Page 92 - Reason To Sing by Kelita Haverland

Reason To Sing

Chapter Fifteen

Drugstore Cowboy

Since being back in the big city and of legal age 14, for
babysitting that is, I do a lot of just that. I think I’m pretty good
at it. Not one child has died on my watch. My newfound career
serves many purposes. I love looking after kids and making my
own money. I can indulge in all the great snacks the really nice
families leave for me and most importantly, it gets me out of
the house and away from him.
Yes. Him. I am sad to report that my mother married Mike!
Even after she told me she would never get married again.
Now Mike is not only her husband, he is also our stepfather.
And not just stepfather. He adopted Vian and me! We have
changed our last name to Haverland.
It feels pretty strange. All of us except Billy have the same
last name, which is weird, but it has made life easier. Not so
much explaining to do anymore. I can pretend we’re almost
like a real family. Something cool has finally come out of this.
Mom even allowed me to change my middle name to Lyndell.
Why Lyndell, you might ask? Well, in my 13-year-old brain it
sounded exotic. My real middle name was Lucille, but I never
really liked it even though I am named after my aunt. Sorry
Aunt Lucille. But I honestly thought Kelita Lyndell sounded
like a movie star. I really wanted to keep my dad’s name too;
that was so very important to me. So, I suddenly took on one
mouthful of a moniker - Kelita Lyndell Ohler Haverland.
Moving to the city for mom’s health was a definite necessity
but she’s still not doing very well. She had to have another

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