Reflections - Linda Dyanne Bolden (ebook reader web .txt) 📗

plotting to rob her or perhaps rape her. She anticipated the worst and she couldn’t figure out should she turn and run or keep walking hoping he was up to nothing.

At any rate as she continued walking, she slowed her pace, gripping the pop bottle tightly with her right hand. As she got even closer she notices that both of his hands were concealed in the pockets of his jacket. She knew subsequently she had made a mistake to continue walking in his direction. She was just hoping someone would come out or he would move from his location. However neither of her wishes was granted as she pace closer to the gangway. He stepped out near her, stretches one arm out to grab hold of her, but before his hand could touch her jacket, with all of her might she slung the pop bottle at him and ran around the gate locate on the left of her, running into the street. She ran as fast as she could, never looking back, until she reached the landing of her building, running up the second floor, she pounded hard on the door for someone to let her inside.

Her heart was racing as she took another deep breath anxiously telling her mother and her brothers what had just happen. Before she could finish her story, her brothers ran to the window to see if the teenager was still out there. One of her brothers sprinted down the stairs as the other brother followed behind him. Her mother was shouting in the background “just leave it alone y’all.” Just minutes had passed shortly after, they had returned with the teenager, pulling him by the hood of his Jacket. They actually brought him back for the little girl to identify him. As she looked at him she thought to herself that he had to have been mentally challenged to stay in the area after trying to commit such an act, as she was thinking this she really didn’t know what his intentions were, because she never gave him the opportunity to get near her. At first she felt a little sadden for him, she knew once she told her brothers he was the guy, he would be seriously beaten up. Her mother told them to leave the boy alone, however the little girl knew that was not going to happen.

She believed that her brothers got kicks off of thrashing the shit out of people. So her brothers took him outside but away from the building, beat him up very badly, they took his gun and all the money he had in his procession and gave ever penny of it to her. She told her brothers she did not want his money and gave it back to them. Any way’s after she found out that he had a gun she didn’t have any remorse for the teenager he got what he deserved for scaring the living hell out of her. At that moment she wanted to bring harm to him also with no guilt. The mere thought of a gun being pointed at her head was an adequate amount of justification for a beat down. She strongly felt that he should‘ve been reported and arrested for his crime. She nourished her thoughts of him suffering to the extent that he would think twice before doing this to another young person or any other human being. In her viewpoint he got off easy, which became one of many traumatic incidents that she wanted to put behind her.


Running the numbers
The little girl’s short stories

Remember Tia always mentioned about her and Sis doing everything together, on this day it was no exception. Sis mother had called them inside of her apartment. They were practicing their dance routines on the porch of the building. When they entered inside of the apartment she told Sis she needed her to go to Miss. Honey’s house so she could give her the money for her numbers. She wanted them to hurry up to place her number before it was too late. Sis understood the process much better than she did and she asked Tia if she would go with her to Ms. Honey’s house.
As they started off walking down the street towards Ms. Honeys house Tia asked Sis inquiries about the numbers game. She enlightens Tia about the illegalized gambling operation. She explains to her that a runner carries the betting slips between the betting parlors and the headquarters, and then the next day whether it’s three digits or four digits the numbers are randomly drawn the following day, being paid in full. It’s a cheap gambling racket. Tia was sure she had to find out this information from an adult because she had no idea that running numbers was illegal, Tia also knew that Sis mother was not the type to tell her 13 year old daughter about such an operation. She said that her mom places a bet on her numbers everyday and Ms. Honey was running the numbers.

She also confided in her about her mother and Ms. Honey had been close friends in the neighborhood for years. She also said that she over heard the conversation between her mom and another lady in the building about running numbers. In later years I learned that it was also called policy racket. This was like small time lottery placing bets on a number and getting fully paid. The gambler places his or her bet with a bookie at stores, taverns, and other private locations. The numbers were drawn from a daily total of the Win, Place and Show bets at a local race track, which read from top to bottom of the last dollar digit. Tia understood the racket much better later on down the years. The lottery replaces the numbers game after the government legalizing American Lotteries.

