Weeks later, Karyn was still sick, and only getting worse. On the third day she hadn't gone to work, Nia decided to make her breakfast so she didn't have to get up and do it. She got up early and made their usual breakfast, eggs and toast, before bringing it in to her mother. When Nia went to wake her though, she didn't respond. She was pale and barely breathing. Nia panics. She rushes to the phone and calls 911. About ten minutes later, an ambulance arrives. Nia sobs as her mother is loaded up and taken away. One of the police officers that had responded takes Nia to the hospital. The officer brings her upstairs to a family waiting area and sits with her. The kind female officer gives her tissues until she calms, then reassures the young teen that her mother will be alright. Soon, a doctor comes out and says the same. Nia starts to cry again with relief.

After a few hours, Nia is allowed to see her mother. "Umama?" Nia asks as she enters the room.

Karyn looks over and smiles weakly. "Hey, baby," she says.

Nia rushes over and hugs her, sobbing her heart out.

"Did they take care of you?" Karyn asks softly.

Nia nods, still not letting go of her mother.

The doctor comes in a bit later. "I have news," he says, looking serious.

Karyn falls quiet, as does Nia.

"I regret to inform you, ma'am, but you have stage four breast cancer. It... has traveled to your lungs and..." he pauses, looking at the young girl also sitting on the bed.

"I don't have much longer to live, do I?" Karyn asks.

"No, ma'am," the doctor says.

Both sit there, Nia in more shock than her mother.

"We'd like to keep you here for treatment..." the doctor says.

Karyn shakes her head. "We have no money. All we have is what I make daily, and I have not even worked the past few days."

Nia's lower lip trembles, then she stands, marching up to the doctor. "No! No, you're wrong! My Umama is the strongest person I know! She can't have cancer!"

"Nia," her mother warns. But Nia doesn't hear.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, causing people emotional harm just to get money! It's sick!"

"Leanne!" Karyn calls, trying to calm her daughter, but Nia starts to yell all the more at the doctor. The officer reaches for her gun as the doctor backs away from the angry 15-year-old.

"Nezhno!" Karyn yells, and Nia stops. Her mother never used her Wakandan name. Nia breaks down, starting to sob, clinging to Karyn again. The doctor and officer relax, then both leave to give the two time.

October 10th, 2009

Two weeks later, Nia wakes to chaos in her mom's hospital room. Buzzers buzzing, beepers beeping and nurses and doctors everywhere. She jumps up from her chair but she gets pushed back. Then her mother says something to the main doctor and the medical personnel all step back. Nia goes up to the bed. She has a dreadful feeling that she knows what's happening.

Karyn takes Nia's hand. "Umntwana... I love you, my daughter. Wakanda can help you now."

Nia shakes her head. "No, Umama, you can't die."

"You will see me again, Nez," Karyn says softly, using Nia's Wakandan nickname. "I am going to the ancestral plains, where Bast and the other gods of Wakanda will welcome me with open arms."

"Please don't go," Nia whispers. "I want you to stay here." She hugs her mother, starting to cry.

"I love you my daughter," Karyn whispers, before exhaling for the last time.

The beeping in the room turns to one loud buzz as Nia sobs, clutching her mother. It just didn't seem right. The strongest woman Nia had ever known, killed in less than three weeks by a disease that no one could seem to cure.

After a few minutes, Nia is pulled away by a gentle hand. Someone is talking to her, but she doesn't care who or what they are saying. After a short car ride, she finds herself at home. She's told to pack a bag with anything she might need. That's when she realizes that she will never see her home again. She starts to pack things she needs, as well as keepsakes to remind her of her mother. As she gets back into the social worker's car she asks, "Do you have any living family?"

Nia shakes her head. There was no one that she knew of. The social worker nods, driving her to a large white building that looked like a school. After bringing Nia inside and checking her in, she is taken to a room full of bunks. Her bags are set on a lower bunk, then she is left with a backpack, a suitcase, and a heart full of sorrow.

