All My Sins

A crescent

   hello! it's been quite awhile. don't know if anyone is still out there, but know that this story is never left behind or forgotten! p.s don't mind my errors! :)

There was a wet cloth behind Maureen's neck when she woke up the next morning. She felt as if she'd been hit sideways. She had no idea as to what time in the morning it was. The sun's attempts to show its face to the world were still weak and tired, still some darkness of the night held in the sky. Part of her was insistent on getting up out of the bed, but she remained trapped beneath his cologne scented sheets. Laying there, she could hear the men's voices carrying from down the hallway.

"That's that good kinda fat. Gotchu' some meat in all the right places." She knew that this voice belonged to Porter.

"Ain't it," Deshaun chimed in "Porter was creepin' on her last night."

"Just sayin, Em. I'm glad to see you ain't up wit' another boney-ass, blonde, crackhead. You have got yo self a literal fine ass white girl."

"Man botha y'all shut the fuck up about her."

Maureen ran her hands over her stomach, which had always served as the plump bud of her insecurities. But when she heard the way that those grown men regarded it about her, suddenly and for some reason the abstract flaw less hindered her person.

Soon enough, she heard Marshall bid his friends goodbye and then the weight of his footsteps shift against the floor of the hallway. She was not afraid to let it be known to him that she was awake, that she had heard what his friends had said about her.
Marshall's eyes fell to the young girl's body, laid about his bed. Her hair was spread widely amongst the pillow where he typically laid to sleep.

He walked past the bed and picked his phone up from his dresser. Maureen watched him from his bed as he walked over to the window with the phone in his hand, looking out to the day through his window. She examined his profile and again succumbed to the session of thoughts that he was so incredibly handsome.

"Yes. I'm Maureen Doc's father. She's a senior. She won't be attending school today on account of a family emergency." The words played over and over in her head until their meaning was completely lost.

"Why did you do that?" She sat up in bed.

When Marshall turned around he saw in her eyes, a weary gleam towards him.

"You slept in this mornin. I didn't wanna wake you up and take you to school after bein' up and sick all night."

She could only sit and stare at him. Wondering what would happen for the rest of the day that they would actually be alone together. Her stomach still hurt very badly. And she did not feel like doing much of anything.

"You want some toast or somethin'?" He asked.

Marshall watched as she quickly dismissed his offer. "Somethin' to drink?"

"Yes, please."

Marshall brought back a glass of clear, golden liquid. "It's ginger-ale." He said.

Maureen took the glass and watched the bubbles rush to meet the surface and the ice cubes clank against the glass.

"I figure we could just settle down a little while." He said.

She nodded her head. Marshall closed the blinds and drew the curtains. The light of day vanished and one might not have known whether it were dusk or dawn. Marshall kneeled down and looked through a cabinet just beneath his TV stand.