Page 14 of Broken

She huffed at my words. "Fine. Can you come by the spot tomorrow?"

"What time?"

"Maybe around 11," she spoke. "Capone should be out doing his thing around that time."

"Who is Capone?"

She giggled. "I'll give you details on all that tomorrow, sis."

I rolled my eyes. Astrid had more than likely found a new flavor of the week. She dated a lot, but she never stayed with a man long enough to be in love. She sounded in love, if that was a thing. It'd be interesting to see what she was thinking.

Mentally, I deducted two hundred fifty dollars from the money I had set aside. It would go to Astrid's apartment package leaving me with the remainder to shop with.

"Sounds good," I replied. "See ya' in the morning."

We hung up on each other and I crashed onto the bed, still clutching the phone in my hand. Part one of my little plan was in full swing. Acquiring the cash to get us out of the motel. Next up was maybe getting us a little car, nothing too extravagant.

Holding up my arm, I eased down the sleeve of my shirt and traced the rose on my wrist. I'd gotten it for my mother, one of the few things I'd allowed myself. Her name had been Rose and she had been kind and sweet.

I traced the tattoo with the fingers of my other hand and spoke, "Ma...I'm getting this shit done. Just like you would have if you were here. I got Des and Yara, mommy."

My eyes began to water at the thought of my mom. Some days, I could keep it together. I hated crying because I felt that it showed weakness. I shook it away and pulled up my big girl panties.

Shopping,I thought to myself.

I could make myself feel a lot better if I did a little retail therapy. Would I find something glittery or something silken? Standing to look in the mirror, I didn’t exactly scream boutique ready, but maybe I'd be able to find someone helpful.

It'd been a long time since I'd worn a dress and heels for anything.