Free Still Candy Shopping by Kiki Swinson Page A

you?”
    “Twenty-five.”
    “How long have you been getting high?”
    “A couple years now.”
    “You’ve been on heroin for a couple of years?”
    “Nah. I just started snorting heroin about six months ago. When I first started working for Slim I was only smoking weed. But then I got introduced to heroin through one of my dates. Slim knows I snort it, but he told me if he caught me using it while I was working then he was gon’ fuck me up.”
    “How long have you been working for him?”
    “For about three years now.”
    “Did he trap you up like he did me?”
    “Nah, he didn’t pull me in like that. I was already on the streets when I met him. I used to work on the other end of Church Street by Young’s Park. And one night he was walking by when I was getting my ass kicked by one of my tricks, so when I saw him I yelled and asked him for his help. He hesitated at first. But when I started begging him, he came to my rescue and told me that if I worked for him then he’d protect me. So that’s how our paths crossed.”
    “Do you know he almost choked me to death back at his apartment?”
    “I kind of figured he would do that. He’s the type of man that wants all the control. If he feels like you threatening his manhood, then he’s gonna come down hard on you.”
    “Somebody should’ve warned me,” I commented underneath my breath, and hen I changed the subject. “So how old are the other girls?”
    “Jennifer is twenty-one, and Sabrina and Tacora are nineteen.”
    “They’re fucking babies!” I commented.
    “They’re grown as far as Slim is concerned.”
    “How long they’ve been working for him?”
    “Well Jennifer started right after I did. That’s why we’re always together. And the other two started tricking for him like a couple months ago. I think Sabrina is his favorite, so you better watch her because she’s one sneaky bitch!”
    “Oh, really?”
    “Yeah. Some shit went down the other night with Jennifer while Slim was back at the house. But guess what?”
    “Slim found out,” I said, answering her question.
    “Yep, he sho did. And the only people who was out here when it happened was me, Jennifer and Sabrina. And Jennifer ain’t gonna tell on herself.”
    “That makes sense.”
    “I’m glad we’re on the same page. So keep your eyes open and your mouth closed,” she advised, and then she took her attention off me and turned it toward the streets. She smiled as soon as she saw a small, dark blue pickup truck pull up curbside. “There goes one of my regulars,” she said as she walked off in the direction of the truck.
    I stood there and watched as Paris opened the passenger side door of the truck and got inside.
    “Hey, baby,” I heard her say.
    And before she had a chance to close the door behind her, I heard a man’s voice say, “You gave me herpes, bitch!” And then I saw bright sparks and heard a loud roar like there was an explosion.
    I nearly jumped out of my fucking skin as my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. I knew at that very moment that what I saw and heard was gunfire. And so did everyone else who was standing around, because they scattered like roaches. But I stood there. I was completely frozen. With all the chaos, I couldn’t think straight. It seemed like everything was happening so fast.
    “Oh my God! Paris got shot!” I heard Sabrina scream. Tacora and Jennifer started screaming for help, but no one listened. And then I saw Slim through my peripheral vision running toward the pickup truck, letting off gunshots. When the driver saw that he was being shot at, he pushed Paris’s lifeless body out of his truck and squealed his tires as he sped off. Paris’s body fell to the curb.
    I freaked out. I mean, she was just standing beside me, giving me a head’s up about how to deal with Slim and his girls. But now she was dead. What the fuck was this world coming to?
    Unfortunately the guy driving that pickup truck got away before Slim got a