Many weeks later Nia is sent to her first foster home. They are a young couple who had just gotten married. They seem nice, but she could tell they weren't ready to parent. They were strict in all the wrong places and loose in all the wrong places. They did let Nia continue going to her school, which made her happy. When she was not at school or doing homework, the foster parents had her do chores. Nia didn't mind it for a while until she realized that while she did all the chores, the foster parents watched TV. She started doing petty things. Putting away dirty dishes. Forgetting to fold laundry right away so it would wrinkle, and the thing her Umama always disliked, leaving toothpaste in the sink. Once the foster parents caught on, it was back to the group home. Nia was almost glad to be back. There was lots of time to get homework done, and lots of time to herself.

Seven foster homes later, Nia's social worker, Jamie, picks her up with a frown. "It feels like you would prefer life without a family, Leanne."

Nia shrugs and remains silent.

"You are making this impossible," Jamie says. "I know you miss your mother, but it is time to move on."

Nia glares at her through the rearview mirror. Jamie sighs as they pull up to the group home. Nia gets out and grabs her bags before storming inside.

"Leanne!" a guy calls, grinning. Logan, another impossible foster high fives her. "Nice to see you again." Logan had been in the system since he was a toddler, drug addict parents. They were each other's only friends and they were fine with that.

"Good to see you again too," Nia says with a smile.

"I've got something you will want to hear," Logan whispers in her ear as she passes and she raises an eyebrow. Logan was always thinking up escape plans, and even if they never did them, they were fun to come up with.

Nia nods and quickly goes to put her stuff away on the girl's side. She jogs back out and settles on the couch with Logan. They both pick up controllers and start a video game as they talk.

"Nia... I found an actual way for us to get out," he says. "No more hypothetical. I'm getting out. And you can come with me."

Nia glances at him but keeps her attention on the game. "Really?" this peaks her interest, although she is not quite willing to show it.

"Yeah, I met this guy, he is part of this gang called the Wolves."

Nia stops, looking at him for real this time. "What?"

"The Wolves, I've heard of them on the news before... but they are looking for recruits, people that the world won't mind forgetting."

Nia doesn't even notice as her avatar dies. She nods slowly. "When do we go."

"A week. We have to get pulled into a family by then. Run away from there. Much easier than from here."

She nods. "Got it." They continue to play and plan.

That night, Nia goes up to Jamie in tears. "I need to tell you something."

Jamie nods, looking concerned. "Of course, you can tell me anything."

"The real reason I keep coming back is that I can't leave Logan. He's the only family I have. He's like a brother to me."

Jamie nods a bit. "That... that makes sense."

Nia wipes her eyes. "We don't want to be fostered separately."

"I'll see what I can do," Jamie says softly.

Five days later, Nia and Logan had never wanted to be chosen so badly. It was nearly time for all the possible foster families to leave by the time a middle-aged couple comes up to them with Jamie. "Impossible?" the man says. "It sounds like they have very sad stories. We will take them," the woman says.

Jamie smiles. "Do you hear that? Now, you two be nice to Mr. and Mrs. Forester."

Nia and Logan smile their nicest smiles and grab their bags. They follow the Foresters to their car and climb in. they endure the ride home, all the awkward prying questions. The main one being, white guy and black girl? Siblings? How? After trying and failing to explain that they weren't actually siblings, just close friends, they gave up. Once they got home, they were each given a room and then time to get settled. Nia sets her bags down and goes to Logan's room where they plan their escape.

About an hour later they hear voices outside of the room. "They haven't unpacked... why not?" The woman responds, "I think they are afraid of being sent home. Give them a few days to get settled. They seem like such nice kids... I think the families that sent them back were just upset with their... issues."

Nia and Logan look at eachother and wrinkle their noses. Kids? Issues? They jump at the knock on the door.

Mr. Forester pokes his head in. "Dinner is ready."

They get up and head downstairs. Nia realizes that this is one of the nicest places she has been in. Not necessarily the fanciest, but it is nice. It's cozy... it reminds her of... well, home. They sit at the table and Mrs. Forester sets a casserole dish on the table. Nia's eyes grow wide.

