Where the Concrete is Jaded

Chapter Three

Hello beautiful people!

Welcome back to the THIRD chapter of "Where the Concrete Is Jaded"

More to come soon!

Check the picture of Cairo above....LADIES, I have a type.

And he is chocolate heaven.

Enjoy!

I love you, but Jesus loves you more!

- Buhlack Queen

I didn't speak to Noni again until we entered the maid's changing room at the end of my shift.

Dressed and ready to go, I slung my bag over my shoulder in preparation to leave but she pulled me aside so that the other maids wouldn't hear our conversation. "What are you thinking?"

Everything in me wanted to smack her up, instead I breathed in deeply. "I'm quitting--today."

Noni watched me for a moment. "Cynnamon, do you know why Emerson put you with me?"

What the hell did that mean?

"I don't care." I shook my head. "I'm out."

"You need money don't you?" She asked.

"That's none of your business." I answered.

"It ain't no secret. Everybody here needs money. But let me tell you something," She smirked. "Everybody here ain't making money. Not like I do. Not like you could."

I frowned. "Noni, don't you even care who that woman was?"

Again she watched me before slowly shaking her head. "No, I don't. And you shouldn't either."

"That's really messed up." I moved to push past her only to have her step in my way again.

"You think they give a rats ass about you?" Noni asked. "Whoever left that woman in there doesn't care anything about you saving your little money to get up out the hood."

My face hardened. "Don't talk to me like you know me."

Noni smiled. "I do know you. I am you. I'm doing everything I can to escape home too. The East side ain't pretty. Never was and probably never will be. But I know and you know that we gotta do whatever we can to get out of there. We ain't getting no handouts from nobody. So if someone's gonna sling you one thousand dollars to wash a woman up and clean their hotel room, what's stopping you from taking it?"

"Hmmm, I don't know, my morals maybe." I snapped back.

"Jessop Hotel don't know morals and neither do the hood." She slung her purse over her shoulder. "You walk out of here, you walk out on a golden opportunity which we both know you can't afford. Get it how you live Cynnamon. Everybody else is."

Without another word, she left the maid's change room leaving me standing there overwhelmed and ready to go home---for good.

                                                                                         ~~~~~

The one thousand dollars was making my usually light bag subconsciously feel extremely heavier than usual on the walk home.

I entered the house to find my father knocked out in his Lazy Boy with the television on. On his chest was his reading glasses and on his stomach was mail. I didn't have to look very close to see that they were bills.