Over the next week, Rock and Seth nailed down the daily routine of delivering drugs. Rock saw his sales go up as a result and was pleased. Juju was happy on two levels: first, because Rock mentioned his increased sales to her; and second, because Seth was doing much better in his new situation.
Juju was one of Rock and Seth’s regular stops. Rock parked on the street and told Seth to give the bag to the lady who would be waiting on the side of the house. When Seth rounded the corner, he saw Maggie waiting for him with Juju.
The boy ran to Maggie with open arms. Maggie lifted him into the air and quickly set him down. “You can’t stay, Seth. You have to get back to the car fast. But I’ll be here whenever you come by to bring something to Juju,” she explained.
“Why can’t I stay with you, Aggie?” he asked, his eyes filling with tears.
“Seth!” Maggie said sternly. “You can’t cry. Rock will figure out you’ve seen me, and then we’ll both be in big trouble. Come on now, you have to be brave and strong. Remember how brave Max was when John William would separate the girls from the boys? Remember how Max took care of you then?”
“Yes,” he responded timidly.
“Well, that’s exactly how you have to be right now,” she stated. “Now go get back in the car and finish your work with Rock,” Maggie told him, and gave him another quick hug.
Juju rubbed the top of his head. “See ya later, little man,” she said with a big smile.
The two girls watched as Seth ran around the front of the building to Rock’s car. As he slid into the passenger seat, Rock asked, “What took you so long?”
“I tripped when I was running over to the girl. I’m OK, though,” Seth lied.
“Good. Next time, be more careful,” Rock instructed.
Day after day, Seth delivered drugs to Rock’s pushers. Doing this, he was able to see Maggie almost every other day. There was never time for talking; it was always a quick hug, a peck on the cheek, an “I love you,” and off he would run. But it was a vast improvement over the life he’d had since school let out for the summer.
This new job for Seth helped to ease his troubles at home to a certain extent. Thelma still denied him of any kind of love or encouragement. Many nights, he slept out in the backyard, chained to the railing. He still had to endure her short temper and stinging slaps to the head, arms, and legs. But the one thing she could no longer deny him was food. Rock insisted that she feed him.
“The boy needs to be fed so he can run this shit, Thelma. So make sure he eats. And another thing: he needs to take a bath every day. Ain’t nobody wantin’ dope delivered by some foul-smelling kid,” Rock demanded.
Thelma didn’t like Rock telling her what to do. But he so rarely took a stand on her parenting that she honored his request and made sure Seth was fed and clean. Out of all of Thelma’s cruelty, the verbal abuse was hardest for Seth to process. Bruises on the skin faded, but bruises on the heart and mind left scars that took a lot longer to heal.