Mrs. Forester smiles. "I hope you like broccoli bake. It has chicken and well, broccoli."

Nia's eyes fill with tears and she hides her face with her hands.

Mrs. Forester looks concerned. "Is that a no? If you don't I can make you something else," she says quickly.

Nias shakes her head and wipes her eyes. "My... my Umama used to make it. It was our special meal."

Mrs. Forester smiles softly. "I see. Well, there is plenty, so eat as much as you would like."

Logan eyes Nia, never having seen her cry out of real emotion before. But both quickly forget the incident as they dig into the delicious casserole. By the time they are full, they have eaten half of the dish.

Mrs. Forester exchanges a worried glance with her husband. "Did you not get a lot of food?"

Nia shakes her head, taking a long drink of the apple juice in front of her. "Not something this good."

After helping clear the table, Mr. Forester takes them to the living room. "I heard that you kids like video games. I do too." He opens a game cabinet to show several video games. Logan's jaw drops. "No way!" he picks up one of the games and grins. "I have wanted to play this one for... forever!"

The three sit and play the game. Nia, ever a fast learner with quick reflexes, wins. By the time Mrs. Forester calls them for desert, Logan has won twice and Nia three times. Over dessert, they talk about their favorite video games.

"You can call us James and Heather by the way," Mrs. Forester says.

"Yeah, no need for the Mr. and Mrs. stuff," James says.

Nia nods, smiling a bit.

After dinner, Heather takes Nia to the bathroom. "Would you prefer a bath or a shower?"

Nia pauses blinking. It had been so long since someone had let her choose anything. "Uh... shower... I guess."

Heather smiles, showing her how to turn the shower on, giving her a towel and pointing out where the soap is. She also hands her a folded pair of new pajamas and underclothes. "Nice and clean. That way you can wear these while I wash the rest of your clothes. Do you mind if I get them from your bag? You can toss the clothes you are wearing out when you get undressed and I'll wash them as well."

Nia smiles a bit. "Thank you... so much. And yeah... you can get my clothes"

"Good. You take as long as you like." Heather says with a smile.

Nia nods and shuts the door behind her. After throwing her dirty clothes out, she gets in and takes a nice hot shower. She took her hair out of the single braid it was in and attempted to wash the matted mess it was in. After trying and failing she finally just got out and wrapped it in a smaller towel. She dries off and puts on the new pajamas. When was the last time she had put on new clothes? When was the last time she had put on clean clothes? She comes out of the bathroom to find Logan waiting with a towel and new pajamas. She giggles. "Sorry, you can have the shower first tomorrow."

Logan rolls his eyes and goes in. Nia goes to her room and finds her bags where they were, majorly undisturbed besides the clothes missing. Since she had come into foster care, she had gone from a suitcase, duffle bag, and a backpack to only the latter two. Duffle bag for clothes and backpack for personal things. She dumps her backpack out on the bed. She sets the picture of her, her mom, her uncles, and Eric on the nightstand. She wondered what Eric was up to at this point. She puts her wallet, toiletries, hand sanitizer, deodorant, books, and jewelry bag back into the backpack. Less to pack when they leave again in a few days. As she sat on her bed though, she realized she was dreading having to leave. She put her backpack under her nightstand. She had graduated a few months before and her backpack felt empty without her school books. After hesitating a moment, she pulls the backpack out and checks that her money and jewelry are still there. She wanted to trust these people but knew that you could really trust no one. Luckily, it was all still there. A five and two ones and a handful of change. A necklace and two rings. Her beaded black bracelet was still on her wrist. That was one thing that never came off. She went downstairs to find Heather and James watching a show.

Heather smiles. "If you'd like, you can brush your teeth in the kitchen and go to bed, or you can stay up with us."

Nia smiles and goes to get her toothbrush. After brushing her teeth, she heads to bed, quickly falling into the best she has had in a long time.