"You don't understand," Maggie explained to Emma in tears. "I just lost five hundred dollars. That money didn't belong to me."
"All right. Calm down. Maybe you left it at home," Emma said.
"No, no I didn't. I had it in my purse. I must have dropped it," Maggie said, her chest heaving as she wailed.
"I saw that man with the red shirt put his hand in your purse and take something," Izzy chimed in.
"What? What man?" Maggie asked.
"The man in the red shirt. He was standing behind you," Izzy explained.
Emma bent down and whispered to Izzy, "Is the man still in the store, Iz?"
"Unh-uh. He ran out of the store," the child explained.
Izzy's eyes welled up as she began to think she did something wrong.
"It's OK, Iz. It's not your fault," Emma cooed.
Maggie was pacing the small aisle of the market, frantically rubbing her arms.
Emma approached Maggie, "OK. Who did the money belong to?"
Maggie looked around the small store. She recognized a couple of hookers and a john from when she used to walk the streets.
"Let's get out of here," Maggie said.
Emma and Izzy walked a short block with Maggie, and turned into an empty alley. Maggie faced Emma. "The money belonged to Rock. My, you know...pimp."
Emma leaned in closer. "Tell him it got stolen."
Maggie quickly relayed the story about Juju and brought her up to date on everything that had happened. She even told Emma about Colby and how he had given her the money.
"Juju will lose another finger because of me. Shit, Emma, she's gonna lose all her fingers. I have no way to get another five hundred dollars. Getting it from Colby was nothing short of a miracle," Maggie said, defeated.
"I can help you," Emma told her.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I have money, and I can help you," Emma stated. It had been a while since she was able to do something nice for someone other than Izzy. Emma really liked Maggie. She was one of the best people she'd ever met in her ridiculous, fucked-up life.
"Are you serious?" Maggie asked.
"Hell, yeah. We can walk back to my house, and I'll get it for you," Emma offered.
"I don't know when I can pay you back," Maggie said. She was desperate for the money, but didn't want to lose her only friend at Doubles over money. Besides, Maggie had noticed that the other girls were afraid of Emma, so she figured there was something about her that kept them in line.
"I know. Someday, when you have the money, you'll pay me back. Relax," Emma said with a shrug.
When they reached the house where Emma lived, Maggie stood on the broken sidewalk looking up at the porch.
"You wait here. I'll go get the money. I live with a group of people, and we don't bring others inside. House rules," Emma said.
A few minutes later, Emma came back outside. "OK, here you go," Emma said, handing her an envelope.
"How do you have all of this money?" Maggie asked, perplexed.
"Mags, I don't have a pimp. I get to keep all of my tips. Right now, I'm saving money so I can move Izzy outta here. I mean, it ain't so bad. I have one good friend in the house," Emma explained. Then she grinned. "You better shove that money in your pants so you don't lose it. Be careful and don't stop anywhere along the way," she teased.
Maggie took the envelope, slid it inside her jeans, and held her hand over it tightly. "I don't know how to thank you. You just saved a life," Maggie said.
"Ha! That's a first for me, that's for sure," Emma said, more to herself than to Maggie.
Emma gave Maggie a quick hug. "See you at Doubles. Get your ass down to that dick-head pimp motherfucker and then go home to your friend."
Maggie walked toward the house of whores. She was still stunned by Emma's generosity. She wondered what had happened to Emma to make her leave home. She knew Emma had run away when she was a young teen, but Maggie had never really pried into why she left home.
Before she knew it, Maggie was walking through the front door, and the first person she saw was Rock.
"Ya got my money?" he growled.
"Yeah, I got it," Maggie said, trying her hardest not to gloat.
Rock approached and took the envelope out of her hand. He immediately counted the money. "You one lucky bitch. How'd ya get the money?" he asked suspiciously.
"A friend loaned it to me," Maggie said.
"Who? What friend?" Rock pressed.
"Why does it matter? You have your money back."
Rock backhanded Maggie, and she fell to her knees.
"It matters 'cause I asked you a mother fuckin' question. Maybe ya forgot who your boss is. Now who gave ya the dough?"
Maggie was holding the side of her face. Her teeth felt like they had been hit with a hammer.
"A dancer I work with at Doubles."
"Oh, yeah? This dancer have a pimp? Maybe she be needin' someone to take care of her like you do," Rock said.
"No, she doesn't need a pimp. She's a dancer," Maggie countered.
Rock pulled back his foot and kicked Maggie in the upper thigh.
"Bitch, ya just ain't gettin' it, are ya? Just 'cause you're dancin' and working at the apartments don't give you any more privileges than these other nasty skanks. I'll put your ass back out walkin' that street in a fuckin' minute," Rock yelled.
"I'm sorry, Rock," Maggie breathed.
