Chapter 17


    "Wake up, honey!" Arge, ck, female jail guard shouted as she unlocked and opened the cell door.


    As though she were awakening from a yearlonga, Lyte''s eyes slowly and painfully creaked


    open to see not only the guard, but also her own mother standing outside the cell.


    Feeling like her body had been beaten from pir to post, Lyte dropped herself off the bed and onto


    the floor before crawling backwards to the wall.


    "No...no," Lyte held up her hands in self-defense.


    With a determined stride, the guard stepped in and grabbed Lyte by her skinny arms before picking


    her up from off the floor.


    "No, I can''t leave!" Lyte begged, crying along the way.


    "Yes you can." The guard carried her out of the cell and down a long hallway with Lyte''s mother


    following.


    Once they reached a door, the guard opened it and went over behind a desk. Lyte stood next to


    her mother shaking from fear. Every so often she would nce outside the ss door behind her and


    tremble even more.Her clothes, from her faded tennis shoes, all the way up to her tattered t-shirt were


    a brazen mess.


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    She looked and smelled as though she hadn''t cleaned herself in days. The stench of old sweat clung to


    her skin and clothing like so much dirt.


    "We picked your daughter up two nights ago around 38th Street." The guard exined. "She was


    attempting to rob a convenient store."


    Lyte''s mother just looked over at her child as though she didn''t even know who Lyte was all of


    the sudden. Her expression was so listless.


    "But, if you ask me, I truly believe that she wanted to get arrested, just so she could get tossed in here."


    The guard said. "The store''s owner dropped all the charges. But no matter what, your daughter did not


    want to leave her cell."


    Still, Lyte''s mother would not stop staring at her. She remained there beside her with her purse


    firmly in hand before approaching the desk and signing a few papers.


    "Take care of yourself, honey." The guardpassionately sighed.


    Taking Lyte by the arm, her mother had to practically drag her out of the building and to the station


    wagon out in the parking lot.


    Reluctantly, Lyte got in on the passenger''s side and watched as the station behind her grew


    smaller and smaller the further they drove away.


    All Lyte could do at that point was turn back around in her seat and clinch her body as tight as she


    could. She didn''t even want to look at her mother who was uncannily silent as she tooled along while


    the car''s air-conditioner blew into both of their faces.


    As they passed along the city streets, all Lyte''s fretful eyes wanted to do was ogle at each and


    every person that walked down the sidewalk. It didn''t matter how fast they seemed to fly by, she made


    sure to watch each soul as though her life depended upon it.


    "You know, you and your sisters all think that your father and I are a couple of squares when ites


    to knowing what''s going on in this world."


    Without warning, Lyte''s attention was abruptly diverted from the people on the streets to the


    person seated next to her. Her mother''s words were so sudden and unexpected that she couldn''t


    believe that they actually came out of the woman''s mouth to begin with.


    "Somehow, someway, with the way you''ve been behaving these past few months, I just knew where to


    find you." Her mother said without taking her eyes off the road.


    Lyte had nothing to say. She remained perfectly still. Even the air that was blowing inside the


    vehicle provided the youngdy with no relief from the overbearing ustrophobia that she was


    condensed in.


    "Your father works himself to death for us, that''s exactly why I try to keep most of what happens away


    from him. And as much as we love your sisters, those three are just in unruly and full of the devil.


    But you, youngdy...I truly am surprised at you."


    "Mama, I—


    "Just hold on." Her mother forcefully said. "You don''t have a job, do you?"


    Lyte just dropped her head and held herself even tighter than before. At that point she didn''t even


    want to look at her mother anymore.


    "You''re not fooling anyone, youngdy."


    "What makes you say that?" Lyte began weeping.


    At first, she expected her mother to burst out in rage at her constant denial, but instead the woman kept


    on driving without once taking her eyes off the road in front of her.


    "You''ve been this way ever since what happened with you and Isaac."


    Instantly, Lyte cried even harder to where her tears began blinding her sight. She couldn''t contain


    herself at that juncture.


    "Lynn, I understand that what he did to you and Isaiah was terrible, but you never allowed yourself to


    fully ovee that. You just went straight down the tube."


    "You don''t know what happened!" Lyte shouted out.


    "You never told us what really happened."


    "Mama, I can''t take this!" Lyte yelled as she bumped her head against the headrest behind her.


    "You don''t even treat your own son the same. We may not be a church going family, but you better


    believe we''re a family that loves our children nheless."


    "I do love my child!" Lyte defiantly fired back.


    Lyte''s mother simply nced at her before looking back at the road. "Do you realize that ever since


    you came home from the hospital back in February, I''ve never seen you one time even hold that boy,


    let alone acknowledge that he''s even there?"


    Lyte sat and thought about Isaiah, but her thoughts were insipid and pointless. No matter how hard


    she tried, she just couldn''t seem to evoke her only son''s image into her head.


    "You may think otherwise, but believe it or not, your dad and I admired Isaac. We knew that he came


    from a good, Christian family, and that he was trying to do better in life." Her mother stated. "But we


    also knew that whatever happened that night inside that house was not normal of that boy. Something


    ungodly happened to him, and it''s somehow taken you to a cepletely not of this world."


    Lyte couldn''t decide just what was worse, listening to her mother rant on and on about Isaac and


    the events of that night, or listening to her mother actually speak like a person that was trying to reach


    her daughter''s soul without raising her voice.


    In all actuality, the woman had every right to scream at her, but her tone and speech werepletely


    alien to her ears. There was someone else operating the station wagon that hot afternoon.The car


    came to a stop at a traffic light.


    "Only you can put Isaac''s soul to rest, Lynn." Her mother droned on while keeping an eye on the light


    above. "Whatever happened that night inside your house shook you worse than any beating he handed


    you. Something else visited that night, didn''t it?"


    Lyte''s head slowly turned and stared at her mother in the most stunningly frightening way. The


    shaking she was doing back at the police station was nothingpared to what she was doing at that


    moment.


    Without allowing another second to go by, Lyte opened the door and rushed out into the street


    where other vehicles were waiting for the light to change.


    She ran down the sidewalk and as far away from her mother as possible.