Underneath

4

delilah

Delilah arrived home to the sight of her mom waiting for her at their marble kitchen counter. Her mom's long chocolate strands were unusually frazzled and the usual creases of her frown lines sagged as her golden brown eyes peered closely at Delilah.

"What did you do today?" her mom asked.

"I went to school," Delilah said, setting her backpack down by the pantry door. "Why?"

"Did you deal today?" her mom said. Delilah could hear a layer of accusation underneath her mom's faux calm voice.

Delilah's heart jumped. How did she know? "Uh," Delilah said. "Yeah, I did, but it was hardly anything."

"How much did you sell?" her mom asked.

"A nickel bag. I got fifteen dollars," Delilah said.

"Give me the money."

Delilah was afraid her mom would say that. The majority of her earnings were always collected by her mom and stored away in a hidden bank account. Delilah bent down and unzipped the front pocket of her backpack and pulled out a small stack of ones and fives.

"Here." Delilah handed over the fifteen dollars.

Delilah's mom pursed her lips in a proud smirk. "Good job, I'm proud of you for racking in fifteen dollars when it only costed five dollars. But, there is something else we need to discuss."

"What is it?"

"You can't just start dealing immediately after you just got arrested! The police have their eyes on you along with the school. You have to wait for this to die down," Her mom said, resting her forehead on her hands. "You have to wait for me to take care of this."

"I'm sorry, mom. I was pressured at lunch by my friends --"

"Your friends were all there while you were dealing? Oh my god, Delilah, how dumb can you be. You might as well announce it to the police that you're still a drug dealer. Have them lock you up for real this time. Need I remind you that you are on probation?" Her mom said, shaking her head.

Delilah sat on the stool next to her mom. "But they weren't there while I was actually dealing, they just heard the discussion between Parker and I."

Delilah's mom raised her head from her hands. "Shit, Delilah. That doesn't make it any better at all. You're going to go to jail for sure this time and I won't be able to buy your freedom out. Did you completely forget that somebody ratted you out last week?" Her mom angrily stood up, knocking her chair down.

Delilah felt her heart pounding. "Mom, I'm sorry, I'll fix it." She said, reaching for her mom's hand. "Don't worry."

Her mom pulled her hand away. "No. I'll fix it. I will not let everything I've worked for be ruined by you." Her mom stormed past Delilah and jerked the door open to her bedroom.

The house suddenly felt so empty. She felt guilt-ridden over how careless she had been; her mom was right. Any one of her friends could be outing her right now. She turned on her phone and texted the person who had pressured her to deal today: Parker.

Parker, do you think our friends at lunch will tell someone like the school or the police?

Within moments, her phone vibrated. They won't tell, Delilah.

You really don't think they will?

They won't snitch because they've all bought from you before. If they snitch on you, then they go down with you.

Delilah sighed, trying to convince herself that Parker was right. Yet, no matter how long she sat there trying to reassure herself of that, she remained concerned. Everyone who had heard was her friend except for Hunter who had had front row seats to the whole discussion. She needed to make sure he wouldn't say anything.

***

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