White Lines Read Online Free PDF Page A

bleeding to death at the age of fourteen. And Jada slipped further down the slippery slope of her sanity.

2
THE GREAT ESCAPE
    Amazingly, Ava survived her suicide attempt. But she wouldn’t talk to the social workers. She wouldn’t cooperate with the psychologists. They talked about putting her in a mental hospital for a while because she wouldn’t talk about what had happened. But one social worker, Mrs. Lopez, took an interest in Ava’s case. And once Ava was released from the hospital, Mrs. Lopez managed to convince Edna that her daughter could benefit from a good program outside of the home. Edna was reluctant at first and uncomfortable with the idea of placing her child in the state of New York’s care. But she gave in after Ava showed no signs of improvement. Eventually, they placed Ava in a girls’ home in Staten Island, on Maple Parkway.
    To Jada it sounded like some June Cleaver shit. And compared to where they were living in Brooklyn, it was. Edna and Jada went out to Staten Island to visit Ava once in a blue moon, because for Edna it was still all about J.D. Jada hated him. And it became harder and harder for her to hide it.
    Jada began to spend more and more time away from home. She learned how to get to Staten Island on public transportation, and would slip away and go visit her sister. Jada wasn’t used to riding in boats, so the Staten Island Ferry was an uncomfortable experience for her. She hated it. But she visited Ava whenever she got enough time, money, and courage to do so. Jada was always out in the street, trying to escape theloneliness she felt after her sister’s departure. Looking for the peace she never found at home.
    But as fate would have it, close to a year after Ava went into the group home, J.D. crashed his car into a utility pole and killed himself while driving drunk. Edna was a wreck. She cried all the time. The dishes went unwashed; the house became a mess. Jada found herself mothering her own mother, and she hated it. This was the second time she’d had to pick up the pieces of Edna’s broken heart. Edna was lost without J.D., both emotionally and financially. She couldn’t handle the bills. She had a little money that he had left behind, but soon that was gone. With no place else to turn, Edna went to Mrs. Lopez and explained that she had few options left. She had no money, and was in need of assistance. So Mrs. Lopez pulled some strings and helped Edna get an apartment in Staten Island, so that she and Jada could be near Ava. When they found an apartment that was affordable and wasn’t too far from where Ava was staying, they packed up and headed for Staten Island. Edna and Jada moved into an apartment on Wayne Court in West Brighton.

3
MOTHERLESS CHILD
    They moved to Staten Island. And every day after that, Edna was home alone while Jada was always out with newfound friends, missing curfew and smoking weed. Ava introduced her sister to all the local bustas. The two of them would drink with all the niggas from around the way, hang out, and mess with older cats. They were growing up way too fast. But they felt like they had no one. It was them, and the streets.
    One night, as they hung out smoking with some guys Ava knew, they discussed their mother. They were in a subleased apartment in the Mariner’s Harbor projects, getting high while baby hustlers bagged up their product in the kitchen. Jason, Harvey, and Dean were high school dropouts getting their feet wet in the drug game. Since Jason had a crush on Ava, whenever he was around she and Jada could get high free of charge. That was just what the doctor had ordered on this particular evening.
    “Pass that blunt, nigga!” Ava said, reaching toward her sister anxiously.
    “Ill, you’re fiending.” Jada was smiling as she passed the weed to Ava.
    Ava took a couple of tokes and exhaled. “So, what time you gotta go home?” she asked facetiously. “Won’t the warden be worried that you ain’t home before dark?” Ava