Page 1 of Feeding Hope
It Could Have Been Us.
Elizabeth N. Harris
It Could Have Been Us.
Dante and Eddie have never stopped fighting. Throughout the years they’ve pulled some pranks and committed revenge. But Dante is acting out and he utters some fateful words which change everything.
Lashing out in sheer hate Dante causes a split in his family. He has no excuse for his actions and Drake’s indulgence has serious consequences. Can Phoe and Drake heal their family or is Phoe destined to lose a child?
Dante learns the meaning of humility, soup kitchens and the real meaning of charity.
Prologue.
Sophie – October 2024
Is this what life had come to? Stubbornly, I held back tears as I loaded the last of the few boxes into the car and gazed at the house, which had once been my home. Not anymore. The lenders and the bank had foreclosed pretty damn quick. Two years ago, everything had been perfect. Mark, my husband, held a good job. I’d worked around the children’s school hours, and we’d been stable – until Mark’s accident.
That had messed up our perfect life. Worse, it hadn’t been Mark’s fault either. The equipment had been faulty, and Mark had fallen, causing partial paralysis. After a year of struggling, Mark had been dismissed by his employer. Of course, if Mark dropped the court case, then they’d have kept him on with benefits. No.
Mark, an oil rigger, had plenty of evidence. His best friend, Ray, had smuggled out the repair logs and security footage. We had the company bang to rights. However, financially, they had us over a barrel and had stopped paying sick benefits and left us to hang. My wages barely covered food. Mark hated the situation, as I ended up working three jobs while he tried to manage the kids, but the money wasn’t enough.
Without Mark getting paid, we soon began spiralling, and the bank acted swiftly. They foreclosed, and I was damn sure thatMark’s company was behind it. We had one lawyer; they had a fricking army. But we wouldn’t back down. The lawyer, bless him, had agreed to take his salary out of the payout we’d get. Some decent people remained in the world, but that didn’t help us at the moment. I’d loved this house; our children had been born here, and we’d moved in just before our wedding. Now it would belong to another family.
“Sophie,” Mark said softly. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. Life throws curveballs. We’ll manage,” I promised. How, I didn’t know. We were basically homeless, and if not for Mark’s parents, we’d be on the street. But even with them, money was tight as they’d retired recently due to their own ill health. There were going to be seven living in a two-bedroom house. God help us all.
Chapter One.
Eddie – March 2025
Iwas going to kill him! Dante was a prick, and in my opinion, adoption was a mercy where he was concerned.
“Bitch!” Dante hissed in sheer anger.
I grinned evilly, and my twin shuddered. Tony recognised that grin. All my siblings knew that meant trouble, but it never deterred Dante. I might be fifteen, and Dante ten, but we couldn’t stand each other. Dante hadn’t stopped causing problems since he could walk. I swear, Mama Phoe should have let me drown him. The world would be a better place if I had drowned him.
“Back off,” Tony warned Dante, who glanced at him and shrugged.
“Shit’s about to hit the fan,” Peyton murmured as she took a seat at the dinner table. My youngest sister shook her head. It amused me that, every so often, she cursed but was an angel in front of our parents.
“Will you behave for once?” Scout demanded, entering with his twin, Timmy. They were both eleven now and usually sided with Dante.
“Talking to me?” I snarled, bristling.
“For once, no. Dante, just be good. Mom’s feeling the pressure today,” Scout ordered.
“Mom’s constantly stressed,” Dante shot back, and my temper notched up even more. The damn spoilt brat. Dante had no understanding of what life was like without money.
Agitated, I shook my head. I was two when Mama Phoe adopted Tony and me. I remembered little before coming here. Mama Phoe always said that I claimed her, and I remembered that day. It never left me. I’d been desperate for a mom for Tony and me, and when I saw Mama Phoe and her kind smile, I made my move.
People would say we’d been raised in luxury. They’d be correct; we had been. But I do recall being cold, hungry, and scared. Those feelings hadn’t faded in Tony or me. It took years for the fear to fade that she’d send us back, but that never stopped me from being myself. When Dad came along, that frightened me even more. What if Dad didn’t want a big family and got rid of Tony and me because we were adopted?
We were a multicultural family: Black, Mexican, Caucasian, and none of that mattered a damn. We were family; blood meant nothing to us kids. Family was what you created, and Mama Phoe had built something beautiful. She had a lot of love in her heart. Such a shame that it extended to that little prick.
“Shut the hell up,” Garrett snapped as he entered the dining room and smacked Dante around the back of his head. Anyone else other than Garrett and Jake, and there’d have been a fight. But while they were both stable health-wise, they could and did get ill easily. The entire family looked out for Garrett and Jake, even the younger kids. They may be eleven, but I remembered the early years when it was often touch-and-go.
“If you dare start, Dante, Iwilllock you in the coal bunker,” Aaron threatened as he walked in. I grinned at our big brother. I absolutely adored Aaron. He was twenty now and in his last year at college before heading to the Denver Wild NFL team. That was Aaron’s plan, anyway. He was good, brilliant in fact, whichwas funny because Aaron was English. He said the NFL was called rugby back in England, and they didn’t use all the padding either.
