Cheap Thrills

Human

Toni-
Not even two hours into the party and I'm already sick of it I think frustratingly as I stand in a corner of the back yard with a cup filled with water in my hands watching as Ken let's Jazmine grind all over him. I can't believe he is doing this right in front of my face but when Derek kissed me he throw a freaking tantrum.

"Why you just standing here looking sad?" Mona says as her and Denise comes over to me. "Just tired" I say turning away from Ken and the girl because if I honestly looked at them any longer I was going to puke. "Tired girl it's only seven besides you can't be tired we are about to go to the club in a few" Denise says causing me to groan "club? Ken didn't tell me this" I tell them.

"Well are you coming?" Mona asks and I instantly shake my head at them. "No I have to watch the kids" I say "no you don't, my momma and auntie already volunteered to watch them so your coming" Mona says and before I can object but Laila, Ava, and Eva all run to me and pulls me away from them "come play with us Ms. Toni!" Laila demands making me laugh.

I look over at Mona's mom who is playing with Skai making me smile, Ken's whole family has all been so welcoming to both of us. Then my good mood is instantly shoot as I see Jazmine whispering something in Ken's ear causing my blood to boil. "Ms. Toni?" Ava says looking up at me. "I'm sorry babies I need to go get something but I will be back in a few" I tell them and I quickly walk away and into the house before they can say anything.

I walk up the stairs and up to my room. I sit down on my bed yanking off the silly birthday hat and laying down onto the soft bed. Thoughts run through my mind about me and Ken, and Ken and her, his ex fiance until a ringing cuts through them that causes my heart to race. I get out of the bed and walk to my drawer. I pull out an old flip phone out of my top drawer and answer it with my heart because there is only one person with this number.

"Hello?"

"T-Toni I n-need y-you"

"Tay? Where are you baby? What's wrong?"

"I'm at the airport in Los Angeles"

"Okay stay there, I will be there okay?"

"Okay Toni, please hurry"

"I will Tay just stay where you are"

"Okay..."

I hear a click in my ear and I pull the phone down to see she has hung up. I quickly throw the phone down onto my bed and start pulling off my dress to change into something more comfortable and before I can put on a shirt Derek comes into my room with Skai in his arms.

"Hey T guess w-whats going on?" He asks as he watches me run around the room throwing on clothes. "Get Skai ready we need to go now!" I yell at him. "Okay" he says and heads over to Skai's room. I finish getting dressed and getting some things ready and we all leave down the stairs and out the door not bothering to tell anyone where we left.

"Toni what's going on? Where are we going?" Derek asks as we drive down the highway. "I will explain everything to you later, just take me to the airport please" I whimper on the verge of tears. "Okay, but you know you can tell me anything, right?" He says taking his eyes momentarily off of the road to glance at me. "I know D, I know"...

Twenty minutes later we pull up to the airport and I quickly jump out and rush into the building leaving Derek to tend to Skai. I run up and down the space before I hear a small, meek voice calling my name "T-Toni?" I turn to see Tamar running towards me clutching a small backpack with tears in her eyes. "Tamar!" I yell out desperately as I gather her into my arms holding her tightly to me. "Tamar, are you okay sweetie?" I ask holding onto her as she trembles in my arms. "I-I m-missed y-y-you" she chokes out between tears. "I missed you too Monster" I look up to see Derek coming up to us with Skai napping in his arms. "Come on baby" I say picking her up and walking towards the exit. "Where are we going?" She asks her voice still shaky. I look over at Derek with a pleading look in my eyes and he nods answering my silent question. "Somewhere safe baby" I whisper hugging her tightly to me.

About an hour later I find myself sitting down on Derek's very comfortable couch with a two glasses empty glasses sitting in front of us and a wine bottle nestled between it. We layed Skai and Tamar down in his guestroom a few minutes ago so we would be able to talk.

"Toni?" He says pulling my attention away from the table sitting in front of our feet. "Look, you don't have to tell me if you are not ready okay?" He says. I nod before turning back towards the table...

"I did so many things I am not proud of these past few years Derek" I start off. "When I was younger I...my mother and father separated and my mother found a new husband, Joseph. He gave my mother everything she wanted making her so blinded by his love that she didn't even notice he would sneak out of their room every single night and touch on her smart little girl...I never told for fear that he would hurt my sisters or her so it continued until the day of my sixteenth birthday." I pause the story to swallow back some of the tears threatening to burst out. "Why?" Derek asks grabbing my hand.

"My father came over so we could take some pictures like an actual family, I wanted him to come as a gift. And a newspaper was doing a story on me, it was supposed to be the happiest day of my life but Joseph was so mad. That night after everything was over Joseph crept into my room after everyone was asleep and..."tears cut me off choking my voice up. "Oh Toni" Derek says pulling me into his arms. "He beat me Derek, he kept hitting me! So I kicked him and when he fell I took off downstairs and never looked back, not when my momma called my name, not when the police was looking for me."

"I brought a bus ticket to New York with some money I made from babysitting and from their I met the devil. Wayne he called himself. He promised me if I helped him with something he was going to give me a proper place to lay my head. At the time I was desperate, I mean there I was an underage teenage girl in New York by herself, with no where to live except for a corner she found, and no money, food, or clothes. So I did it..."

"Did what?" Derek asks when I trail off. I look him into his eyes "... I slept with anyone he wanted me to all for a scrape of change, and a place to lay my head down." I tell him causing him to gasp. "I hated it Derek, God knows I did. Almost three months of working for him I met the closest friend I had back them, Joelle, who also happened to work for Wayne. Even though I was miserable she made being in the situation I found myself in more bearable I guess. She was beautiful inside and out, and she also came from a broken home like my own."

"Her and my sweet, old next door neighbor were the only family I had. And then Joelle had the most precious little girl in the world from one of the men she...did business with." I say and watch his eyes widen in realization "Skai?" He asks and I nod my head. "Yeah, Skai Emory Braxton...well know she is a Braxton. Even though she was hers, she always held a special part in my heart, she gave me hope that we all could make it out of that horrible life."

"One day Joelle came to my dingy apartment and told me that we were leaving to Los Angeles, she had everything perfectly planned down to what time we left. So the day we was supposed to leave Wayne called us over to his place and he had two huge goons waiting with him." I say with frustration evident in my voice. "He found out" Derek guesses and I just nod.

"Yes, and he was furious, furious enough to shoot my best friend in the stomach. We ran out of their after shr got in her own shoots and she crashed in an alleyway. S-she d-died. She died right in front of me in cold blood, and made me promise not to tell Skai any of this... I ran back to the apartment and my neighbor meet me with Skai and we left to get in the car but before I could even get in I heard a gunshot and saw her falling to the ground, I tried to help but she told me to run, run and never look back. So I did...another person dead because of me." I finish off. "So yeah...thats my story. Smartest woman in the world couldn't even find her way out of prostitution."

"But that's just it Toni, you did find your way out of it, you survived" Derek says and I snatch my hand out of his and stand up walking to the other side of the room to face his open windows. "But I couldn't help the two people that mattered most, I couldn't save my best friend Derek, I couldn't save a woman who treated me like her daughter, what kind of person does that make me?" I ask him.

I feel him step behind me and wrap his arms around me and I turn around and bury my face in his strong chest. "Human Toni, it makes you human" he says holding me as I let loose tears that I've been holding since sixteen.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!