Dirty Little Angel

“Where’s this shop you mentioned?”

“It’s called New Style Hair near Fordham and Jerome Avenue.”

“And the church?”

“Look, what is this, a fuckin’ census or sumthin?” The girl was getting irritated by the questions.

Crown peeled off another hundred from his wad to cool her attitude. “And the church?”

“I don’t know. I think it’s on Third Avenue somewhere. I never been to her church,” she stated.

“One last question,” Crown said.

The young teen sucked her teeth loudly and stared at Crown rudely. “What?”

“Is she alone? I mean, have you seen another young girl around her lately?”

“Nah, not really. The only girl I see her with is, like, this pregnant girl sometimes. But she don’t come around here hardly.”

“Pregnant?”

“Yeah, pregnant. You know, somebody fucked her and dropped that seed in her. What, your peoples never told you about the birds and the bees?” the young teen joked.

Crown nodded and smiled. Instinct told him that the pregnant girl was Chaos. He was very happy with the news he just heard. Chaos was pregnant, which made the hunt for her even more thrilling. He looked at the young girl and passed her the three hundred dollars but warned her to keep quiet about their talk. She agreed and quickly snatched the money from his hand. “Thank you!” she said as she prepared to board the elevator.

Before the doors could close, Crown shouted to her, “Beautiful, what’s your name?”

“They call me Fly around here,” she stated.

“Well, Fly, if you ever want a lot more where that came from, you need to come see me. I can make you a rich woman,” he boasted.

Fly smiled. “It’s whatever. Thanks for the cab fare and the club money.”

The elevator doors closed. Crown and Harlem stood in the hallway and pondered their next move.

“Why you pay that bitch three hundred? We could have gotten shit from her with my gun in her face,” Harlem said.

Crown looked at Harlem. “Sometimes, it pays

to be subtle. I don’t wanna tip anyone off that we’re out here lookin’ for Chaos. Let it be a surprise.”

Harlem didn’t say a word. He came to New York for a reason and he didn’t want a two-hour road trip to go to waste.

48

Danielle was making herself a snack in her kitchen while Wendy was in the bathroom. She listened to the radio and cried silently. She took a deep breath and thought about YB and her options. She thought about her unborn child and she thought about Sweet. It seemed like everything was coming down on her all at once.

The butter knife shook in her hand as tears streamed down her soft olive-colored cheek. She didn’t want to cry. She wanted to be strong, but being strong was hard. She didn’t know what her future looked like anymore. The talk that she had with the pastor was refreshing but it had made her nervous. He wanted her to confess to her sins and talk to the cops.

In a few months, she would hold her baby in her arms, but if she went to prison that wouldn’t be possible. She wanted to see a bright future with YB beside her and them becoming a loving family.

Thoughts of Crown still haunted her, though, and Sweet’s death still bothered her. She looked at the phone, hoping that YB would call. She walked over to the window, hoping to see YB strutting into the lobby to see her again. When she peered down and saw nothing but litter blowing in the wind and dusk descending over the streets, she sighed heavily and began to rub her stomach, soothing her unborn child.

“Danielle, you okay?” Wendy asked as she exited the bathroom while drying her hands.

Danielle turned to look at Wendy. She looked so angelic with her friendly smile and soft eyes.

“I’m just thinking,” Danielle responded.