by E. N. Joy
"Is somebody sitting here?" the girl asked Saved.
Saved, full of the attitude, looked the girl up and down. Her face wasn't familiar. She wasn't from juvie, that was for sure; too old. Being her typical self, instead of just answering the girl, Saved had something slick to say. "Why do people do that?" The girl appeared confused so Saved thought she'd clarify her comment. "Why do people ask questions to which the answers are obvious? I mean, do you see anyone sitting here? Or do you think I might have brought my invisible friend, Phoebe, along for a walk in the park today?"
Looking too defeated to argue with the snot nose brat, the girl sat down.
Saved went back to her reading and there was silence between the two until the stranger spoke up. "So do you think He's gonna save you some day?"
"Huh?" Now Saved was confused.
"Jesus, our Lord and Savior." The girl rolled her eyes up in her head sarcastically. "Do you think He's really gonna come save us someday?"
"Of course." Saved sounded convinced. "Says so right here." She proceeded to flip to the back of the Bible to the book of Revelation. "In the end we win."
"Well, the end can't get here soon enough for me then." The girl leaned back and closed her eyes.
Saved inconspicuously looked over at the girl, giving her the once over. Saved could only envision how attractive the girl might have looked if she had done something with her hair other than have it in that raggedy ponytail. And it looked like she might have had a decent grade of hair at that. A little make-up might have even brought out the girl's green eyes. What was this black girl doing with green eyes anyway, Saved wondered. Observing her extremely light skin, Saved figured that the girl must have been mixed with something. Saved stared at her momentarily, trying to see if she could pick out any stereotypical features on the girl that defined her heritage. Suddenly Saved repented. How could she sit there and think that a person had to be mixed or of a certain descent in order to don such features? God could create anything He wanted anyway He wanted; Black, white, yellow, red, brown. After all, He was God.
After repenting, Saved's eyes continued to scroll down the girl as if she was scrolling for her name on a VIP list. It was at the girl's fingernails in which Saved's eyes locked on. If she wasn't mistaken, the girl's nails had traces of what looked like dried blood underneath them.
The girl opened her eyes and caught Saved staring at her nails. She raised them and looked at them herself. "Don't worry, it ain't the blood of Jesus."
Saved swallowed nervously. "Then whose blood is it?" She had now softened her tone a little bit. One of the counselors had once told Saved that one day she would meet her match; that she would encounter someone with an even tougher exterior than the one she was clad in. Perhaps the girl sitting next to her was that very person she'd been warned about. The last thing Saved wanted was for her own dried up blood to end up under this chick's nails. The punk in Saved was starting to come out, and it was obvious.
The girl chuckled. "Your voice just changed an octave. You sound like Peter Brady."
"Who?" Saved swallowed again, trying not to eyeball the girl's nails, but she couldn't help it.
"Never mind. But for the record, getting all soft isn't becoming of you. If I ever learned anything it was to always appear dominant so that nobody would walk all over me. Right about now, you might as well be a welcome mat in front of a door." She snickered. "Man up. Get your swag back. I liked that in you, kid." She, once again, leaned back against the bench and closed her eyes.
Saved went back to reading the book of Job, but she couldn't concentrate on the words she was reading. While Saved tried not to worry about the blood under the girl's nails, she couldn't help it. Curiosity was getting the best of her. She had to know what the deal was with this girl sitting next to her. She closed the Bible. "You didn't answer me. Whose blood is it?" Saved had dug deep within and found her underlying authority again with the girl; ironically taking the girl's advice.
The girl opened her eyes and looked at Saved like she was crazy. "You think I'm just gon' sit here and tell a stranger off the street my business? For all I know you're Five-Oh." She examined Saved from head to toe. "Naw, you too young to be Five-Oh." She examined her again, noticing her khaki skirt, and Tommy Hilfiger shirt. "But I bet your Daddy Five-Oh, though."
