One Among Us

by Paige Dearth

  “Do you know who your parents are?” Colby asked. He, too, wanted her away from this life.

  “Yeah. I know, but it’s been too long. So many things have happened. I could never face them. I’m too ashamed of the things that I’ve done—that I’m still doing.”

  “Maggie, your parents would understand. You didn’t pick this life.”

  “I’m not so sure they would understand. Besides, Rock would find them and me. He would eventually kill all of us. He’s told me he’d kill all of us, and I believe him. I know he would do anything to keep what he believes is rightfully his. If I went home, and anything ever happened to my family, I would never forgive myself. Anyway, I have Juju and Seth to think about too. I just can’t…” Maggie’s voice trailed off as the image of her parents stood boldly in her mind’s eye.

  Colby stood and reached his hand out to Maggie. She placed her long, graceful hand in his, and he gently pulled her up. They stood facing each other. “Someday, I hope to change all of this for you. I will do everything in my power to see to it that you’re reunited with your family again. When we take Rock and his pack of lame-brains down, then it will be safe for you to return home,” he promised.

  Maggie walked Colby the few feet to the door of the apartment. He hesitated a moment before he bent down and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.

  “Things will change, and I will be here for you when you need me,” Colby whispered. Then he left, closing the door behind him.

  Maggie stood perfectly still. She held on tightly to the feeling of Colby’s warm, soft lips brushing her cheek. It had taken all of her willpower not to reach out and grab onto him. She wanted to hold him. She wanted him to hold her. Then, feeling foolish, she banished the sensation. A man like Colby would never be with a girl like me. I’m a hooker. He’s just being nice. Don’t over think his intentions, Maggie told herself.

  But as Maggie lay on the floor that night, trying to sleep, the only thing she could think about was Colby.

  Chapter One Hundred Twelve

  Maggie woke the next morning to a soft knock on the door. She eased her way up off the floor and stumbled as she grabbed the doorknob.

  “Who is it?” she said softly.

  “It’s Colby. Open up.”

  Maggie opened the door and smiled. Her long, silky hair was disheveled, and her eyes were puffy from sleep.

  “Good morning,” Colby said softly. “I’ve brought coffee and doughnuts.”

  Maggie opened the door wider to let him into the apartment. Each of them took a seat at the small folding table they used as a dining room set.

  “Ah, coffee. Just what the doctor ordered,” Maggie said as she reached for one of the cups.

  Colby didn’t respond. He just watched her from the other side of the table. Maggie took a long slurp of the coffee.

  “Could you drink any louder?” Colby teased. “Do that again and you’ll wake up Juju and Seth.”

  Maggie giggled. “Yes, drinking quietly. Now that’s not something they taught me in charm school. I must’ve been absent that day.”

  Maggie reached across the table, grabbed one of the powdered doughnuts out of the box, and took a big bite. “Mmmmm, I wove powder doughnuts,” she mispronounced with her mouth full.

  Colby couldn’t help but laugh at the powdered sugar she wore from cheek to cheek. “That’s a good look for you. I guess you missed charm school the day they taught how to eat doughnuts daintily too.”

  “Yep, I know. I’m a hot mess. You should see me eat spaghetti,” Maggie teased.

  “It would be my pleasure. Maybe we can go out to dinner sometime. I’ll take you to a wonderful Italian restaurant in South Philly. Now, that’s where you get real spaghetti,” Colby stated.

  Maggie wiped her mouth on her sleeve. Had Colby just asked her out on a date? What was she supposed to say?

  “Don’t make me any promises you can’t keep,” Maggie finally managed.

  “I never do. I’m always true to my word, which is why I’m here.”

  Colby reached into his pocket and took out a wad of money. “This is the five hundred dollars I promised you. Now you can pay that asshole off, and we can move on.”

  Maggie’s mouth dropped open. “How did you get the money? What did you tell the agency I’d do for it?” she asked, suddenly fearful of what she might owe.

  “I didn’t promise them anything. I told them I needed it so I could spend more time with you. That’s what they want me to do…spend time with you so I can get information,” he said, covering up his lie.

