Believe Like a Child (9 page)

“Is she cool?” Harlin asked, studying Alessa intently.

Alessa immediately wished she had taken the time to change into one of Rhonda’s cooler tee-shirts.

“Yeah, she’s cool,” Tasha assured her brother. “She’s new around here. Living at old lady Lea’s house.”

At that, Harlin opened the broken screen door and let them in.

Chapter Eleven

A
s Alessa followed Tasha into the house, she noticed a crowd of boys gathered in the living room. They were all drinking beer and smoking. Some were smoking cigarettes; others were pulling on bongs. Alessa felt intimidated by the group. The boys gawked at her, but seemed happy to see Tasha who handed her a beer before they sat down on the living-room floor. There were no other girls around, but Tasha didn’t seem to miss them at all. When she handed her new friend a joint, Alessa took a long drag on it, just the way Rhonda had taught her to, when they were going to the Rope. Alessa didn’t really care for pot, but she smoked it anyway. She needed to dispel Harlin’s doubts about her and if she didn’t join in, she feared she might be asked to leave. Tasha stayed close to Alessa, sensing that she was not comfortable with Harlin and his tough friends. They were clearly people you didn’t fuck with.

Before the girls left, Harlin handed his stepsister a bag containing smaller bags. Alessa could see they were bags of pot. In return, Tasha reached into her purse and handed him a wad of money.

Harlin smiled and said, “You are the best little sister. Keep up the good work, girl.”

Tasha beamed as her brother hugged her goodbye. He didn’t so much as look at Alessa as she left with Tasha.

Once outside, Tasha said, “I love Harlin. He is the greatest brother in the world. He makes me feel safe.”

“I don’t think he liked me going there with you,” Alessa murmured. “Everyone seemed annoyed that you took me there.”

“They are always like that around new people,” Tasha reassured her. “Until they know they can trust you, they consider you the enemy. Don’t worry about it. They knew you were with me anyway.”

She walked Alessa back to her apartment. Alessa looked up at the house and said, “I would invite you up, but Lea said I couldn’t have company.”

“Yeah, she’s an old bat. She’s just afraid of us people from the street. We ain’t all bad, though,” Tasha said with a broad smile.

Alessa agreed and quickly went up the steps to the front door. Before going in, she turned to the other girl and said, “I had fun tonight. Thanks for stopping by and taking me along for dinner. Maybe we can hang out—if you want.”

“Sure, we can hang out,” Tasha said, smiling. “I’ll see you around.”

Alessa went over the events from the evening in her mind. She really liked Tasha and hoped they could become good friends, just like she and Rhonda had been. She was a little scared of Harlin and his friends, though. They weren’t like the boys at the Rope. In fact, they weren’t like boys at all; they were more like men. They were rough around the edges and the way they talked made her uncomfortable. They seemed like the type of guys who could kill you without second thoughts and forget about it in a minute. Harlin seemed a little less rough than the guys in his gang, but they all clearly looked up to him. When he talked, the others listened and when he said he wanted another beer, one of the guys always sprang up to get it for him.

The next day, Alessa woke up, took a shower and sat at her kitchen table until it was time to leave for her new job. When she got to the dollar store shortly before noon, she was greeted by two miserable cashiers. An older Hispanic woman came in exactly at noon and said, “You Alessa? You working with me today.”

Alessa followed the woman around all day and learned how to use the cash register, restock shelves and greet customers. Not that anyone who worked there actually greeted customers, except for the Hispanic woman. By the end of the day, Alessa had learned her job. There wasn’t really much to it and she was happy to have the training behind her.

When she stepped off the bus at nine-thirty that night, she saw Tasha standing on the opposite corner. There were a couple of teenage boys hanging around her. Alessa saw her take money from them and put it in her purse. When she saw Alessa, Tasha smiled and waved. Alessa went over to her.

“Hi Tasha,” she said. “Just got back from work.”

“Oh yeah, how was it?”

“Pretty simple, actually. Nothing much to it.”

Tasha smiled and started walking Alessa home. “Do you want to go get some ice cream at the Dauphin Mini Mart?” she asked.

Alessa agreed and they walked the half-block to the store. They bought their ice cream and were eating them outside the store, when Tasha asked her, “How old are you anyway?”

“I will be seventeen in three days.”

“No shit? We need to celebrate. How about if I ask Harlin to give us a ride to Pulsations?”

“What’s Pulsations?”

“It’s this really cool nightclub. It has all these levels and different kinds of music. At midnight, this robot comes out of a spaceship from the ceiling and dances around. It’s kind of corny, but so much fun. Harlin never goes there before ten o’clock. So that will give you time to get home from work and get dressed. Do you have ID?”

“It sounds great, but I actually don’t have any ID. How old do you have to be to get in?”

“Twenty-one, but don’t worry. I can hook you up with a fake ID.”

The rest of the week was uneventful. Every night, when Alessa got off the city bus, Tasha was somewhere in sight. The two girls hung out and talked. They were really getting to know each other. Tasha finally asked her, “So where is your family? Why you here all alone anyway?”

Alessa had come to trust Tasha within a short period of time. After all, the other girl had kept no secrets from her; Alessa even knew that she sold pot to the kids on the street. She decided it would be safe to entrust her with her dirty secrets.

She related the whole sordid saga of her Uncle Danny, her mother and even Carl and the kids at the Rope. She told her about what had happened to Rhonda and how Zoe had helped her to escape before she was gang-raped in her own home. Tasha listened intently, struggling to believe that this girl had put up with so much shit in her life. When Alessa had finished, Tasha reached out and gave her a hug.

