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  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  “G! G, open up!” Quetta banged on the door like she was the police with a warrant.

  “Hold up. Hold up. Geez.” Goddess wiped the drool from her mouth then collected herself to get up and open the door.

  She peeled her 5’3” 180 pound thickness up off the floor fixing her 38DD bra from the twisted position it had maneuvered itself into. As soon as she opened the door, Quetta came flying in like her pants were on fire. Goddess was still rubbing her eyes trying to focus wondering just how long she was actually asleep. She copped a squat back on the floor not amused by her friend’s overdramatic show as she had seen and heard it all before. In the three months Quetta had been dating Scully she has had more manic episodes than Goddess cared to count.

  “He’s gone to far G. He’s gone too far!”

  “What’s happened now Quetta?” Goddess yawned actually uninterested in the conversation.

  “He hit me G! The son of a bitch hit me in my fucking face!” Quetta pointed to her purple and black badly bruised cheek.

  “Damn it’s only been an hour.” Goddess checked her phone for the actual time then threw it on the floor in disgust.

  Quetta paced the floor then fell to her knees covering her face and balling into her hands like a baby. Her soul was completely mortified by the chain of events that had taken place in such a short period of time. It never failed with Scully, though. He would get drunk and think she was being smart at whatever he said and attempt to teach her lesson. He never scared her face though, for fear of his abuse being noticeable. She was extremely tired of his drunken beatings and just wanted to be done with him but she didn’t know what to do or how to think. Goddess had never experienced anything like that before but she knew a real man would not have disrespected her like that.

  “So…what you gonna do?” Goddess asked in a low tone.

  “I don’t know. But he’s still over there.” The terrified look on her face almost sent chills down her own spine.

  “What? Why the hell is he still at your place? Are you crazy? Call the police and get his ass up out of there…NOW!” Goddess dropped her mouth open.

  “I can’t. He said if I called the police on him that he would make sure my kids didn’t live to see their next birthdays. Goddess, what am I gon’ do? I can’t go back there. I ca—“

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  “Who is it?” Goddess yelled angry that nobody knew how to knock normally anymore.

  “Scully. Is Q here?”

  She looked over at Quetta who was frantically shaking her head begging her in the praying stance to lie for her. Goddess lowered her head amazed at how quickly she became wrapped up into her friend’s bullshit. She knew one day her wild ways would come back to bite her in the ass and the only ones who would pay for it would be her kids. It was an outlandish move but she figured it was the only way she could help her friend save herself.

  “Yeah. Hang on Scully.” Goddess yelled back at the door.

  “What? Oh my God, Goddess! What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Listen to me,” Goddess whispered grabbing her shoulders “you can’t run from this man. You need to face him and deal with him. That’s the only way you’re gonna get rid of him and if you hide now you’ll be hiding for the rest of your life. Is that what you want to teach your kids? Go with him girl and stand strong. Be a woman about yours and quit his ass.”

  Quetta shook her head in agreement. Deep down she knew her friend was right. She especially didn’t want to send the message to her kids that this was the life to live with a man. She slowly walked towards the door, grabbing the knob and turning it gradually. When she opened it all she could see was Scully’s shoes, keeping her eyes lowered to the ground. Goddess’ words rang over and over in her head, ‘be a woman’. She lifted her head all the way up to his six foot, two hundred pound stature staring him in his eyes.

  “What do you want, Scully?”

  “I want you to come on home baby. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was trippin’ for. You ain’t gotta have no threesome if you don’t want to.” He smiled tugging at his shoulder length dreads.

  “I told you I don’t get down with that kind of shit.”

  “And I said I’m not gon’ make you do it. You gon’ keep holding it over my head and shit?” Scully recognized he was beginning to lose his cool then calmed down going back into his fake smile.

  “Well, I don’t think we need to be together anymore Scully.” Quetta said looking back at Goddess.

  “What? Man, can we go home and talk about this shit please?” His attitude was everything but pleasant.

  Quetta felt like if she went to her house with him he would only beat her some more for trying to leave him. She wasn’t prepared to take another ass whooping. She looked back at Goddess for reassurance that she was doing the right thing by leaving him. Goddess nodded her head at her shooing her with her hands. Quetta gave her the concerned eye not wanting to leave but Goddess was persistent, more so because she didn’t want to witness the drama.

  “Alright…alright.” Quetta walked out the door closing it behind her.

  Goddess heard loud talking as they headed back across the street but it could have very well been anyone out there acting a fool. She didn’t bother to get up to check on her. Quetta was going to do what she wanted to do regardless of anything she said to her but the fact of the matter still stood. She had to get him out of her life on her own without any help from anyone or else her beatings would never end.

  Chapter 3

  Thanks for Nothing

  Goddess wrote on the paper as elegantly as she could, wanting her penmanship to make a great first impression. She looked around at the busy office loving the fact that everyone looked so in tuned with his or her work. It was something she wasn’t used to but she knew it had to be done. There was only a few hundred dollars left in her bank account and by the way she was self medicating it wasn’t going to last very long. She flipped her long curly dark hair and straightened her black Theory power suit as she wiggled her unpolished toes in her red peep toe two strap Prada pumps, many seasons old of course. Her good clothes were usually only for special occasions, but there was none more special than this one.

