Dark Ages: 2020 (Dark Ages Series Book 1)

by JD Dutra

  “I’m so sorry this happened Dad. I hope you can get out of here soon. I don’t know if I can do this without you.”

  “You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for, you’ll be fine, you’ll see.”

  A loud voice filled the waiting room through a speaker high in the corner.

  “You have 30 seconds left in your visitation. Inmates, it’s time to get ready to get back to your quarters.”

  The voice was like a tentacle that pulled Daniel back into reality. Suddenly fear crept into his mind, fear for his daughter and son mostly, and some of the fear for himself. Tent City Jail accommodated all kinds of criminals, from drunks and substance abusers to rapists, people with assault charges and even murderers. He forced a smile onto his face like an iron mask, attempting to keep as normal as he could for his daughter’s peace of mind.

  “I’ll see you later Dad,” she said, getting to her feet. “I’ll get on the emails right away and I’ll take care of Nick… everything will be fine.” She added the last but more for herself than her Dad, as if trying to convince herself that she was an adult now. “I feel much better after talking to you.”

  “Good bye, Sweetie, you’ll be fine. Just trust yourself and remember what I said. Come see me next week please. I know you’ll do great.”

  A shadow appeared from behind Daniel, it was a young Corrections Officer who grabbed Daniel by the arm and started to stand him up. As Summer’s fingers let go of his from the spaces in the iron fence, Daniel smiled and said, “Come see me next week. Please.”

  He turned away and kept walking; the sound of his footsteps along with the guard’s drowning out Summer’s weeping.

  Chapter 4

  Tent City Jail, Phoenix, Arizona

  Tuesday, October 20th, 2020

  3:15 P.M.

  Oneita James twice repeated the spelling of her name to the police officer who was checking her out of Tent City Jail in Phoenix. The old Mexican always got on her nerves.

  “No it ain’t got no “J” in the front, its O-N-E-I-T-A. You know this, so stop askin’ ‘bout my name!”

  “I know and I can read your name okay? I know how it’s spelled and I’m just messing with you Oneita. Please don’t come back here again okay? I’m getting tired of seeing your face here, okay?” His accent was thick and the way he kept saying “okay” really annoyed her.

  Ask me how to spell my name one more time, and I swear on Mamma Rosie’s grave I’ll smash yo nasty mustache on your desk, oh I swear I will.

  She never understood why people had to mess with her name, especially the Mexicans, they were the worst. They never seem to understand there is more than one way to spell a name.

  “Ain’t my fault I got framed by that store manager again, he racist. Either that or he be trying to get with me. Next time I go into that store I’m gonna take my man Baby Ray with me.”

  The old officer shook his head and chuckled to himself, amazed at the thought of someone wanting her large and deformed figure. He wondered how she could even wear such skin tight pants.

  “They got you stealing chocolate on camera, Oneita. Stay out of trouble okay? You’re a smart girl; go do something useful with your life. I really don’t want to see you here again okay?” His old, but bright eyes pierced hers; he sounded like a grandfather trying to talk sense into the young neighborhood bully.

  “They lyin’ and I didn’t do nothin’ wrong” she said, calming down. She couldn’t argue the fact that they had a video of her little ‘shopping spree’, but she wasn’t going to admit it ever, especially while leaving jail on bail.

  They’d probably just keep me locked up.

  “Alright Oneita, you know the drill okay? Get your stuff and walk through that metal door. Once it closes, another will open. Continue down the hall, you’ll pass an armed guard who will unlock the door for you. You’ll be a free woman for now, but remember you have a hearing okay?”

  She forced a smile at the old man, wondering why he wouldn’t just retire, and turned to walk down the hall. The hard plastic heels of her platform shoes echoed with each step as her large hands worked to put her jewelry back on; thick rings, a set of scandalous loop earrings and a once golden necklace that was now turning green. They were cheap fakes, but they looked nice and always made her feel good. She ran a large glued on plastic nail over her weave bangs, trying to look cute for her man who would no doubt be out there to pick her up. She only wished she had time to draw on some new eyebrows, the ones she’d walked in with had rubbed off completely on the 4th day she was in jail.

