Free The Candy Shop by Kiki Swinson Page B

you,” she said the moment she opened up her front door to me.
    “What’s going on now?” I asked.
    Teresa closed the front door behind me, and as we began to walk in the direction of her living room, she grabbed my hand and placed in the center of her stomach. So, I stopped in my tracks and said, “Don’t tell me you’re pregnant.”
    Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Yep, I sure am.”
    “So, what are you going to do?” I wondered.
    “I’ma keep it,” she replied with certainty.
    When we reached the living room, she sat down and I took a seat next to her. And the whole time, all she was doing was rambling on about how happy she was and that she was sure this baby would bring her and Darren back together. So, I stepped in and said, “Don’t set yourself up to get your feelings hurt.”
    “My feelings aren’t going to get hurt,” she replied in a cocky manner.
    “They will if you think Darren is going to leave his wife and come back to you because you say you’re pregnant.”
    “He ain’t gotta leave this wife. I don’t mind sharing.”
    “Girl, you need to wake up and leave that lady’s husband alone. All you really need to be concerned about is that he takes care of that baby.”
    “Oh, trust me. He will.”
    “So, when are you going to break the news to him?”
    “I’ve been trying to call him all morning, but he’s still not accepting my phone calls. So, I left him a message and told him that he needed to call me because it was very important. But, if he doesn’t, I’m going to go right back ’round his house and show the fuck out!”
    “And what is that going to solve?”
    “All I’m trying to do is get some attention.”
    I laughed and shook my head. “Well, you’ll definitely get some attention that way,” I assured her and then I immediately changed the subject. “You got some blow?”
    “You know I do,” she said, all excited, as she attempted to retrieve a plastic baggie from her front jean pocket. “I just got this delivered right before you got here.”
    “Why is it so brown?”
    “That’s because it’s all heroin.”
    “I’m not doing that shit by itself,” I protested.
    “Stop fretting! I still got a little bit of coke left over from last night.”
    “Well, get it. ’Cause, I’m ready to get fucked up!” I announced in a cheery kind of way, taking off my jacket to get a little more comfortable.
    Minutes later, Teresa had everything situated on top of the coffee table in front of us. Now from the looks of the bag of dope, and all the items such as the plate, the razor blade, a straw, the cotton balls, the beer bottle cap filled with tap water, the cigarette lighter and the syringe, I could only assume that Teresa was about to do some type of surgery on herself. I was literally baffled by the cigarette lighter and the syringe. So, I asked her, “What is all this shit for?”
    “Oh, don’t worry! I ain’t gon’ try to put you on to this. That’s why I placed a straw on the table.”
    “So, when did you start shooting up?”
    “I’ve been doing it on and off for about two months now. Trust me; it ain’t no biggie.”
    “Isn’t that dangerous?”
    “Yeah, if you don’t know what you’re doing. But, I’ve gotten plenty of practice by doing it with Eugene.”
    “So, are you going to mix it?”
    “No, ma’am!” she began to say, as I watched her draw the water up into the syringe, “I’m gonna do straight dope this time.”
    Curious about what she was going to do next, I watched her next moves very closely as she dumped a small amount of heroin into the other end of the syringe. Next, she shook up the syringe, dissolving all of the drug into the water and then she shot it out of the other end into the bottle top. Seconds later, she picked up the cigarette lighter and lit the bottom of the top with a small flame for about six seconds, and then stuck a small piece of cotton ball into the top. “What’s that cotton for?” I wanted to