  “Really?” Maggie couldn’t believe something was actually going their way for a change.

  “Really what?” Juju asked from the bed.

  “Colby got the money we need to pay Rock. Look,” Maggie squealed, rushing over to show her friend the money.

  “What do we gotta do for it?” Juju asked skeptically.

  “Colby said we don’t have to do anything.”

  The two girls turned to face Colby, who nodded and smiled at them.

  Seth was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes when he noticed the wad of cash Maggie was holding.

  “Aggie! You got the money. How?” Seth asked.

  Maggie looked over at Colby, and Seth followed her gaze. The boy gave the grown man a quick nod of his head, and Colby responded in the same way. Colby stood and walked toward the door. He could sense that the boy was nervous about his relationship with Maggie. She was the only mother Seth could remember, and he was feeling threatened by Colby’s presence over the last two days.

  “All right, you guys. I have to roll. I’ll catch you later,” Colby said.

  “Wait!” Maggie jumped to her feet and strode over to Colby. She reached up and gave him a hug. “Thank you. Someday, we’ll pay you back every cent.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Didn’t charm school teach you that money grows on trees?” Then he got very serious. “You need to be careful with Rock today, all right? Give him the money and get out of there.”

  Maggie didn’t know that Colby had used his own money to pay off the debt. Colby wanted her to trust him not only because he needed information about Rock’s shady, corrupt businesses, but also because he wanted her to stay close to him. He couldn’t deny the way he felt about her anymore.

  Maggie nodded, and after Colby had gone, she turned back to her little family. “We did it! We got the money. I’m going to get dressed and go to see Rock.”

  “There’s something else, too,” Seth gushed. “Joey came back to school yesterday.”

  “Thank God! How is she?” Maggie asked.

  “Joey’s doing real good now. She said the doctor was so nice to her that she didn’t want to leave and wished he would’ve kept her there so she didn’t have to go back and live with Thelma and Rock,” Seth said.

  “Well, we’re gonna keep a close eye on her,” Maggie stated with a feeling of renewal.

  Maggie felt joyful. Joey was safe, albeit still living with Thelma, and Rock would leave Juju alone now that she had his money. She felt a stab of gratitude for all Colby had done to help them out of their predicament.

  On her way to see Rock, Maggie stopped at a small grocery store to grab a loaf of bread. Inside, she noticed a tall, blond-haired woman, almost instantly she recognized her. “Emma. Hey, Emma, what are you doing here?” Maggie asked as they hugged.

  “I live in Kensington, Mags,” Emma told her.

  “Since when? Why didn’t you ever tell me you lived here?”

  Emma chuckled. “Because you never asked me where I live. I’m about a mile from here.”

  Just then, a beautiful little girl walked up and tugged on Emma’s shirt. “Hey, sweetheart, I want you to meet Maggie. But I call her Mags,” Emma explained.

  The young girl looked up at Maggie. “Hi. My name is Izzy.”

  Maggie bent down to be at eye level with the child. “Nice to meet you, Izzy. You look exactly like your mom,” she said, beaming up at Emma.

  “No, Izzy i
s my niece,” Emma clarified.

  “Well, then, you look exactly like your aunt,” Maggie declared.

  A tender smile played on Izzy’s lips. “Everybody says that. Right, Aunt Em?”

  “That’s right, baby,” Emma said with deep affection.

  “OK, I have to get moving. I’m on my way to see Rock,” Maggie said.

  Maggie grabbed the loaf of bread and headed toward the register with Emma close behind her. When the clerk told her how much she owed, Maggie reached into her purse. She fumbled around inside, trying to dig out her wallet. Finally, she put the purse up on the counter and looked inside.

  Maggie began to quiver and she broke out into a cold sweat. Her heart was pounding, and she kept looking inside her bag, willing her wallet to reappear. All she could say was, “Oh my God. Oh my God.”

  “What’s wrong, Mags?” Emma asked.

  “My wallet is missing. It had all of my money in it,” Maggie cried.

  “No worries. It’s only money, girl. Here, I can cover the bread,” Emma offered.