"Get the fuck outta my face before I give ya a full-on beatin'," he threatened.
Maggie got to her feet quickly and limped toward the door.
"Tell Juju she got lucky this time. She comes up short again, I won't be so nice the next time," Rock screamed.
Maggie limped the whole way back to her apartment. She would've crawled back there rather than stay one more minute with Rock. When she walked in, Seth ran to her. "Aggie, what took you so long? What did Rock say?"
Juju was lying on the mattress, looking at Maggie, waiting for her to answer.
"He said we're all good. It's all squared away," Maggie said.
But Juju could tell something was wrong. She noticed Maggie's limp when she walked across the room and the stress lines around her eyes. Maggie didn't like to talk about things in front of Seth. She tried to hide as much from him as possible. He was, after all, exposed to more ugliness than most kids his age were.
After Seth settled down and started reading a book, Maggie snuggled close to Juju.
"Sooo, how was your day?" Juju asked.
"We paid the dick his money. Today was a great day, Juju."
"It doesn't look so great by the way you're limping," Juju said.
"Oh, that? It's nothing. Just a part of being one of Rock's bitches," she said.
"You sure you're OK?"
Maggie sighed heavily, releasing the weight of the day. "I'm just peachy."
As Maggie got lost in her own thoughts, she remembered Emma and Colby. It had been a long time since she felt any hope, but she was feeling it now, and it was invigorating. As the small flicker of hope ignited deep inside, Maggie thought that perhaps her life was about to change.
She was right. Her life was going to change. But not in the way she'd hoped.
Chapter One Hundred Fourteen.
The next morning, Colby showed up at Maggie's apartment again. Instead of allowing him into the apartment, she stepped out into the darkened hall.
"Colby, I really appreciate everything you've done. But you can't keep coming here. If Rock finds out you're coming here, he'll kill you," Maggie explained.
Clearly disappointed, Colby nodded. "OK. I get it. You've seen enough of me, right?"
"No. That's not it at all. I really like spending time with you, but Rock sees you as a client who comes to his apartment. If he catches you here, he might put things together and figure out that you're here to hurt him. I'm just trying to protect you and your agency," Maggie offered.
"You're right. From now on, I'll pay Armando to see you at the apartment," Colby said, and turned to leave. Before he headed down the stairs, he swung around to Maggie one more time. "Just so you know, I'm not here just for the agency. I happen to like you. I mean, I like spending time with you. I just wanted you to know that so you don't go on thinking that it's all about work."
As Colby disappeared down the stairs, Maggie stood staring at the spot where he'd been standing seconds before. His words played like a symphony in her ears...he really liked her. She stood in the hall smiling until Juju opened the door.
"Why are you standing there smiling like a goofball?" Juju asked.
"Oh, no reason...other than I think Colby likes me," Maggie sang.
"No shit. It took you this long to figure that out? I mean, really, Maggie. Are you that blind? The guy has been hanging around ogling over you for a week. He took care of me, brought you breakfast, gave us money. It shouldn't take a brick wall falling on your head before you get the message."
"What?" Maggie gasped, smiling brightly.
"There's something seriously wrong with you. Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Juju mocked.
"What?" Maggie said, giggling.
"Oh, forget it. Come back inside before someone sees you standing there and mistakes you for a crazy person with that stupid-ass grin on your face. For the record, it's obvious you like him as much as he likes you," Juju added as she walked back into the apartment.
Maggie didn't respond, but followed Juju inside.
"Who was at the door?" Seth asked.
"It was Maggie's boyfriend, Colby," Juju teased.
"Colby's not her boyfriend," Seth yelled, not wanting anyone to come between them.
Maggie didn't want Seth to feel threatened in any way and quickly agreed with him. "He's right. Colby is not my boyfriend. He's just a guy who's helping us out."
"See, Juju? You don't know everything," Seth commented, sticking his tongue out at her.
Juju got into a defensive stance. "Yeah? Come on, you little brat," she teased and proceeded to fall on top of him.
"Get off me, Juju. I'm trying to read," he said, giggling. "Aggie, tell Juju to get off me!"
"You two work out your own stuff. I have to get ready for work. I have some early appointments today," Maggie said. She enjoyed watching the two of them play.
Colby was Maggie's fourth customer that day. He came waltzing through the door and plopped down on the sofa next to her. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Ahh, work," Maggie reminded him.
"Right. Work. So about that...I was thinking maybe you can share the names of the women who work for Rock," Colby stated.
"Sure, why not?"
Maggie spent the next half hour telling Colby as much as she knew about the hookers who worked for Rock. When she finished, they sat together on the sofa, and Colby asked about Juju. When there was no more small talk left, Colby reached for Maggie's hand.
"I was thinking about that dinner I owe you," he mumbled.