Walking the Streets of Harlem

Chapter One

Saying goodbye has always been hard for me so I always chose just to leave. That's exactly what I'm doing now as I walk out of my old home and get into my mom's black Nissan. She said we'd be moving to Harlem and that it was a nice place. I don't really know much about Harlem, I only know that her fiancé Roman is there.
As soon as I was buckled into the car she sped off as if her life depended on it. Maybe she's running from all of her demons she left in that house. I laughed at the thought.
"You're going to love the house," she said.
"No I'm not," I said bluntly.
"You're just like your father, always having an attitude,"
She's just struck a nerve and she doesn't even know it. My dad was an amazing man and she's the sole reason he's not here with us now. I let her continue to blab on about her fiancé and the great new life we're supposedly going to have.
After a few hours we made our first stop at a convenient store. I grabbed my pink wallet and ran into the store. My stomach was growling. I grabbed some chips and a soda. I looked up at the cashier. He was in a very heated argument with another customer.
I scanned the store quickly and saw 2 cameras. If I walked out the back I could easily dodge them. I grabbed my stuff and grabbed a bottle of johnnie walker while I was at it. I hid them in the deep inner pockets of my jacket and slipped out of the back of the store.
When I got in the car my mom sped off eager to get to her destination. After another hour of pure silence we pulled up in a yard. It was a huge white 2 story house. It looked ran down and abandoned. I was shocked when my mother said "welcome to our new home!"
I wish I could slap the life out of her. I just grabbed the few bags I had and stormed into the house. At least the inside of it looked nice. I ran upstairs where the bedrooms were at. I chose the very last room. It seemed more secluded and far away from the master bedroom where my mother and Roman would reside. As soon as you walked in you could tell it used to belong to a young girl. She still had her ballet things up. It reminded me of when my dad used to drive me to my ballet recitals. He loved watching me dance because I was happy.
The walls were pink and white. There was a white vanity, and a pink and white loft bed that is absolutely adorable . Besides that the room was empty and very dusty. I laid my bags down in the corner of the room and dashed back downstairs. I saw my mother and Roman on the front porch kissing. It made me throw up in my mouth.
Our boxes from the old house were sitting in the middle of what I assumed would be the living room. I opened the box that had cleaning supplies written on it. I grabbed the duster, bleach, and some other sprays.
Once I got back into my new room I started cleaning immediately. I dusted everything and scrubbed the floors. I'm used to cleaning a lot because my mom doesn't do much of that. After the room was spotless I started exploring some more. I opened one door in the room and it led me to a nice sized closet and the other door was a bathroom. I was so happy to have my own bathroom in my room. I opened it and got out the bleach and cleaned the bathroom too. I saw specks of dried blood in the shower. I got creeped out but told myself it wasn't anything serious and kept cleaning. Once I was finished I looked around the room some more. I opened up one of the drawers on the loft bed And saw a black book in it. I opened it up and realized it was a diary and it belonged to some girl named Maria. Her last entry dated back to just a few months ago which was weird because Roman has been staying here for a while before we finally came . I opened up to her first entry and started reading.
Dear Diary,
Ever since my mom has met her new man, home has been a living hell. I haven't been able to hold a real conversation with my mom ever since he's moved in. I don't even know his real name yet.everyone calls him Snake. She acts like I don't exist but always insists that we should act more like a family. She insists that I call him daddy. The same name he wants me to call him when he sneaks into my bedroom at night and slips his way into my panties.

I quickly closed the book and wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. I want to know more about this girl but just the first entry sends chills up my spine. I put the book back in the drawer. My stomach was growling. I ran downstairs and my mom was unpacking stuff while roman sat on the couch smoking a blunt.
"Mom you know I can't stand the smell of smoke," I said coughing.
"Get over it!" She hissed. My mom and I haven't talked much but she's never been so hateful towards me. I rolled my eyes and looked over at Roman who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Ma I'm hungry," I said.
"Look Summer, the little food we do have I'm cooking tonight for Rome and I. There's this nice Chinese place a few blocks from here,"
"Whatever ma, I'll be back whenever,"
I grabbed one of my "pleather" jackets and walked out the door. It was mid summer so I looked out of place with my leather jacket on. I noticed some dudes staring me up and down as I looked for the Chinese place. After a few more minutes of walking I finally found the place. It's hard to find amongst all these other stores. It's called Li Yung's.
I walked in and saw various people sitting around either eating or waiting for their food. I walked up to the counter and ordered General Tso Chicken and some wings. The total came to 17 dollars. I grabbed a 20 that I had hidden in my coat pocket, took the change he gave me and sat down at one of the tables and waited.
A man came and sat next to me. He looked to be 19. He was brown skinned with curly hair and white pearly teeth. He was cut up and his muscles rippled through his muscle shirt. I immediately felt goosebumps rise on my skin.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here before," he said with his smooth voice.

"Well I bet you haven't given the fact I just moved here today," I said.

He chuckled a bit. "Have you enjoyed it so far?" he asked.

"Well this is my first time getting out of the house," I said to him and he smiled.

"Would you mind if I showed you around?" he asked me and I blushed.

"Well I can't today but how about tomorrow around noon," I said and he smiled.

"Perfect, we can go out to lunch, where should I pick you up from?" he asked. With Roman being there and my mother acting the way she is I didn't want him to come around.

"How about I just meet you here,"

"That's good too, well I'll see you tomorrow ummm, I never got your name," He said laughing.

"It's Summer," I said.

"That's pretty, my name is Scottie," he said.

"Well Okay Scottie, I've gotta go get my food, I'll see you tomorrow," I said with a smile.

I noticed my food was sitting on the counter ready for me to get it. I grabbed the bag and walked back down to my house. Rome and my mom were sitting at the dinner table eating steaks and rice. He had at least 4 steaks on his plate. It would've been more than enough food for me. My mom looked at me, rolled her eyes and continued eating.

"I wish you could've had some of this steak baby girl, its amazing," he said right before shoving a chunk of the juicy meat into his mouth.

"Yea me too," I said sarcastically as I headed upstairs into my room and locked the door. I opened the containers my food were in and dived in. I remembered the Johnnie Walker I had hidden in one of my coat jackets. I found it and slowly opened it up, contemplating on whether I should drink it or not. Finally I decided to gulp it down. It burned my throat a bit but it eased my nerves. I hid it in one of the drawers in the loft bed. I finished off my food and discarded of the trash. I showered and slipped on one of my silk night gowns. I grabbed one of my pillows that said "I woke up like this, flawless," and I laid on my bed. Slowly I drifted off to sleep thinking about my father and how I wish he were here with me now.