Charm City Part 1 (Welcome to Bodymore Murdaland)

by S. L. Walker

  “Well, hey Angel! Hey Sam! How is your Thanksgiving?” She stopped us both.

  “Hey, Nancy. It’s been really good,” I quickly said, ready to walk away from her but Sam continued.

  “Hey Miss Stein. How was yours?” He asked her. I rolled my eyes. This was not good.

  “It was fulfilling, Samuel, thank you for asking. So you here together, huh?” She asked. Mostly to me.

  “Yeah, catching Spiderman,” he answered for me.

  “Yeah, it’s actually about to start. See you next week Nancy, have a good holiday,” I walked away, leaving Sam only to give a quick bye and follow me. I know he could sense my urgency to get away from her but he didn’t say anything about it.

  “Alright now, you two!” She walked back to where she was headed. Something told me it wasn’t a good idea to see her that day. I know it isn’t a crime to be at the movies with him but Sam and I were just friends. But now I felt like I had to explain something to someone I didn’t feel like explaining. The people at the center talked a lot about each other’s lives. I could hear them old ladies talking about each other all the time. Who was messing around with who. Who had the worst kid. Who didn’t show up to Church that Sunday. Who was fake, who was getting fired, who wore what to work that day. All at a family center.

  So now, I could imagine me being the talk of Nancy’s Monday.

  Angel running around here with one of the center boys. I shivered at the thought. Sam looked back at me as we entered the theater, oblivious to it all. He was just happy to be with me.

  EVA

  After a long and full dinner, I followed Lilly up to her room again while my dad and Brenda so eagerly agreed to put away the food and dishes.

  “My belly is going to explode,” Lilly over exaggerated, closing her door behind her.

  “Mine too,” I laughed. Lilly opened one of her dresser drawers and pulled out some pajama shorts and an old t-shirt. She quickly undressed in front of me and I couldn’t help but feel awkward. She had a nice body and actual full breast, unlike mine which were still peeking in the lower B section. I turned away to get my own pjs out of my suitcase.

  “Dad said we can probably hit the mall and movies tomorrow. Do you like to shop? What kind of movies do you like?” She asked me. Lilly definitely was a talker. Even during dinner she couldn’t stop asking questions and telling stories. It was refreshingly annoying.

  “Uh, yeah I love the mall and I watch whatever,” I told her taking out a sweater and some sweatpants. By now she was fully dressed. She opened up her drawer again and grabbed a bag of Gummi bears and then plopped on her bed. I was pretty sure she was ready to talk some more.

  “I thought you were stuffed?” I asked her pointing at her Gummi bears she was struggling to open.

  She giggled, “I know huh? I love food but most of all candy and Gummi bears are my favorite!”

  I finished dressing into my pjs and joined her on her bed. She offered me some Gummi bears and I took a few.

  “So I didn’t want to bring it up in front of mom and daddy, but I know what happened between daddy and your mom and I feel bad about it. I wanted to meet you ever since I knew about you,” she said stuffing the candy in her mouth.

  “He told you?” I asked curious as to what story he told her.

  “Yea,” she answered.

  “What did he tell you?” I asked popping a Gummi bear in my mouth.

  “That he messed up and cheated on your mom. And then chose to be with my mom,” she said quickly. I stuffed the rest of the Gummi bears in my mouth and started braiding my long hair, something I did when I got anxious or angry.

  “Your hair is so pretty,” she started to touch it but I moved away. She quickly apologized. It wasn’t anything against Lilly. I didn’t like people touching my hair ever since I got bullied when I was six years old because of my long hair. This little girl would pull my hair, spill milk on it, and she even cut a piece of it with scissors one time. Jealous Bitch.

  “I’m sorry. Am I being insensitive? I really am happy you’re here, Eva,” she repeated.

  “It’s cool,” I said as I finished braiding my hair.

  “Hey, you want to hear some Eminem?!” She hopped up and went to her radio.

  “Yeah, sure,” I said for the sake of not having to have another conversation. She turned on one of his songs, Till I Collapse nice and loud. She started to dance and rap along with him.

