Read Online South by Southeast by Blair Underwood - Free Book Online

turned you into such a little princess? The Chela I knew would have been all over that shit.”
    The strobe lights blinded Chela, the music’s blasting siren gearing up as if in urgent warning. She blinked and realized she was close to tears. Maria was right. The old Chela wouldn’t have cared how he looked or how old he was. The old Chela would have hidden her heart and greeted that hideous man with a smile.
    Chela hid her face. “I have to go,” she said.
    â€œHoney, we ain’t all got somebody acting like a daddy at home,” Maria said. “What does he do, creep into your room when Grandpa’s asleep? Or maybe you do both of them?”
    Chela couldn’t stop the tears. She couldn’t tell whether Maria was trying to hurt her, or if she just couldn’t imagine two men who wouldn’t try to screw her. Either way, her stomach felt queasy. Maria was wrong, but she wasn’t exactly lying. Maria knew Chela’s truth better than Ten ever would.
    Maria followed Chela as she walked away. Maria gently took her arm. “Wait, baby, don’t trip. Don’t be mad at me.”
    â€œI’m not mad,” Chela managed to whimper.
    â€œI thought you were down with everything. Everybody knows this is the place to hook up with rich guys. I don’t want you to leave by yourself, but I’m not ready to go yet. Now I gotta stay and kiss Raphael’s ass, make an excuse for you.”
    â€œI’ll be okay,” Chela said. “I’ll take a cab.”
    â€œDon’t forget to go get your real ID from Julio.”
    Damn, she had almost forgotten. That would add more money to the cab ride. She hoped she wouldn’t get to Julio’s designated corner and find he’d left with her license. A hassle with the DMV would be poetic justice. She hated filling out forms and having her picture taken, a remnant from her time in the system.
    â€œI won’t forget.”
    â€œYou sure you’re okay?” She sounded like the old Maria again, a big sister.
    Chela nodded but couldn’t speak. Her sob was buried in the shallowest space in her throat, stinging to be free.
    Maria grinned, and her face lit up. “Maybe Raffi’s friend will get over you and give me a chance, right? But did you see the nose on that guy?”
    Chela let out a small laugh, and Maria hugged her until they were laughing together. Maria had once given her the advice to pretend ugly guys were Brad Pitt, but the latest Brad had just looked like another old guy she would never be interested in. In those days, she hadn’t had anybody in her head she wanted to have sex with. Before her grandmother died and she ran away from home, she’d never kissed a boy, or even thought about it. When her friends had been out having a life, she’d been helping Gramma manage her bedpan and refilling her meds.
    Laughing brought real tears to Chela’s eyes. The club was too hot, too crowded. If she didn’t get outside, she would scream. But itwas hard to let go of Maria, who was twirling her around to the endless beat, trying to cheer her up and make up for letting her claws out. It was hard to walk away from the boom-boom on the speakers that mirrored her heartbeat, the sheen of Maria’s sweet-smelling dark hair, and the knowledge that Raphael thought she was beautiful. Chela had not felt powerful in years. Beauty was the only power that mattered here.
    Phoenixx was a trap, and Chela had been fortunate to escape. This time.

I DIDN’T HAVE a good reason to be worried only a few minutes after midnight—still early by club standards—but I was worried plenty. I’d hoped Chela would take one look at Club Phoenixx, size up her friend’s world, and realize she had made a mistake. I thought I heard the doorknob rattling a dozen times, expecting to see Chela’s sheepish face, and I was always wrong. I’m not the nervous type, but her absence wore on me