A Girl From Flint

by Treasure Hernandez

  Tasha’s heart dropped when she heard the amount of money they had to come up with. “So, if we get twenty-five percent of it, then you will remove the tumor?”

  The doctor nodded.

  “We’ll get it . . . soon.” Tasha began to walk away, but then stopped and asked, “Oh yeah, when will she be able to go home?”

  “Today. We can’t really do anything else for her. I’ll prescribe some pain pills to control the pain. Just get the money quickly. If anything happens before then, just bring her into the emergency.”

  Amra, Ms. Pat, and Tasha slowly left the hospital and took the city bus home. When they finally made it home, Ms. Pat went to her room to rest.

  “It feels good to be back in New York,” Amra said.

  “Yeah, it does feel good to be back home. I never thought I would say this, but I miss the big city. I just wish we had come back under better circumstances.”

  The girls went up to their room, and saw that everything was as they had left it.

  “I wish I wouldn’t have been acting funny toward my moms.” Amra looked at the picture of her and her mother that was on her dresser. “I never thought she would get sick. There is so much that I wish I could take back, you know?”

  “Don’t trip off that shit. She knows you didn’t mean anything by it. You were just going through a thang. She knows you love her. Don’t beat yourself up over what happened. The only thing that matters is that you are here right now.”

  Amra knew that Tasha was right. Her mother knew her better than anyone else in the world, but she still wished she hadn’t been so petty. She asked Tasha, “Have you heard from your mother?”

  The words hit Tasha like a ton of bricks. Amra saw her friend’s eyes begin to water, and she immediately wanted to take back her words. Tasha hadn’t talked about her mother since the day she had come to live with them, but inside, she wished she had a family of her own. Even though Ms. Pat had been great to her, she had always grown up feeling as if a big piece of her life was missing. Amra doesn’t know how good she has it.

  Tasha despised her mother. She never understood how a mother could turn her back on a child she gave birth to. Because of her mother’s drug addiction, she had never learned the little things that only a mother could teach a daughter. I never had a mother to help me get dressed on the first day of school. No one showed me how to take care of myself when I got my first period. I had to learn how to become a woman on my own, and I still don’t know if I’m getting this shit right.

  Tasha never answered Amra’s question, and Amra never brought it up again.

  Tasha thought about her mother all day. Her thoughts were consumed with how things might have been if she had a good mother. Tears rolled down her face as she lay in her bed, and before she knew it, she had cried herself to sleep.

  Chapter Ten

  The next day, Amra stayed at home with her mother while Tasha went to see about her own mother. She walked the five blocks to her old house, admiring her old neighborhood as she went. She didn’t know what she was going to say to her mother when she saw her. She really didn’t even want to talk to her. I just want to make sure she’s okay. Just see her face and know that she’s still here.

  Tasha approached her old street and could see her mom’s house from the corner. What the fuck happened? She rushed over to the abandoned house. It was boarded up around the windows and had an orange eviction sticker posted on the front door. She walked up to the house and opened the screen door. She still had her house key, so she entered. The house reeked of garbage. Where is she? She stared in utter disbelief at the trash.

  She walked into her mother’s old room and saw needles, empty beer bottles, trash, and used condoms all over the floor. Tasha’s eyes started to water, and she felt a sense of abandonment. She wanted to ask her mother, “Why do you have to be like this?” Instead, she wiped the tears from her eyes and said, “If it’s fuck me, then fuck you too!”

  She pulled the key off her key ring, threw it on the floor with the rest of the trash, and walked out of the house. Tasha couldn’t believe that her mother had just up and left.

  She started the long walk back to Ms. Pat’s house. Her emotions were crazy. She was worried and scared for Ms. Pat, and upset and in need for her own mother. She felt like an orphan, abandoned and alone.

  Her cell phone rang, giving her a break from the crude reality she’d just faced. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Tasha,” Honey said. “How is Amra’s moms doing?”

  “Not so good. She has cancer. She doesn’t have insurance, so the hospital won’t remove her tumor. Me and Amra have to come up with almost forty thousand, I mean quick, before the shit spreads.”

