Free The Other Side of Perfect by Victoria Peters Page B

you up at 7, okay?  We’re gonna have a sensational time and if we’re lucky, maybe we’ll find someone to take home, huh? Get laid…”  Kyra winked, but Kyra was anything but subtle most of the time.
     
                  “Kyra!”
                  “You know you’re a hot sista, don’t ya?”
                  “Look at me! I’m a mess!”
                  “You’ll shine like a new penny when you’re all cleaned up. I know we’ll have a               blast!” Trust me…”
     
                  “Alright Kyra, let’s do this thing.” Jennifer wearily pushed herself into the               passenger side of Kyra’s bug and bumbled through her memories of the disastrous               day. 
     
                  “Whoa, what a day! This night had better be an improvement, or I may just lose it               all together…”
     
                  “Well, we can’t have that now, can we?”
                  “Hell no, we cannot!”
                  “Then, fun it is!”
     
    Jennifer was grateful for Kyra’s eager optimism. She needed it.  Kyra was the only friend she had these days, it seemed.  The only friend who still gave her the time of day, anyway. The girls in her neighborhood, back home in Greensboro, ridiculed her when she got pregnant at seventeen. 
     
    The whole community turned their back on her.  ‘Slut. Whore. Tramp!’ these were all terms she heard repeatedly, until she finally got up the nerve to leave the town altogether.  Her baby’s daddy accused her of being with many other men and assumed no responsibility for the child’s existence. Why, as the minister’s son he was an absolute ‘angel’ in everyone’s eyes. He’d been crushed to learn what a 'tramp' he’d been dating, even if it was just a convenient thing to concoct so he didn't have to live up to any of his obligations.
     
    Jennifer was ostricized by anyone who believed the minister’s son was ‘perfect’, but Jennifer knew his other side and it was anything BUT perfect. Still, she pressed on.  She had a life growing inside of her and she needed to focus on a future for her and her unborn child.
     
    It wasn’t easy moving from the only place she’d ever known, but starting new is what she needed to do. So, on her own, she moved to Tuscaloosa to begin a life for her and her little girl.
     
    ***
                 
    Kyra dropped Jennifer off at the apartment and agreed to pick her up at seven.  That gave her just over an hour to get ready for a night on the town.  As she approached the entrance, Willy-B sat upon the step waiting for her to let him in.
     
    Willy-B, her Maine Coon cat, sat big as life with her mangled present in front of him.
                 
                  “Hey Willy-B” she said entering the apartment. “What’s that you got for me?” Jennifer bent over to get a better look at the four legged critter he’d brought.  “Oh Willy-B…ugh!” her stomach churned.  The bloody mess was anything but pleasant, but Willy-B sat so proudly with his housewarming present she could only smile. 
     
                  “Thanks Willy-B!” she gulped as she opened the door to let him inside. Then hoping he wouldn’t see her, she picked up the carcass with a napkin and tossed it into the trash-can nearby. 
     
                  “MEOW” he replied.  “With his fluffy tail whirling proudly, he made his way to apartment 3. Entering the apartment, she smiled as the tiny brown-eyed toddler looked up. 
     
    “ Mommy!” she gleamed.
    “ Chelsea!” Jennifer replied, as she scooped the gleeful child into her arms. “Oh, is it good to see you!” Her day was in full recovery now.  Holding her lovely toddler made the horrors of the day vanish almost entirely. 
     
    “ Love you, mama!”