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“Shit!” Derrick yelled out as he accidentally skinned his knuckle on the inside of his trunk trying to pull the case of canned goods from out of his trunk.
At least three times per year he tried to make it a point of giving back to those less fortunate. His mother and grandmother had always instilled the importance of giving back. Ever since he was a child he was taught that he should help others in need if he had it to give. His mother told him if you do good, good things will come back to you. She set the perfect example by doing for others even when she didn’t have it to give. The business at his shop was booming so this was the perfect opportunity to pay it forward.
After making his way into the local food bank to drop off several cases of dry food and canned goods, he then hopped back in his vehicle and headed towards Skid Row. The area in downtown LA where the United States’ largest homeless population resided. Here he would be passing out cases of bottled water and the dinners he’d picked up from the church.
Sonnet had just got done turning a trick and was headed to the grocery store. $10.00 wasn’t much but it would buy food for a few days for her and Gucci. As luck would have it, she found her with a bum who was trying to claim the pooch as his own. He tried to argue Sonnet down that he had the dog for years, but all that was squashed as soon as she called out Gucci’s name. She ran straight to her owner and leaped into her arms. They were reunited once again.
As far as food was concerned, whatever she got she would have to hide seeing as she didn’t want to share with the rest of the people in her group. Even though that was part of the stipulations for the rest of the group to watch your back and your belongings. Rule number one was sharing anything valuable that they came across. That included food, money, clothing, building supplies, toiletries, etc. Not only was it a way for everyone to thrive the best they could, based on the circumstances; it helped to build trust and form bonds. Royce always said, the stronger the group, the longer they would survive. Not only would there always be food for everyone, even if it was very little; it also meant less chance of theft and attacks on women from druggies, because there was always someone looking out. Sonnet never seemed to grasp the concept of teamwork. Nor the true value of strength in numbers. Despite living in some of the worst conditions she’d ever experienced in her life, she always found a way to be selfish.
Before Sonnet made her way halfway down the row she could hear a loud commotion. Word had gotten out that someone was passing out water and hot meals. Experience told her that she had better make her way to the line and get a meal for herself before they ran out.
Luckily all the noise was coming from two of the homeless people on the row who were trying to pass the word. The crowd was nowhere as big as she expected it to be. In fact there were only about fifteen people that were aware of what was going on so far. However she knew that wouldn’t be the case for long. With that in mind she made her way to the line that was now forming. She could see an African American man that looked to be in his early thirties passing out food containers. When someone walked past her with their box she damn near foamed at the mouth from the scent of roasted chicken, dressing, and candied yams.
“We ‘bout to eat good today Gucci!” she squealed. In her heart she knew that she should have at least given a heads up to Royce and the crew about the meals but it was every man for himself and if they happened to be nowhere around when the gravy train rolled in it was too bad for them. And one thing was for certain she for damn sure wasn’t about to share even a piece of chicken skin off of her plate.
Once she’s made it to the front of the line she patiently waited as the man opened up another box filled with dinners. When he turned around Sonnet thought she would die right where she was standing. It was Derrick! The guy from the car shop around the block from where she use to live. As soon as their eyes locked on each other she knew that he recognized her. The last time he’d seen her she had just left the salon looking like a million bucks, rolling in her Lexus LS 460. Now here she was homeless, with a tooth missing, rolling a buggy in its place. Sonnet was mortified to say the least.
Derrick could believe what he was seeing. He thought that his eyes must be deceiving him. Before he could hand her the box she turned and ran in the opposite direction.
“Sonnet!” Derrick called out to her.
Instead of responding she asked someone to watch her buggy as she quickly picked up Gucci in her arms and took off for the next block. Seeing as Derrick was stuck passing out food; she had a good head start and hopefully she would be able to lose him. Little to her knowledge Derrick had taken the remanding boxes of food and given them to one of the homeless people to pass out. He then got back in his vehicle and drove in the direction that he saw Sonnet running.
Sonnet’s heart thumped in her chest as she raced up and down the city blocks looking for an ample place to hide. She could not believe that her cover had been blown. Even though her reputation was that last thing she should have been worrying about at the time; it was the very thing that drove her to keep pushing forward even though her feet were killing her from the cheap Pay Less sneakers she had on. Not only were they a half a size too small; the soles were so thin she may as well been running on her bare feet. She would just die if word got out about her being homeless. Hopefully she could hide from Derrick long enough for him to give up his search. Thankfully he didn’t know any of her friends, and they didn’t move in the same circles so there was little chance of him telling anyone she knew. Still, there was always a chance that he may come back to that area looking for her again. This meant that she could no longer stay with her group. She would have to seek shelter elsewhere if she wanted to keep her anonymity.
