Astray (See No Evil Book Two)

Chapter Seven

I woke up, my skin drenched in sweat. My hair felt so matted to my head, I got pissed just thinking about the time I'm going to have getting this shit combed out. I don't know what it is about this dream, but I have it quite often. I'm running down a long alley, ever so often looking over my shoulder. Someone is chasing me, but I can never get to the end of the alley to get help in time. The person chasing me always gets to me first. They put their hand on my shoulder and I always wake up after that. This time was different though. When the hand touched me, it was colder. A dangerous chill ran down my back. I don't know what the dream means, but it doesn't make me feel comfortable.

I got out of my new bed and decided to just put a scarf over my hair, I'll deal with the mess later. Jaivon put Essence and I in the adjoining rooms, but when I walked through the closet to see if she was up, the room was empty. I was happy she finally had something she could call her own. We both knew how it was to never have any privacy and have to fight bitches off of your shit.

I remember the first time one of the other foster kids thought it was okay to put their hands on my shit. I had saved up enough to get my own pair of Jordans instead of the hand me downs the parents was giving us. I tried my best to keep them hidden from the others and I barely wore them just to avoid the questioning. I came home from school one day and when got to my room, buck teeth Brittany as I called her, was trying to stuff her fat feet in my shoes. When I screamed, asking her what she was doing, she proceeded as if she didn't hear me talking to her. I beat her ass so bad that day, she decided to get transferred to another home, with less folks of color. Like that was going to make a difference. I don't even think you can request a home, let alone one with a specific race. But that was the story they told me, and I didn't give a shit enough to ask. Nobody touched my stuff after that, and if they did, they made sure I couldn't see it.

When Jaivon pulled up to his place, I was in shock. I mean, yeah, I've seen shit like MTV cribs, so I know people with money have the potential to have the mansions and the butlers and what not. I just never seen one in person before. The shit was hug, like damn near touching the sky in my opinion. And the inside kept my mouth open in disbelief. The man has an eight-bedroom house and that's just the second floor. Every room is bigger than any room I've ever seen. Me and Essence have our own master bathroom. Not a regular bathroom but a master bathroom. My bed is a California king sized and I still have hella room for other shit. Don't even get me started on the walk-in closet. I kept my face mellow while he was giving us a tour, but on the inside, I was doing cartwheels and back flips.

I walked down the long stair case and made my way towards the kitchen. Essence popped her head out from behind the fridge door and smiled at me.

"Good morning", I said, returning her smile.

She let the door close and motioned for me to follow her into the dining room. She sat the bowl of fruit she grabbed in between us as we sat down. She popped a grape in her mouth, still smiling at me.

"You like it here?" I asked.

"Hell yes! It's like a castle and I'm the princess".

"How did Jaivon find you?"

"Well, I was living with this guy I had been messing with".

"Guy you were messing with?"

"His name was Joey, his dad owned the bodega we went to all the time".

"Wasn't Joey like, fourteen?"

"Sixteen turning seventeen when Jaivon showed up".

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, keep going".

"Anyway, Jaivon shows up while me and Joey watching tv and what not. Joey tried to get all tough and shit and one of Jaivon's little body guards laid him out. Girl, I'm talking put his ass to sleep right there in the doorway. He asked me did I know you and I wasn't trying to give him no info. Hell, I hadn't seen you in three years I didn't know what you got yourself into".

"So, how the hell he got you to leave with him?"

"He promised me a place to stay".

Just as I thought, Essence is still as stupid as she could possibly be.

"I don't think that move was smart".

"And why is that? It turned out to be true".

"He could have killed you".

"But he didn't and I'm alive. Happier than I ever been since I finally realized my mom wasn't coming to get me out of foster care".

"You two are up", Jaivon said, coming into the dining area. He stood behind us, rubbing our shoulder.

"Did you sleep good?" he asked.

"Yes!" Essence said before I could respond.

"Good. Now, I have a little job for you two".

"What kind of job?"

"Follow me".

We got up from the table and followed him to a side door of the dining room. He switched on a light and led us down some steps to another small door. He looked at us over his shoulder.

"What's behind this door ladies, shall stay behind this door".

Essence and I looked at each other then back at him and nodded. He did a slight knock then opened the door for us to walk in. We stepped through and cursed under my breath. I knew this was some bull shit.

"I need you two ladies to put in a little work for me".

Women were all over the room, butt ass naked with masks on, bagging and cutting up drugs. One looked at me with wide eyes and looked away quickly.

"Don't worry, I won't have you two in here".

"Then what will you have us doing?" I asked.

He picked up a few baggies and handed an even amount to both Essence and I.

"I'm going to have one of my drivers take you two over to this little spot. It's a small place where I have some of my customers go to get lifted. I need you two go there and deliver these baggies to them".

"I'm not comfortable dealing with drugs".

"No one ever is comfortable with doing anything they're not used to. I'm sure you weren't comfortable with being a stripper but look at you now. You were one of the best dancers and you're off to a new life now".

I saw Essence look at me surprised out of the corner of my eye but I didn't want to acknowledge it. I was too busy trying to find a way to get us out of this. I didn't see it happening.

Jaivon stepped closer to us and caressed Essence's face. She seemed to soften, like I knew she would. Essence alone will be the reason we get deeper than I intend into this.

"Just take them for me, that's all I ask".

"We'll do it", Essence said.

"Good", he smiled and escorted us out the door and closed it in our faces. We jogged up the steps, my mind on a million things. Like why I keep getting into shit like this.

"You were a stripper?" Essence asked from behind me.

"I don't want to talk about it".

She giggled, and I quickly turned to face her.

"Next time a nigga tries convincing us to do some crazy shit that we both know we shouldn't be doing, don't volunteer. At least not my services".

"We do everything together I thought. Jaivon wants us to do something small like a delivery, that's the least we can do for him giving us a roof over our heads".

"I had a roof over my head and as fucked up as it was, I was fine with it. I would rather swing around some poles then get involved in drugs".

"Fine, then I'll do it myself". She walked past me, bumping my shoulder on the way. "I'm not the little girl having nightmares anymore, Simone. I can take care of myself".

I looked at her disgruntled. "Act like it then".

"Whatever, are you coming or what?"

I looked at her used to be innocent face and shook my head. "Yeah, I'm coming".