Free Déjà Vu by Suzetta Perkins Page A

bed in no hurry. There was complete silence as the rest of the group waited for her to take her place and receive the next order from Donna.
    “Angelica, you will lie in the middle of the bed with your legs slightly bent, and Jazz, you will get beside her and lift her hair and put it to your nose while you drop your other hand to her stomach. Ciara, you will be on the other side of Angelica. We will take several frames. You will take your hand and caress her face, finally giving her a passionate kiss. André, place Angelica’s hands in the cuffs.”
    “What kind of magazine is this?” Angelica questioned, pushing Andre’s hands away and scooting off the bed.
    “Do you not need a job?” Donna asked.
    “I thought this was supposed to be a modeling job,” Angelica countered.
    “What do you think this is? You are posing, modeling, whatever you want to call it. You are wasting my time. Now get back to your post.”
    “No female is going to be kissing on me. You all act like a bunch of lesbos.”
    The air was thick and very quiet on the set.
    “Oh, hell no,” Angelica screamed. “Oh, hell no! You have misrepresented yourself, Donna. This may be your gig, but it isn’t mine.”
    “Fine, get the hell out,” Donna screamed back. “Just remember, you no longer have a job and you will not have a place to live. If you can’t pay your way, you have no place to stay.”
    Donna picked up her camera and began to click away, giving orders that her subjects, minus Angelica, obeyed. Angelica stood by, disgusted at what she saw, closing her eyes during acts that a heterosexual being such as herself found most repulsive. She would have left, but she had no way out of the jungle she found herself in, and she had to pray that Donna would at least give her a ride back to her apartment so she could collect her things. Angelica’s eyes flew open at the roar of one of the lions.
     
    Silence was deafening. Angelica would have felt better if Donna had cussed at her or something. Completely ignored, Angelica looked out of the window and watched as the busy streets ofNew York conducted their business—taxis escorting tourists to one of the many Broadway plays and busy restaurants welcoming early evening customers for dinner. It would be easy to fall in love with this city, but Angelica had already hit her first obstacle in less than a week, and without a job and a place to live, her empty condo in Fayetteville, North Carolina was looking pretty good.
    “You and your stuff have twenty-four hours to be out of my house,” Donna finally said without looking in Angelica’s direction.
    “We should talk about it,” Angelica said.
    Silence ensued, and Angelica left it at that. She had no idea where she would go and what she would do for money. She had enough money to stay in a hotel for a while, but she needed a job if she planned on staying in the Big Apple. Her plans did not include running back to Fayetteville, at least not this soon. Margo, Malik, Jefferson, and Hamilton were better off without her.

14
    I t looked like Mother’s Day as Margo sat in church flanked by all four of her children—Ivy and JR, and twins Winter and Winston. Margo lifted her hands and sang louder than the other parishioners, her children glancing from time to time to make sure she was all right. Margo was happy because she was sure the Lord was about to answer her prayer.
    A side door opened and Malik walked in and found a seat. After a moment, he gazed around the room until he spotted her. A look of surprise registered on his face upon seeing the entire Myles clan. He faced the front and bowed his head.
    “‘Tis another day that the Lord has made,” the pastor said. “We should rejoice and be glad in it. Oh, the Lord is good all the time. All the time the Lord is good.”
    “Yes,” the congregation sang, cheering the pastor on.
    “Sister Myles, please come down front.”
    Margo jumped up and made her way to the front of the sanctuary. She felt