“I want every cent—down to the penny—of the money you owe
me tomorrow morning,” Rock continued. “I love you like a daughter. But
sometimes kids need to learn a few hard ass lessons. Not a minute after nine,
Dee,” he warned. “Nobody makes a fool out of me.” Then all Dee heard was
a dial tone.
Her mind raced. The money was gone. Security deposit. First month’s
rent. Think. Think. Damn!
Several older men had told Dee that God didn’t give her that gorgeous
face and “brick house” body for nothing. The thought of what they had in mind
made her shiver with disgust. She would have to find another way. She always
did. But she was running out of options. And time.
“Who was that?” Nipsey asked.
“None of your—”
“Dee? Dee?” her mother’s raspy whisper came from the only bedroom
in the cramped apartment. “Dee, is that you?”
She gave her dad a final glare and hurried toward a bedroom that no
longer wrapped Dee in her mother’s favorite lemon scent, but instead the
overpowering stench of pending demise.
Her mother’s hazel eyes lit up when she said, “Hey, Baby,”
Dee was equal amounts of tired, pissed and afraid; but she couldn’t
help reacting to her mother’s obvious joy. “Hey, Mom. Did you have a good
day?” She hurried over to the dresser to light the white sage in a saucer and
cracked the window to let in the mid-summer breeze.
“’Bout the same. The nurse came, and your dad helped me out today.”
Ilene winced a bit as she tried to settle into a more comfortable position. She
then asked, “How about you? How were your classes?”
“They were good,” she replied, hoping her mother wouldn’t ask for
details that were non-existent.
Sierra Kay
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Naleighna Kai Literary Cafe Magazine July/August 2017 61