Thirteen-year-old Seth’s health declined over the next two months. It was as if once they knew that he had AIDS, someone had opened the spigot on his illness. The young boy couldn’t walk a block without having to sit on the curb and rest. He had chronic diarrhea, and fever overtook him on a weekly basis. Seth had purple blotches on his torso, back, and neck. Maggie and Juju watched as the disease ate away at him, removing all signs of the young, adorable boy they’d raised together over the past five years.
Seth’s health was so fragile that Maggie went to talk to Rock about his condition. She walked into the house of whores just as Armando was dragging a new girl upstairs. Maggie’s thoughts shifted to when she’d arrived at the house. The days she’d spent in the vertical box in the closet. The humiliation and dehumanization that had taken place to break her in. Her heart melted for the poor young girl with big, brown, innocent eyes who was being dragged up the steps. She gave the girl a knowing look, but she was as helpless as ever to change anything.
Rock stepped into the room and stopped in his tracks when his eyes set on Maggie. “What the fuck are ya doin’ here?”
Maggie didn’t hesitate. She dove right in. “We found out a couple of months ago that Seth has AIDS.”
“Yeah? Dat ain’t my problem,” Rock said.
“Well, a couple of things. First, it’s impossible for him to walk around and collect money from your dealers. It’s physically impossible,” Maggie began.
Rock raised an eyebrow skeptically.
Maggie didn’t leave any time for him to object. “So, maybe you have someone who can replace him?” she asked sheepishly.
“Girl, you don’t tell me how to run my fuckin’ business. So the kid has AIDS. So what? Lots of people have AIDS,” Rock stated.
“Seth is in the final stage of the disease,” Maggie said, a tiny sob escaping from her throat.
The hookers who were listening gasped. All of them knew Seth. He was a good kid, and they saw him on the street all the time. Several of the girls put their hands on their chests and over their mouths, shocked at the news. Rock looked over at the girls, and without understanding the stages of AIDS, realized that it must be bad.
“So what does that mean? He’s gotta get medicine? Are you here to ask me to pay for his fuckin’ medicine? ’Cause if you are, you can turn the hell around and walk right back out that door before I give ya a well-deserved ass beatin’,” Rock advised.
“No, Rock.” Maggie stated assertively, her voice rising to just below a shout. “I’m not here for your money. Stage three means it’s too late. The disease is eating his body. Every day, he gets closer and closer to death.”
Maggie was about to scream at him and tell him what a piece of shit he had been to all of them. She wanted to lunge at him and rip his eyeballs from their sockets. But in a matter of seconds, she regained control and thought better of it. Striking out at Rock wouldn’t get her what she’d gone there for.
Rock noticed the other girls waiting for his response. The last thing he needed was a whole group of unruly bitches to tame.
“I can have Joey pick up his route. Now get the fuck outta here and get back to work,” Rock declared.
“That’s not all,” Maggie said. “I need time to spend with him. Between screwing every Tom, Dick, and Harry at your apartments and working shifts at Doubles, I don’t have any time to spend with him.” Her eyes bore into him as she pleaded. “I can’t let him die like this, Rock. Not alone. He’s only a kid. He deserves to have someone there with him…” Maggie paused. “To see him through this until he’s gone.”
Maggie’s shoulders dropped, and her chest heaved. For the first time, she allowed others a real glimpse of what she was facing. A couple of the younger girls rushed up behind Maggie and put their hands on her shoulders. Rock looked around the room. He didn’t want to see the little shit stain die, but shit happens; life happens. Regardless, he wasn’t about to let her stop working. He and his men needed the income.
“Well, see, now that seems to be a personal problem. You ain’t no good to me or that kid if ya ain’t makin’ money. You’ll need to find a way to work it out or find me the money you’ll be giving up,” Rock grunted.
It was a small Latino girl who spoke first. “I’ll stay out longer every day to turn two more tricks a day. Will that help?” she asked in Maggie and Rock’s direction.