  But Maggie wasn’t worried about the bread. She was worried about the five hundred dollars that was in her wallet to pay off Rock. In that moment, Maggie’s whole world came crumbling down on her, and now she truly had no one to turn to.

  Chapter One Hundred Thirteen

  “You don’t understand,” Maggie explained to Emma in tears. “I just lost five hundred dollars. That money didn’t belong to me.”

  “All right. Calm down. Maybe you left it at home,” Emma said.

  “No, no I didn’t. I had it in my purse. I must have dropped it,” Maggie said, her chest heaving as she wailed.

  “I saw that man with the red shirt put his hand in your purse and take something,” Izzy chimed in.

  “What? What man?” Maggie asked.

  “The man in the red shirt. He was standing behind you,” Izzy explained.

  Emma bent down and whispered to Izzy, “Is the man still in the store, Iz?”

  “Unh-uh. He ran out of the store,” the child explained.

  Izzy’s eyes welled up as she began to think she did something wrong.

  “It’s OK, Iz. It’s not your fault,” Emma cooed.

  Maggie was pacing the small aisle of the market, frantically rubbing her arms.

  Emma approached Maggie, “OK. Who did the money belong to?”

  Maggie looked around the small store. She recognized a couple of hookers and a john from when she used to walk the streets.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Maggie said.

  Emma and Izzy walked a short block with Maggie, and turned into an empty alley. Maggie faced Emma. “The money belonged to Rock. My, you know…pimp.”

  Emma leaned in closer. “Tell him it got stolen.”

  Maggie quickly relayed the story about Juju and brought her up to date on everything that had happened. She even told Emma about Colby and how he had given her the money.

  “Juju will lose another finger because of me. Shit, Emma, she’s gonna lose all her fingers. I have no way to get another five hundred dollars. Getting it from Colby was nothing short of a miracle,” Maggie said, defeated.

  “I can help you,” Emma told her.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I have money, and I can help you,” Emma stated. It had been a while since she was able to do something nice for someone other than Izzy. Emma really liked Maggie. She was one of the best people she’d ever met in her ridiculous, fucked-up life.

  “Are you serious?” Maggie asked.

  “Hell, yeah. We can walk back to my house, and I’ll get it for you,” Emma offered.

  “I don’t know when I can pay you back,” Maggie said. She was desperate for the money, but didn’t want to lose her only friend at Doubles over money. Besides, Maggie had noticed that the other girls were afraid of Emma, so she figured there was something about her that kept them in line.

  “I know. Someday, when you have the money, you’ll pay me back. Relax,” Emma said with a shrug.

  When they reached the house where Emma lived, Maggie stood on the broken sidewalk looking up at the porch.

  “You wait here. I’ll go get the money. I live with a group of people, and we don’t bring others inside. House rules,” Emma said.

  A few minutes later, Emma came back outside. “OK, here you go,” Emma said, handing her an envelope.

  “How do you have all of this money?” Maggie asked, perplexed.

  “Mags, I don’t have a pimp. I get to keep all of my tips. Right now, I’m saving money so I can move Izzy outta here. I mean, it ain’t so bad. I have one good friend in the house,” Emma explained. Then she grinned. “You better shove that money in your pants so you don’t lose it. Be careful and don’t stop anywhere along the way,” she teased.

  Maggie took the envelope, slid it inside her jeans, and held her hand over it tightly. “I don’t know how to thank you. You just saved a life,” Maggie said.

  “Ha! That’s a first for me, that’s for sure,” Emma said, more to herself than to Maggie.

  Emma gave Maggie a quick hug. “See you at Doubles. Get your ass down to that dick-head pimp motherfucker and then go home to your friend.”

  Maggie walked toward the house of whores. She was still stunned by Emma’s generosity. She wondered what had happened to Emma to make her leave home. She knew Emma had run away when she was a young teen, but Maggie had never really pried into why she left home.

  Before she knew it, Maggie was walking through the front door, and the first person she saw was Rock.

  “Ya got my money?” he growled.