  Honey knew how much Ms. Pat meant to Tasha, and that Amra would go nuts. “I’m so sorry, Tash. I had no clue she was that sick. Why don’t you ask Manolo for the money? You know he’ll let y’all borrow it.”

  Tasha knew that Honey was right. Manolo would give them the money. Of course, he would tax the hell out of them with interest, but at least they would have the cash to put up for the surgery. They could worry about the rest later. “Thanks, Honey. We’ll be back tomorrow night. We just want to make sure everything is okay here first. We’re just trying to make her as comfortable as possible, at least until we can come up with the money to pay for her surgery.”

  “Y’all take your time, and tell Ms. Pat I hope she feels better. Tasha, are you alright, though? You sound like something else is fucking with you.”

  Tasha didn’t feel like explaining the situation about her mother. “I’m cool. Look, I’ll check you later.”

  When Tasha arrived back at Ms. Pat’s house, Ms. Pat was up and moving around.

  “Hey, baby.” Ms. Pat walked over to Tasha and kissed her on the forehead.

  “Hey. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m fine.”

  Ms. Pat tried to act as if nothing was wrong, but Tasha could tell she was lying. “I’m glad you’re feeling okay.”

  Ms. Pat walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. “I didn’t have a chance to do much shopping. Are you hungry?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t want you on your feet cooking. I’ll go and get us something to eat.” Tasha took Ms. Pat’s hand and led her to the living room couch. She ran up the stairs and entered Amra’s room. “Hey, come with me to grab something to eat. I have to talk to you about something.

  Tasha grabbed Ms. Pat’s car keys, and the girls headed out of the door. As she drove, she reacquainted herself with the city. “I talked to Honey about an hour ago. She thinks that we should ask Manolo for the money.”

  Amra’s eyes grew wide with optimism. “We should! I mean, you know he got it, and as much money as we’re making him, he shouldn’t care about us asking for nothing.”

  Tasha pulled into the parking lot and parked the car. “I hope he says yes. I’m going to call him tonight and tell him we have to talk to him about something.”

  They got out of the car and walked into the Jamaican restaurant to get some jerk chicken. They got their food and got back into their car. As they pulled out of the parking lot, a girl driving a black Yukon pulled in front of them and hit the front end of Ms. Pat’s car. Tasha hit the brakes hard. “Bitch!” She put the car in park and quickly got out to inspect the damage.

  “Damn! What the fuck were you doing?” Amra asked the brown-skinned girl with red hair.

  “I am so sorry. Damn!” The girl nervously paced back and forth. “He gon’ kill me! This ain’t even my whip.”

  “Yeah? Well, this ain’t our car either, so I hope you got insurance.” Amra folded her arms and leaned against her mother’s dented car.

  The girl pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. “Baby, can you come to the chicken place on Thirty-Seventh Street? I got into an accident.” The girl listened on the phone for a minute, then hung up. “He’s on his way. I am so sorry.”

  Tasha got into Ms. Pat’s car and waited for someone to come.

 
“Hey, you want to beat that bitch ass?” Amra asked Tasha, hoping that she would say yes.

  Tasha laughed. “Nah, don’t trip. Just make sure she doesn’t try to pull off. That bitch driving like she the shit, trying to stunt in her whip. What she need to do is fix that bad-ass weave job she got going on. Why she trying to look good in a car that ain’t even hers?”

  Amra chuckled. She got out of the car and stood by the door.

  Tasha sighed and leaned her seat all the way back. Today ain’t my day. Dumb bitch!

  Twenty minutes later, Tasha heard someone pull up with loud music playing. “You alright, ma?” she heard a man say.

  “Hell nah!” Amra yelled. With big smile on her face, she quickly walked toward Tasha and tapped on the window to alert her. Amra didn’t even say anything; she just looked smugly toward the girl who’d hit their car.

