Free Trap House by Sa'id Salaam

little leg.” Tiffany giggled.
    It was at that moment that Wanda saw just how naïve her little friend really was. In that same moment, she decided she would use the girl for whatever she could squeeze out of her. “A’ight. You showed him a little leg, huh? That nigga gon’ have you sweepin’ up.” She laughed.
    “What is this ‘sweeping up’ I keep hearing about?” Tiffany asked curiously.
    “Gurrrl…you do NOT want to know,” Wanda said emphatically. “And what’s up with that little retarded girl?”
    “Girl…you…do…NOT…want…to…know!” Tiffany said, repulsed by the memory.
    Tiffany was taken aback when during small talk, Wanda put the entire amount of crack into the blunt. As she rolled, Tiffany filled her in on Blast’s behavior.
    “I can’t believe she think someone wants her man,” Wanda said, lighting the blunt. The drug sizzled loudly as she inhaled deeply.
    Tiffany caught herself inhaling along with her as she had the blunt. When she did get the blunt for her turn, she pulled on it as if her life depended on it. The heavily laced blunt hit her instantly. A current-like wave swept over her as the powerful drug coursed through her system. The days of skimpy blunts were over. Tiffany was on to the next chapter.

CHAPTER 10
     
    T iffany shook her head when she saw Kim walking in the store. “She look a hot mess.” She chuckled to herself.
    Even with her hair done and some of Tiffany’s church clothes, she still looked like a junkie. Since the sting was working, it really didn’t matter. For the last two weeks, the women’s plan had been successful. Tiffany was using legitimate customers’ credit cards for Kim to make purchases. Kim would simply then return the merchandise for a cash refund.
    It took a week for the store auditors to become aware of the irregularity, and it took security another day to identify the culprits.
    Five separate sets of eyes followed Kim through the store as she gathered high-ticket items. Two new undercover guards discreetly tailed her, while Mrs. Lovejoy and two others watched the monitors in her office.
    Kim, meanwhile, was having trouble staying focused on the business at hand due to the small piece of cocaine in her purse, demanding to be smoked. “Okay, okay! Ima smoke you. Dang!” Kim said to the drug as she detoured to the nearest restroom.
    “What the hell is this crazy bitch doing?” Tiffany said when Kim turned off. “I know she ain’t ‘bout to take no blast up in here,” she said, recognizing that look in her eyes. She was now very familiar with that look; it was one she often saw in her own eyes. She understood the yearning, when that old Rob Base song played in the head, “I Wanna Rock Right Now,” and that monkey on your back goes to squealing. She knew there was no stopping it. “Shit, I could use a little pick-me- up my damn self,” Tiffany admitted.
    It was a good thing the restroom was empty, not that it mattered to Kim. She rushed into the first stall and went to work. Kim whipped out her shooter from one shoe and her lighter from the other. She fished out the small piece of crack from her purse as a guard peered over the wall from the next stall.
    The guard almost blew her composure and surveillance when she realized what Kim was doing. She couldn’t believe the little junkie had the audacity to smoke crack cocaine in the bathroom of a major department store in the middle of the day. The guard fought off the urge to strangle the little crack addict. She ducked back down and went outside to pick up her target once she left the restroom.
    The guard had been brought in from another store, since it was an internal theft. She had been watching Tiffany for a couple of days and felt bad for her. It was clear that her parents invested a lot of time, energy, and love in her upbringing. She had no doubt that the girl had some nigga come along and undo what her parents did with his soft words and his hard dick. It would be a useful