“Girls?! Come here! Now!”
We dropped everything and hurried out towards the living room as Jean stood in the center with his cigarette freshly lit. He pointed towards the ceiling where the light was and stared at it.
“You ain’t get no call from this werewolf boyfriend of hers?” He asked, keeping his eyes on the light.
“No,” Souxie said with a shake of her head. I looked up, trying to see what he was seeing before it happened. The blink. The red blinking light that was embedded in their light fixture. It was slow, taking a few seconds in between to blink again as my heart sank.
“We need to leave. This house is being watched,” he said, blowing smoke out of his mouth. “The school will either call the cops or pull up themselves but–––” The sound of sirens in the distance went off. Jean looked at us before making a run for it. “Move out the way!” He clumsily tried to jump over the coffee table. Jean and his little burglar sack full of loose change bolted for the door as we quickly followed.
“Hold up!” I shouted. “Wait a minute! Souxie?! Get your Daddy!”
Souxie took her time as she stepped over the tossed cushion while Isis and I scrambled through the front door just to catch the red brake lights of his car whipping around. Jean backed the car up with his window down as the sirens drew closer. Sweat covered face leaned out with bugged out eyes towards Souxie.
“If you get arrested and taken to the Underground, call ya Auntie Lee! If you get locked up out here, call ya Auntie Fae!”
The sound of the tires screeching and smoke chucking out of the back clogged our senses. He sped off down the road before whipping around the corner and disappearing. My shoulders dropped before turning to look at Souxie who was already texting on her phone.
“Unless someone has money for an Uber or Lyft?” She let out without looking up. I looked at Isis who was the rich one out of the group.
“Don’t look at me!”
“Well I’m looking at you!”
“I have a driver and seven unfortunate looking brothers who take me wherever! Why would I need money for a Lyft or Uber, Asha?”
“Well I’m just saying,” I said with my arms crossed over my chest.
“You’re always just saying,” she mocked. My eyes grew wide, shocked at the fact that she was talking back before smiling.
“Who you fucking that’s giving you this much of a backbone? Huh? Do I know him?” I asked. She rolled those big ol orbs for eyes and walked off while I quickly caught up to her. “Who–––”
The sound of March Madness by Future bumping caught us off guard as a black Genesis came swerving around the corner. Souxie was the first to step down from the curb as she tied up the small grocery bag she pulled from the house containing things belonging to Maggie. Without saying a word, she popped the passenger door open, releasing the song into the air like a full-blown concert. It was of course Harvey himself sitting behind the wheel when he turned the song down.
“Can you all manage to do something without me for once?” He asked with a cocky tone. I wanted to roll my eyes so bad at this fool but was absolutely the first to slide in the back seat to experience wealth for the first time in the form of a car. The cream butter leather seats, the screen in the front, the freshness of it all… This shit screamed money bags. The way he watched Souxie fumble with the screen trying to put the address in, you could tell he was amused, just smiling and grinning at her while she struggled.
“I got it baby, sit back,” he finally said, taking her phone. Souxie looked back at us with her light buttery eyes.
“Are you guys ready to get our girl?” She asked. Isis nodded with her fist smacking into her palm. I simply laid back in the seat with a cool shrug.
“Let’s do this shit,” I said. Souxie smiled as she turned back around with a nod. I hadn’t noticed the thick journal sitting in her lap until she began to open it up where notes and pictures spilled out of it to read. Harvey glanced down at her before doing a doubletake.
“Where did you get that notebook? It looks like it’s about to fall apart…Do you need me to buy you another one?”
“A professor gave it to me on the chance that I needed to communicate with the dead,” Souxie said as she tucked her loose strand behind her ear. Isis and I shared a knowing glance about that so-called professor of hers that she was obsessed with.
“One time for Hilltop,” I declared with my fist in the air. “We’re doing this for our girl.”
“One time for Hilltop…” Souxie added.
Himora Clarke
“There she goes…”
Trevor Coleman and I sat in the front seats of his truck as we watched Ms. Poette Davis take her leave from the house. She was the last relative to leave for the night. The Honda rolled up to the curb where she took her time to get settled in the front seat with her things placed in the back.
“You think she knows Marvin was cheating on her?” Trevor added, knowing full well I wouldn’t answer it. I released a small sigh as my shoulders relaxed a bit, knowing that the house was completely empty for the night. Her daughter, Cynthia, left an hour before with her things packed and the father was nowhere in sight.
Which was to be expected.
