Chapter 7 change and trauma(Lotus)
Then heels clicking, stepping in the door
Autumn, Lotus’s older sister, strutted in like nothing was wrong, carrying an overnight bag in one hand and her phone in the other.
Her burnt-orange bodycon dress hugged every curve, and her clear nude heels tapped against the tile like a metronome. Her cinnamon lace-front wig was laid flatter than rent money, and her lashes fluttered like they were waving at invisible cameras.
She pressed record the moment she walked in.
“Here to see my sister in the hospital nothing’s gonna keep me away!” she said, posing beside Lotus’s bed before turning the camera off.
Then reality hit.
“What in the Final Destination?” Autumn muttered, tossing the overnight bag into the chair.
“Look how great of a sister I am,” she continued, digging through the bag. “I got you toiletries because you know hospitals don’t care about Black skin. They got that watery lotion, so I brought you Vaseline cocoa butter. And Aquaphor for those crusty things you call lips. Comb, brush, hair moisturizer too because, baby, that head looks like a cry for help.”
Without waiting for permission, Autumn started combing through Lotus’s hair.
Lotus winced, a soft moan escaping as the comb tugged through her tangled curls. The intrusion felt sudden uninvited but she didn’t have the strength to argue. She was still trying to process everything that had happened, her body aching and her mind foggy.
“Cam, hold my phone,” Autumn said, handing it over like an assistant was part of her entourage. Cam rolled his eyes but did it anyway.
Autumn went live.
“Everybody been asking about my sister,” she said sweetly to the camera, bending down to kiss Lotus on the forehead like she was some Instagram angel.
The room went quiet, but not out of peace out of restraint. Everyone just ignored her behavior, not wanting to start a fuss while Lotus lay there in the hospital bed.
Lotus just watched her sister through tired eyes. Honestly, she didn’t have the strength to care. But even in her fog, she could feel the shift in the room. The air, even the steady hum of the monitors everything felt uncomfortable under Autumn’s performance. Her energy filled the space like an uninvited guest that refused to leave.
After a couple minutes of acting like she was about to braid Lotus’s hair phone angled just right for the camera Autumn smiled into the lens, fingers hovering over Lotus’s curls like she was doing something.
“Turn this way, sis,” she said sweetly, pretending to part a section. But as soon as the camera light clicked off, her whole vibe changed.
“Joy, you can braid her hair for real,” Autumn said, admiring her nails. “I just got mine done.”
Joy sighed, shaking her head with that here-we-go-again look. She already knew what time it was. Still, she slid in behind Lotus and started braiding while Autumn scrolled through her phone, picking the best angle for her fake post.
By the time Joy finished, Autumn had already uploaded the picture—caption and all—like she’d done it herself. Another performance. Another illusion.
Then, as soon as the camera stopped recording, the mask dropped.
“Now that I know you’re okay,” Autumn said, reaching straight into Lotus’s purse, “I got a date to get to.”
She didn’t even blink, just started digging through it like it was hers.
“I brought your stuff,” she muttered, “but I need like sixty dollars real quick. I’ll Cash App you later.”
Lotus just stared silent, chest heavy.
That was her family all over: loud with love in public, quiet with care in real life.
Cam and Joy groan in unison
“Can you not rob a trauma patients” Joy reply
Lotus, groggy and sore, pulled her head back against the pillow, jaw clenched.
“I already gave Ma money for your damn kids,” she hissed.
rolled her eyes without missing a beat. “And she used it already. “Diapers don’t grow on trees” “Lo, you know I’m a single mother. You know how hard it is out here,” she pleaded, eyes darting around the dull hospital room like she was searching for a way out of the shame. “I’ll pay you back when my check hits. Alright? Thanks, sis.”
Snatch.
She took the cash anyway no hesitation, no thank you like it was hers by birthright. Then she turned and walked off, hips swinging with the same cold calm she always wore when life made her beg.
Jason let out a sharp exhale through his nose, jaw clenched.
“That’s your fault, Lotus,” he muttered, voice low but edged with irritation. “You spoil everybody; your family, your friends even from a hospital bed.”
But then he looked at her. Really looked at her.
Lotus lying there, cheeks hollowed by stress, IV snaking into her arm like it was feeding her borrowed time. Something shifted in his face. The irritation melted into guilt, then softened into silence. He bit his tongue and just shook his head.
Lotus rolled her eyes, more out of survival than sass.
He wasn’t wrong.
But damn, she wasn’t in the mood for a TED Talk on boundaries.
Not when her body felt like a war zone and all she wanted just once was for someone to hold space for her without telling her where she went wrong.
She exhaled slow. Swallowed the sting.
Then Cam stepped forward, quiet like he always was.
No grand speech, no permission asked.
He pulled his grandma’s EBT card from his back pocket and a folded twenty-dollar bill. Slipped them both into her purse, careful, like tucking love into a mailbox.
He looked her dead in the eye.
“Don’t trip, Lo. I got it. You know I got you. Let me handle it,” he said, voice steady, chest squared.
In that moment, he wasn’t just her little brother he was the man of the house.
Although she really didn’t care for the money or EBT card . But it was his thoughtfulness that struck her heart.