“Girl,” she said, “that is some fucked-up shit you been through! No wonder you’re afraid of everything. I ain’t never had to worry about those things ’cause I always had Harlin. My daddy is a good man too and my mama would have cut my uncle’s dick off, if he ever touched me.” Tasha went on, “Funny how you think that people are so very different from you, because they are a different color. Here I was, thinking you were here, because you were pregnant or something. So your parents have no idea where you are?”

Alessa explained, “No, it will be a week on Saturday that I’ve been gone. The only reason my mom would look for me is if Uncle Danny wants to move out. Then she would search far and wide to find me so she could pimp me back out to him. I hate her, Tasha. I know it’s not good to hate your mother. I feel guilty about it, because I was raised to love and respect my parents, no matter what, but I just hate her!”

“Well, I don’t believe any of that shit about having to love anyone,” Tasha answered. “I don’t blame you for hating her and your uncle. Hell, if that had happened to me, I would probably have found a way to kill both those motherfuckers! You have nothing to feel guilty about. You’re here now and I’m glad. We need to think about something happier. Fuck your mother and her fucking family! On Saturday night, we gonna party and have a blast celebrating your birthday. We gonna need to do something about your appearance at the club, though. We’ll work on that Friday night when you get home, okay?”

“Sounds great. Can you help me with my hair too? Rhonda used to help me. I never did any of it myself. So I’m not very good at hair or makeup.” Alessa looked down at her own body and added, “Okay, I’m not that good at clothes either.”

The girls belly-laughed as they both assessed Alessa’s appearance.

On Friday night, when Alessa stepped off the city bus at nine-thirty, Tasha was waiting for her.

“Okay girl,” she said, “it’s time to give you a makeover.”

They headed down Dauphin Street and made a right onto Fairhill. The row homes were much nicer on this street. They stopped in front of a row home that had grey stucco on the outside, with a red door and brass fixtures. There were bars on all the windows and four cement steps led up to the front door.

Alessa looked at Tasha and asked, “Whose house is this?”

“Mine. I live here with my parents. They’ve gone out to dinner tonight, but they won’t care that you’re over here. My mother would probably be thrilled to actually see another white girl here,” she laughed.

When they went in, Alessa noticed that the furniture was worn, but well taken care of. The walls hadn’t been painted in a long time and the green shag carpeting had lost all its shag. But overall, it was a huge step up from where she was living. Everything in the house was old, but it was clean and tidy.

Alessa followed her friend up to her bedroom on the second floor. Tasha pointed to the door next to hers and said, “That used to be Harlin’s room. My mom turned it into her ‘lady den’, when he moved out. She keeps books and magazines in there. Her sewing machine is in there too. That’s where she goes to get away from everything. Harlin painted it for her before he moved out and he also bought her the desk and the chair.” Tasha motioned toward the furniture from the open doorway. Then she turned toward her own room. “This here, this is my room. I only really sleep here and spend most of my time outside the house.”

“What grade are you in?” Alessa asked.

“I’m eighteen. Graduated high school last June. I ain’t in school no more.”

“So what are you going to do? I mean, since you are out of high school.”

“I’m gonna keep selling weed for Harlin, until I save enough money to buy my own place. I ain’t in no rush, though. My mom and dad don’t give me any shit. I can come and go as I please. They know Harlin protects me out on the streets. So they don’t worry none about that. Sometimes, they worry about me selling weed to the wrong person, but Harlin assured them I’d be fine.”

Alessa, horrified, asked, “Your parents know that you and Harlin sell weed?”

“Yeah, girl. Ain’t everybody’s parents retarded like yours. They know what I do and I give them a little bit of money to help out around here. They say as long as I stay out of trouble, it ain’t no issue for them.”

Alessa tried to imagine having parents who actually believed in her. Clearly, the profession Tasha had picked for herself wasn’t the most promising. All the more reason for Alessa to be impressed that her friend’s parents supported her. It was amazing. Her own mother had beaten her for telling the truth about her uncle. And here was this world, where a daughter could tell her parents she was a pot pusher and the worst that happened was that they were concerned for her safety. It seemed a little unfair to Alessa that some people had families that were supportive, whereas she had come from one that had abused her in every way possible. She realized how fucked up her mother was; and even more fucked up was her nasty uncle.

Tasha sat Alessa down on a chair in front of a make-up mirror. Alessa couldn’t believe all of the cosmetic products her friend had. She looked over them curiously. Tasha spun the chair around so that she couldn’t stare into the mirror.

“Okay, now let’s see,” she said. “The first thing we need to do is even out your skin. Your complexion is great, but it ain’t the same tone all over.” She applied foundation and worked on Alessa’s eyes next. She added a light, shimmering shadow and finished off with eyeliner and mascara. Finally, she applied a little blush on Alessa’s cheekbones. Tasha took a step back and studied her. She seemed pleased. Then she picked up a pair of scissors.

Alessa cringed. “Are you going to cut my hair?” she cried out.

Tasha focused intently on her hair. “Well,” she said, “I could just leave it looking like a rat’s nest or I could help you work with those natural curls of yours. I ain’t gonna take much off the length. I just want to give it a little shape and body.”

Alessa smiled at her, silently hoping that Tasha didn’t fuck it up. When she had finished cutting, Tasha picked up a spray bottle filled with water and wet Alessa’s hair down. She pulled out her blow dryer and began using a small, round brush. She applied a little lipstick on her lips and stood back to observe the effect again.

When asked if she was ready for the big reveal, Alessa fidgeted with anticipation, nodding vigorously like a child. Tasha swung her around in her chair to face the mirror. Alessa stared at herself incredulously. The person she saw in the mirror was someone she couldn’t recognize. Her large brown eyes looked dreamy and her lips were lightly covered with a pale pink shade of lipstick. The color was so close to her natural lips you could hardly tell she was wearing any. Yet the shine made them look sensuous. Her hair looked like silk and fell in soft curls around her face and down to her shoulders.