The girls didn’t have to walk far to Ms. Honey’s house it was on the next block, which was the only house that occupied that side of the street, the other dwelling were buildings. Ms. Honey’s house was all white exterior; she had a wired-silver-fence and a gate surrounding the front of the house. She had a few hedges in her yard. On the side of door was a round buzzer and on the door was a little peephole. When Sis reached out to press the buzzer, Tia, notice that the door was half open. No one responded to the door bell so Sis, call out “Ms. Honey… Ms. Honey this is Sis” They got no response again, so Sis pushed Tia ahead of her into the entranceway of house. Before they could take three steps forward they realized right away that something was wrong. Both of them knew that Ms. Honey had a dog and the dog was always with her. Her dog meant the world to her and they were aware that every dog would bark or run towards the door when someone comes towards it. Tia knew that was the reason Sis pushed her inside ahead of her, but both had become instantly curious about the quietness in the home. Ms. Honey had a big brown bull-dog; actually Tia thought that Ms. Honey and her bull-dog had to some extent the same features. She was a big round, brown skinned woman, with a wide pug nose, a mean brow and wore a honey blonde wig, that’s probably where the nick name honey came about. Any way’s the dog went everywhere with this woman like it was one her children of something.

However they proceeded to make more steps and still no one approached them. As they turned the corner leading towards the living room area, just outside of the hallway, they immediate stop dead in their tracks. Sis grab hold of Tia right arm and started pinching the top of her hand. Tia was not surprise by the pinching because she knew whenever Sis was frighten she would always pinch her, this was a frequent occurrence; which happen so often Tia remember back to those days when they were at the amusement parks, on roller coasters, Ferris wheels, or in hunted houses and she became frighten and pinch her; although unlike Sis, Tia always found the rides to be exhilarating, it was a rush for her, but this time Tia was shaking, frighten by the scene of the living room, they were both in shock and neither one could move at that moment.

Papers were scattered all over the living room carpet; the tan carpet was stained with blood, the dog was lying lifeless on the floor with a bullet hole inside its body. Ms. Honey was lying on the floor with a knife stuck in her abdomen area, her house dress was covered in her blood, one house shoe was on one foot, the other shoe was flipped up side down on the carpet and one knee was bent slightly. The cocktail table was flipped to the floor, and one of her lamps had falling onto the floor as well. Tia was engulfing in the entire panorama.

Tia hadn’t realized during the whole time standing motionlessly, Sis hadn’t stop pinching her and tears were running down her eyes. Before they knew it they were running back to Sis apartment with acceleration. Tia and Sis were out of breath by time they made it into the apartment. Sis was crying harder and she was incapable of getting out the catastrophe the girls had just discovered. Tia was holding her hand; her hands were shaking uncontrollably and her right hand was stinging from the pinching. Her stomach was doing cartwheels and she tried to make sense of what Sis was saying to her mother. Her mother could see that they were hysterical; therefore she told Sis and Tia to take a deep breathe and explain precisely what they had seen at Ms. Honeys house.

After they calm themselves down Sis proceeded telling her mother that both Ms. Honey and the dog were murdered. She became completely grief stricken, rushing to the telephone to call the police. After calling the police she told the girls to settle down and to remember to tell the police everything that they had seen in the house and to tell them if asked why they were at her house, that they were returning some money that her mother had borrowed. When Tia and Sis answered all the police questions Tia; instantaneously went home, trying to block out everything from her mind, but before the night was over her mother was watching a recapturing of the murder on the 7 O’clock news broadcast. Hearing and seeing that again brought revulsion back into her mind, causing her to have nightmares throughout the night.

During the police investigation, Tia heard numerous of people in the neighborhood whispering about who they thought may have allegedly killed Ms. Honey and her bull-dog. Folks were actually pointing a finger at her boyfriend. Whoever killed her made sure she was dead and could not identify the assassin because Tia later found out that Ms. Honey was not only stabbed, she had also been shot in the chest. Word was out that the police was looking for the boyfriend and he was nowhere to be found. Needless to say Tia on the other hand continued to suppress the incident, since this incident was more tragic than traumatic for the 12 years old to handle.


CHAPTER SEVEN


Her husband’s infidelity

This was the month of December, she had been married a little over 3 years, her son Terry haven’t became two years old yet, her husband Tyrone was staying out later more than usual. Some days she would be too tired from working, going to school, taking care of