Page 28 of Maceo

“What’s up?” I asked, slapping his hand.

“Ain’t shit. The only person left is ol’ girl. Honestly, I don’t think she’s trying to go anywhere. She said all she had was herself, so what’s keeping her here?”

“She did tell Shar she was living in her car. I can imagine she’s enjoying having a warm, soft bed to sleep, a hot shower, and guaranteed food.” I shrugged. “I guess. She can’t stay here though. We need the space, and I’m not leaving her here by herself.”

“What are you gonna do?”

I scratched my head. “I don’t know, man. I’ma go holla at her.”

“Bet.”

I headed into the house where I found Charity, standing at the open blinds of the window, watching Colin and his family drive away. She turned to me with a light smile.

“I guess I’m all by my lonesome, huh?”

“Looks that way.”

“I guess I should get out of your hair. I just need a few days to get something in order and figure out where I’m gonna go.”

“What do you mean?”

She sighed as she went to take a seat on the couch. “I finally heard from the police about my car. They found it, but everything was stolen, and the car was stripped. I literally have nothing. Everything is gone. I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m gonna do for days now.”

She dropped her head in her hands and began to cry. That shit fucked with me. With all the shit I’d seen over the years, I had a soft spot for women and children in need. I prayed this shit wasn’t going to bite me in the ass for what I was about to do.

“What if you stayed here for a bit?”

She looked up at me with red eyes and sniffles.

“What do you mean?”

“I could give you temporary housing and a job until you decide where you wanna go from here.”

“You would do that?”

“I wouldn’t feel right sending you out with nothing and nowhere to go. A friend of mine owns a hotel in town. I’ll put you up for a while. Are you opposed to getting your hands dirty?”

“If you’re gonna help me, I’d scrub toilets if I have to.”

“Good. One of the women from my cleaning company is out on maternity leave, so you can take her place for a little while.”

Much to my surprise, she threw her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly.

“Thank you so much. You don’t know what this means to me.”

I kept my hands at bay as I slowly pulled back from her.

“It’s nothing. I’m sure we’ll be needing this space again soon.”

“How long have you been rescuing people like me?”

“A while. Why don’t you go grab a few things and we can head out.”

“Okay.”

She stood from the couch and made her way upstairs. I called my homeboy to see if he could hold a suite for me. I would have put her up in one of the empty apartments in the building my family owned, but I thought better of it. With the room confirmed, I then went to call Shar.

“Hey, baby,” she answered.

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