought him to her. She was going through what he was. Jolene couldn’t relate, as much as he wanted her to. Danny allowed himself to cry with her.

Lydia pulled away and said, “The other day I heard this song. It’s called ‘Angel’. Want to here the chorus?”

Danny nodded and she began to sing it softly. Her voice was rattled with pain. “Have you ever really loved an angel, once you have you’ll never be the same again,” She sang. “Have you ever lost an angel, say goodbye, let’em fly, my angel.”

In memory of Danielle and the unborn baby! <3333


True angels!


"Angel" THE SONG


::Sniffle sniffle::