Man in the black coat ch. 2

One month later......

      Brena led her three children through the door of the towns one and only diner. She carried Tommy, while holding Tia's hand. Tamora, always the shy one, clung to the tail of her shirt. She led them all to a table and grabbed two booster seats. She guided Tamora into the booth and put Tommy and Tia in the seats. She sat with Tamora and hugged the child to her, in the last month, she had grown to love the three children as her own.  Tamora was the only one of the three children who seemed to be majorly effected by her mother's death. Tamora still had nightmares of the man who had killed her mother. Brena had promised to protect the children and she was determined to fulfil that promise. She had instructed the children to call her mom or mommy when they were around other people. She did not know if the younger children understood what she ment, but Tamora had decided that she was her other mom. Brena had asked Tamora about her home life before she had come to the mall that horrible day. Apparently, Claudette had been a financial advisor for overseas businessmen. The children's father, Paul, had died in Iraq. Claudette had been raising the children by herself for the past year. Tamora had a small picture of her father in his army uniform, she always carried it with her.

      As soon as she and the children settled into their new home, the children would be going to school here in town. Tamora would be in the second grade this year, because the school year started later here, she would start the school year along with everyone else. Tia would start preschool and Tommy would go to the daycare in the town center, after Brena opened her new hair salon. She wanted to spend as much time with the children before school started as possible.

      "Hi, my name is Marge, and I'll be serving you today, do you know what you want?" Marge had been a town staple since the early nineteen eighties. She had a classic beehive and a pink leather jacket.

      "Hey Marge, has the menu changed any in the last twelve years?" she knew that it probably hadn't but she still could not make up her mind.

      "No, do I know you?" Marge studied her more closely, trying to remember if she knew her.

      "Yeah, I went to high school here twelve years ago, I'm moving back into town this week. I bough the hair salon on Main street."

      "Oh, you're Cameron Pratt's younger sister aren't you?"

      "Yes, he's letting me and the children stay in his house here in town until we find something a little more permanent." Marge then really noticed the children, who were all starig up at the strangely endearing older woman.

      "Your brother never mentioned that you had children."

      "Well, the last seven years or so we fell out of touch."

      "I realized recently that I really need to be around family. We became very close after our mother died last spring."

      "Everyone was so upset when she died, no one expected her to die of a heartattack. She was really loved around here. Why didn't you bring the children to the funeral last spring?"

      "Well," she hesitated,"They had the flu and I did not want to make them more uncomfortable than they already were, I had a friend stay with them for the week. I didn't want to leave them, but I couldn't miss my own mother's funeral, it didn't feel right."

      "Understandable, having such littleones at home sick, now I know why you only stayed a few days." Tia picked that moment to squeal and start crying.

      "Sorry, she is hungry, I'm sure that Tommy is on the verge of a real fit too. Could you bring us a hamburger," she glanced at Tamora to verify,"no tomato or onions, an order of chicken and dumplings, they're Tommy's favorite, a hot dog no bun," she looked at Tia's scrunched up face and decided," better make that two, and a chicken fried steak platter extra mashed potatos. And after that I'll need three icecreams, two chocolate one vanella." She knew that the long drive had been trying on the children, they deserved to have at least a small treat. "I think that's it."

      "Okay, I'll be right back with your order." She walked off with a small smile, the three children were so cute, Brena was going to have her hands full with those little tikes.

      Brenda turned to Tamora and asked her," Do you want to go school shopping this weekend, you know that Tia will want to have a special outfit for her first day of school."

      Tia picked that point to say,"I want to have pink dress for school, I wanna pink backpack too." Tia being the little tirant that she was, was going to have a pink dress and backpack for school.

      Tamora was a little more hesitant about asking for anything from this woman who wanted her to call her mom. She had grown to trust and care for Brena, though she missed her mom. Before her mom had died, they had been talking about what getting older ment. Some of the other girls in her class at school had started wearing makeup, and had made fun of her for not wearing it. Her mom had told her that some girls just wanted to grow up fast, but it was up to their parents to set boundries. Her mom had explained that she wasn't trying to hurt her by telling her that she couldn't wear makeup yet, she was just showing that she loved her. Tamora was worried that the girls at her new school would make fun of her like the ones at her old school had, but she didn't want to worry Brena with her small problems, she had so much other stuff to worry about without her adding to it. She felt guilty that Brena had to take care of Tia and Tommy, Tamora should have been big enough to do it herself, she was their big sister. Brenda was just a nice lady who was helping them. She was going to help Brena as much as she could, she owed her.