"My Daddy is a good for nothing bastard who liked messing and running around on my momma with younger girls," Saved spat before she even realized what had come out of her mouth. When ever it came to talk of her father, she couldn't seem to control her tongue. Although most would say she couldn't control her tongue when it came to anything, that was especially true when it came to her father. Fly at the mouth was an understatement. But the fact that her father had played his family the way he had-destroyed it beyond repair-angered her more than anything in the world.
After a moment or two, Saved regained control of her loose tongue and calmed down. "He was good for nothing should I say?"
A moment or two went by before the stranger asked Saved, "So your daddy wasn't exactly a one woman man, huh?" The girl swallowed, not knowing if she was being self righteous. Here she'd just snapped at Saved for trying to get her to tell her business, and now she was fishing around trying to find out Saved's.
Saved paused for a moment, stared down at her closed Bible and then placed it in between her and the girl. "Yeah, Pop's had an incurable craving, but Momma took care of that." A half grin appeared on Saved's face. "Only her six shots to his dome landed her a year in prison for each bullet." Saved sighed. "Which explains why I'm here with these other mostly troubled, runaway, abandoned juveniles." She looked out toward the softball field. "A bunch of sorry losers that nobody wants who will never become anything in life." Saved looked up at the girl who was intensely listening. "At least that's what our so called counselors says about us behind closed doors."
The girl looked around noticing all the youngsters at the park and the uniformed guards scattered about. "Y'all all stay at the same spot?"
Saved shook her head. "Nah. The girls and the boys each have their own campus. They bring the girls and the boys to the park once a year to hang out, picnic, whatever," Saved told her with a shrug. "It's not that serious to me, but they all act like it's prom or something." Saved exhaled. "I guess it is pretty cool though. Only thing is, if it rains, it's our loss. No rain dates in juvie hall."
After a few seconds of silence between them, the girl asked Saved, "So how long you been locked up?" She sounded somewhat sympathetic, as if asking Saved how long she'd been in prison, although according to Saved, it was an adequate comparison.
Saved hated being in juvie. It had been three years since she first entered. Initially, after her mom was sentenced to prison, she stayed with foster families; one after the next. That was the typical foster kid tale. It wasn't so bad. The families were pretty decent and Saved adjusted well. Eventually she hooked up with the wrong crowd, though, and started running away.
While on the streets, in order to survive, Saved started prostituting her body. It wasn't something she did on the regular. Prostitution was a last resort. Stealing, begging and borrowing were the first. Although nervous, turning her first trick hadn't been as hard as Saved thought it would have been, after all, her father had broken her in real good.
Saying that her father messed with younger girls was an understatement. He liked them way young—young enough to be his daughter. In fact, it was his own blood daughter who he messed with the most. It wasn't like he hadn't fulfilled his every fantasy on his very own little girl. So how Saved saw it, at least on the streets she was getting paid for it. Her father just took it for free.
Saved's stint on the streets was short lived. The state got their hands back on her after she was arrested for prostitution when she solicited an undercover cop. Instead of sending her to another foster family, she got sent straight to juvie hall.
"How long have I been in juvie?" Saved repeated the question the girl had posed. "Let's see, my moms been l
ocked up four years. I was in foster homes and on the streets for a minute, since I didn't have any blood relatives to take me in." Saved's mother had been an only child. She moved away from her parents after meeting and marrying Saved's dad. Saved's maternal grandparents died when she was ten. The only family she had left was her dad's side of the family. They blamed her for his death. They called her a liar, stating that she'd made up the entire molestation story. They weren't about to take her in, not even if the state paid them, because the state had offered to do just that. None of them wanted Saved. The folks at juvie had been more like family to Saved than her own blood, and that wasn't saying too much.
Saved thought for a minute. "'Bout three years. I've been in juvie for about three years. I just turned seventeen last week, so I got one year to go before I'm free. But trust me, a year in juvie is like dog years. It's going to be the longest year ever."
The girl stared out at the field for a minute. "So why hang around for another year when you don't have to?"
