Chapter 44


    The warm, spewing rain persisted all the way to Lyte''s neighborhood. The woman''s slothful stride


    had remained the same ever since clearing Hollis Estates over two hours earlier.


    The brightness of the day that had unexpectedlye back seemingly after hours of inactivity was


    once again progressively making its descent back into darkness the natural way. But Lyte knew the


    way home by the variousmunities that she had passed along the way.The streetmps all began


    flickering on simultaneously causing a glossy re to shine upon the slick sidewalk upon which she


    treaded and sshed.


    Her entire face was soaking wet. Isaiah was snoring away in her arms and that was exactly the way


    she wanted it. Lyte couldn''t bear to see her son''s face, not after all that they had endured over the


    course of the past few hours, or even the past few months for that matter. She was no longer skittish of


    Isaiah, but that didn''t mean she had happened upon the courage to face the boy. There would always


    and forever be a dark, looming cloud hanging above them both for as long as they dared to breathe,


    and sooner or muchter, Lyte knew that she would have to answer for the storm.


    The youngdy kept on a few more paces before turning into a yard via the saturatedwn and


    stomping up onto the porch. She didn''t reach into her pockets for her key, instead, she simply pushed


    open the surprisingly already unlocked front door and let herself inside.


    Before she could even shut the door behind her Lyte stood and exhaled as deep as she could.


    Once she was through she pulled a soaking wet Isaiah away from her chest just as her mother,


    dressed in her bathrobe, came rushing into the living room from the kitchen.


    With the most stunned look on her face, the woman squealed out, "Where the fuck have you been?"


    Lyte was dripping rain from just about every portion of her body. The floor beneath her sneakers


    was a soppy mess. Just staring on at her fuming mother''s red face caused Lyte to realize that


    whatever spell the woman had possibly been under for the past few days had all but worn off. She was


    no longer afraid of her mother; she went back to being weary and agitated of the woman.


    "I''ve been calling the police ever sincest night!" Her mother raged on. "And every time I call them and


    tell them that Isaiah is missing they hang up on me! And here you show up, out of nowhere, looking like


    a wet possum!"


    Still, Lyte had nothing to say. She could speak, but words had no meaning at that juncture. All she


    wanted to do was stand and drip.


    "I asked you a question, dammit! Where have you been?" Her mother advanced towards her.


    Lyte stood her ground until her mother attempted to grab her by the shoulder; that was when


    Lyte yanked herself away screaming, "Don''t you touch me!"


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    Her mother stood back but only for a brief moment before trying to take hold of her daughter all over


    again.


    "Where have you been with that baby?" She yelled.


    But Lyte only wrestled both herself and Isaiah away from her mother before grabbing her mother''s


    right wrist and restraining it.


    "I said don''t touch me!" She tossed the woman''s hand back down.


    Her mother stood there in the middle of the living room lookingpletely thunderstruck. She, much


    like Lyte was breathing in and out heavily.


    "We''re here now!" Lyte hollered. "That''s all you and daddy need to know! My boy and I are here!"


    Shaking her head in utter disbelief, her mother pulled a rag from out of her robe pocket and pressed it


    against her forehead before sighing, "I don''t know what''s been going on since—


    "Mama, you don''t have to know." Lyte adamantly remarked. "Like I said, we''re here."


    Pacing the partially lit living room, her mother kept pointing her finger at Lyte saying, "You''re just


    like your damn sisters. You and them are always doing what you want to do."


    "I am not like them!" Lyte angrily struggled to scream. "Not one of those bitches is worth a damn!


    Not one of them! You, daddy and my sisters don''t have a clue as to what...I''m done."


    She relented. For what seemed like countless minutes, both women stood in the living room while the


    rain outside sounded as if it were bing increasingly louder and irate along with the beleaguered


    mother and daughter. It actually possessed its own rhythm and tone.


    Lyte soon found the strength to turn and walk towards the stairs only to have her mother attempt to


    follow her.


    "I just wish someone would tell me just what in the hell has been going on around here these past few


    days!" She desperately yelled. "I just wish you would let me inside!"


    Lyte, nearly losing her grip on Isaiah, spun around on the first step and said, "Let you in? Mama,


    how can I let you in when I myself don''t want to be inside? You don''t know what me and this little boy


    have been through these past few months!"


    "That''s because you won''t tell me, Lynn! These past few months you''ve been in and out of this house


    like an alley cat! Now look at you! You look like you were torn apart by something!"


    Lyte wanted to cry all over again, but she reserved herself while staring into her mother''s pain-


    stricken eyes that looked as though they wanted to break down. It wasn''t what she had expected, but


    that didn''t mean she didn''t understand her mother.


    "I''ve been hooked on drugs these past few months." Lyte exhaled all the air out of her lungs in one


    breath.