  “Hi, uh, Goddess Young is it?” The middle aged freshly pressed white shirted Caucasian man asked as he sat down at the table staring into her application.

  "Yes, sir."

  "That's an interesting name."

  "I was named after my grandmother. Her name is actually Venus. You know the goddess of love."

  "Yeah I got it." The man was curt. "So what makes you want to work here with us at JP and Associates?"

  As Goddess poured out her spiel that she had used at every interview, she began to get a bad vibe from this guy. She was only applying for a secretarial position but the way he frowned at her made her feel like he didn't think she deserved it. Her voice was strong and assertive so he would know that she was serious about working. She needed this job. She needed any job or she would be beyond broke and even more depressed.

  "And you've never held down a job before?" He questioned.

  "Well...uh...no but I can tell you that I'm a very hard worker and I'm determined to succeed at all cost. I don't have kids so I can work long shifts and I don't need any off days. I really need this job."

  The man leaned back in his chair staring at the paper before him. He didn't bother to look up at her face and kept his finger over his mouth as if he wanted to say something but didn't. The light shined off of his semi balding head almost putting her in a trance before he finally raised his head locking eyes with her. He sat the application on the table then fixed the bifocal glasses on his face, crossed his legs and folded his hands over them.

  “Goddess, we here at JP are looking for someone with at least a few years of experience. We need to make sure that our legal aids are capable of handling every single need that our lawyers demand.”

  “
But I have a Bachelors in Psychology and I know that I am more than capable of handling myself here, sir.” Goddess sounded assertive.

  “Yes, but all of your schooling didn’t give you any real world experience.” The man said as he grinned sinisterly cleaning his teeth with his fingernail.

  “Sir, I can assure you that I can do this job. What I lack in experience, I more than make up for in learning. I’m very quick on my feet when it comes to that—“

  “I’m sorry. We cannot offer you a position at this time.” The man rose from the table, snatching the papers up coddling them under his arms.

  He thought about extending his hand to shake hers but the look in her eyes told him she was not in the mood to be cordial right then. Instead he held his head high as if he were proud of the deed he had done and walked off disappearing out of sight. Goddess’ heart dropped, falling like a boulder from thirty stories high. She stood grabbing her multicolored Dooney and Burke and headed out of the building feeling shittier than when she had arrived. Deep down inside she just knew she would be able to sway the hiring manager with her wit and charm but his coldness was a strong blow to her ego. It was then that she realized he had no intentions on offering her the job in the first place.

  Getting yet another rejection did nothing but make her rekindle the bottled up feeling of resentment for her past. From the first day they met, Goddess knew that Spliff would be toxic for her but his charm and finesse reeled her in nonetheless. She took on his lifestyle without hesitation and chose a life of crime rather than pursuing her dream career in Psychology. But he was dead now and looking back only ripped more holes in her heart.

  The vibrations in her purse felt good against her body as she opened it looking inside for her cell. When she found it and looked down at the number her disgust level increased tremendously. She wasn’t in the mood for bullshit but it seemed that this day was getting better by the minute.

  “Okay, what do you want? ‘Cause I ain’t in the mood to listen to dumb shit about you and Scully.” She snapped as she made her way to the bus stop.

  “What? Girl I just called to ask you about your job interview. How’d it go?” Quetta yelled over the booming bass and Usher rambling on about his Confessions in the background.

  “Ugh, same ol’ shit yet again.”

  “Girl, don’t trip over that. You gon’ get something soon. But since you ain’t doing nothing, you should come kick it with me and my friends.”

  “Quetta, I don’t feel like ridin’ around in the hood smokin’ and drinkin’ with y’all. It looks like it’s about to start pouring down and you know it starts getting dark earlier now.”

  “Damn, G. You don’t never have any fun. Would you just come hang with us? It’s just me and one of my boo thangs and his friend that’s it. We ‘bout to go get some pizza and chill at his crib. Com’ on, please.” Quetta could hear the hesitation in Goddess’ voice and knew she needed to go for the home stretch, placing her chapped lips close whispering into the phone. "Girl they got money."

  Goddess was not amused by her poor excuse to wheel her in. She was no stranger to having money and had had a ton of it before so she wasn’t easily swayed when people threw it in her face. Quite frankly, she found it tacky and belittling that Quetta would even throw that up at her knowing how she felt about gold digging. She despised it. There was nothing a man could do for her that she couldn’t do for herself. The one thing she did learn from her mother.

  “You ain’t even got to say all that. That shit don't wet my pussy like it do yours. Alright, I’ll go.” Goddess hesitated. “Where are you?”

  “Pulling right up in front of you.”

