Never Satisfied: A New Orleans Tale

Surprise

"Come on Sasha, keep up," I chanted to my Pomeranian as we trotted down the winding road of the cul-de-sac.

This had become routine for me lately, but not just to stay in shape. It was more like therapy. From relationship problems to all the crazy shit Kyrielle had been talking about lately, I had so many things racking my brain. I just needed to get away from it all, if only for a few miles. And a quick evening jog would usually do the trick, but as I wandered deeper into the neighborhood, the sight of blight and disarrangement just heightened my anxiety.

I was actually living in a decent area, but just like in most parts of New Orleans, some kind of indication of the tragedy that had once struck this city was always visible. And if the trailers impetuously placed in front of pre-renovated residences scattered throughout the metropolis or the long strips of once thriving businesses that were now tattered and abandoned weren't testaments of that, then the X's spray painted on the front of houses via search and rescue teams were.

It had been over nine years since the disaster of the infamous hurricane and it just blew my mind how after all that time... some areas still looked the same as they did the day it hit. Shit, on some buildings you could still see how high the inundation had risen from stains left by murky water.

I guess people didn't have time to worry about rebuilding and moving on because they were constantly looking over their shoulders, worrying about getting robbed or ducking because these stupid ass fools were shooting shit up every five minutes. Then you couldn't even rely on the authorities, because a lot of those idiots were just as crooked.

It was like living in a fucking third world country!

"Look out!" Someone yelled out and I turned to see bright lights blaring through the darkness and headed straight for me.

I was frozen still as the vehicle came to a screeching halt a few inches from me.

"You good?" the guy asked while getting out of the car.

"Y-yea, I'm fine." I was still a little shaken up.

"I'm so sorry. I swear, it was like you just came out of nowhere."

"No I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention," I said, scooping Sasha into my arms.

"You sure you're alright?" The guy wanted to know as he approached me.

All I could do was nod as I stared into his eyes. Something about them were so... familiar.

"What are you doing out this time of night by yourself anyways."

"Just going for a little jog. Kind of lost track of time."

"Well, do you need a ride?"

"No, I'll be alright. Thanks though."

"You sure?"

"Yea I'm sure."

"Okay then," the guy mumbled as he headed back to his car.

I tried to wait till he pulled off, but when I noticed he was still sitting there, I started walking in the opposite direction of my house and grabbed my cell phone from its holster on my hip.

"What's up Phat," Sky said after taking forever to answer the phone.

"Come get me Sky. I think this dude is trying to follow me home.

"What dude?"

"I don't know Sky, just hurry. I'm walking down Curran by Bullard."

"A'ight ma, I'm on my way now."

I quickly hung up and began speed walking down the street. I couldn't tell if the guy was following me or not and I was too scared to turn around so I just kept on walking.

"Jasmine!" Sky called out to me as he pulled up next to me in his car.

With the quickness I hopped in the car and we sped off.

"What did the dude looked like Jay?"

"Skinny with a peanut ass head," I said holding Sasha in my lap.

"What kind of car was the nigga pushing?"

"I don't know Sky, a black car. I think it was a Mustang or something."

"Okay, well we about to ride and see if we can find that nigga."

"No, I just want to go home."

"Naw, fuck that shit we..."

"Take me the fuck home!" I had to let him know how serious I was because something about that nigga gave me a bad vibe and I wasn't trying to run into him again.