Sweet Pain

About the Book

Isabella sipped her cold drink thoughtfully as visions of a large two-story house with her name on the mailbox, money in the bank and enough clothes to wear a different outfit every day for a year and two to wear on Sundays passed before her eyes. Like some of her family members, she planned to work smart, but not too hard. She opened her compact to study her oval-shaped face in the mirror and noted a face full of high expectations. A touch of strawberry lip-gloss added to her full lips, and all that she needed was a job. She snapped her compact shut to glorify at how far she had come. The 95-pound girl who stood five feet two when she left the sticks had developed into a five feet six 115-pound city girl. A quick glance toward the front window at the parking lot and she wondered what was keeping Tyrone with his slow behind. His mother swore she carried him in her womb for eleven months. That and the fact that his conception was the result of an old man’s sperm did not help matters. The only thing he did fast was drive his black Ford convertible. Isabella brushed her hair from her face. The humidity was destroying her do. Short drooping strings of hair dangling in her face magnified the heat. She pushed them away, reached into her purse, and took out a black plastic headband. After pulling her hair back, she adjusted it across her head and wished for her long, luxurious ponytail. She could just hear her mother’s voice asking, “Why did you cut your hair?” For a brief moment, she wished she were going home to live with her parents. However, the chance of finding a job in her hometown would be like looking for a penny in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Her home life had never been great as a middle child, anyway. She was glad she had made other plans. The Foster family had been extremely poor for a long time. They had lived with first one set of parents and then the other until Uncle Malcolm bought an old, run-down house on ten acres of land in the middle of nowhere. The one cow town had a population of less than fifty-five, a one-room post office, a country store, a service station, and a gift shop called Aunt Martha’s Hat Box. That was where she was born and lived, for seventeen years, until she moved to the city to stay with Aunt Mildred and Uncle Melvin. Things took a turn for the better when Uncle Malcolm, Isabella’s father sold his first novel. Her parents wasted no time building a mansion on their ten-acre spread. Too bad, she had left the nest when he hit the big times. Sandwiched in between her two sisters was a struggle for her. Victoria stayed up late because of her status as the oldest child. Alexandria got special privileges because she was the youngest. Isabella never did anything special because she was the middle child. Through sheer willpower, she gradually took control of her life. By age twelve, she no longer defined herself by what others thought or how they behaved toward her. Her life improved from that point on. Of the three sisters, Alexandria was the most daring. Instead of climbing trees, she climbed out of windows. Instead of experimenting with cigarettes, she experimented with marijuana. Victoria was the complex one. The perfect firstborn loved attention more than she loved herself. She tried to earn it by being a people pleaser. Her indecisive personality prevented her from controlling her destiny. Several obstacles got in her way before she learned who she was. Aunt Helen, their mother had a knack for putting on airs. The schoolchildren at their segregated school accused their half-white mother of making much ado over nothing. “Your birth certificate may say you’re colored, but you try to act white.” Those hateful words crushed Alexandria’s self-esteem. She rushed home and ate everything in sight, before graduating to the hard stuff. Victoria hid her face and cried when the bullies got next to her. Isabella dismissed them with a toss of the head and “kept on

About the Author

Elizabeth Moody is a formal associate editor for Elegant Woman. She also contributed short articles to For Seasons, a local magazine for woman. In addition, she has published short stories with True Story magazine. She has a BS in education and a specialization in sociology. A mother of four, a grandmother of ten, and a retired schoolteacher, she lives with her husband Jerry in College Station, Texas. Their two dogs Simon and Rocky are their constant companions.