  “What?” Tasha asked, confused. Ain’t this about a bitch? she thought to herself when she finally saw Joe hugging a girl tight around the waist. Tasha’s heart began to pound in her chest, and she instantly became jealous. She quickly pulled down her visor and looked in the mirror. Fuck! He would have to catch me when I’m dressed all bummy and rocking this raggedy-ass ponytail. She quickly pulled the hair tie out and allowed her hair to flow freely. Then she pulled out her lip-gloss and applied a shiny coat to her lips. It didn’t do much to improve her appearance, but it was better than nothing. She looked at her face and saw that she looked tired too. She hadn’t had much time to worry about herself since she had gotten back.

  Joe was inspecting his car as Tasha got out of Ms. Pat’s car, and she and Amra walked toward him. When the girl approached them, Tasha immediately frowned up. Bitch, I ain’t trying to talk to you!

  The girl said to Joe, “Baby, this is the girl I hit.”

  Joe looked at Tasha, and the look of shock on his face made Amra burst out in laughter. She quickly turned around and walked back to the car.

  Tasha’s heart was pounding. She looked Joe in the eyes. “Hi.”

  The girl walked over to Joe, grabbed his hand and held him tight.

  Amra yelled out, “Oh, hell no!”

  Joe told his friend, “Go wait in the car.”

  The girl mean-mugged Tasha, and then looked back at Joe.

  “In the car,” Joe repeated.

  The girl smacked her lips and got into the car.

  Joe and Tasha just stared at each other, as if neither of them could believe what they were seeing. “When did you get back?” he asked her.

  “Why? You didn’t expect to get put into a situation like this, huh?” Tasha grinned mischievously.

  “Something like that.” Joe shook his head at the irony.

  Tasha looked at the girl in the car. “I see you doing okay.”

  Joe put his head down and smirked to himself. “That’s nothing. I’m trying to see what’s up with you.”

  Tasha felt giddy, as if this was her first time meeting Joe, but she still had a little attitude because he was with another girl. It had been almost a year since she had last seen him, and when she left New York, she didn’t know where they stood. Because of the jealousy that streaked through her when she saw him holding the other girl’s hand, she knew she had feelings for him.

  “So, what up? Can we link up later?” Joe asked her.

  “Right now really ain’t a good time.” Tasha folded her arms across her chest.

  Joe could tell that something was wrong with her. She seemed worried and looked exhausted. “It’s cool. You need anything?”

  Tasha smiled. “Just a new bumper for Ms. Pat’s car.”

  Joe pulled out some money, counted out three thousand dollars, and dropped it on the hood. “This should take care of it.” He had given her way more than the bumper would cost to be replaced, but he wanted to make sure she was straight since she had way too much pride to ask him for anything.

  Tasha took the money and began to walk away. She turned around and waved to Joe, knowing he would still be watching her. She got into the car, and before she pulled off, she saw the girl get out of Joe’s car and start yelling at him. Tasha smiled and pulled off.

  “I told you we should have beat the brakes off that bitch,” Amra said as they drove back to the house.

  Tasha frowned. “He ain’t my man, but he was looking good, though.”

  By the time the girls came back with the food, it was cold. Tasha told Ms. Pat what had happened to her car, and gave her the money to get it fixed.

  They sat down and ate dinner with Ms. Pat. Tasha could tell Amra was happy to be near her mother again. Amra looked tired too, and Tasha knew it was from worrying about Ms. Pat.

  Tasha went up to the room she shared with Amra and lay down on her old bed. I can’t believe he’s fucking with that ugly bitch, she thought, referring to the girl she had seen Joe with. That nigga still got it, though, with his fine ass. Tasha couldn’t deny Joe’s swagger. He was definitely a fresh mu’fucka, and she felt like a fool for letting him slip through her fingers.

  She shook thoughts of Joe from her brain and pulled out her cell phone to call Manolo. The phone rang several times before he answered.

  “Hello?”

  Tasha sighed. “Manolo, this is Tasha.”

  “What up? You and Amra cool?”

  “Her moms is sick. She has cancer. And we don’t have enough money to pay for her surgery. That’s why I’m calling. Manolo, we need to borrow forty thousand dollars.”

