Olivia by M'Renee Allen Page B

away from the smelly doll, her daughter nodded her head as she shoved her teddy bears into the backpack. A horn blew outside.
    “Daddy,” Ayanna yelled, her little brown face lighting up with a beautiful smile. She tossed her backpack over her shoulder and raced from the room.
    “Be careful on the stairs, Yanna. And zip up your backpack.”
    “Okay.” Her daughter’s footsteps slowed down as she made her way downstairs. With a doll in one hand and her daughter’s luggage in the other, Dana left the room and walked downstairs to the kitchen.
    She tucked the doll under her arm so she could grab the sandwich bags, then she made her way over to the front door. Her heart was immediately flooded with mixed emotions as she watched her daughter and her ex husband hug. She missed him, there was no denying that.
    But she would never be one of those women who stayed in a miserable marriage just for the child’s sake. There was no way two unhappy parents could raise a happy child… no way. She made her way over to the car as he buckled Ayanna into the backseat. When he turned to face Dana, she handed him the suitcase and the sandwiches. He raised his eyebrows at the sandwiches.
    “You don’t cook,” Dana explained before he could say anything.
    “But I have a phone. I know how to call Pizza Plaza.”
    “Exactly.” She shoved the items into his hands then strode past him to the back of the car where she leaned through the window to talk to her baby.
    “Be good for daddy, sweetie.”
    “I will mommy.”
    “And don’t forget to call me every morning and every night.”
    “I won’t forget mommy, love you.”
    “Love you more.” Dana blew her daughter a kiss, which her sweetie caught then blew one right back to her. She stood up, blinking tears from her eyes.
    “She’ll be fine,” Kelvin told her.
    “She better,” Dana gave him a stern look before stepping away from the car.
    “See you Sunday.” He got into the car, cranked it up and backed out of her driveway.
    Dana continued waving to her daughter long after the car was gone. It was only one weekend. It wasn’t like she would be gone for months. She sniffed, still blinking back tears. Even though it was just for the weekend, it was still harder than she’d thought it’d be.
    She walked over to the trash that was waiting at the side of the road. She stared down at the doll one last time. The years had not been good to this toy. The dress it wore was so dirty she could barely tell what color it had once been.
    Its face wasn’t plastic. It was made out of cloth, which was dirtier than the dress. The doll’s blonde hair was in two pigtails. The toy wouldn’t be so ugly if someone hadn’t gone to great lengths to make it that way.
    It had buttons for eyes, but someone had colored the buttons black, giving the doll an eerie stare. Because of the strings sticking up in the middle of the doll’s face, Dana assumed it had once had a button nose.
    Not anymore. Someone had torn the button off and drawn an X where the nose should be. Dana smiled as she touched the nose. Someone had probably created this doll in love and the thing got left behind when they moved leaving it easy prey to future children who moved into the house. And not all kids treasured toys as her Ayanna did.
    This was one toy her daughter would not want to treasure. And it wasn’t just because the doll smelled and had black eyes. The worst part of the doll was its mouth. Whoever drew the mouth on the doll must’ve had a horrible childhood.
    The doll appeared to be screaming and paired with its black eyes the thing looked like it was in pain. That thought sent a chill over Dana’s flesh. Lifting the trash lid, she tossed the creepy looking doll inside then placed the lid back over the can.
    Wrapping her arms around herself, she stared up and down her street. The sun was slowly fading away, streaking the sky with beautiful hues of orange and red. Her mother was right, living way out here, alone,