"What do you mean? I do have to. It's not like I can just up and walk away and say, 'See you guys later.'" Saved feigned a smile and gave off a Miss America wave. "And on top of that, where would I go?"
"With me," the girl was quick to say.
Saved looked at the girl up and down. "And where are you going?" The girl hesitated, and before she could say anything Saved said, "Thought so." Saved looked her up and down once again. "I'm not trying to be funny, but homegirl, you don't look like you're any better off than me."
"Oh, but I am, sweetheart," the girl replied. "And what makes me better off is the fact that I'm free." The girl pointed down at Saved's Bible. "You're sitting around reading a Bible. Doesn't it say something in there about Jesus setting you free?" The girl gave off a harrumph. "I see how that's working out for you?"
Saved had to admit that homegirl had her on that one. But Saved had lived on the streets before and hated what she had to do to survive. Truth be told, in Saved's opinion, juvie was way better than the streets. But perhaps she was prejudging this girl. Who was to say this girl lived on the streets? Saved had to find out for herself.
"So, you got a crib or something?" Saved asked her.
"Yeah, in Columbus. It's really my brother's place, but I got my own space, you know," the girl light-weigh bragged. "That's where I'm actually headed to now; Columbus." She looked around. "My time in Cleveland is spent. Bone, Thugs and Harmony can have this city."
"I feel you," Saved agreed as she looked around too. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Saved was already jaded with what it had to offer. "Sounds like a plan, and I wouldn't mind going to the capital city, but look around." She nodded toward the guards. "Something tells me that if I try to tell them good-bye before my eighteenth birthday, they aren't going to send me packing with an Hasta La Vista and a parting gift."
"Who said anything about telling them good-bye? You're the boss of you. Just dip."
"And how do you expect me to do that? Do you not see they got this park on lock?"
The girl looked down again at the Bible that sat between them. She picked it up. "Doesn't this thing say something about the way to heaven being straight and narrow...or something like that?"
Saved laughed at the apparent sinners attempt to recite biblical scripture. "Yeah, something like that." She took her Bible from the girl's hand.
"Well, is that way right there straight and narrow enough for you?" The girl nodded toward an opening in the wooded tree area to the right of them. It was just off the side of the softball field.
Saved looked in the direction in which the girl had nodded, and sure enough there appeared to be a path. Where it led to she had no idea, but nonetheless, it was a path. Saved looked to the girl; a perfect stranger. How could she even be considering ditching out with someone she didn't know? This could have been a set up for all she knew. But for some reason, the unknown had always been the force behind a lot of Saved's decisions.
Saved tilted her head. "Why not? Let's do this then. What's the worse that can happen if they catch me? They lock me up for another year?" Saved joked.
And just like that, Saved was on the bandwagon with someone she'd known less than ten minutes. She'd slept with men she'd known for less than ten minutes. How much worse could this be, she figured.
The girl smiled and held out a fist. Saved looked down at her lingering hand and then held her fist out. The girls bumped fist, and a bond was formed. Strangers or not, Saved had just committed to practically put her life in this girl's hands. And oddly enough, Saved felt within her spirit that it was okay to do just that. She didn't have any fears and she didn't have any doubts. Well, she had one doubt that she wanted to get straight.
"You sure your brother isn't going to mind me crashing at his place with you? I don't want no drama," Saved said as she picked up her backpack from off the ground and placed the straps over her shoulders.
"My brother is cool. He loves me to death." The girl stared off for a moment. This was the first sign of true emotion Saved had witnessed from the girl yet.
"You and your brother close?" Saved asked.
The girl nodded. "Yeah. We were really tight coming up. But once I moved away..." The girl's words trailed off as the tone of regret chased them down. She shook her head as if regretting ever moving away.
Saved decided to change the subject. Right now she was ready to make a move. Before she came to the good sense God had given her and changed her mind about the whole escape thing, the move needed to be made now.
"So, how in the world am I supposed to get over to that path without being spotted?" Saved asked the girl as if she'd had this entire thing planned out for weeks.
