I didn't want to go home. The only thing I wou

rida. Maybe Miami or Tampa. I would leave this life of gangs and secrets behind and restart my li

s behind me and choose safety. This had already been dangerous but with the information I just received from Peaches

, I couldn't stop. I was stubborn, just like my father had been. Before she died, my mother used to call me her 'Stubborn

ormal life without finding my fa

impos

of living when there was n

p!" I heard Lyle's

to me. Lyle was out of breath when he made it to me and had to pu

finally asked me an

really wanting

go for a walk?

, I didn't really want to be alone either. Everything in my life fel

roken, and a merry-go-round that hadn't spun even when I was a kid. There was trash all over the ground and most of the people who us

ied, I'd cut off all my friends. Like the ones I met in college and most of the people I attended the p

out of nowhere. "I don't have to warn yo

nswer him at first. I stuck my hands in my pockets and stared up at the trees

out who killed m

't want you to get into a situati

w would I tell him that

ng with funny stories about the people he encountered from the work he did. I picked up the tab because he had paid for the coffee and I appreciat

t day I'd had

ck down Taddeo's gang and do anything rash. We ended up walking back and past my mother's old club, BitterSweet. It was late enough t

club, right?" Lyle

ill looking

going to go in,"

ed. I didn't know what made me want to go in tonight. M

u sure I can't walk you home?"

me after I visit he

if I was telling the truth. He seemed satis

ything dangerous and call me if you n

hank you for

flashing neon lights, the bar in the corner of the room, the blaring club music, the tab

here. I made eye contact with someone who was smoking at

in excitement, ma

elled exactly as I remembered, like cigarettes and vanilla perfume. Sylvia was wearing tiny shor

own at t

ow have you been?" Sylvia asked, tak

been..

ok. "I was sorry to hear abo

op in my throat. "Y

an unders

ject, clearly noticing my discomfort. "You're not applying for a

m, just wanted to feel close to he

her hand

world. I know that many folks would say she was a bad mother for the way she raised you, but you were always t

and I were. But also how hard life was for us. How each day it seemed like we were facing a new challenge. Like one day rent would be due, and

sia came out, she headed straight for me and swept me into a hug, saying it was nice to see me after all this time and that

hat life for me. It was good to see the two women who had been closest to my mother. After a while, Sylvia sighed and said she had

y way up the stairs toward my apartment but I froze in the h

percent sure I h

someone was

ag around and grab my stun gun, the man who had starre

therfucki

l black, just like me. Although, I had to hand it to h

t down at my small kitchen table. His attitude

e sitting across from him. I slid my hand int

d him, staring straight into those brown eye

arms. "You're not the only one

ce. So, that meant Daniel knew I had snuck into the storage

h

to cut the

, Daniel? How do you even know

the only one who has connect

chuckled at my surprised expression, which made me loathe him even more

e," I pointed out, raising an eyebrow at him, fighting hard to

ry interesting conversation with a lovely woman named Peaches