  “Yeah, I got it,” Maggie said, trying her hardest not to gloat.

  Rock approached and took the envelope out of her hand. He immediately counted the money. “You one lucky bitch. How’d ya get the money?” he asked suspiciously.

  “A friend loaned it to me,” Maggie said.

  “Who? What friend?” Rock pressed.

  “Why does it matter? You have your money back.”

  Rock backhanded Maggie, and she fell to her knees.

  “It matters ’cause I asked you a mother fuckin’ question. Maybe ya forgot who your boss is. Now who gave ya the dough?”

  Maggie was holding the side of her face. Her teeth felt like they had been hit with a hammer.

  “A dancer I work with at Doubles.”

  “Oh, yeah? This dancer have a pimp? Maybe she be needin’ someone to take care of her like you do,” Rock said.

  “No, she doesn’t need a pimp. She’s a dancer,” Maggie countered.

  Rock pulled back his foot and kicked Maggie in the upper thigh.

  “Bitch, ya just ain’t gettin’ it, are ya? Just ’cause you’re dancin’ and working at the apartments don’t give you any more privileges than these other nasty skanks. I’ll put your ass back out walkin’ that street in a fuckin’ minute,” Rock yelled.

  “I’m sorry, Rock,” Maggie breathed.

  “Get the fuck outta my face before I give ya a full-on beatin’,” he threatened.

  Maggie got to her feet quickly and limped toward the door.

  “Tell Juju she got lucky this time. She comes up short again, I won’t be so nice the next time,” Rock screamed.

  Maggie limped the whole way back to her apartment. She would’ve crawled back there rather than stay one more minute with Rock. When she walked in, Seth ran to her. “Aggie, what took you so long? What did Rock say?”

  Juju was lying on the mattress, looking at Maggie, waiting for her to answer.

  “He said we’re all good. It’s all squared away,” Maggie said.

  But Juju could tell something was wrong. She noticed Maggie’s limp when she walked across the room and the stress lines around her eyes. Maggie didn’t like to talk about things in front of Seth. She tried to hide as much from him as possible. He was, after all, exposed to more ugliness than most kids his age were.

  After Seth settled down and started reading a book, Maggie snuggled close to Juju.r />
  “Sooo, how was your day?” Juju asked.

  “We paid the dick his money. Today was a great day, Juju.”

  “It doesn’t look so great by the way you’re limping,” Juju said.

  “Oh, that? It’s nothing. Just a part of being one of Rock’s bitches,” she said.

  “You sure you’re OK?”

  Maggie sighed heavily, releasing the weight of the day. “I’m just peachy.”

  As Maggie got lost in her own thoughts, she remembered Emma and Colby. It had been a long time since she felt any hope, but she was feeling it now, and it was invigorating. As the small flicker of hope ignited deep inside, Maggie thought that perhaps her life was about to change.

  She was right. Her life was going to change. But not in the way she’d hoped.

  Chapter One Hundred Fourteen

  The next morning, Colby showed up at Maggie’s apartment again. Instead of allowing him into the apartment, she stepped out into the darkened hall.

  “Colby, I really appreciate everything you’ve done. But you can’t keep coming here. If Rock finds out you’re coming here, he’ll kill you,” Maggie explained.

  Clearly disappointed, Colby nodded. “OK. I get it. You’ve seen enough of me, right?”

  “No. That’s not it at all. I really like spending time with you, but Rock sees you as a client who comes to his apartment. If he catches you here, he might put things together and figure out that you’re here to hurt him. I’m just trying to protect you and your agency,” Maggie offered.

  “You’re right. From now on, I’ll pay Armando to see you at the apartment,” Colby said, and turned to leave. Before he headed down the stairs, he swung around to Maggie one more time. “Just so you know, I’m not here just for the agency. I happen to like you. I mean, I like spending time with you. I just wanted you to know that so you don’t go on thinking that it’s all about work.”

  As Colby disappeared down the stairs, Maggie stood staring at the spot where he’d been standing seconds before. His words played like a symphony in her ears…he really liked her. She stood in the hall smiling until Juju opened the door.