  “If I am not hip hop then I am not just Eminem!” She danced and sang. She then pulled me off the bed to join her. I gave in and started dancing and singing, too.

  “Till the smoke clears out, am I high, perhaps, Ima rip this shit, till my

  bones collapse!” I sung along to the music and danced with her. We laughed as we booty bumped.

  “Eminem is my man!” She yelled out, dancing and shaking what little butt she did have.

  KNOCK KNOCK!

  Brenda came in the room causing us to stop dancing.

  “Honey, can you keep it down, your dad is on the phone,” she said to Lilly.

  “Sure, mom,” Lilly turned the music down a little as another track came on.

  “Glad you guys are having fun,” she smiled, but mostly at me and closed the door.

  “I thought she was going to tell me to change the music,” she laughed, plopping back on the bed and back to her Gummi Bears. “She can’t stand rap. Maybe she’s being nice because you’re here.”

  I sat back on the bed, getting more comfortable with her. “So, you said there’s a guy named Marc that looks like him?”

  “Oh my God, yes,” she hopped up and went to a small box on her dresser full of pictures. She pulled out a couple of pictures.

  “He’s in my PE class. This is him,” she gave me the pictures. One picture was of her and him. He DID look like Eminem. Baggy clothes, haircut, skinny face, white boy and all. The other picture was of him in PE class she snuck of him playing kickball.

  “He’s cute. He doesn’t have a girlfriend?” I asked her.

  “I don’t think so. It doesn’t matter. I can’t have a boyfriend anyway. So I guess I’ll just be crushing,” she shrugged. I gave her the pictures back.

  “What? You can’t have a boyfriend?” I asked shocked. My mom didn’t care as long as I was honest about it and wasn’t having sex. But those little boys at my school weren’t my interest. Steve was.

  “Nope, can you?” She asked, interested.

  “Yeah,” I told her. I was kind of happy I had something to brag about since I was still a little jealous of her having a family with my dad.

  “Oh my gosh and you don’t have a boyfriend?” She asked me again. “Or do you?!”

  “Nah,” I thought about Steve. “I’m not into little boys, I like men,” I grinned. She smiled from ear to ear.

  “Like dad men or,” she started.

  “Oh hell no! Like 25 year old men,” I grinned again.

  “You know someone who is 25?” She asked, more intrigued. I hesitated to say but then what the hell. It felt kind of good to have someone interested for once in my life.

  “Well, don’t say anything,” I warned her. She zipped her lips sealed with her fingers. “But I have a crush on my Biology teacher. Aaaand, he kind of likes me too.”

  “Holy shit!” Lilly gasped clasping her hands over her mouth. “A teacher? He must be fine,” she said.

  “Finer than Eminem,” I bragged. “Promise not to tell dad,” I warned her again.

  “Of course not! Secret is safe with me. You gotta tell me more, what’s his name?” she asked.

  “Steve,” I told her with butterflies in my stomach. I was so happy to finally be able to talk to someone about him who wouldn’t judge me and she seemed like someone I could trust. A sister I could confide in.

  RAVEN

  I hadn’t seen or talked to the girls since before Thanksgiving and I felt like so much had happened. I hated keeping secrets from them but I hated even more that Eva was right about Zara. I should have looked
more into her before I let her in our circle. I even showed the bitch our secret spot.

  Eva missed school today since she was on her way back home from visiting her dad and the look that was on Victoria’s face at lunch didn’t look welcoming when I walked up to her.

  “Hey, how was your turkey day?” I joined her at the outside table.

  “I’m grounded,” she said coldly.

  “What? For what?” I asked her, confused.

  “I got caught stealing at the mall. Which never would’ve happened if you were there watching my back,” she said even more coldly.

  “Wait a minute, I didn’t tell you to go five finger without me. I thought you were gonna have Eva go wit you?” I said.

  I noticed Angel walking up to us.

  “It doesn’t even matter, this is the last time I’m stealing anything,” she said getting up from the table.