Rock eyed her; she had surprised him. Before he had a chance to respond, three more girls offered to do the same thing. Within a matter of minutes, all but three of the girls were offering up extra services to make up for Maggie’s loss of income.
Rock glared at them as if they had gone mad. “If you fools wanna spend more time spreading your legs so this dirty bitch can have some time off, then be my guest. But let me tell ya, if any of you come up short, I will be your worst fuckin’ nightmare.” He turned his deep black eyes on Maggie. “Your shifts at Doubles stay.”
Maggie nodded, and then he walked past her and left the house.
Once Rock was gone, Maggie turned to the girls. She’d been a friend to many of them. She’d helped most of them get acclimated to the streets. Maggie had treated the girls with respect and had given them a shoulder to cry on over the years. And unbeknown to any of them, she was helping to set them free as she provided information to Colby about Rock’s organization. That part, taking down the whole organization, took years. It was important to make sure that when the time came, no man was left standing. Colby had assured her, though, that someday, Rock and all of his associates would cease to run Kensington.
Maggie hugged all of them, even those who didn’t offer their services for her temporary freedom. Just as she was leaving the house, Armando was coming down from the second floor. He sneered at her. “That little bitch up there is almost as tasty as you were,” he said, licking his fingers as if he’d just eaten something delicious.
Maggie’s expression remained unchanged. Instead, she turned away and walked out the door. On her way back to the apartment, she stopped at the library. Seth had been talking about going to the seashore. He’d never been anywhere, and some of the kids at school had talked about it over the years. Earlier in the week, he’d said, “Aggie, do you think we can go see the seashore?”
Maggie had explained that it wasn’t possible, but she felt guilty that she couldn’t give him what he wanted. Instead, she stopped at the library to pick up a book on New Jersey. She and Juju were going to dress up in the bikini “work outfits” she wore at Doubles. They were planning to put a blanket on the floor of the apartment and have a picnic. Juju had even gotten her hands on a cheap copy of ocean sounds. They had it all planned out for him.
When Maggie returned home, Seth was bundled up on the mattress. He was cold all the time, and his shoulder and rib bones jutted out through his skin. Seth’s facial features seemed to have faded away, leaving the shape of his skull to dominate beneath his colorless flesh. Only his eyes remained blue and radiant. Joey knocked on the door a few minutes after Maggie arrived home, and the three girls set everything up for their day at the seashore while Seth watched from the bed.
His breathing was raspy, and it took all of his strength to follow the girls around the small room with his eyes. Finally, Maggie walked over to the mattress.
“OK, are you ready for your day at the seashore?” Maggie sang.
Seth nodded, anticipation filling his eyes with wonder.
Maggie took off her robe to reveal her bathing suit, as the two other girls came out in their makeshift bikinis. Seth started to giggle, and they all joined in as they looked at each other. Maggie got Seth settled on the blanket and covered him up to keep him warm. They ate hot dogs and potato chips, followed by ice cream. Even though Seth ate very little, he reveled in the feeling of being at the seashore.
Maggie put her hands up in the air. “OK, now we need to go through our journey at the seashore.” She had checked out an oversized picture book at the library for the occasion.
As she turned the pages of the book, Juju and Joey oohed and awed at the pictures of the beautiful beaches. There were pictures of several boardwalks with rides and people standing in line for french fries. Then, on the last page, was a picture of a huge elephant.
“What’s that?” Joey asked.
Maggie read the caption. “It’s Lucy the Margate Elephant.” Then she looked over at Seth, who was staring at the picture intently.
“What?” Maggie said. “You like the elephant better than the beaches?”
Seth slowly shook his head. “I know that elephant. I’ve seen it before. When I was a little kid,” he said. And for the first time since he’d found out he had AIDS, Seth began to cry.
Maggie watched Seth and looked at the elephant again. It was his first and only memory of his life before John William had taken him. A bottomless, gloomy, sadness penetrated her soul, and she felt as if she was plunging deeper into hell.