  The police officer made her stand behind a red line while he unlocked the door to the street, and when it finally opened, the bright sun blinded her. She raised a hand above her eyes and squinted as best she could, looking from one side of the street to another. Baby Ray’s 1989 tricked out Mercedes was nowhere to be found.

  She reached into her ‘Louee-Vitten’ bag, looking for her phone. The cheap thing was dead, the battery gone or it had finally broken for good. She’d have to ask Baby Ray to stop by the store to get her a new one. Maybe that sales guy Ricky would give her a few more of the free government phones; this time she could keep one and sell the others for some cash.

  “Baby Ray where are you? I told you I was gonna get out and it’s hot as hell out here,” she mumbled to herself.

  She noticed the bus stop and began to dig around in her purse and then sighed after she realized her cousin La’Trina had taken her bus card. She had no money to pay for a bus ride. “I don’t get why the bus driver people don’t accept EBT, it’s all the same government anyways,” she complained out loud, getting a strange look from an old man shuffling by.

  She sat down on the nearby bench and wondered if that one letter had come in the mail while she was locked up; the one which would give her a grant to get a bigger place to live. The decision was supposed to have been made a day or two after she got arrested again and she’d prayed so much that she had a good feeling about it. Oneita needed at least a 3 bedroom place so that she could get her kids back from foster care. She missed them, and the money she›d get from her babies’ daddies for child support would help keep things afloat. Maybe she could get a new weave or tattoo some permanent makeup for her eyebrows; much better than wasting time drawing up fake ones every day.

  “Finally,” she mumbled, as Baby Ray’s 1989 Mercedes drove into the parking lot. She shouted over to him and then adjusted her hair again across her forehead. He swung around and as he pulled up she realized she’d really missed her man. He wasn’t perfect, but he was hers.

  “Hey hey! Whassup Ma!” Baby Ray arched over and pulled the latch on the passenger door.

  “My Baby Ray! How you been hon? Did you miss me?” She said, while struggling to get her large frame into the car. She perked her lips for a kiss.

  “Of course, Big Ma, these were the worst ten days of my life!” He tried to sound as convincing as he could, knowing that the best ten days of his life were now behind him.

  Oneita leaned in and slid her slobbering tongue into his mouth, kissing him for a few moments. Baby Ray closed his eyes and moaned on her lips.

  As soon as I get that settlement, I’m gonna take her to the dentist. That bad tooth in her mouth is rotting and her tongue taste like a roadkill.

  As Baby Ray peeled himself away and turned to drive, she noticed that his car didn’t smell of cigarettes so much like it did before; there was a brand new air freshener dangling in between the furry dice hooked on the rearview mirror. All the trash was gone and the car had been wiped down. It was such a detailed job, it made her feel like he cared and had done it for her.

  “Your car look good, Baby Ray…”

  “Yeah, I gave myself a little something. You know I like to trick out my ride whenever I got some money lying around.”

  Oneita gasped. “Hey what’s this? A new radio! How’d you get this?”

  “Oneita honey, your man is about to make it ‘B to the I to the G› - big! Finally, after so muc
h pain and suffering, I’m finally getting what I deserve.»

  There was an excitement in his voice that filled her with hope. Could one of his money making deals have finally paid off? Baby Ray turned the key and the black smoke of burning oil spewed out of the car’s muffler as he pulled away from Tent City Jail.

  “What is it, tell me!” She grinned and kissed his cheek, anticipating the good news.”

  “You remember that fool, Daniel, the guy I did work for ‘bout a month ago?”

  “Yeah I do; the one you was all excited about. I remember you worryin’ he needed some business paperwork or somethin’, but your stuff was all missing or expired or somethin’ like that.”

  “Yeah that’s right. Well I did some of the work, but I got tired of it quick. Not somethin’ that inspired me you know what I mean? I cut lawns for two days for that guy, but the other days I just kind of hung around and avoided doin’ it. So I think he got suspicious, and was getting ready to fire me you know what I’m saying, but he needed that paperwork so he’d be squared away with the government. I stalled as much as I could, until he just showed up at the apartment one day and paid me some cash, fired me and said I needed to give him the documents for my business. Told him he’d have ‘em next day.”