  “Where are you going?” I asked her.

  “I’m not hungry anymore,” she said, throwing her leftovers in the trash and walking past Angel giving her a nod. Angel sat down in Victoria’s place.

  “Where’s she going?” She asked.

  “I don’t know, who cares,” I started to take out my lunch I brought from home.

  “Is Eve here today?” Angel asked, opening up her canned soda.

  “Nah she went to see her dad for Thanksgiving,” I told her opening my soda.

  “That’s great! How was your Thanksgiving?” She asked me. I wanted to tell her about Deon. I wanted to tell her about Zara. And then speaking of the devil, I caught Zara heading our way out the corner of my eye.

  “It was cool, went and put flowers on moms grave. Had a good dinner,” I said not keeping my eyes off Zara. Angel must have noticed because she looked back to see Zara coming, too. I grew irritated.

  “Can we talk?” Zara asked as soon as she got to me, not even acknowledging Angel.

  “No, can’t you see I’m talking to my friend?” I said with an attitude that even Angel couldn’t ignore.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Angel asked me.

  “I just need two seconds to talk to you,” Zara said. I got out of my seat to leave.

  “I have to be somewhere,” I said, about to walk off. “See you later, Angel,” I walked away from them both.

  I expected Zara to stop me but she just turned and walked away, too, us both leaving Angel at the lunch table by herself.

  ANGEL

  I absolutely did not know what everyone’s problem was today, but I had my own issues. My dad still had not come back home and the look on Nancy’s face when I got to the center bothered me. Even her good morning was different. I had an uncomfortably good time with Sam at the movies. Afterwards, we even got hot chocolate and talked a little bit more about my family situation. Sam was very comforting and he was so sure everything would be okay.

  There was an unusually large amount of stuff to do in my email from Nancy. There was even petty things like making sure the locker rooms were clean, which I could’ve sworn was the Janitors job. As soon as I got up from my desk to check, in walked Sam with a big grin on his face. I couldn’t help but smile back.

  “Hey,” he said, walking up to me and hugging me. “How’s your day?” H e asked me.

  “It’s okay. My dad still isn’t home,” I told him. He could see the worry in my eyes.

  “He’s probably just giving your mom some space. He will be home. Don’t think the worst,” he said tapping me on my chin. In just that instant I saw Nancy making eye contact with me as she came around the corner.

  “Hey, Sam! Here for basketball or something else?” She said, slyly. My eyes glared at her, which she didn’t notice because she was too busy in Sam’s face. He nervously laughed.

  “Basketball,” he answered her and then looked at me. “I’ll catch you later, Angel.” He waved bye and walked towards the basketball courts.

  “Everything okay with you?” Nancy asked me.

  “Yeah, I was just getting ready to go check the locker rooms,” I told her pointing towards the direction of the girls locker room.

  “Oh, good!” She smiled and kept walking. I noticed one of the center coordinators greeting her and she looked at me and whispered something to Nancy as they both walked off. I rolled my eyes at the bullshit I could see starting and headed towards the locker rooms.

  CHAPTER 12

  Deon walked into Treach’s office and was happy that Treach wasn’t surrounded by goons.

  “D! What a pleasant surprise,” Treach smirked, leaning back in his desk chair. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “What’s up with you getting my sister involved in all of this? We had our own deal,” Deon told him, closing the door behind him.

  “Oh, so she told you, huh? I told her I would handle you,” Treach straightened up in his chair.

  “Handle me?” Deon was confused, standing next to Treach’s desk.

  “Walk with me, D,” Treach got up from his desk, motioning for Deon to follow him out of his office. They walked past a few of Treach’s men playing video games on a couch and some other men smoking weed at a pool table, not playing any pool. Deon noticed a familiar face, Kaitlin, standing by the front door. She noticed him at the same time.

  “D, when you came to me about Kaitlin and what your sister had going on behind your back, all I could think of was how much your sister HAD to love you in order to put her back on the line JUST so you would stop dealing for me. And then when it went left, a GIRL protected my shit. I thought, why the fuck don’t I have more bitches working for me? And Kaitlin there was the perfect practice,” he pointed at Kaitlin who was walking towards Treach's office with a bag side eyeing them both.

