Last night I was in the bed, dozing – or at least trying to – and I get a call from my sister…

“K, I might be moving in sooner than expected,” she says, voice cracking.

“Why?” I ask. “What happened?”

“Well, something happened to mom’s computer and they’re blaming me. Cee (our little brother) told them that I was the last one on the computer and now they’re calling me a liar, and Dre told me to pack up my bags. They’re kicking me out.”

I could hear the angst in her voice. I didn’t know if she’d messed up the computer, didn’t really care for that matter. I had no desire to get into the middle of a dispute amongst a household of people I did not live with.

“You know you can come here…” I said with a sigh. “Is Dre going to bring you here?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure…” I could here her composure starting to crack. “I don’t even know where I’m going to sleep tonight.”

“Who are you talking to?” I hear my mother ask sharply in the background. “You’re always calling people talking shit about me and don’t even tell the whole story.”

Wow…she can’t even call people to talk about how she feels or ask for a place to stay without being yelled at and accused of talking shit?

“Put mom on the phone,” I said exaspirated.

“Hello,” she says, slightly less abruptly but I could still hear the irritation in her voice.

“Mom, she called to talk to me. You don’t know what she’s saying, so just let her talk.” I had meant to add a little sugar to my tone but I responded to her with my own aggrivation at having to mediate any part of this dispute.

She doesn’t say another word to me. However, after handing my sister back the phone she continues yelling in the background.

“You guys just talk to me like shit!” She wails. “She doesn’t even tell the whole story and Kim yells at me to just fucking let her talk…” She trails off .

Oh the drama from my mamma. Whatever…

Ignoring the yelling and commotion in the background I tell my sister, “I’m not going to get in the middle of whatever you guys have going on there and I’m not coming to pick you up, but you know you can come here.”

I heard the slightest bit of relief in her sigh. “Ok sis, thank you.”

“And Ja?” I could at least give her some bit of encouragement. “I know it sucks to be treated in a way you feel is unfair, especially by people you love, but don’t let it get you down.

It was all I had to give at the late hour…It was all she could handle before breaking down into hysteria.

“It just hurts…” She said between sobs.

“I know, Ja. I know. But you can come here.”

I don’t even want to think about what happened when we got off the phone. All I could think is how messed up it is that my 18-year-old sister was an adult and didn’t even know what that meant. She was unprepared, ill equipt and being put on the metro rail with whatever she could carry the next day. There wasn’t much I could do besides be there for her, but I refuse to over-extend myself…

In the end, I was just angry at my mother…

Family sucks sometimes. *sigh*