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chatted.
    At one point, Randi started crying.
    “What’s wrong?” Shellie asked.
    “I need you to do me a favor, Shell. Will you?”
    “Of course, Randi. Yes. What is it?”
     
    Shellie knew Randi was in a tight spot and didn’t like to talk about her life and where it had been lately, not where Randi saw herself headed. Since he had been two years old, Shellie had custody of Randi’s middle child. Randi had signed over that custody. It was the right thing to do for Randi. She realized she couldn’t handle the child at the time and knew that by leaving the child with Shellie, Randi could see him whenever she wanted. For Shellie, family looked out for one another.
    When she entered high school, Randi was passionate about hip-hop dancing, along with hanging out with the popular crowd, since she was one of them. As far as boys and dating, Randi was not one of those girls dreaming of one day marrying Prince Charming and riding off into the sunset. Sure, she wanted that white-picket fence, same as most people, but there was something inside Randi that told her not to allow herself to be tied down—at least not at a young age. She was determined that before settling down, the love between her and her partner needed to be genuine. It should not be just the “next thing to do” in life, nor just because she’d had children at such a young age.
    For years, Randi considered how people dated. They’d graduate college together. Then they would move into the working world, believing the next “thing” to check off the list was marriage and kids and SUVs and Little League and PTA meetings. It was almost as if their lives had been scripted. And then the bubble burst at some point and they found themselves staring at each other one day across the dinner table, realizing they were following a path set before them by others and not listening to their hearts.
    Randi didn’t want that. She yearned for love at its core. If she didn’t feel it, she wasn’t sticking around and wasn’t going to kid herself into believing that just because a man fathered her child, he was “the one.”
     
    “What is it, Randi?” Shellie pressed.
    Randi was still crying.
    Shellie and her mother looked on, wondering what was going on. It was Randi’s birthday. She was supposed to be celebrating. She should be happy.
    But there was a certain darkness hovering over Randi. Shellie could feel it.
    “Randi, talk to me. . . .”

CHAPTER 11
    S isters Randi and Shellie hung out with the same group of friends while in high school. Being so close in age, they did just about everything together. High school, however, changes kids—more choices to make, more temptations. Teenagers begin to think as though they’re adults. It’s nature. It’s all part of growing up.
    “Randi was never one to get out there and start trouble with people,” Shellie said. “It just wasn’t in her. But, look, if someone brought trouble her way, she was not going to back down. She would stand her ground. Still, Randi was brought up in a godly way. She had more sympathy for people than anger or animosity. She never really wanted to be ugly to anyone.”
    While in high school, Randi got pregnant.
    “And after she had Brendon (pseudonym), these people, that crowd, started coming around and causing problems for her and her boyfriend, and it wasn’t gonna work out.”
    Sometime after giving birth to Brendon, Randi stopped by to see Shellie.
    “I want to go to Michigan,” Randi explained. She was looking for approval from Shellie—the okay. They had family up north.
    Randi wanted to get away from Gastonia and take some time in another place, a location away from all the drama and bedlam of her life. The last few years of high school had been rough. It started out slowly, but after falling in with a certain group, getting pregnant, and then beginning to dabble in the drug culture, Randi needed a break.
    “Do you think it’d be okay if I took Brendon with me?” Randi