Finding A New Brother

Life at "Home" Part 1

Angel got remarried in September 1996 and decided to "get her marriage started without the girls, just until they had a stable home". Starting in 1997 at the early age of only 6, Shady had started to notice things at her grandparents home that were very disturbing. Pawpaw had an extremely violent temper, especially towards Nanny. He would constantly call her a lazy, ugly, fat ass or just cuss her in general. His favorite thing to do was to throw dinner or whatever food was near him at her. It didn't matter if it was boiling hot or ice cold really. Shady remembered one morning in particular. She woke up around 2 or 3 a.m. She heard a lot of arguing and yelling. She really couldn't tell who the voices belonged to. Not long after, Nanny came into the bedroom they shared, took some pills, and drifted off to sleep. Shady kept quiet and listened to the sounds of the early morning. Just as she was about to fall back asleep, the front bedroom door swung open and all that could be seen was the long barrel of a shotgun. Shady quickly covered Pan's mouth with one hand while giving her the 'hush' symbol with the other. She scanned the room looking for a weapon and a way to get Pan out safely. The gun came through the door the rest of the way, and Shady was shocked to see that it was Pawpaw standing there. He never noticed Shady was watching. He aimed the gun at Nanny and cussed and threatened her until she awoke.

Once he was satisfied, he went and put the gun back in the roof in his bedroom. One of the neighbors had called the cops, and Nanny was terrified. Pawpaw was friends with almost everyone on the force considering his best friend was the chief. They took everyone's statements while Shady hid on the stairs. She could now see that Nanny had handprints around her neck. The chief walked over to Shady and squatted down to meet her eyes. He told her to take him to get the shotgun since he knew she had access and knowledge of where it was stored. Shady turned and locked eyes with Pawpaw and didn't utter a single sound. She was afraid of what he would do more than the fear of disobeying the police. Pawpaw told her to go get it and not to worry since he would get it back soon. The chief chuckled and told him it would be about a week or 2, but he would personally deliver it back to him. Nanny refused to press charges, and everyone left to start their morning.