We Didn’t See it Coming (33 page)
Read We Didn’t See it Coming Online
Authors: Christine Young-Robinson
Aniyah tussled with the dress. “Stop looking at my clothes. It'll fit fine once I lose a few pounds.” Aniyah looked around the kitchen, noticing something was missing. “Hold upâ¦no microwave?”
“You can use the stove to heat a TV dinner.”
“Whatever.” Aniyah rolled her eyes.
“Change your style of dressing. Start off fresh by getting yourself decent work. And, find a good man that you can start a family with,” Tessa lectured with an air of sophistication.
Aniyah stared at her aunt as though she were a hated prison guard. She had not thought about a job. She twirled around. Cheerfully, she said, “I can use a money man.”
“It's nothing like making your own money.”
Aniyah walked past her aunt, stepping back into the living room. Tessa followed behind her while Aniyah searched for any sign of communication technology.
“No telephone in here?”
Tessa shook her index finger at her. “When you get work you can buy one.”
“If you want me to get a job, at least get me a cell phone.”
“For now, no phone. I'll be coming by to check on you.”
Aniyah slouched down on the futon. She shoved her fist into the cushion, feeling the steel frame underneath.
“I hate being broke.”
“In due time, you'll find work. Make your own money.”
“I have no skills. No one will hire me.”
“There has to be something you like to do or you can go to college.”
“Aunt Tessa, getting out of jail is not the same as getting out of high school. I didn't just graduate. No college for me.”
“You know how to clean.”
Aniyah jumped to her feet. Her mind went to the days she was forced to clean the toilet in her jail cells. Enraged, she yelled, “Hell to the no. I'll die before I scrub another toilet.”
“It's an honest living.”
“Never!” Aniyah snapped as she sat back down. “I'll find something else to do.”
“Start looking for some kind of work.”
Aniyah banged her fist on the table. “I need money now.”
Tessa eased her way near the door. Digging in her purse, she pulled out a few bills. “This should be enough to get you by.”
Aniyah hurried over to her, snatching the money out of her aunt's hand. Before she shoved the bills down in her bra, she counted up to a hundred.
“The rent on this apartment is paid in full for three months. By then you should've found work.”
“Give me a break. That's not enough time.”
“You must have work by then. Baron won't allow me to give you any more money after that.”
“He rules you.”
“Nonsense. We agreed on that decision.”
“Tell him what you wantâ¦you're his wife, Mrs. Tessa Sanchez-Chavis. Stop being too easy.”
“I'm loyal to my husband. He's a good man. I won't let you ruin my marriage. Three months it is.” Tessa peered at her through hooded eyes.
Aniyah heard the authority in her aunt's voice and said no more. She was not about to let three months turn into get-out-right-now.
“In the drawer, there's a nightgown for you to rest in.” Tessa jingled her car keys as she made her way to the door. “I must go. I must prepare dinner for my husband.”
“I need to eat, too.”
“Heat your dinner. I pray you'll turn your life around. My sister would want that for you. I'll see you in a few days. And for God's sake, don't go anywhere near Milandra, Noelle or Kenley Houston. Baron and I have agreed not to disturb them about your release. They're in a good place in their lives.”
Aniyah chuckled. “The fake sisters are history to me. I'm going to be in a much better place then, them uppity snobs.”
“I have faith that you'll do fine, once you find work.” Tessa noticed she still had the apartment key in her hand. “You'll need this.” She tossed the key to Aniyah. “Don't lose it.”
Following her aunt outside, Aniyah watched as she got into her vehicle. “Weak bitch,” she hollered, once Tessa drove away.
Back into the apartment, Aniyah slammed the door behind her. She stood in the middle of the living room, sniffing the stale odor. She screamed, “I'm still in jail. The one time my aunt Tessa could do right by me and she put me in a hell hole.”
Aniyah went into the bedroom. She bounced on the bed.
“Dead mattress,” she fussed. “Aunt Tessa is going home to her fancy bed. I've got to sleep on a board for a mattress. Once again she shouted, “Weak bitch. Get a job, no way. My job will only be to find me a man with money. You and anyone else that gets in my way, will pay for treating me like I'm beneath you.”
Christine Young-Robinson was raised in Brooklyn and Queens, New York, but she now resides in her place of birth, Columbia, South Carolina. She is a wife, mother, and grandmother.
No stranger to the literary world, Christine has spent the last few years working with her children's books,
Isra the Butterfly Gets Caught for Show and Tell, Chicken Wing,
and young adult ebook,
Hip-Hop and Punk Rock.
Her short story, “Miss Amy's Last Ride,” was featured in the anthology,
Proverbs for the People
, edited by Tracy Price-Thompson and TaRessa Stovall.
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Strebor Books
P.O. Box 6505
Largo, MD 20792
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
© 2014 by Christine Young-Robinson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means whatsoever. For information address Strebor Books, P.O. Box 6505, Largo, MD 20792.
ISBN 978-1-59309-566-6
ISBN 978-1-4767-5799-5 (ebook)
LCCN 2014931231
First Strebor Books trade paperback edition September 2014
Cover design:
www.mariondesigns.com
Cover photograph: © Keith Saunders/Marion Designs
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