Ghetto Girls Too. Anthony Whyte
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Название: Ghetto Girls Too
Автор: Anthony Whyte
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Современная зарубежная литература
isbn: 9781935883043
isbn:
“Okay. Have you eaten?” Miss Katie asked. Before Coco could reply, Miss Katie continued. “By the way, your mommy done called at least six times trying to find you. She sez you called sounding disturbed. Are you all right? You know you can tell ol’ Miss Katie anything now, girl. God will work it out. There’s no problem on this earth that He can’t fix. Bless His name.” Coco cut the old lady off before she could build a full head of steam.
“Miss Katie, I’m gonna be right back. I promise,” Coco said looking for any way out of talking. She wanted to be alone and added before she quickly sped off, “We’ll pick up where you left off, okay?”
“All right now. Don’t go inside and go to sleep without coming and getting something to eat. I made some chicken smothered in bacon grease with sweet yams and cornbread.”
“Hmm, sounds yummy. I’ll be right back, Miss Katie.”
“Hurry back Coco, I’ll tell you ‘bout them crazy people up in apartment 6F.”
“See you in a minute.”
“All right, child. If your crazy mother calls again, she done called about ten times...anyway, if she calls again, I’ll let her know you’re okay. But don’t you go falling off to sleep without you first getting something to eat, you hear?” Miss Katie said and watched Coco disappear into her apartment. She called after her again but it was too late. The teenager had made good her escape to the quiet of her mother’s apartment. The older lady thought of going after her but decided to wait until later to let Coco know about the visit by the police.
TWELVE
Behind the renovated door of her mother’s one bedroom apartment, Coco went to the window and tried to shut the world out. She felt like her every move was being watched. Were eyes trained on her? she wondered. Coco moved around the apartment trying to cover up the different angles from which someone might be spying on her. She wound up pulling all the curtains shut then sat down on the sofa and flipped on the television. Coco saw flashes of the news and finally settled on music videos. She laid down and closed her eyes for a few minutes, still attempting to shut out the world.
Mental images kept invading her attempts. First, Kamilla then Lil’ Long going down in a hail of gunfire. She, holding a gun in her hand, gawking at the surprised look on Deedee’s face then the argument that ensued. Was it wrong for Eric to cover up the truth? Was it the right thing for him to do? Who knew? I mean he could’ve definitely have shot Lil’ Long. That mug deserved to die. He already caused enough grief. I wonder what he’s gonna do? The question came with no relief. I’m sure he’s gonna come back at us if that sucker lives. Was that what had made her feel upset at Deedee? No. Deedee was out of bounds. She had no business criticizing anyone’s neighborhood. That was that.
The knock at the door stirred her from her semi-coma back to the real world.
“Who is it?” Coco asked slowly rising from the sofa.
“It’s me. Deedee is on the phone. She wants to know if you’re alright.” It was Miss Katie. For a moment, she considerd asking her about the conflicted feelings she felt toward Deedee. Coco decided it wasn’t the right time.
“Tell her I’m fine. I’m in the shower trying to get the dirt out of my hair. I’ll call her back later,” Coco yelled.
“Will do, Coco. Hurry, you hear?”
“Okay, thanks.” Coco hurried to turn on the shower and pumped the volume of the television higher.
“…Beautiful, I just want you to know that you’re my favorite girl...”
Pharrel’s chorus suddenly invaded the apartment. Coco’s bootie shook to the Snoop Dog laced track. She felt a tinge of happiness at the knowledge that Easter break was here and it would be another week before she’d see Deedee back at school. Coco figured by then any resentment felt toward Deedee should be gone. I’ll shower then go call my mother. See how she is holding up. I’ll be all right, Coco thought as the spray of the water hit her naked body.
THIRTEEN
Rachel Harvey examined her features in the mirror. She had been slowly stacking the pounds back onto her once emaciated body. She noticed her skirt fit better as she ran her hands over a now shapely behind. I’m packing on the pounds in the right places, she thought as she posed, turning from side to side.
No longer wafer-like, she contemplated the physical changes she had gone through. “I look good. I don’t need no make-up,” Rachel said then turned to leave her room, closing the door behind her. She walked the familiar path to the assembly room.
The walk to the assembly area was something that she had been doing for the past forty-five days. She walked along the corridor with the other members of her group knowing this was the last group meeting for her. Rachel wanted out of the residential rehab program. She had already mentioned it to her counselor who told her she would consider it.
Rachel Harvey felt cured. All of her urine samples were clean. Now she could return to her active welfare status and maybe even look for a job. The thirty-four year old single parent had walked this strip before and the dirt in between the tiles was familiar. Rachel felt ready to handle the outside world. For her daughter’s sake, she had to be prepared.
Last night, she had watched the late version of the evening news and had called leaving messages everywhere trying to find out if anyone had seen her daughter. Finally, Miss Katie had called back to say that she had seen Coco and everything was alright.
Relieved, Rachel had wiped the tears from her eyes. It seemed like everything was happening all at once. She walked into the group meeting already in progress and joined in the incantation.
“Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change and the courage to change what I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Your blessings we ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”
She muttered along with the rest of the group then took her seat and glanced around to see who was leading the group meeting. One person is chosen ahead of time to be in charge of the group discussion. The names appeared daily on the bulletin board. Residents would check the board twice daily. It was not a life or death situation, just done to ensure that residents were kept up to date of any changes. Most of the time because there were hardly ever changes, one could get by with just checking the bulletin board once.
Because of the problems Rachel had reaching Coco, she never got the chance to see the bulletin board. She knew that the topics are usually centered on relationships, whether family or personal. Sometimes, sex was discussed.
The leader is expected to bare her soul to the group while discussing freely any intimate part of her life based on the chosen theme for the day. There were times when the group leader was so off base that the entire group walked out the meeting. Politics and religion were topics rarely debated. Leaders, whose meetings went bad, always wound up crying. She looked around to see who today’s leader was gonna be. Rachel Harvey was surprised when without warning, her name was called. She sat stunned.
“Rachel, have you had a chance to read the bulletin board recently?” The question came from group counselor, Fatima Murray. These counselors can be such assholes, thought Rachel. She felt the uneasiness mount and knew immediately that it was her turn. What was СКАЧАТЬ