  “Did he accept your expired stuff?” Oneita said while trailing a plump hand up and down his baggy jeans, thinking about ways to reward her man if he said he’d get her the three bedroom apartment she wanted.

  “I never gave him nothin’. Few days went by and he kept callin’, getting’ more and more intense. He was pressurin’ me so bad I was gonna pay to take out the licenses. But then I got smart and called the Labor Commissioner. Lady there said that if he paid me to do anything without me giving him any business paperwork first, that I was an em-ploy-ee an’ that meant that he didn’t do the paperwork right, so I was entitled to some more money.” He paused and laughed as he slapped her thigh. “Can you believe that, Ma? Because of the government he owed me more money for the stuff I didn’t even do! He’s a real sucker…”

  “Oh, Baby Ray, that’s wonderful, you are so lucky!” She squeezed his thigh and then her fingers trailed a little higher. “So how much money we talkin’ ‘bout then?” She said, making sure he realized she was entitled to his entitlements.

  “Penalties, fees and interest Big Ma,” he said with a grin. “With all that, it’s 10 times what he paid me already. Gonna be around 18 grand!”

  “Yes!” Oneita squealed as she clapped her plump hands excitedly. She leaned in to kiss him again, this time making sure her plump breasts pushed into his side.

  “It’s gonna take me a while to get the money though, but we’ll get it. Labor Commissioner said three to four months, but it’s 100% gonna happen! They’ll seize his bank accounts if they have to.”

  Oneita’s excitement dropped a little. Her apartment would have to wait a while if the lady wouldn’t give her the grant.

  “Did something come for me in the mail? About that grant for the apartment?”

  “Yeah Big Ma, but it’s bad news. They… er… they denied the grant” Baby Ray said, eyeing her like a tourist waiting at a semi-safe distance to see if a volcano would explode.

  “Oh hell no. They what? Who the hell she think she is, keepin’ me from gettin’ that grant? It ain’t her money! It’s supposed to be given to struggling people in the community and that’s people like me! Let’s drive by her office right now Baby Ray. Oh hell no this ain›t right!»

  “Calm down Big Ma. I already went there and got right in her face. Within two minutes someone had called the cops so I took off. You don’t wanna to go back to Tent City already do you?”

  “But Baby Ray I need that grant! I deserve it, you know I do!»

  “Big Ma, the letter that came said you don’t qualify cuz’ you been arrested; cuz’ you got a criminal record. Let it go mama, it ain’t worth it.”

  Oneita was furious and began to curse so loudly that people in the cars next to them began to look and wonder. He rolled up the windows and decided it was time to waste money and turn on the air conditioning.

  “Just chill Ma! These people gonna call the cops. Let’s go home and talk ‘bout it later. We’ll think of somethin’.”

  “Well… I am hungry,” she said, calming down at the thought of food. “We got food at the house?”

  “Yeah Ma, we got some stuff. My cousin Jimmy bought some cuz’ he’s staying with us for a while, just till he gets back on his feet. He said he learned a lot while he was locked up at the Lewis in Buckeye.»

  Oneita nodded, her slow mind thinking of ways she could get that grant. Maybe there were others out there she could apply to.

  “That’s good Baby Ray. So he didn’t die there, like he thought he was gonna?”

  Baby Ray laughed and began to scan his new radio for something to listen to.

  “Nah, but he looks way different now, you’ll see. I don’t know what happened to him in there, but that boy now looks like an ice cold killer.” Oneita raised what should’ve been her eyebrows, surprised.

  It was around 5pm when they pulled up outside their apartment; circles of men and kids were hanging out, drinking and laughing. There were clothes hung out to dry on the most of the windows and a loud rap song blared from one of them. As Oneita stepped onto the sidewalk, a pregnant teenager walked by taking her kids down to the broken playground. The sight made Oneita think about her kids again, which refueled her anger.

