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"HERE'S TWO HUNDRED FOR the water bill," Joe said, handing a wide eyed Amara the cash. "I'll have the rest of it by the end of this week." Joe's arm held out for a moment, before he realized she wasn't going to take it, and he awkwardly placed it onto the counter between them. "What, you don't want it? I thought you were cramped for cash, and that's why you were selling weed out of that shitty ice cream truck."
"For the record, it's not just weed—not like its any of your business in the first place. Also, you know, you can't buy your way back into our lives. What you did was unforgivable."
"Was it, really? Come on, Amara. I've changed. You have to forgive me."
"Yeah?" She asked, walking towards the front door, and pulling it open. "Next time someone beats you senseless until you wake up the hospital three days later, when you're at the young age of five, you can tell me who I have to forgive."
The door slammed shut behind her, not giving Joe a chance to respond. She made her way to work. Her hair waved back and forth in its ponytail as she walked, every once in a while she'd feel it brush her bare shoulder.
After her date on Friday, she didn't want to show her face at work, especially considering her and James had the same shifts most of the time. Surprisingly, he wasn't standing behind the counter once she arrived at the parlor, and for a moment she thought luck had finally found her.
"Here you go," Amara said with a grin, handing the little girl, who couldn't be more than five. The work day had flew by, and before she knew it, she was on her way back home. She hated walking alone in the dark, times like these were when she wished Ian or Lip was with her. But sadly, they weren't, and she had to clutch her pepper spray like a lifeline.
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Amara laid on the ground in her bathing suit, taking in the warmth of the sun. Her eyes were squinted shut, and every so often Debbie would start up a conversation. However, Amara was convinced that Silvia had fallen asleep, because she made to effort to chime in or reply.
Suddenly, her body was exposed to freezing cold water, and her eyes flew open as she let out a shout of surprise. She glanced up to see Carl holding a case of water balloons, Ian and Lip behind him, the three boys all wearing matching grins.
Amara pushed herself up with a smirk. "Fine then, boys. Let's dance."
After gathering their own set of balloons, the girls crouched behind the far side of the pool, and Amara peered over the top of it, trying to see if she could spot any members of the enemy. With a confused look, she ducked her head back down, shrugging at her teammates.
