Read Online Crimson Footprints by Shewanda Pugh - Free Book Online

re-imagined
Snowman, who greeted them with hugs while taking their bags. He
called Caroline “mom” and Deena’s grandmother, “grandma.” The
exchange with Rhonda was stiff but civil.
    “’ Lizabeth, there’s a girl
outside asking after you,” Grandma said, still glowing from
Snowman’s affections.
    Lizzie stood. “Did you catch
her name?”
    Emma shook her head and
Lizzie dashed out.
    Deena’s grandmother turned
on her. “Put these here groceries away. I need to get off my
feet.”
    No sooner did Deena turn
than did Keisha grab her wrist.
    “ You better learn your
damned place when it comes to Snowman.”
    Deena stared back,
wide-eyed, her grip tight on her arm.
    “ I don’t want him,” she
hissed. “And you shouldn’t either.”
    Keisha’s gaze narrowed.
“Stay away from him, Deena. Last warning.”
    “ I will. You don’t have to
worry.”
    Keisha heaved Deena’s arm
aside leaving her to rub it absentmindedly.
    “ Worry? You’re the only one
who should be worrying. The last time a girl was here to see that
slutted sister of yours; it turned out to be a fifty-year-old
man.”
    Deena stared, blinking her
way to comprehension. When it came, she dashed out after
Lizzie.
     
    A cherry red Escalade with
custom spinning wheels, a scantily clad teen in a scoop neck tee,
and as Keisha had predicted, a paunch-bearing, middle-aged man,
with a receding hairline, were there to greet Deena before Grandma
Emma’s house.
    Lizzie leaned against the
door of the Escalade and giggled as the black with a severe widow’s
peak ran a finger down the crease between her breasts. Deena
stormed them, outrage without surprise, disgust without disbelief,
fueling her every step. Down the walkway she tore, shouting her
sister’s name, and when she reached them, Deena snatched for Lizzie
mightily.
    “ What the hell is going on?
There was a girl out here! Grandma said there was a
girl—”
    “ This is my friend,” Lizzie
said.
    “ Your friend?”
    Deena wondered where in the
hell a fifteen-year-old girl met a dark and thickset old man with
fish eyes, kinky facial hair and a pop-up belly. And better yet,
what would make her call him “friend.”
    The man offered a corn
yellow grin. “Normally I don’t respond to shouting, but since
you’re so pretty, I’ll do you a favor.”
    He extended a calloused
hand. “The name’s Larry Wilshire.”
    Deena’s gaze narrowed. “Are
you aware that fucking a fifteen-year-old is illegal, Larry
Wilshire?”
    “ Baby girl, they ain’t got
a cell big enough to hold all the guys they’d round up behind this
fifteen-year-old girl.”
    He laughed. And when he did,
Lizzie joined him.
    “ I—I’ll tell you what,”
Deena said. “How about I have the authorities give you a call? They
can shove you in the cell first and see about fitting the rest
later as far as I’m concerned.”
    “ Woo woo, Deena’s getting
some nerves,” Lizzie jeered, wrestling free of her grip.
    Deena rounded the fat
Escalade, dug out her phone, and punched in the tag
number.
    Larry joined her around
back.
    “ Listen, why don’t you take
that phone, punch in my number, and make plans to go out with
me.”
    His indifference was
staggering. Unable to speak, Deena snatched her sister a second
time and dragged her indoors.
     
     
    “ What the hell was that,
Lizzie? What is he? 40? 50?”
    Deena shoved Lizzie into her
bedroom.
    “ Girl, stop trippin’. I
aint tryin’ to marry the dude. Just having a little
fun.”
    The teen turned on her
sister, arms folded. Once again that day, Deena gawked at the hot
pink baby tee with its spill over cleavage and the tiny shorts
she’d coupled with it. Pink Converse and hoop earrings rounded out
the ensemble.
    “ Where in the hell do you
get these clothes anyway?”
    “ My friend bought them for me.” Lizzie
collapsed on her bed.
    “ Your friend, huh? And what
does he tell you? That he loves you? That you’re the only one for
him?”
    Peels of laughter erupted