Another Hood Tale

·Prologue·

EXCUSE THE MISTAKES

The musty smell of mildew mixed with cigarette smoke filled the small bedroom. Fourteen-year-old Jazlyn laid across her air mattress with one of her many novels in her hand. Reading was the only thing that kept her mind from the horrors that were going on outside her door. As she flipped through the pages she tried desperately to drown out the moans that came from the next room.

Here it was eleven at night on a Tuesday and her mother was pleasuring the third dude of the day. With this being her daily routine Jazlyn did what she always did while her mother was "working".

As the words from the pages rang loudly in her head Jazlyn noticed the moans had ceased. She sat her book on the bed and got up to peep out the window. The guy of the evening was leaving out of their apartment building and walking back to his car. Which only meant it was time for Jazlyn to make a trip that she dreaded.

Jazlyn hurried from the window and to the light switch. She flipped it down and made her way to the mattress on the floor. Hoping that pretending to be sleep would save her from having to go out into the night. "Please mama. Please, not tonight." Jazlyn whispered to herself as she heard her mother's footsteps against the tile floor.

Her mother approached the door and knocked. "Jaz! Get yo ass out here now. I know you ain't sleep." she yelled. She twisted the knob on the door and opened it.

"Jaz, baby I need you to go get my medicine for me," she whispered.

Jazlyn turned over and looked at her mother. "Ma, it's dark out there. Do I have to?" she whined.

Going out into the streets this late at night only meant two things you were looking for a trick or a fix. It's not something a fourteen-year-old girl should be doing, but Jazlyn wasn't from the average home.

Cordell, Jazlyn's father, passed from a fatal shooting when she was ten years old. Leaving her mother Drina to care for Jazlyn on her own. With the pressures of being a single mother and widow Drina felt alone most of the time and eventually, she met someone bad for her. After going through the ups and downs of an abusive relationship Drina escaped his hold. A few years later she's addicted to drugs and selling her body to keep a roof over their heads. Their mother-daughter relationship was always troubled but it's getting worse by the day.

"Girl don't nobody want you. You'll be aight. Now get up and go get my shit before Keyno leave." Drina spat before walking away.

Jazlyn rose from her air mattress and groaned as she slipped into her slides. She met her mother in the living room and retrieved the money.

"Here. Hurry up and get ya ass back too. My stomach doing flips" Drina said.

Jazlyn picked up her feet and walked to the door. Not wanting to risk her life out in the streets, but she knew her mother would kill her if she disobeyed. She gathered all the courage she could muster up and prepared for her journey to the trap house down the street.

Jazlyn clutched the money in her hand and approached the house. The music could be heard from down the street and she wondered if they would even hear her knocking. She brought her shaky arm up and knocked on the door as loudly as she could. It opened after her first attempt and she was greeted with the pungent odor of marijuana smoke.

"Whatcha need Lil Bit?" one of the local dope boys asked. He was puffing on a stuffed joint and he rudely blew the smoke in Jazlyn's face.

"Uhh...my mama Drina sent me. I'm here for Keyno." Jazlyn answered.

"Aight come in. Keyno over there at the table" he pointed and shut the door behind them.

A thick cloud of marijuana smoke filled the room as a group of men sat around passing multiple blunts. Some of them had game controllers in their hands while they spat obscenities at the flat-screen television. The music was so loud Jazlyn felt the beat in her chest. With the smoke clouding her vision, she struggled to see as she walked through the living room. When she approached Keyno she felt as if she was staring at the devil. She shakily held out her arm and handed him the money.