Deeper • Rilaya

1: Maya's Life

Maya walked the streets of New York hearing the cars honk and race by and watching the mass crowd of people make their way to wherever they're going. Even though it was 1:00 AM everybody knew that this city never sleeps and for Maya it was the perfect time of day for her. She loved New York City at night time. It was still rambunctious but it gave her a peaceful vibe. Something about the lights and the pizza parlors and the music blasting from every store she passed made Maya feel so at home. But she was headed away from the pandemonium.

She was going to a dock. A dock that she's been going to for the past 6 months. She found it while she was running from a group of gangbangers after they tried to go back on a deal. Maya wanted 2 bags of weed for $50. One of the men pulled out a switchblade at the last minute but Maya fought back. She's fought many times in her life and those guys were just a warmup to her. She took down 2 guys, grabbed the money, grabbed the weed and sprinted out of the alley only to have 3 more dudes chase after her. They chased her for 12 blocks until she came across the dock. She ran to it and hid in one of the little speed boats making sure to lay on the ground of the boat. They never found her, but Maya found a new place to hang out at. It became her new hangout place for when she just wanted to get away from the world (which was all the time).

A couple blocks later and Maya was at the docks. As she made it to the end of the dock she couldn't help but sit down, letting her legs dangle over the edge, and think back on the events of that day. It started off with her waking up in her apartment. It wasn't the best apartment, but it wasn't the worst. She had a living room, a bathroom, and one bedroom. The things that were the worst was the holes in the walls and Garry the landlord who was constantly hitting on Maya and each time she would turn him down (say "fuck off" rather) he would raise the rent a little higher. It was also the fact that she kept bringing home girls from The Teal. The Teal was an old abandoned warehouse that teens went to smoke, drink and just let go. Anyway, for Maya girls were a stress reliever. That's all they were. Let them relieve her stress and then kick them out afterwards. Nobody said they had to be quiet though.

The day continued with Maya getting dressed, grabbing a bowl of Cheerios and then leaving out the house to go to The Teal. She and her friend Ricky smoked when she got there. She wanted a little refresher before she got to work, as in working at a car wash. The pay wasn't the best, but it was the best she could do. She kinda loved working at the car wash. Tony's Car Wash for that matter. Tony was a man in his mid 30's, jet black hair that was shaved at the sides and gel back at the top, a little bit on the chubby side, and had light brown eyes. He looked out for Maya and insisted that Maya call him her Uncle Tone.

"Hey Tone." Maya said as she walked into the store part of the car wash, taking off her leather jacket in the process and heading to the back room.

"Ah good morning Maya. How you feeling?" Tony asked leaning slightly over the counter. Tony had his way of making people feel like they was the center of attention when they spoke to him. He would stop what he was doing, no matter how important it was, and listen to you even if it was over such a small topic. It made Maya feel welcomed and cared for.

"Same old, same old Tone. Same crappy apartment. Same crappy lifestyle." Maya said as she turned around to look at Tony.

"Maya what did I tell you about being negative?"

Maya smiled remembering that Tony hated negativity. He always supported positivity and didn't let anyone around him feel in the dumps. "Negativity is bad for your health." She chuckled.

Tony smiled. "Exactly. So cheer up and please, for the love of God, call me Uncle Tony."

"No problem." Maya smiled, grabbed a wash cloth and headed to the back to start helping with the incoming cars.