F I F T E E N

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 They were late and Sid was pissed. She kept an eye on AJ as he raced from one end of the walkway to the other. Just being late didn't piss her off. No. What really bothered her is that...she didn't even have a reason to be. She didn't have a job! But she was still late. It's like lateness had become a part of her. Like her favorite color or her favorite song. Lateness formed a layer of her identity for as long as she could remember. She pulled at a coil of hair that escaped her hair tie uncomfortably. 

AJ zoomed down the slight slope of the walkway and with Sid's quick reflexes, she threw her arm out and caught him just as he tripped over his sneakers. She'd barely pulled him back to standing by the collar of his jacket before he got his feet back under him and took off again.

The Uber app circled on her phone looking for drivers. She was on her way to her sister Whitney, back up in the boonies of Westchester, to drop off AJ before hitting up a few of her connections on the restaurant scene. She needed a job. Now. She had an internal clock running of how past due she was on all her bills. Rent was twenty days past due. Her phone would be shut off any day. Spectrum had already stopped her from renting any movies on demand which meant she was at least thirty days in the red with them. 

Her final check from the restaurant had been deposited into her account but she decided to be smart and hold on to that for food and diapers. So, no bills were to be paid with that and the time-bomb of bills would continue to tick. The last two hundred dollars on her credit card would hopefully get her to Westchester so she could drop of AJ until tomorrow and spend some time looking for work.

She looked down at her phone to see if a driver had been located but the app let her know that her card had failed to charge. Shit. Those interest fees must have hit. That means that she was dangerously close to being over the limit and past due. She cursed again that her mother had kidnapped her sister all the way out to Westchester. There were any mini-mansions she could have bought right here in Brooklyn?

Corralling AJ took a minute but eventually, she had him secured on her hip and was heading down the block, eyeing the fast-food restaurants on the strip. It was just before lunch on a Tuesday and she was starving. She hoped to drop AJ with her sister, raid her mother's fridge for lunch, and make it back into Brooklyn just as the lunch rush was dying down but now with the Uber out of the question she'd be lucky to make it down the block and back. The thought of taking AJ with her crossed her mind, but that would be just as bad when she first waddled in Grazi two years ago. 

She pulled out her phone and called Tomi. Sid sighed as he voicemail came on immediately without the phone ringing. She figured Tomi must be in her studio working on her furniture pieces and blocking out the world. She text Whitney.

Sid: Uber clipped me. Staying local today.

Sid tried to make it sound like she was choosing to just stay put instead of being forced by circumstance. Whitney's ellipses popped up on the screen immediately. Typical, she thought. Whitney's head was either buried in a Psychology journal or buried in her phone. She could have a great career in Social Media if she cared less about actual people. Sid tried to remember what her sister's face looked like without a phone blocking half of it. Nah. The image wouldn't come to her.

Whitney: You're always late. I just sent a car. We have to be to AJ's gymnastics class by 1.

Sid: He's not your kid. Stop signing him up for shit. Just eat Goldfish and watch Sesame Street with him like a normal Aunt.

Whitney: No.

Sid: See you soon.

Whitney: Soon.

She pivoted and started back toward her apartment building. Still starving but she was confident she could make it to her mom's house and wait to eat for free there. Her stomach growled and she tried to remember the last time she ate. She must've eaten something the night before but other than throwing a few stray cheerios in her mouth that spilled out of AJ's bowl this morning she was sure she didn't eat anything else. The bright red and white awning of the chicken spot on the corner, the same one she perched in during the stakeout days, beckoned her along with the scent of deep-fried goodness.

"You hungry dude?" She asked AJ. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and then used that same moist hand to point at the place Sid had been eyeing.

"Fries!" He shouted.

"I'm with you boo-boo." She hightailed it to the place hoping they could fix her a small hot wing and fries special before her Uber came. She wouldn't want to make the car wait and lower her sister's precious 4.9 stars.

She walked in to see a line of people milling about the store. Waiting. Damn. This wouldn't be quick at all. She stood at the end of the four-person line anxiously tossing looks across the street at her building. Checking for the car. Nothing yet. She eyed the front counter. 

An expanse of bulletproof glass secured a middle-aged middle eastern man as he turned chicken that was simmering under bright lights. His movements slow and deliberate, unbothered by the line of people. Sid sighed and let a fidgety AJ down to the floor where he could stretch his legs and he beelined for the colorful gumball machine in the corner. Just as she wondered when was the last time they cleaned that machine, the door swung open.

"Aye, my savior!" Phil's voice boomed from the door. People barely even looked toward his loud entrance. Brooklynites. Sid turned around.

"Don't mention it." She said to him coolly. It was no big deal to her. She wasn't sure why but picturing him in jail seemed...wrong. Though Phil was a drug dealer, it seemed more of a circumstance than an identity and she knew a lot about that.

"Imma mention it. That was a big look, Sid. You know?" He raised an eyebrow. Sid thought she may know what he meant but it was really hard to decipher his code speak and she was starting to get light-headed from hunger so she just nodded.

"I owe you. You ordered already? Let me pick up the tab for you." Phil reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. Sid eyed the green paper greedily.

"Not yet, this line is taking forever and my car should be here any minute." Sid glanced over her shoulder to see a gray Toyota Camry pull up in front of her building. Just as her phone dinged.

Whitney: Your car is there.

Damn.

Phil stretched his head over the line.

"Yo, Ahmed, you got a line here man! Where's Junior?" Phil yelled to the man behind the counter. He whirled around with an annoyed look on his face that quickly melted into a smile.

"Phil!" He yelled and seemed to come to life, "he had a test for college today. It's just me!". His hands pleaded with Phil, and by proxy, the people in line.

"I hear you, Habibi, but you gotta move it. Put something hot in a box for the lady. She gotta go." Phil turned to her quickly, "What you want?"

"Just hot wings and fries." She murmured. She was concerned that the other people would become angry with her order being pushed to the front of the line but they didn't seem affected.

"Hot wings and fries, Ahmed!" Phil yelled through the bulletproof glass. Ahmed nodded and made quick work of tossing the wings in a box along with a healthy scoop of fries -- way more than he'd ever given her when she came on her own -- and bagged it all up before sliding it through the small square opening in the glass. Phil strode up and slid what looked to be fifty dollar bill across the counter.

"Get these other people their shit. They hungry! Look! Ms. Watson about to pass out." Phil said pointing to an older woman in the line. Sid's eyes widened at the comment but Ms. Watson just burst into loud healthy chuckles.

"Shut up, Phil. I'll tell your mama!" She tossed back at him. Phil made mock praying hands in a plea toward her as he made his way over to Sid. He handed her the steamy bag of food.

"Go catch your car. But listen, actually call me, okay? You've been playing me. I'm tryna chill with you." He said sincerely. Again, no airs. Just straight down the middle. It jarred her and made her clam up.

"I will." She tossed to him as she stopped AJ from spinning the handle on the beat-up gumball machine in the corner to death. Scurrying across the street, she flung open the car door and apologized to the driver who wore a steely and slightly annoyed face. Yep, Whitney would be dropping to 4.8 stars today.


Love you guys and I really appreciate you reading this when there is SOOO much going on in the world. I think stories provide a bit of therapy and escape and it's my hope that I'm offering a bit of escape for you all and selfishly, my self as well. 

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