| |
“Pass the bottle Miss Sidity,” Effie ordered.
The elderly homeless woman bundled the tattered layers around her neck as she eyeballed Sonnet. She had told Royce about inviting newcomers into their circle. The temperature had dipped to a chilly 47 degrees and the last thing she needed was a prissy ass hoodrat who wasn’t privy to the rules of the street.
“Leave her alone Effie. You was new to this shit too once,” Royce replied as he rekindled the fire in the tin trash bin they stood around, swigging on a fifth of Thunderbird wine. When Sonnet’s turn came, she stood staring at the bottle with a slight upturn to her nose. One part of her craved the warmth that the ethanol would provide if she took a swig, but another part of her couldn’t stomach the idea of drinking behind bums who hadn’t seen a toothbrush in God’s knows when.
“I never acted that damn uppity,” Effie spewed before snatching the bottle from Sonnet’s hand and slugging down a few gulps. “Acting like you too good to share a drink with us. With all the dick you been sucking we should be afraid to drink behind you!”
Sonnet never said a word. Instead she stood in silence trying to absorb her surroundings and taking in as much as she could. Effie’s words didn’t faze her one way or the other.
“Alright Effie, that’s enough,” Royce chuckled as he took the bottle from her. After taking several swigs he wiped his mouth and turned his attention to Sonnet.
“She’s right you know. You ain’t gon’ make it in these here streets lest you come down off that high horse you sitting on.”
“Excuse me?” Sonnet replied.
“You heard me, you been walking around here acting like somebody owes you something. Acting like you better than the rest of us. When the truth is you ain’t got no room for pride when we all in the same situation. It would do you good to humble yourself and realize you can’t make it out here by yourself.”
Royce’s words of wisdom went in one ear and out of the other. As far as Sonnet was concerned she’d survived this long by herself, she didn’t need to start making any new friends now.
“Naw you got it wrong old timer. What would do me some good is staying to myself like I’ve been doing.”
With that she chucked them the deuces and took off with her buggy and Gucci in tow. Royce was right about one thing. She was no better than the rest of the bums as long as she was sleeping with them. With that in mind she decided that she would try to secure a spot at the shelter for the night, but not before stopping off at the soup kitchen next door to grab a hot meal. It was almost dinner time and the line was getting long.
Once she hid her buggy behind one of the dumpsters in the alley across the street from shelter she tied Gucci to a lamp post and prayed that both of them would be there in the morning. This was the very reason she’d been avoiding the shelter. Number one, she couldn’t bring in a pet. And number two, there was no way of protecting her belongings. By now she had collected enough junk to fill up a shopping buggy and she didn’t want to risk losing any of it by leaving it unattended. However if she were to get a bed for the night, this would have to be the case.
“Gucci, mommy loves you. I promise I’ll try to sneak out something for you to eat. You protect mommy’s stuff and I be back to get you tomorrow.”
The scruffy pooch looked up at her and whined. Before she left she tore open the few packs of saltine crackers she had stashed in her bag and let her gobble them up. She then placed a tiny bowl in front of her and filled it with water from a bottle.
“This should be enough to last you through the night.” After pulling a dusty blanket from her buggy and arranging on the ground to fashion a doggy bed, she gave her one last hug and took off.
By now the line was wrapped around the building at the soup kitchen. That didn’t stop Sonnet from gladly taking her place with the rest of the hungry patrons. The rumbles from her belly could damn near be heard on the next block.
When she was finally inside the aroma hit her nose like a welcoming mat. Even though canned, diced chicken and gravy served over instant mashed potatoes was on the menu, it was going to taste like Filet Mignon tonight. Once she got her tray and silverware she waited patiently for her turn. The sight of how many people who were awaiting a meal in her same position, basically starving, was surreal. She had spent most of her adult life avoiding and looking down on the very people she now was about to break bread with. And the irony was, she was glad to be there. A hot meal in her belly beat the hell out of eating cold spam out of a can on the street any day. She was finally awakened from her trance by the sound of a familiar voice.
