All Cherradi-Hazel Cade heard when she walked that Friday afternoon was a low crying noise and the news channel broadcasting the local news for what had happened during the day. Cherradi was a freshman in High School. The year her mother and father met. She was old enough to drive so she could stay after school and do extra things like JROTC or sports. She stayed after school that day to finish a test for her math teacher.


Cherradi had a good day up until now. She walked toward the living room door when she heard the news broadcaster say, “There has been a tradic accsadent off of woodruff road today. A tracter tralior and a elementery school bus collided today. On bord 12 young kendergardeners and five fith grade students. All 12 kendagarden children were killed.” Cherradi’s heart sank. Her younger brother, Kody- Lee road a bus on woodruff road. He was a kendergardener. Was it his bus. She suddanly was startled by something. It was her father calling her name from the living room.

“Cherradi, darling come here please.” Said her father
“Yes sir.” She replied
Cherradi never let anyone she her cry, not even her own parents. She felt her eyes fill up with tears and ignored them and walked to her mother and father.
“ Yes sir?” she said
“ Cherradi, darling how much did you hear on the televition?”
“Everything daddy!” she replied
The hot tears felt like hot coal burning her cheeks. She let them go and go and go on. She did not care. She let the tears come. She fell to her knees at her mother and fathers feet. Her mother reached down and grabed her arm and pulled her up into her own lap and conforted her. Cherradi sat there and listened to her mother sing and the quiet hushed “shh darling its ok.”

“ Shhh, the blue birds fly to the south. Hmmmm hmm hmm”

Her mother’s lovely voice was comforting. As she sat there she fell into a deep slumber and dreamed about how many times she had told her brother that she would not play with him because she was way to old for playing pretend even though she wanted to so badly. She remembered how many times she yelled at him and blamed him for her mess. She felt horrible. When she woke up she was in her bed asleep. She thought to herself it’s my entire fault. He wouldn’t have died if I played with him like I should have.

Then she heard the phone ring, her cell phone she looked over it was her boyfriend. His name was Travon. She answered the phone.

“ Hello?” said Cherradi
“Hey! Are you ok? I saw the news.” Said Travon
“ Im ok, I guess……” she replied
“ I am so sorry. Look Im coming to see you like I am on my way. Bye I love you.” Travon replied
“Bye I love you too.” Replied Cherradi
A few moments later she heard a knock on the door. When she headed for the door she noticed her father at his desk with his reading glasses on. She answered the door and there stood Travon. She jumped up in his arms and hugged him tightly. They stood there for a moment. She felt his heart beat and the warmth of his body against hers then she started to cry again. Travon picked her up and moved her out of the way then shut the door and held her. He led her to the couch and just sat there holding her as she cryed. He had never seen her this upset, he’s never even seen her cry before. Even with all the bullying from her friends because she was mixed.

He had never seen her cry before. She said it was because she did not want to end up like her mother. When her mother was in school she always cryed. She got into fights and cussed people out constantly. Her mom was raped in school. That’s why Cherradi was born, her real father has a family of his own and lives next door so she constantly sees him. Cherradi was different she never cryed unless she was by herself. But now was different. Her little brother had just died and she was grieving. Cherradi was very close to her little brother. She was crushed.

She just sat there in Travon’s arms which comforted her. She sat there and eventually fell asleep. When she woke up she was still in Travon’s arms. He was still awake and was watching TV. She sat up and looked into his eyes they were blood shot and his face had tear stains. She just kept looking at him. He had been crying. She leaned in close to his face and did not say a word. She just leaned in real close and kissed him right on the mouth.

“What was that for?” Travon asked

“I don’t know I just felt like kissing you. Why is that a problem?” Cherradi asked.

“No.” He said

Then Travon leaned in this time and kissed her and did not back away. He just stayed there with his lips on hers. When he finally backed up, he could see that she had makeup running down her face.

The next day Cherradi was looking through an old journal she found in her mother’s private drawer. She found some school work from when her mother was in the tenth grade there where poems all in it two of them stood out to her in two different journals.

The first one:
The Twist and Turns of My Life
I’m sitting on my nanas swing listing to humming birds wings
But now I’m sitting on a curb of a highway.
The wind blows and the cool breeze is whispering
There is a gunshot herd in the distance that frightens me into a startling jump.
Just silently it is whispering what is going to happen next.
They are awake, the voices in my head
I can hear the words whispering very quiet at to not scare you
There back and now I am in trouble
Blowing my hair out of the way
The male voices tell me to lay in the highway
So I can hear what they say
I lay in the road and am engulfed in flames
Now I can hear it say…
The voices where not men, or fake, or just imaginary
They were demons sent by the devil.



The second one:
A Picture Worth a Thousand Words
Ever since I hung that picture on the wall,
I’ve thought of a thousand words.
All of which describe my nana.
Words like love, sweet, smart, wise
I miss her a lot
Now the picture of me and her hangs there
It is definitely a picture worth a thousand words!
From the moment I took my first breath my nana was there
No matter how sick or ill she was.
It did not matter if she would die as long as she knew her first born grandchild.
She walked me into the school on my first day
Holding my hand the whole way
Telling med she loved me and to have a good day and good bye.
I never thought that picture could describe it.
All the wonderful comments about how beautiful the woman in the picture is.
I did not know that after so long ago that picture was taken
The realization is the fact that she is always there
She always will be
She always has
She is my guardian angel and that’s how I think this picture is worth a thousand words.

Then she finds and old shoe box she had never seen before and she had been through this drawer plenty of times she opened it up and found a bunch of folded up peaces of paper. She picked one up and carefully unfolded it.

Cherradi knew who JS was. The man who lives next door, her father. She was not a twin. She was a now only child. She was born because her mother was raped. Who was the twin? She wanted to know. Right then!!!!