    Lyte''s mother dropped the rag that she had pressed against her forehead to the floor before


    paleness took control of her once blushing face.


    "That''s what I''ve been hiding from you all these months. Your daughter is a junkie bitch." She inly


    stated.


    And with that, Lyte carried both herself and her son up the stairs, leaving her already lonely mother


    in an even more ustrophobic state than she was before.


    ***


    And the rain kept falling:


    In the warm bathroom, and on her sore knees, Lyte washed Isaiah from head to filthy toe in the


    bathtub. She herself was still a brazen mess of cuts and bruises, but her well-being was the furthest


    thing from her mind. All she could do was stare at the child who appearedpletely drained and


    disoriented more than anything else. With her own grimy fingernails she washed the boy''s hair with


    soap. With every scrub sheid upon the child the more she began to realize she was actually touching


    him.


    Lyte had her hands all over Isaiah and she didn''t even flinch. It had been months since she had


    been so tender to him that the sudden revtion just crashed upon her like a sledgehammer to the


    head.


    Her own bleary eyes every so often would recall the events back at the Estates, from watching Akoni


    transform to racing like a scared mouse through a haunted building. Her stomach would drop every


    time she would hear a vehicles loud engine outside rip by the house, thinking it was something she had


    just escaped on her way toe and get her.From time to time her hands would be limp as she


    washed Isaiah''s hair while her eyes aimlessly drifted from one end of the tile in front of her to the other.


    "Do you miss your daddy?" she asked in a listless fashion.


    Isaiah just looked up for a moment and babbled, "Daddy."


    "Your daddy," Lyte''s mind wandered. "Do you know that I can''t even go back to our old house


    anymore? I''m too scared to."


    Isaiah began sshing in the water but Lyte gave his frivolity no attention whatsoever. She just


    kept on babbling to herself as if she were the only one inside the bathroom.


    "Your daddy and I once had a favorite song. ''Maybe Tomorrow.'' You know the Jacksons cartoon you


    love so much?"


    "Jacksons!" Isaiah blurted out in subtle excitement. "On TV!"


    "Yeah...your daddy and I would listen to that song over and over again until we wore out the record. It


    was our favorite song."


    In her head Lyte really had no clue as to what she was saying. She was pondering on Isaac, but


    the words that wereing out of her mouth were unbeknownst to her.


    All of the sudden, the young mother stopped scrubbing her son''s hair the second he began to whimper.


    She removed her scarred hands from his head and sat back. It was like someone had taken a dark veil


    away from her eyes at that instant. Her lips started to quiver as did her hands the longer she stared at


    the child. On the outside he was absolutely oblivious, but she could see in his eyes that something was


    off kilter.


    Lyte''s breath was escaping her. She tried to get up from off the floor but no sooner did she attempt


    such a task that something caused her to wobble off bnce. She leaned her aching back up against


    the wall for a moment as the entire bathroom began spinning around and around. The whole jarring


    experience caused her to open the door and stumble out into the darkened hallway.


    The second she came to the stairs a sudden case of vertigo captured her. Before she could even set


    one foot onto the first step she clutched her thumping heart. With the greatest of ease she took one


    step at a time down the tall stairs until she reached the living room.


    She was beingpelled, by what was beyond her, but Lyte had to keep moving. She kept on


    towards the front door, onto the porch and out into the warm, soaking rain.It was by thenpletely


    dark outside as she ventured further into the front yard where she stopped directly in the middle of the


    lawn and stood. Distant rumbles of thunder rolled by every other minute or so.


    The rain beat upon her body so hard that it seemed as though it could knock her over at any second.


    Then, without any warning whatsoever Lyte simply copsed to her knees on the ground and


    remained there.


    In all truthfulness she hadn''t beenpletely dried off from her initial drenching earlier, so receiving


    another shower was inconsequential.


    Her own hair began drooping down to where it was blinding her eyes, but there was nothing to see


    anyways but the streetmps and a couple of passing cars.


    "I''m sorry, Isaac." She whimpered to herself before shutting her eyes.


    Behind her she could hear something scratch and move about in the grass. It sounded close, like it was


    on her back. Soon, it began to grunt and growl, but rather than clinch her body, Lyte instead let go.


    The growling chorus carried on for at least two whole minutes before the sound ultimately ceased.


    Lyte then opened her eyes and turned around to see nothing behind her. Whether anything was


    there at all or not didn''t concern the woman.


    Lyte''s knees started to sink slowly into the muddy ground the longer she remained in the kneeling


    position.


    "Arthur!" She screamed out in anguish. "Oh my God...Arthur," she then pounded her fists on the grass.


    "I''m so sorry, Isaac." Her voice weakened more and more.


    By then, she couldn''t move...