The girl thought for a minute. "Easy." She stood up. "Watch, learn, and then make a run for it." After winking, the girl went over and stood near some of the other youths at the softball field and watched the game. After a few minutes, one of the boys hit the ball far off into the field and began running. He made it to first base. He made it to second base. By the time he was heading toward third base, one of the girls in the outfield had picked up the ball and threw it to a girl on her team who was guarding third base. The boy slid into third about a half a second before the girl on third caught the ball. Even though he was just barely safe, opportunity was knocking.
"He's out like a fat rat!" Saved heard her new found partner in crime shout out. "An old, blind bat could see she caught the ball before his foot touched base."
"Yeah," a couple girls standing next to her shouted. Clearly, they too had seen that the boy was safe, but just like Saved, they were quick to jump on the stranger's bandwagon.
Saved watched in amazement how the girl was able to instigate a scene that would soon get beyond anyone's control; including the guards.
Within seconds, there was an all out brawl regarding whether or not the boy was safe or not. A scuffle even broke out, causing everyone to race out into the field and bang it out. All the guards ran toward the field and began attempting to break up the brawl. By this time, though, the instigator had managed to ease herself out of the commotion. Within seconds both Saved and her accomplice had made their way to the path and into the wooded area.
Hearts racing and adrenaline pumping, the girls had crept toward the path. Once in the woods they darted like bullets aiming for deer.
"Sweet mother of Jesus!" Saved exclaimed out of breath from running as she stopped and leaned against a tree. Her chest was going up and down as she tried to catch her breath.
"You need to get in shape, youngin'," the girl stated, sounding equally out of breath. She walked over to Saved and gave her a hand five. "You did it, though. I gotta give you your props for that."
"Yeah, I did it, thanks to you." Saved then said, "Good lookin' out, ..." Saved's words trailed off as she went to say the girl's name, but realized she didn't know it. "Hey, I don't even know your name."
"Oh, yeah." She paused for a minute. "You can call me Puddin'."
"Puddin', what kind of na
me is that?" Saved scrunched her nose up.
"A nickname name my dude gave me. Why? You got a problem with it?" Puddin' instantly got defensive.
Saved put her hands up in defense. "No, not at all," she said, managing to get her breathing under control. "Anyway, I'm Saved."
"Yeah, I figured as much, seeming you running around with that Bible and all." Puddin' pointed to the Bible Saved clutched in her hand.
"No, I mean, that's my name, Saved."
Puddin' twisted her face up. "And you were riffing on my name." She let out a laugh.
"Look, we can play the name game later," Saved said, "but for right now, I'm trying to get as far away from this park as I can before they take a head count and realize I'm gone."
"Yeah, you're right." Puddin' looked back over her shoulder all of a sudden noided. "I can't get caught with you now anyway. I'm sure they'd find something to charge with me; aiding and abetting perhaps." The thought of spending time in jail put a fire up under Puddin'. She'd never been to jail a day in her life. She'd heard about the awful things that took place in them though. She'd seen it on television shows. She couldn't go to jail; she just couldn't. "Come on- Let's go." Puddin' began to run along the path again and Saved followed.
The girls dipped and dodged in between trees, Puddin' tripping over stumps a couple of times. Saved being behind her got the heads up on the stumps, so was able to leap over them. But running behind Puddin' had it's cons; like the tree branches Puddin' would swat out of her way, but would swing back to nearly take one of Saved's eyes out.
"Hey, can you watch it up there with the tree branches? Yell 'Four' or something like they do in golf," Saved finally snapped. "What are you trying to do, blind me or something?"
"No, the last time I checked I was trying to lead your ungrateful tail to freedom," Puddin snapped back, not slowing down her pace one bit. The sound of fallen tree branches crackling and breaking coming from behind her wasn't alarming for Puddin'. She knew Saved was close on her heels. But every now and then she still looked over her shoulder just to make sure it was Saved.
