a couple of white families her mother used to work for on the outskirts of town . It was back-breaking work , but Madelyn had to support herself and take care of her mother . She didn ’ t even have a high school education ; she dropped out in the tenth grade to work for Miss Bessie full time . If she could get the house fixed up a bit , maybe it could be sold , or even rented out so she could make some kind of profit . Nana didn ’ t owe anything on it , so that money would be hers straight out . But Mama said no matter which way it went , the profits would have to be split between everybody , and unfortunately that included her nowhere to be found sisters .
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The forest green Chevy came to an abrupt stop , smoke coughing from the exhaust . Madelyn jumped out and rushed to the mailbox . Her sisters promised to send a money order for one-hundred and fifty dollars to help with patching up that leaky roof . She ’ d taken that money from her own account and really needed it back in there to pay her own bills . She opened the rusty flap , pulled out the small stack and anxiously thumbed through it .
“ Where is it ?” Madelyn panicked . There was nothing from her sisters , and she was fuming . “ This is gonna be the death of me .”
She stormed inside the three-bedroom red brick ranch house and threw the mail on the kitchen table in a huff .
“ Georgina or Nola won ’ t even return my calls . And where is that money they was supposed to send over two weeks ago , Mama ?” Madelyn ’ s voice rose a higher than normal octave as she paced back and forth .
“ Oh girl , hush and sit down somewhere ! You know they not gonna do a darn thing !” Ophelia shouted , startling her daughter .
“ When they left Lula , they left everything behind that reminded them of this place and that included me and you . You just dumb enough to keep thinking they gonna drop their high and mighty lives for us . They don ’ t call me on a regular . What make you think they gonna keep their word to you ?” www . christinepauls . com