  Baby Ray fiddled with the keys and eventually opened the several locks that kept their place safe when they were gone. Oneita stepped into her apartment which was dark and musky. She had been gone a while and she wasn’t so used to the smell of stale cigarettes. She looked around and there was crap everywhere.

  “I’m gonna take a shower Baby Ray, you clean this place up now,” she said with disgust, wondering if she could get one of her friends to trade some food stamps for cleaning time. She stepped into her bathroom and turned the water on. Even the shower at the jail was better than this. She kicked the clothes someone was washing in the shower out of the way.

  In the living room, Baby Ray sat down in his lazy-boy chair; some rich guy had dumped it and Baby Ray had snagged it for himself. He lit up a cigarette and began to watch TV, purposely ignoring Oneita’s cleaning request. He was getting tired of doing stuff for her. This deal of trading love for a place to sleep was getting to him; maybe when his cousin was set he’d move out. It was just too hot to live out of his car right now; he wasn’t going to do that again no matter what. Suddenly, Oneita started to yell something from the shower, interrupting the basketball game on his new flat screen TV.

  “Baby Ray, can you bring me some of that dish washing liquid? We ain’t got no more soap.” She let the warm water soothe the skin rashes on her neck and back. They got so bad out in the heat of the Tent City Jail, they felt raw.

  “Here you go, Big Ma,” Baby Ray said as he handed her a small clear package. There was some powder and liquids in it and it began to feel slippery in her wet hand.

  “What’s this?” She asked, bringing it to her nose for a smell.

  “The dishwashing soap I bought when I had some money, I wanted to see how the rich people washed their dishes. It ain’t that good; it leaves a lot of soap and crystals behind.”

  Oneita watched as the small packet began to dissolve in her hand; it smelled nice and clean. She rubbed her hands together and began to spread the thick paste around her arms and stomach.

  “Get in here, Baby Ray. Grab one of them things for my back cuz’ I smell like an inmate. Come take a shower with your Big Ma.” Her voice was full of lust and desire as she tried to seduce him.

  “Not right now, Ma. Jimmy just walked in I want to talk to him about how we can get that money you need for the apartment. You come out and join us soon as you’re done.”

  And before she could order him to get in the shower again, he left and shut the broken restroom door behind him.

  Chapter 5

&
nbsp; Downtown Phoenix, Arizona

  Tuesday, October 20th, 2020

  6: 02 P.M.

  “Are you sure you don’t want anything from Starbucks Mei Lin? Or I can stop somewhere else for you on my way back if you want me to?”

  “No thank you, Monica, but please come and see me after you get back; I have something important for you to do.”

  Mei Lin Tao gave her Executive Administrative Assistant a friendly smile, as she picked up her cup of green tea. Monica Mann, a petite 25 year old with a bubbly personality, had been working at the prestigious Housing Grace Foundation for just six months and Mei Lin was very pleased with her recruitment choice.

  “Okay, I won’t be long,” said Monica as she turned and left the office. She was always eager to please her young boss who almost seemed to live behind her desk, working harder than anyone else in the organization.

  Once the door was closed again, Mei Lin gazed down at the headlines of the Phoenix edition of the famous ‘40 Under 40 Magazine’. She’d made the front cover, as the top female CEO under 40 in the entire state of Arizona. The picture made her smile and grimace at the same time. She looked perfect, but maybe too perfect. They had photoshoped her eyes, they weren’t that wide and her cheek bones had been toned down a little. They had left the accentuated curve of her hourglass figure and her long, ink black hair alone though. The magazine only changed what they felt they needed to, in order to make their ‘subjects’ as close to perfect as possible.

  If only they knew how much of my life is manipulated to give the appearance of perfection.

  She pushed the magazine to one side, picked up The New York Times. The main article was about how the dollar was about to go through a rough patch, but it was due to recover soon and come back even stronger. Mei Lin now had two reasons to call her mother, she put down her cup and picked up the phone. She dialed a long series of numbers and, after only a few rings, someone picked up.