Orphan Sisters by Lola Jaye

Author:Lola Jaye
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ebury Publishing

Chapter Nineteen

Lana sat in a half-furnished flat on a dodgy south London estate deemed dodgy by the locals.

Since moving into the notorious Grogan Estate, she’d regularly clocked the police presence outside the local newsagent’s, and the boarded-up flats on the ground floor. The small gangs of children loitering in every corner clutching bottles of cider failed to intimidate her in the slightest because they simply reminded her of the kids at Sir John Adams Children’s Home. The small cockroaches running along the sink of her kitchen, and the iron bars attached to her front windows and doorway were less welcome. But being inside her first real home since the age of twelve meant she was grateful for the warmth of the radiator, comfortable second-hand armchair, and to be able to get up when she pleased, eat when she wanted to, without the constant noise of a busy dinner hall … allowed to truly be the adult she had always been.

This was supposed to be the most exciting time of her life, yet the pain of May’s disappearance weighed heavily on her soul.

When first told that May had gone, she’d called John Adams Children’s Home daily as well as liaising with the welfare service and the police. Yet there’d been no sightings of her sister. The painful realisation that no one cared about a sixteen-year-old black runaway soon became clear to her.

The ensuing weeks were mostly spent moping around the half-finished flat, still hoping May would turn up, unable to settle her mind on much else, the excitement of her first home drowned out by worry.

The only person with the power to lift her spirits was Clifton. His weekend visits in the past, always fun, now served as a lifeboat to keep her from drowning in her own depths of despair. He prepared his ‘special breakfast’ of cereal, fruit and cream in the morning and baked beans on toast for dinner, and insisted that she eat when she insisted she couldn’t. He would refuse to leave until every last morsel of food had disappeared. Never one to engage in emotional heart to hearts, his bad jokes and attempts at forcing her to smile mostly worked.

And now, after three months of tapping into the strength and presence of her best friend, Lana began to pull away from the negative and dare to imagine a life where hope still lived.

‘I’m going to find Tina,’ she said.

Clifton’s expression dropped. ‘I thought you were going to try and get on with things.’

‘I never said that included giving up on Tina. May’s disappearance knocked me for six but, instead of moping about it, I want to find Tina. At least then, I would have one of my sisters back.’

‘Lana, this is …’

‘Important to me, Clifton. YOU know how important this is to me. So please, please don’t tell me not to do this!’

The social worker wasn’t much help.

‘Lana, like I told you when you rang, there is nothing you can do,’ she said, her eyes on the clock.

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