AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah. Andre says I could join his crew—”
“Curtis! How many times have I told you to stay away from Andre? You know he’s up to no good. You want to end up in juvie like he has dozens of times?”
He bowed his head. “No, ma’am.”
“Oh, now I’m ‘ma’am’?”
“I don’t like it when my girl’s mad at me.”
“Curtis, I’m not your girl.”
“Right.” Thinking about it for a second, he looked up at me with a toothy grin. Adamantly responding, “You’re my woman.”
Trying to hide back a laugh, I choked on my coffee instead.
This kid…
“I’ll tell you what … you go to school all week without complaining about it, and I’ll take you out for your favorite ice cream this weekend.”
If there was one thing I learned about kids throughout the years, it was if all else failed…
Bribe them.
“Throw in a cream soda and a cookie, and you got yourself a deal,” he negotiated, stopping in front of his school bus.
“Alright, Little Man, you drive a hard bargain, but you got yourself a deal.” I extended out my fist. “Knuckles.”
“Knuckles,” he repeated, bumping his fist into mine.
“Be good in school, okay? And really try on your math test, don’t just fill in the questions with random answers.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He smiled, stepping onto the bus.
I waited until his bus driver drove away before walking a couple streets over to my stop. I needed to make sure he didn’t play hooky once he couldn’t see me anymore.
“Hey, Camila,” Deborah, the driver announced as I stepped on. “Start that new job today?”
“I do.”
“You’ll do amazing, you’re great with kids. They’re lucky to have you.”
“Thanks for the reassurance.”
“How’s the daddy look?”
“Deborah,” I chuckled, shaking my head.
“What, girl? You can look, just don’t touch. And if you touch, don’t get caught.”
“Oh my God! You’re horrible. He’s my boss.”
“That’s how you get a raise.”
I laughed, shaking my head again. Parking it right in my usual seat up front, closest to the door. I’d taken the bus enough times to avoid getting stuck in the back, where people took their sweet ass time getting off.
Swinging my bag on my lap, I pulled out my headphones and listened to my bus playlist for the entire two-hour ride to the Pierce residence. Thanking God the bus stop was only a ten-minute walk to their home.
My feet were killing me from last night, but I had zero regrets about working late. On top of the two-hundred we agreed to, Danté tipped me out another three hundred bucks. I made five hundred dollars in the matter of a few hours.
