“No hug or kiss?” Georgina’s smile was not genuine as she extended her arms outward.
“I said hello. What more do you want? Should I go get the cake, balloons, maybe a
marching band?”
Before Georgina could put in her two cents, Nola interrupted.
“Maddie, I know you not happy to see us, but we family. We ain’t coming back here
looking for a free ride. We plan to look for work and do our part. We can’t change what
happened in the past. We made the decision to leave this little ass town and follow our
dream and we sorry you can’t understand that.” Her eyes pleaded for forgiveness.
Georgina was becoming more aggravated by the second.
“Now wait a minute. Why you keep saying we? I can speak for myself, and last time I
checked, I don’t have to explain a damn thing to nobody but Mama. Now you can be all
bent out of shape all you want, Madelyn,” Georgina putting strong emphasis on her sister’s
name, “Ain’t a thing I can do about it but say I’m sorry that you feeling this way.” And with
that, Georgina brushed past her sister, sashaying straight back to see her mother.
Nola blinked back tears, eyes glued on her sister. Wilbert cleared his throat. “Excuse me.
Where do you want these?”
“Sorry Wilbert. We got it from here,” Nola answered. “Thank you so much for picking
us up from the bus station and bringing us home.”
“It wasn’t a problem. Nice meeting you both.” Wilbert tipped his cap.
“Madelyn, can I talk to you for a second?” he asked.
If it was possible, smokestacks could be seen coming from the top of Madelyn’s head.
“Sure,” she mumbled under her breath.
At Wilbert’s truck, Madelyn stood with attitude.
“Madelyn,” Wilbert called.
“Yes?”
“What’s gotten into you? I thought after our talk, you would try to get along with your
sisters?
“I can’t.”
“What?”
“I said I won’t.”
Wilbert shook his head. “I’ll call you later.” He kissed her on the cheek, got in his truck
and pulled off, leaving Madelyn standing in a cloud of dust. Instead of heading inside, she
sat in a chair on the porch, fuming.
NKLC MAGAZINE | 69