“Aye come on baby, slap another helping of them potatoes on that plate.”
What the hell? Sonnet thought as she moved closer to the man in line in front of her. There was no way this could be who she thought it was.
“Yeah that’s it, and add some more of that gravy,” the man demanded.
“Tyler?” Sonnet called out to the man but he didn’t reply.
“Tyler?” she called out again, this time stepping in front of the man so she could actually see his face. “It is you!” she snapped. His appearance was quite different from the refined gentleman that had swept her off of her feet and swindled her out of her money. However even the lint balls in his hair, crusty eyes, cheap cologne, and full beard couldn’t hide the fact that it was indeed Tyler.
“What? You got the wrong person,” the man replied.
“No I don’t! It is you, you son of a bitch!”
“Hey! Keep it down over there!” a security guard yelled out.
“You need to calm down and back the hell up off of me. I don’t know nothing about no damn Tyler. My name is Rayquan.”
“I’m Sonnet you asshole! You stole my money and ruined my fucking life!” she screamed.
By now the woman behind the counter was motioning for her to take her plate of food and get the hell out of the line, seeing as she was the reason it was being held up. The crowd behind her was also becoming impatient. The security guard made eye contact with Sonnet and issued another warning. Once they moved to the end of the line she started in with her verbal assault on Rayquan.
“Rayquan? So Tyler was a while fucking front? Just as I suspected, you stole some white’s man identity! I should have known you was a bum ass nigga!” She already knew the truth but it was better hearing it from the horse’s mouth. “Do you realize I lost everything behind that shit you pulled? Thanks to you I’m living on the damn streets,” she ranted. By now she was shaking in rage. “You gon’ pay me back every fucking dime you owe me, do you hear me?” she screamed in his face.
“Bitch, do I look like I have any money? My momma just put my ass out. And I got three baby mommas after me for support. If you weren’t so fucking thirsty you wouldn’t have gotten got. That shit was like taking candy from a baby. You was just another notch on my damn belt. And I know what the real problem is. It ain’t about the loot. You miss this dick don’t you?” Rayquan asked smugly as he gripped his manhood in one hand, while balancing his tray in the other. “I still got that good wood if you wanna tip in the alley after we get our grub on,” he shot a buttery yellow grin at her and blew her a kiss. He was right, Sonnet’s money was long gone and he was broker now than he was before he’d scammed her. But if she wanted to get it in for old time sake he was down.
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Sonnet dropped her tray and dove on Raquan, clawing his face in rage. “You muthafucka! You ruined my life!”
“Get the fuck off of me!” Rayquan yelled, flinging Sonnet to the ground. The fact that she made him drop his tray pissed him off more than her attacking him. “Bitch, its sugar cookie Wednesday! If you get me put out before I get my damn cookies imma knock that other tooth out yo’ damn head!”
By now the crowd forming around them had moved back to make way for the security that was pushing their way through. Sonnet and Rayquan were locked in a bear hug rolling in the floor. When they were finally torn apart they were made to leave the establishment from separate doors. Sonnet was escorted kicking and screaming to the front door while Rayquan was led to the side. Somehow he managed to break free from the grip of the security guard and snatch two sugar cookies from someone’s tray.
“Hey! What the hell?” the person yelled out.
Before Rayquan could be stopped he crammed the cookies in his mouth and made haste out the side door.
Sonnet’s first mind told her to wait for Rayquan and find something to bash his damn head in with. But considering that she didn’t get to eat, nor was she going to be allowed to sleep at the shelter because of the altercation she decided that she’d better grab her buggy and Gucci and seek shelter and food for the night.
As if her day couldn’t have gotten any worse. When she arrived back at the spot when she’d hidden her buggy and Gucci they were both gone, just that fast. She collapsed on the ground and cried. She could replace the stuff she had in her buggy, but what was she going to do without Gucci? She had been with her through thick and thin. When it was all said and done she’d lost the only friend she had left in the world.