Free In My Hood by Endy

ain’t even gonna wash your ass?” Beverly asked, standing in the doorway.
    Desiree sat up in the bed, rubbing her eyes.
    “I wasn’t, but since you put it that way, I guess I need to.”
    “Yes you do, but not before I tell you the low down.” Beverly hopped on the bed with her.
    Desiree smiled at Beverly. There was never a dull moment with her. She always had gossip to tell, and there was never a time when she didn’t have anything to say.
    “Girl,” she drawled, “Ish and Rik came by here last night, and guess what?”
    “What, Bev?” Desiree asked, not really wanting to know.
    Since she’d seen Ishmael, she couldn’t shake him from her thoughts. Before she started working, she and Beverly would sit on the porch every night taking in the scenery. Every time a burgundy truck would drive down the street, her heart would flutter like a schoolgirl in love. It was getting to the point she was silently wishing he would come back around. Eventually she decided to get a job. She really needed the money, but most of all, she needed to get him off her mind.
    “Ish asked about you.”
    Beverly sat back and waited for Desiree to respond, but she didn’t. “Did you hear what I said, Rae-Rae?”
    “Uh, yeah.”
    “So do you want to know what he said?”
    “Not really, but I know you’re going to tell me anyway.”
    “Girl, he want to push up.”
    “He’s not my type, Bev.”
    “Your type? Shit, a paid nigga like that is any bitch’s type. You trippin’, Rae-Rae.”
    “Bev, I don’t want to talk about this right now. I’m tired. I’ll talk to you later about it.”
    Beverly shook her head in disappointment. “You better let go of Bunchy, Rae-Rae. You need to move on with your life, and if a paid nigga like Ish wants to get down, then you need to get with him,” she stated, leaving the room and closing the door behind her.
    Desiree took her shower and went to bed. She lay in her bed, not able to fall asleep. She thought about Ishmael. Should she go on with her life? She felt the need to be loyal to Bilal, no matter what. Since she started working at IHOP, she had begun to save her money. Beverly was nice enough not to charge her rent, but Desiree still gave her something every week she got paid. The rest she put away. She was saving to get her own apartment. She would be starting school in the fall, and she needed to move into her own place.
    Just the other day when she was coming up the stairs to the apartment, she smelled the familiar scent of burning cocaine. Her stomach began to bubble, and the anticipation of getting high ran all through her body. She could almost taste it, but she pushed forward and went into the apartment.
    As she lay on the bed, she reminisced about when she first met Bilal as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
    Desiree met Bilal at Don Pepe, a Portuguese restaurant downtown. At the time, she was an outside sales representative for a international computer software company. The software business was booming, and Desiree raked in more than seven grand a month in sales alone, not including her sixty-thousand-dollar-a-year salary. She created her own hours and drove a company car. The company also supplied her with a cell phone, credit card and an expense account. She traveled back and forth from California to Florida. She enjoyed her career and had the ambition to become a partner in the business. At the age of twenty-four, she had it going on.
    Desiree and two of her coworkers pulled up into the restaurant parking lot. The valet opened her door, and she stepped out. Her lean legs were exposed by the split that ran up the front of her skirt. The young attendant eyed her smooth legs with hunger. He placed a ticket into her hands and looked away shyly as she locked eyes with him for gawking at her legs. The women strutted toward the restaurant. After being seated, they all ordered their drinks and began to discuss the latest gossip.
    After lunch Desiree signed the receipt for the bill,