  Manolo was silent for a minute.

  “You know I wouldn’t even be asking you this if I didn’t really need it, and you know we’re good for it.” Tasha waited anxiously as Manolo contemplated the situation. Say something, she thought.

  “Damn, forty gees is a lot of paper just to put up. I ain’t even got it like that to even loan it to you, ma.”

  “That’s alright, Manolo. You know I had to ask.”

  “I don’t know if you gon’ be down for this, but I know where you can get that cake.”

  “We’ll do anything right about now. We just need to get the money to pay twenty-five percent of the bill. We’ll worry about the rest later. If it can get us the money, we’re with it.”

  “Let me take care of some of this business and find out a little bit more info for you. Make sure you and Amra come see me when y’all touch down in Flint.”

  “Thanks, Manolo. We’ll be back tomorrow night.”

  Manolo could sense the relief in her voice. “No problem, baby. You know I got you.”

  Tasha hung up the phone, feeling like a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She didn’t know exactly what they had to do to get the money, but she knew they could get it done. Manolo hadn’t led them astray yet, and she trusted him to put her up on a new hustle that would pay the type of money they were seeking.

  Chapter Eleven

  Tasha heard the doorbell ring, and Ms. Pat yelled up the stairs for her to come down. “Who the hell is here for me?” she asked herself as she descended the steps. She went to the door and saw Joe standing there waiting for her. He had on some Sean John jeans, a white T-shirt, all white Force One’s, and a red fitted hat. Tasha smiled. “What are you doing here?”

  “I wanted to see you,” he answered with a sexy grin.

  Tasha folded her arms. “What about your girl?”

  “I dropped her ass off. I told you, that’s nothing. She was just something to do for the moment.”

  Tasha frowned disapprovingly. “And what am I?”

  Joe neglected to answer the question. “You want to go for a ride?”

  Tasha looked down at the clothes she had on. She was wearing gray sweat pants and a pink Michigan State baby T-shirt. “Let me get dressed. You already saw me looking tore up earlier. I got to redeem myself.”

  “Alright, I’ll wait. Can I have a seat in the living room?”

  “Sure. I’ll be right back.”

  Tasha walked up the stairs and hurried into the room. She pulled out a mint green Christian Dior d
ress and applied her bronze makeup and fixed her hair. Excited to go out with Joe, she was dressed in under fifteen minutes. It had been a long time since they had spent time together. Just the simple fact that he had come over unannounced to see her made her think that he missed her.

  By the time she re-entered the living room, Joe had already sweet-talked his way into Ms. Pat’s good graces. Ms. Pat was smiling and laughing with Joe as if she had known him from the day he was born.

  “I’m ready,” Tasha stated as she walked into the room. The expression on Joe’s face when he saw her confirmed what she already knew. She looked damn good. Tasha spun, to give him the full view.

  “We all know you’re gorgeous,” Ms. Pat stated with a weak smile.

  Tasha kissed Ms. Pat’s cheek. “I won’t be out too long.”

  “Don’t worry about me. Spend some time with your friend.” Ms. Pat then turned to Joe. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Joe. Make sure you come around again.”

  “I definitely will, Ms. Pat. Take care.”

  Tasha had to crack a smile as she followed Joe to his car. He had completely won Ms. Pat over. “Where are we going?” she asked.

  Joe ignored her and turned up the volume to the music as they cruised down the block.

  Tasha was quiet on the way there. She had a lot on her mind. She hadn’t seen Joe in a long time and, for some reason, was nervous around him. She had changed a lot since they had last seen each other, and didn’t know if he would like the new her.

  They ended up at Sylvia’s. Joe knew it was Tasha’s favorite soul food spot, and one of the best in town.

  As they sat over dinner, Tasha could feel Joe’s eyes on her. “How you doing?” he asked her.

  “I’m fine. Everything’s good.”

  Joe didn’t know exactly what was bothering her, but she wasn’t acting the same. He reached across the table and grabbed her hands. “You cool? You need something?”