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food and clothes And growing boys needed a lot of both
She got out of the town car that Jardin insisted she use to get hohbors’ place, where the boys were Fuck, her neighborhood was creepy in the dark She walked quickly across the street, her gaze roa her
Her instincts warned her to run But she knew better If so in front of a bull By the ti in sharp pants and she eating
Christ Way to overreact to nothing
She knocked on the door Ella, Juanita’s thirteen-year-old daughter answered She had on way too much makeup and her clothes were several sizes too small Hard eyes stared out at Thea before she turned and walked aithout saying anything
Thea got it Living in this kind of neighborhood eventually sucked your soul It could crush you That hy she was determined to do better for Ace and Keir She’dor dead from an overdose before twenty They were so so to a private school They were going to do so with their lives Be better than she was
The sound of the boys yelling greeted her, and they rushed down the stairs, brandishing fake swords, which were actually just large sticks, and horsing around Diego, Juanita’s youngest son, ith them
“Guys!” she yelled “It’s tio home”
“Aw,” Keir said, turning with a pout “Can’t we stay? Diego’stacos”
And all they’d likely get at hoot it She wished she had the time to make them proper meals But she was already dead on her feet
Juanita popped her head out of the kitchen “Hey, chica Get in here, take a load off”
“Hey, Juanita, thanks for having the boys But we should get going”
“Stay for dinner”
The boys whooped and took off Guilt filled Thea Juanita had four kids And while her husband had a job, they weren’t much better off than Thea Yet they always had extra food for whoood people They took great care of their kids and it was clear they loved each other Thea often found herself jealous of the way Juanita’s husband looked at her, like she was his whole world
“Don’t give me that look,” Juanita told her “There’s plenty of food Sal’s working a double shift, so he won’t be ho”