“Sonnet! Stop!” Derrick yelled out from his lowered car window as he attempted to cruise up beside her.
“Fuck!” Sonnet yelled. She just knew she had lost him.
She turned down an alley and came out on the next block. She then ducked into the doorway of a liquor store and attempted to hide. It wasn’t long before she was told no dogs were allows on the premises and was ordered to leave. Before she left out she peeped out of the door to make sure that the coast was clear. She looked up and down both ends of the block and didn’t see any signs of Derrick. No sooner that she had gotten a few feet away from the store he zoomed out of a driveway and cut her off.
“Sonnet, get in!” he yelled.
When she turned to run Derrick put the car in park and took off on foot after her. He walked her down in a matter of seconds and grabbed her by her arm.
“Hey slow down! It’s me Derrick,” he announced.
“Get your fucking hands off of me! I don’t know you!” she yelled, hoping that he would somehow not believe it was actually her.
“No, I’m not letting you go. You look like you need help and I’m not going anywhere,” he replied.
All of Sonnet’s protesting and screaming didn’t do her a bit of good. She wanted to swing on him but seeing as she had Gucci in one arm and he had a firm grip on the other she was shit out of luck. She tried to kick him and missed, which only served to now piss off Derrick.
“Will you chill the fuck out?” he said in a stern voice. Look Sonnet I know it’s you. And I know you know who I am. I don’t want to hurt you I promise, I just want to talk to you and help you. Will you let me do that?”
In spite of Sonnet being embarrassed on a level of epic proportions she realized that despite her appearance Derrick didn’t seems fazed one bit. As a matter of fact he actually seemed to have a genuine concern for her. And she did have to admit after living on the streets for almost a year seeing a familiar face actually felt good. She finally calmed down and agreed to sit with him in his car and talk.
“Sweetheart what happened? How did you end up like this?” Derrick asked.
Sonnet didn’t respond, instead she swallowed the lump in her throat and stared straight ahead.
“Hey look at me,” Derrick said as he gently turned her face to his. “I don’t know what you are going through but just know that you have help now. You’re not in this by yourself.” He wiped away the tears that were now flowing freely from her eyes. ‘Why did you run from me?” he asked.
“Look at me,” she replied. “Why do you think I ran? I was embarrassed. I didn’t want anyone I knew to see me like this. I looking a fucking mess. I bet you were shocked as hell huh?” Sonnet asked and waited as though she knew a hurl of insults were coming next.
Little did she realize that when Derrick looked at her he still saw the same girl that use to come in his shop that he had a crush on. Yeah, her appearance had change but it didn’t change the way he felt about her. He knew that she must have gone through something really drastic for her to end up walking the streets of Skid Row. He also realized that she may or may not want to share it with him at the moment. For the record he could care less. His only concern was getting Sonnet off the street and making sure she had a safe place to sleep. Based on his generosity and kind heart he would have done the same for anyone he knew in need.
“Sonnet I don’t know if you know this or not but I’ve always liked you. It kills me to think that things got this bad for you and you didn’t have anyone to turn to. I don’t give a damn about what you look like. You are still a princess. This is your last night sleeping outside. You are coming home with me.”
Sonnet’s heart melted. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had offered to take care of her. It was a far cry from the John’s that she had been used too.
“Derrick I can’t ask you to do that,” she responded knowing full well she was actually leaping up and down on the inside.
“You don’t have to ask, consider it already done.”
Sonnet had never felt so relieved in her life. For the first time in months she wasn’t going to have to worry about where she was laying her head that night or if she would survive another day without being raped or beaten. There was no more turning tricks for food. Or eating out of dumpsters. Derrick had come through like her very own prince charming.
“Thank you so much Derrick,” she said softly. She felt a smile spreading across her face and her hand flew up to cover her mouth when she remembered the gaping hole from her front tooth missing.
“Nothing to thank me for,” Derrick replied. “Now let’s get you cleaned up and some food in that belly.”