​ A Scar Inside My Heart by Endia Oxendine
10/16/19 English 4
A Scar Inside My Heart by Endia Oxendine
It was a hot summer day when Aliyah and Jennifer left to go to Aliyah’s uncle’s house to check on him. He was sitting up, happy as ever, having full blown conversations, acting his normal self, but as usual he had a beer beside his chair . As Jennifer and Aliyah got ready to leave, “Bye, I love y’all “ Uncle said . That same night Aliyah received a call from her aunt that her uncle was in the hospital. (She already knew what the cause was, he’s been drinking for years.) “ He is very sick, “ the Aunt said . After the call, Aliyah and Jennifer, her Mother, got in the car and went to the hospital as quickly as they could . On the way there, Aliyah was worried and full of questions, “Is he going to live?, Is he okay?, Is he talking?, He’s been suffering for the longest, will this be the time? “ asked Aliyah . Jennifer just sitting quietly in thought not knowing how to answer the questions her daughter asked . Aliyah and Jennifer arrived at the hospital but hesitated to go in because they didn’t want to hear bad news . Jennifer says to Aliyah, “As many times as your Uncle went through things like this, it’s an automatic he’s strong“. As soon as they get in the hospital room uncle looks pale and weak, but he’s still up and alert.
The doctors calls Aliyah and Jennifer to the door and says “He’s not doing very well, we are sorry but he only has a couple weeks left to live, we are going to put him in a rest home.” Jennifer and Aliyah’s hearts are torn to pieces, “They never even gave us a choice, I don’t wanna see my brother struggle.” said Jennifer. “He’s strong, this can’t be real he has made it so far” said Aliyah. “All we can do is pray baby, he’s got this” said Jennifer. Aliyah walks down the hallway because she just can’t keep it together and she don’t want her uncle to see her sad . As Aliyah gets a couple doors down she falls to her knees with distress . Aliyah can’t take that for an answer, her Uncle is her heart, he’s the glue of the family. “He’s a father figure to me, what will I do without him?” Aliyah said. *2 days later* Aliyah and Jennifer goes to the hospice house to see uncle. As they walk in they see some of the family sitting near uncle’s room. You can tell uncle’s body is shutting down and he’s getting weaker by the hour. Jennifer and Aliyah walks in the room Uncle looks up at them and smiles. As the family all know its uncle’s time, everyone says their goodbyes and spends time with Uncle as much as they can. As Jennifer and Aliyah gets ready to leave Aliyah (holding her tears back because she didn’t want uncle to see her sad) goes up and grabs his hand . With shortness of breath, “I love you babygirl” said Uncle.
As Aliyah says it back and hugs him to get ready to go, she’s still trying everything in her power to hold everything back. She didn’t want to see uncle like that, “He always fought and never gave up on me. Why could he possibly leave me now? He won’t see me graduate or have kids some day. He can’t leave me now , I never even had the chance to make him proud yet” said Aliyah. “Uncle is tired, he will be at ease now. He’s always been proud of you, you’re his babygirl” said Jennifer. “I don’t want to let go, he’s all i’ve ever known” said Aliyah. The next morning was the day Aliyah dreaded all her life, she got the phone call that Uncle had passed…..