grabbed her Gucci sunglasses and quickly put them on, like that made a difference.
After all of them squeezed into the one stall bathroom and locked the door, Skye pulled her shoulder length hair up into a ponytail then quickly changed into her Juicy Couture sweat suit. However, she refused to look in the mirror afraid of what her face looked like this time. Instead she changed the baby’s diaper and waited for the boys to finish before they all exited together. They ignored the stares again then sat in a booth near the door and grabbed three menus. Skye however could barely make out the words due to her swollen eyes. Not only was she in pain, but she needed rest and couldn’t wait until she could get a good night’s sleep.
Minutes later, the waitress appeared from the back with her pad and pen ready to take their orders.
“Hello, what can I get y’all this morning?” she asked in a cheerful, deep country voice. Her eyebrows frowned at the sight of Skye’s face. “Oh my God, are you alright darling?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Can you please just take our order? My boys are starving,”
Skye replied.
“We want pancakes, bacon and orange juice,” Jordan said.
“We have a meal called the Ultimate Breakfast that includes all of that for only $4.99, it’ll be much cheaper. Would you like that?” the waitress asked looking at Skye.
“Look lady, the price isn’t an issue,” Skye said with an attitude.
“Oh…I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that I have two boys at home around their age and I know how much they can eat. The Ultimate Breakfast is what they usually get.”
Skye changed her tone realizing the lady was only being nice. “Three Ultimate Breakfasts, with orange juice will be fine,” she replied.
“Okay, I’ll be right back,” the woman said walking away. She returned shortly with the same cheerful smile. “Here are your drinks, let me know if you need anything. My name is Kim and that’s my big handsome husband working back there in the kitchen Jim, we’re the owners. Your food will be out in a minute,” she added before walking away again.
“Jim and Kim? You’ve got to be kidding me,” Skye said to herself.
As she placed a straw in her glass, she looked down at her watch realizing that it was a few minutes after eight. Normally, she would’ve still been in bed while Ms. Petra attended to Payton. Now, she was on the run with nowhere to go. Skye knew leaving Sandino was the best idea, but she was definitely gonna miss the live-in help.
How quickly shit can change , Skye thought to herself as she continued to glance out the window. Even though they were in another city, she just didn’t trust Sandino.
Then suddenly out of nowhere Kareem finally spoke. “I stole daddy’s key to his gun closet and I got one of his guns out when I heard him beating you, but Ms. Petra caught me. She made me put the gun back,” he said with a strange look on his face.
Kareem reminded Skye so much of Sandino, especially with his quick temper. Even though he’d inherited her fair skin tone, and a mole under his lip, his mannerism seemed to be identical to his father.
Skye’s face revealed a shocked expression. She knew her boys were getting older and she could no longer hide the abuse from them.
“Thanks for having my back Kareem. I know how hard it’s been for you. Your dad has a problem and until he gets some help, I just can’t allow him to be around y’all. Things will be okay though. We’ll settle down in a nice city and you boys can make new friends and have fun for a change. Playing sports is your choice from now on.”
“Are we gonna be poor?” Jordan asked.
“No, we’ll be fine,” Skye tried to assure.
After all the ass beatings she received over the years, Skye made sure she’d stashed something away for this rainy day.
When Skye glanced out the window again, her eyes widened when she saw a thin, skinny, white man looking at her car. He even walked around to each