Blake

         A girl the age of eight jumped down the front steps cying out with glee. The summer sun had no warmth, for the girl held now all the happiness in the world with her news. The huge smile on her dark skinned face didn't compare to her excitement, and she looked around for someone, anyone, to tell what just happened.
         A messy gray-haired man in a half-crumpled suit who had entered through the garden gate became a victem of her well practiced flying leap of a hug.
         "Papa! You'll never guess what happened!" squealed the mass that squirmed as the man tried not to drop her.
         "I don't think I ever could. What is it, Blake?" asked the man, unusually patient as he set the girl down and kissed her on the forehead.
         "Bibi had kittens!" shouted the girl, and twirled away with her arms stretched wide. "Kittens, kittens, kittens!" When the girl turned back to see his reaction, she saw he had a warm smile on his face that didn't quite meet his eyes.
         "That's wonderful dear. Tell me, is mama home?" He tried to smile again, but his eyes kept a nervous look tucked in them when he glanced at their rented two-room house.
         Feeling something strange going on, Blake dropped her all-important subject, and answered immediately. "Mama's in the bedroom."
         With a nod, the man strode inside without another word or look in the girl's direction. Feeling uneasy with the sudden change of mood her father had brought in like mud prints from his shoes.
         Blake turned and searched for what had made things go so wrong. All the other small, half-wreaked houses on her street were normal. No one without a dark complexion roamed around here, and the stray dogs still begged for food or fought over some.
         That's when she saw an expensive limo kicking up small dust clouds in the road despite its slow speed it kept. The only people Blake knew of that had such cars were the ones papa worked for. With a choke of the enjine, the limo came to a halt right in front of her garden gate.
         "Mama..." Blake hesitently called as two men got out and started toward her. She turned toward her house and got two running steps before she heard her mother's voice, raised in anger.
         "...paid them all we have! They can't do this to us..."
         Bang! Slammed open, the door protested on its hinges as mama and papa came out. Mama came straight for Blake and picked her up; whispered soothing nonesense in her ear and patted her head. The girl turned her head to watch her papa meet the two men as they entered the garden.
         He made pleading guestures, but appeared to have no effect on the men. Instead, they pointed down the road, and made a sweeping guesture. Papa froze, then nodded. He came back to Blake with halting steps.
         "...We're going on a trip, Dew-drop. Help mama to get all your things together, okay?" The man ruffled her curly brown hair, then closed his eyes. His fifty years of life suddenly seemed to rest right on his shoulders, for to Blake he suddenly looked like an older man, one who brake with but one more feather of a day.
         "Yes papa."