Chapter 13 Homecoming ( Lotus)
Carole was still lost in call number six, voice sharp and dramatic, by the time the car rolled down their block.
When they pulled into the driveway, Lotus just stared.
The house that was once home now feel like going back to cage of her trauma. And the decor represent her struggle from white with chipped brown trim, that lopsided welcome mat, two fake flowerpots to the dusty artificial yellow and white flower leaning like they’d given up.
Over the door was a wrinkled banner:
"WELCOME HOME LOTUS"
The “M” in Home was falling off.
On the front porch, neighbors and family crowded together, waiting, buzzing with expectation.
Ms. Carole leapt out of the car, her hot-pink skirt swishing against her green-and-pink blouse, pink cardigan sweater fluttering as she hurried around. With a mother’s pride, she flung open Lotus’s car door. Spinning back toward the porch, she called out, voice brimming with joy:
“My baby is home!”
Phones shot up instantly, a sea of glowing screens capturing the moment. Lotus’s brother, steady as ever, leaned in to guide her out, whispering with a sly grin, “Embrace yourself for the circus.”
She giggled, shook her head, and together they stepped toward the house.
Inside? Pure chaos.
The air was heavy, thick with carbon dioxide from too many bodies packed into a small space. A swirl of scents hit her at once soul food mingling with layers of perfume.
Her grandma had cooked enough for the whole block: smothered chicken, greens with neckbone, hot-water cornbread, sweet potatoes glistening like candy. The smell filled her chest before she even crossed the threshold.
For a fleeting second, she felt safe.
But then the volume came.
Jada her sister’s daughter was filming TikTok’s with a “Welcome Home Auntie” filter floating above her head. The twins, both ten-month-old butterballs, were screaming like baby goats. One was gnawing on a watermelon-shaped teether, the other slapping a bottle on the tile like it owed him money. Somebody had wheeled a ring light into the hallway like this was a soft launch for a YouTube channel. One of the cousins had their phone out, vertically, narrating like this was the reunion special on BET+.
The house was full to the brim church folks, block folk, blood relatives and play cousins. Voices bounced off the walls. The smell of collard greens, sweet heat wings, and Murray’s edge control thick in the air.
Joy was in the kitchen rinsing spinach when she caught a glimpse of Lotus standing frozen in the doorway.
She saw it immediately.
That blank stare. That weight in her shoulders. The way Lotus looked like she was about to fall out of her own skin.
Joy wiped her hands on a towel and moved fast slipping through bodies like a nurse on call.
Meanwhile, the room collapsed in on Lotus.
“Auntie, wave for the camera!”
“Smile, girl!”
“Hold up, let me get her with Granny really quick!”
Arms grabbed at her hug after hug after hug. Scented with cocoa butter, fried fish, and too much perfume. Phones kept flying up in her face flashes popping, cameras filming. Somebody even stuck their phone under her chin and yelled, “Say something for the vlog!”
Lotus smiled. She waved. She let herself get hugged, pulled, kissed on the cheek. People ask for things when she get better. She posed next to Big Mama and let Cameron snap the photo knowing it would be posted before she even blinked.
But inside?
She was slipping.
Her knees were jelly. Her breath caught high in her chest. Her ears started to ring, drowning out the noise like she was sinking underwater.
Nobody saw it.
Nobody except Joy.
She was there now, right beside her. No words, just an arm around Lotus’s waist. Subtle but strong, steering her forward like she already knew what needed to happen