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leader.
    “You know why I am here girl, don’t try to play me,” he told her.  In truth, she did not know why he was on their front porch and she told him so.
    “Willie got shanked in prison. His boy needs to be looked after; you got a choice, me or Spyder,” he told her.
    “Can I decline you both?” TaeTay asked, her lip curled upwards.
    Big Nasty sucked on the gold that covered his oversized eyetooth while he looked her up and down. “You are a fine looking woman, although the blond hair ain’t my thang; that will have to change. But I will be good to you, come by once a week, tighten you up, and leave a few bills on the nightstand.  No one else up in the goods but me.  Give me a son in a year, and we will maintain the status quo.  I will be a daddy figure to the kid and train him right,” he told her before turning to leave.
    Over his shoulder, he let her know he would be leaving on Friday but back by next Wednesday.  She should expect to see him on Thursday.
    TaeTay said nothing. Her world had just gotten scary. The monster was no longer under the bed, he was trying to climb in it with her. Either way, whether she accepted Thurston’s offer or stayed her, she was going to be owned by someone.  Her heart sank when four rough and tough looking women came walking down the sidewalk. In her heart, she hoped they were walking past her door, but they turned up her driveway. They are coming for me .
    “Mama,” she yelled into the house. “Please bring George.”
    The biggest of the four women was the dedicated spokesperson. “I’m Quida, that’s Shay, Ronika, and Boo,” she said as she pointed out the women.
    “Nice to meet you all.  Is there something I can help you with?” TaeTay asked in all sincerity.
    Quida spoke up, “yeah, you can come on out here and get this ass whipping so I can go on about my day.”  The other three bobbed their heads in agreement.
    There was no doubting her genuine confusion until it clicked.  They were here to jump her into the gang. “I am not a part of the gang and I have no desire to be,” she said flatly.
    “It don’t matter what you want.  I am Big Nasty’s bottom bitch, and the mother of his two sons.  These girls here also have a child by him.  I am assuming you will be his Thursday nights,” Quida said with her hand on her hip. “Now come on out here so we can whip yo ass and welcome you to the family.”
    Cookie came up behind TaeTay with the shotgun they called George.  She cocked it and aimed it at the girls. “Get the hell out of my yard before I put holes in each one of you skanks.  Y’all killed my other baby, you ain’t getting this one!”
    The girls had started to scatter and even in the heels two of them wore, they ran pretty fast. This can’t be real .  This is not real . I have to get out of here .
    She was about to sell her soul to save her nephew-turned-son and her own skin, but Thurston may be a devil as well; she only prayed that he would be the littlest of the three evils. As if he had heard her cry, her cell was ringing in the other room.  When she reached for it, she saw the 212 area code.  She answered with a mouthful of air and a racing pulse, “Hello,” she said.
    The voice on the other end responded, “Please hold the line for a call from the office of Mr. Cromwell.”
    “Good morning. I hope I didn’t wake you,” he said with a richness in his voice that she hadn’t noticed over breakfast.  A weak smile formed on her lips.
    “No, I was up,” she said.
    There were no smart rejoinders and he could tell something was off, “What’s wrong, TaeTay?”
    She exhaled loudly, “I am just uncertain if I am not jumping from a hot skillet directly into the gas flame.”
    His answer to her statement was a pleasant surprise. “I understand that you are going to do this for the sake of the boy.  It can be beneficial for you as well, so you don’t have to feel as if you are selling your soul to ensure him a bright