  An older model gold box Chevy Caprice pulled up in front of her blasting Whatever You Like from T.I. and excreting a foul cloud of green from the windows. Goddess reluctantly hopped in the back seat next to a dark skinned dread headed dude who if it weren't for the daylight, she wouldn't have been able to see anything past the shiny golden teeth in his mouth. It seemed his grin wouldn't fade no matter how disgusted her facial expression was. She wasn't feeling this date and she most certainly wasn't feeling him.

  "We 'bout to get it in." Quetta danced in her seat provocatively enough that her date almost lost his train of thought.

  All Goddess could think about was the left over whole wheat spaghetti she had waiting for her at home. She put her elbow on the arm rest under the window then put her head in her hand. She sighed heavily and stared blankly out the window until it was her turn to hit the blunt.

  ****

  The storm brewing outside of the window was one set for the records. Maj couldn’t take his eyes off of the thunder and lightning. It seemed to calm the savage beast within him. He held onto his Optimus Prime action figure tightly scared but fighting it not wanting to move an inch. He could hear his sisters, Tara and Clara in the hallway giggling hard with the boys in the neighboring apartment. His mother had always told them if they were ever caught kissing on those boys like the rumors said, that their tongues would be cut out and thrown away. Maj couldn’t wait to test that theory as he waited for his mother to come home from her date so he could trick.

  He danced Optimus Prime around the window ledge singing a catchy little diddy playing happily as he waited. The front door knob turned and opened slowly. Maj hadn’t even noticed, too busy playing with his toys. His hand slowed down as a hand rested on his shoulder squeezing rather hard as if to massage him. Quetta liked to massage him as if he were the man of her house. Maj was her baby boy and she liked to treat him like a king so that he would desire a woman that would do so as well. Inside, he was distraught because he had missed his mother walking up but he knew that even if she didn’t catch his sisters in the act, she would still believe anything he said.

  “Momma?” Maj turned looking up at the dark shadowy figure covered with a hood.

  “Naw, lil’ man it’s me, Scully. Where yo mama at?”

  “I dunno.” Maj turned around trying to ignore him.

  Scully released his grip on the boy then turned headed for Quetta’s bedroom. He hated being around her kids especially her sassy talking girls so he mostly just remained in her room until she got home. It pissed him off that she wasn’t there whenever he arrived since she didn’t have a job and shouldn’t have shit else better to do then sit in the house.

  “Maj!” Scully yelled lying back on the bed with the remote in his hand.

  Maj rolled his eyes around in his head then checked the Comcast cable box on top of their 32" screen TV, 7:46pm. She was late. She was almost never late when she made a promise to him designating a specific time she would be home. It made him sad as he looked out the window once more to see if she was walking up the street.

  "Maj!" Scully yelled again with an evil inflection in his voice.

  "Yeah." Maj answered unwillingly as he made his way back to his mom's room.

  "Didn't you hear me call you boy? Get me some damn Kool-aid...with ice." Scully flicked through the channels quickly without batting an eye at the boy hanging on the door.

  Maj hated doing anything for Scully because it was never done right or good enough. He always complained and yelled, two things Maj wasn't accustomed to. Usually his sisters would rip and run for him but since they were busy Maj was always the next in line to be the slave.

  "Here you go." Maj returned to the bedroom and handed him a dented reused red Solo cup.

  "Bout time you did something without me having to show you."

  On the 19" screen TV gleaming in front of him, played College Fuck Dolls, a porn flick Scully had just paid for on On Demand for $4.99. He and Quetta often argued about his orders all the time because he never contributed to the bill when it got too high. Obscenities screamed from the TV as he turned the volume louder and louder. Two women were on the screen ripping each other's clothes off getting ready for action, arousing Scully tremendously.

  "Get in here boy. Lemme show you what pussy looks like." Scully wa
ved his hand for Maj to enter the room.

  "Uh, naw. I'm good."

  "What you gay or something boy?"

  "Naw, I just don't want to see all that nasty stuff you and momma be doing." Maj scratched his forehead trying to ease out of the door.

  "Ay, bring your ass back in here and sit your young ass down lil' nigga. What you scared of? It's only pussy." Scully laughed as he chucked back his cup of juice and slammed the cup on the wooden TV dinner stand in front of the bed.

  Maj sat down on the floor pissed off that he couldn't leave. He closed his eyes hoping the movie would be over soon. It was the grossiest thing he had ever seen. He hadn't even come to the stage of liking girls yet but Scully was determined to force him to watch it.

  "Hey, I bet by the time you start fucking you gon' know what to do with that thang. Huh, boy?" Scully laughed spewing an awful sweet smell of juice and bourbon from his breath.

  "I bet you still don't know what to do with it." Maj mumbled sarcastically under his breath.

  The little boy’s sarcasm ruffled the wrong feathers on Scully’s collar. Maj had not intended on Scully hearing him but he heard him nonetheless. He saw the creases on his face begin to turn and his eyebrows curled over forming a look more devilish then the creature himself. It scared the shit out of Maj so badly that he nearly peed his jeans right there on the floor. He began to try to ease his way towards the door realizing he may have gone too far.