  “I mean, if Kaitlin was doing a whack job, I’d just get her ass beat and send her home. But, she’s on point every second I need her. The clientele like her so much I been thinking about just making a deal for her to work for them,” Treach continued.

  Deon swallowed hard.

  “Raven’s old enough to make her own decisions,” Treach said, stopping their walk and putting his hand on Deon’s shoulder. “I don’t want Raven to spite you. I want her because I believe she would be good for business and she can make some real money.”

  “She’s 15, Treach,” Deon said, almost pleading.

  “Even better!” Treach threw up his hands and laughed. “Start early, end early right?” He laughed some more. “Let her make her own decision. If she wants to work for me, she will come. And when she does, don’t and I mean DON’T get in the way,” he pointed at Deon.

  By now, Kaitlin had returned and was trying to listen over by the Soda machine adjacent to Deon and Treach.

  Deon looked at Treach with disgust.

  “So, is there anything else we need to discuss?” Treach said, clapping his hands together. “If not, I have a date with a big booty bitch that I am trying to get to asap,” he laughed.

  “Naw,” Deon answered, unsatisfied.

  “Aight then!” Treach slapped Deon on the shoulder again and walked back off to his office. He gave Kaitlin a wink as he passed by her. Deon huffed and walked outside, Kaitlin quickly following him.

  “Hey!” She called out as Deon started walking to a black Ford Expedition.

  “What, Kaitlin?” He stopped.

  “What was that about? I thought you and Treach were done?” She caught up to him.

  “We were,” Deon answered her and started walking back towards the truck.

  “Wait, is everything okay?” She pulled at his arm lightly. He stopped again.

  “No, Kaitlin! It ain’t!” Deon snapped.

  Changing the subject, “Look, I hope this isn’t a bad time, but can you talk to Treach for me? I think he’s planning something with me? Like sell me or something.” Worry was in her eyes. He didn’t notice how frail Kaitlin looked until now. Her demeanor was weak. She had no makeup on which she normally wore and he noticed that the clothes she had on had a small stench.

  “What are you talking ab
out? Like prostitution? Treach don’t get down like that,” he told her.

  “Well, I don’t know something is going on. I’ve been hearing rumors,” she told Deon.

  “Look, all Treach told me was having you do some runs for someone else to profit his pockets, but that was only talk. Treach likes you working for him, you’re good for business. But if you are tired, Kaitlin, I suggest you stop doing so good of a job,” he put his hands on her shoulders with a concerned face. “I gotta go,” he said and walked away to the truck. The truck turned on as he got into the passenger seat. He looked back at Kaitlin who looked like a lost puppy.

  “You good brotha?” Drew, the friend in the driver seat asked Deon.

  “Naw, looks like I’m not done with Treach after all,” Deon told him looking back at Treach’s warehouse with fire in his eyes.

  EVA

  I was eager to get to school that Tuesday since I missed Monday coming back from my dads’. I actually had a great time with them. Lilly and I shared a lot of stories and I had ended up telling her everything about me and Steve. I strangely trusted her and loved talking to her about Steve, something I couldn’t do with my girls. We went to the Zoo, movies, had dinner out and played some family games. My mom instantly had asked me about my time there and when I told her how much I liked it, she unsurprisingly seemed disappointed. I ignored the disappointment in her eyes and fake smile and I told her I wanted to visit them this summer. I guess she was expecting me to come home over it but I was happy. I was more happy that I wasn’t angry anymore. I had held in so much aggression at my dad and although I still think what he did was scandalous, I could finally forgive him and embrace this other family. But, nowhere did I want my mom to feel less important or left out. Making it back to Steven was my only focus when I returned home. My all white sweater dress and light blue jean jacket was laid out the day before, short enough to tease him with my early developing thighs and long enough for me to walk out of the house without my mom fussing at me.