Blessings From the Father by Michelle Larks Page A

asked me to pick her up for church.”
    Raquel’s voice dropped. “Well, I had to support a sister, even an anonymous one.”
    The friends and Rosemary shared a hearty laugh.
    â€œLet’s find Sasha and get out of here,” Mariah told her friends, “I guess I’ll treat everyone to lunch.”
    After chatting with church members for twenty minutes, the group departed and did just that.
    The following week, Mariah decided to definitely use her father’s residence as a transition home for mothers leaving prison with daughters. With the help of Attorney Cook, she began step one of the process. Mariah hoped within a year to see the fruits of her labor mature. Mariah was floating on cloud nine; life was progressing greatly. She had found her purpose in life.

Chapter Six
    By the end of September, Mariah’s plans were becoming finalized. She decided to move into a slightly smaller, yet sizeable house next door to her father’s residence. Doing so would allow her to have easy access to the transitional home, and oversee the renovations. The owner had passed away recently and Mariah put a bid on the property and won the bid. Like her father’s house, the neighboring house had a coach house for Rosemary. Mariah planned to reside in her father’s house until she could close on the new house. The owner’s will was in the process of being probated. So Mariah would reside in the “big house” as Sonyell and Raquel called Mariah’s father’s house for a short time.
    Mariah kept the center operational in Altgeld Garden. She promoted her second-in-command, Ciara Davidson, to managing director. Ciara would oversee the day-to-day activities. Mariah planned to put in an appearance at the facility once or twice a week.
    Since Sonyell had majored in business management in college and minored in accounting, Mariah hired her as her business manager. Sonyell’s primary function would be to learn the inner workings of the businesses. She would with present management to ensure the businesses continued to turn a profit. Raquel, a hairdresser by trade, would manage the beauty and barber shops. The girls were ecstatic about their new duties and felt like they had won the lottery.
    Mariah and her friends planned to move into their new homes within two weeks. Mariah would move into her home first, with the friends moving the following weekend. That way they could help each other. Mariah had stopped at a U-Haul storage facility on the way home from the center, and picked up packing boxes. She planned to keep some of the furniture from her father’s house but was anxious to imprint her own brand upon it. The Salvation Army in Hammond was scheduled to pick up donations during the week.
    â€œGranny,” Mariah yelled as she set the boxes on the floor, “are you home? I picked up more boxes so we could finish packing. Moving day is right around the corner.”
    Rosemary didn’t reply. Mariah glanced at her watch and noted her grandmother should be home any minute. She picked up a couple of boxes and walked upstairs to her bedroom. Mariah had just taped several boxes shut when she heard the front door open and close. She could hear Rosemary walking up the stairs. Mariah looked up as Rosemary entered her bedroom and smiled.
    â€œHow was your day, Granny?” she asked as she put a stack of books into one of the boxes.
    â€œNot bad. How was yours?” Rosemary replied. She pulled her jacket off and fanned herself with one hand. “Today was such a nice day. I just hope we have a few more like this before the hawk hits Chicago.”
    â€œI’m sure we will,” Mariah agreed. “I brought more boxes.” She waved her hand at the stack and then turned her attention back to her grandmother. “I noticed you haven’t done any packing. Why not?”
    â€œMari,” Rosemary began hesitantly, “I need to talk to you about the move.”