Believe Like a Child (10 page)

Alessa turned back to Tasha and hugged her hard. “I can’t believe you did this. I can’t believe it! You actually made me look good. Look at my hair! Oh my God! My hair has never looked like this!”

Tasha stood back, basking in the sheer pleasure of Alessa’s happiness. She had felt sorry for her friend ever since she heard about her traumatic childhood. She knew it was the root cause of Alessa’s lack of self-esteem and it was deeply gratifying to see her so happy now. Tasha knew that a little help would make Alessa hot and desirable. She felt content that she could give her this moment. She would teach her how to do it herself so she could continue to gain in confidence. Tasha liked Alessa a lot. The girl was down-to-earth and humble. She was the type of person who stayed your friend for life. Tasha even liked the fact that Alessa was naïve. It enabled her to introduce her to experiences she hadn’t enjoyed before, just like the makeover that night.

“You are hot, girl!” Tasha said encouragingly. “Look at you! I’ll show you how to do this yourself. It ain’t hard at all. It only took me fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you so much, Tasha.”

Tasha was struck by Alessa’s overwhelming and obviously sincere expression of gratitude. She wasn’t used to people being that grateful to her. “Now, let’s take a look at what you can wear tomorrow night,” she said, opening the top drawer on her dresser. “You will have to wear your own jeans, because we ain’t the same size. I got ass and you don’t.”

Alessa giggled as Tasha dug through her drawer and pulled out a black bra from her dresser. She told her to put it on and continued with her treasure hunt, until she had found a black netted shirt that was completely see-through. Alessa looked at her in surprise when she was asked to put it on.

“Just do it!” Tasha giggled.

Alessa put the shirt on and looked in the mirror. It was completely see-through, yes, but the bra underneath covered her breasts completely.

Tasha said, “That looks great. You got black shoes?”

“Yes, I do. I brought a pair of Rhonda’s heels, just in case I needed them for work.”

“Okay, wear those and your tightest pair of jeans. Here, wear this belt too.”

Alessa was excited and couldn’t wait to go out the following night. “All right, let’s get you back to your apartment. Tomorrow night is a big night, birthday girl!”

Before they left Tasha’s room, Alessa turned and hugged her again. “Thanks for all of this, really.”

Both girls left the house smiling and feeling like they had established a much-needed bond.

Chapter Twelve

W
hen Alessa stepped off the city bus on Saturday night, Tasha, who was waiting for her, ran up to give her a hug. “Happy birthday, Alessa!” she said.

They walked the few blocks to Tasha’s house. Up in her room, Tasha did Alessa’s make-up and hair. Alessa changed into the clothes and shoes she had brought along in her duffle bag. When she was ready, Tasha quickly put on her own outfit, which was incredibly sexy. The v-neck of her shirt almost plunged down to her navel. The inner curves of her breasts peeked through and against her light brown skin shimmered, a beautiful silver necklace with a peace sign. The two girls appraised each other’s appearance and decided it was time to go.

Shortly after ten p.m., they arrived at Harlin’s house, where he and his friends were hanging out. When they entered the living room, Harlin glanced at Alessa, pausing for a second look. Alessa smiled openly. She knew he thought she looked good.

Tasha said, “You remember my friend, Alessa?”

“Yeah, I remember her,” Harlin acknowledged. “She looks a little different tonight. She looks better, in fact. You do this work on her?”

Tasha put her arms around her brother’s neck. “I sure did! I’m damn good at that shit, huh?”

“Yeah, you are. Maybe you should think about doing this shit for those movie stars.”

Alessa noticed how close they were and detected the love Harlin felt for his sister in his hard eyes. How lucky Tasha was to have a brother like him, she thought.

Within minutes, they were in Harlin’s van—a large black vehicle with chrome wheels and door handles—with five of his friends. When they got to Pulsations, Tasha took Alessa by the hand and headed toward the bar. She ordered two beers and excitedly said, “Isn’t this place cool? I love it here!”

Alessa was still taking in all the lights and sounds. The place dazzled. People were dancing everywhere. There were dancers in cages that hovered above the dance floor. When the bartender handed them their beers, Tasha grabbed her hand again and pushed her through the crowd onto the dance floor.

Alessa, who had always loved to dance, immediately started to move to the music. Soon she was swaying to the beat, as if the song had been choreographed with her in mind. Tasha was smiling at her, her eyes wide.

Alessa caught her look and stopped dancing. “What?” she asked. “Why are staring at me? Do I look stupid?” She suddenly felt very self-conscious.

Tasha shook her head. “There’s something wrong with you, girl,” she said. “No, you don’t look stupid at all. You are an incredible dancer! Shit, I think every man within eyeshot was watching you.”

“They were? You think I’m a good dancer?”

“Yes, they were,” Tasha said firmly. “And I know you’re a good dancer. Did you ever take lessons?”

“You’re kidding me, right? No, I never took lessons. I barely had clothes that fit me and I wore shoes until my feet grew so big I thought my fucking toes would break off. There certainly weren’t any dance lessons. I always loved to listen to music. When I slept at Rhonda’s house, we turned on music and danced in her living room. It’s fun to dance, I love it.”

Tasha and Alessa danced together all night. It was the best birthday celebration Alessa had ever had. In fact, it was the only one she could remember. Later in the evening, Tasha lifted her beer mug in a toast, “Here’s to you on your birthday.”

“And here’s to you and Rhonda,” Alessa responded.

The evening had been perfect and Alessa was happy to be alive. For once in her life, she was actually looking forward to the future, instead of regretting her past. As they left Pulsations and headed back to North Philadelphia, the two girls spoke excitedly about the evening, oblivious to Harlin and his friends who were busy making fun of their enthusiasm. Tasha just shot them looks and pointed her finger at them from time to time.

Finally, one of Harlin’s buddies addressed Alessa. “Hey girl,” he said, “you sure can shake that little ass of yours, can’t you? Any time you want to shake that thing on me, I’d be happy to oblige.”

Alessa’s body suddenly stiffened.

Sitting next to her, Tasha felt the tension build up in her friend and struck out. “Why don’t you shut the fuck up?” she spat out. “Her name is Alessa and she ain’t nobody’s bitch-whore. So don’t be talking to her like she’s one. You understand what the fuck I’m telling you?”

Harlin glanced over at his friend, a look of scorn in his eyes.

“Yeah, I got it,” the boy said gruffly. “You don’t have to get all crazy and shit. I was only messin’ with her.”

When they got back to Dauphin Street and climbed out of the van, Alessa thanked Tasha. Then she asked, “How come he got all nervous when you freaked out at him? He seems so tough.”

Tasha said, “’Cause I don’t cause no shit for anybody, but when I say something to one of Harlin’s crew, he expects them to mind me. My brother knows I’m easy-going. If I have to call someone out, it must be important to me. When Harlin gave that guy that look, he knew he better not take that conversation any further or he would have to deal with my brother.”

“Well, thank you. It was nice of you to stick up for me. Tonight was great. Thanks for everything.”

“Tasha, I need to see you,” Harlin called out.

His sister walked over to where he stood, leaving Alessa by herself.

“Tonight was great Harlin! Thanks,” Tasha said to him

“Yeah, no problem,” her brother responded. “What was up with you, freakin’ out on my boy in the van? I know this girl is a friend of yours, but you haven’t even known her for that long. Not long enough to side with her over one of my brothers.”

Tasha took him by the hand and led him to some steps in front of an abandoned row home. She climbed onto the first step so that she was eye level with him. With his hand clasped in hers, she said, “Harlin, this girl means a lot to me. You know I ain’t had any good friends ever. Alessa is different. She don’t care where I come from or who my brother is. She likes me just for myself.”

Harlin looked deep into Tasha’s eyes, listening patiently to what she had to say.

“This girl has seen some bad shit, man,” Tasha went on. “She ain’t got no one. When I’m with her, I feel like I have a sister. I don’t want no one disrespecting her. She is the kind of person you would want me to be friends with. So if you could tell your boys that she is off-limits, it would mean a lot to me. You know I don’t ask you to tell your crew what to do. This is a favor I am asking of you now.”

“Okay, baby,” Harlin said. “If this girl means that much to you, I will make it clear to my crew that there ain’t no fuckin’ with her. I love you, girl. If you say she is important to you, I know she must be. Goodnight, babe. See you tomorrow.”

They hugged tightly and Tasha held on to her brother for a few seconds longer than she normally would. Harlin wondered, as he walked away, just what made this girl so special. Now he was curious; what kind of bad shit had she seen?

When he caught up with his gang, Harlin told them, “Listen, no fuckin’ with Tasha’s friend. For some reason, this chick means a lot to her and we need to respect that. So I don’t want any of you to say shit to her that we would say to other bitches we see. Everybody understand?”

The boys grumbled, but agreed to respect Tasha’s wishes. After all, they all loved her and were protective about her. That was a rule of the club. Tasha was watched over by all of them and all the people they knew. No one fucked with Tasha, Queen of Dauphin Street, as they called her.

“What’s so special about this little white girl anyway, Harlin?” one of his friends asked.

“I don’t know, man. Tasha said she ain’t got no one. No family or nothing. She said she’s been through a lot of bad shit. We know we all seen bad shit. So Tasha wouldn’t say that, if it wasn’t something really bad. All I know is that little white girl can dance, my brothers! Did you all see her moving to that music?”

They all laughed and agreed that Alessa could move. On their way back to Harlin’s house, the group passed Tag, the leader of the gang which had harassed Alessa on the bus. Harlin looked over at him and gave him a nod. Tag nodded back. Harlin could detect the fear in the boy’s face. Satisfied that that they were showing him due respect, Harlin kept walking. He knew these boys were trouble for the neighborhood. With nothing better to do, they were always fuckin’ with the old people and the hookers on the street. Harlin also knew they were as ruthless as he and his crew could be. The difference between them was that Harlin was only ruthless with people who fucked with him or his own. Tag’s gang of shitheads fucked with everyone just for fun. Harlin had set the tone with them early on. He had made it clear that they were never to fuck with any of his weed-selling territory, his gang and especially, his sister. The first time he had laid down the rules for Tag, the latter had tried to be a tough guy and asked him, “Who are you to tell me who I can and can’t fuck with?”

Harlin had pulled out his .357 Magnum and shoved it into Tag’s mouth. Then he had said, “Who the fuck am I? I am the grim, fucking reaper and I’ll be here to collect your soul and send it to hell, you little punk motherfucker! You understand that I own this neighborhood and we’ll get along fine. Get it?”

With the barrel of the gun rammed so high up in his mouth that it was practically touching the back of this throat, Tag had nodded vigorously. Meanwhile, Harlin’s crew was eyeing the rest of boys who clearly understood that if they ignored Harlin’s rules, there would be hell to pay. Everyone in the neighborhood was loyal to him. From that night on, the boys never got in the way of Harlin’s business and they were all cool with each other. The boys were always up to no good, of course. They were nothing more than a pack of street thugs, with little to motivate them, other than making people’s lives miserable.