Silt, Denver Cereal Volume 8 by Claudia Hall Christian Page A

gone. That jerk even took
her clothes. She wondered if he had thrown it off the balcony like
he did a few years back after she caught him with some girl in
their bed.
    “ Probably was stolen,”
Tanesha said. “Shit.”
    Not sure of what else to do, she went out to
the living room and lay down on the hardwood floor. She wanted to
cry, but she was simply too exhausted.
    “ God, if you are
listening, I promise to never go through this again with that man,”
Tanesha said. “Never again.”
    She gave the floor a firm pat to emphasize
her commitment to being done with Jeraine forever. Mostly, her hand
fell to the floor.
    And then she remembered her tea. He’d never
taken her tea before. Even if she had to use hot water from the
faucet, a cup of tea would be really nice. She rolled to her side
and went to the kitchen.
    No tea.
    That man was going to fry.
    She stormed out of the kitchen to get on
with her life. She slid down the wall to put her boots back on.
Reaching for her boot, she saw an envelope on the floor.
    She scowled and muttered to herself, “More
of that boy’s bull.” She put on her left boot before picking up the
note.
    “ Let’s see. Is it ‘My
music is important and you can wait,’ or ‘I gots to go,’ or ‘See
you later, baby,’ or ‘You just ain’t got it for me anymore,’
or . . .”
    She ripped open the envelope.
    Inside was a key. She pulled the card out of
the envelope.
     
    I’m waiting for
you.
     
    She scowled. What was this? She looked at
the key. The address to the yellow house was written on the
side.
    She blinked. Picking up her backpack, she
hobbled to the elevator before realizing she wasn’t wearing her
right boot. She went back and put on the boot. She leaned against
the wall. All she wanted to do was sit there and sleep. She closed
her eyes.
    Her phone rang. She looked down at it.
    Jeraine.
    She clicked the phone on to take the call
but didn’t say anything.
    “ Are you coming home?”
Jeraine asked. “I have the night off. Dinner is warm.”
    “ Just so tired. Don’t want
to move.”
    “ Should I come there?” he
asked. “We could picnic . . .”
    “ Wait, where are you?”
Tanesha jolted fully awake. “Are you in my house?”
    “ Yes ma’am.”
    Tanesha clicked off the phone and got in the
elevator. She wasn’t sure how she made it to the little yellow
house, but the next thing she knew, she was there. Jeraine had the
front light on.
    The front picket fence stood erect around
the edges and was painted a perfect white. The house was an
impeccable yellow with white faux shutters and window boxes filled
with pansies under the front windows. The garden wasn’t all the way
in but the brick path didn’t have the big dip in it. A couple of
wooden chairs and a little table sat on the porch next to the
redwood porch swing. Behind the storm door, the front door was
gorgeous antique oak with a lovely stained glass pane where the
broken window had been.
    She was about to use her key when Jeraine
jerked the door open.
    In a breath, she was in his arms. Tears
streamed down her face.
    “ Is it all perfect like
this?” Tanesha asked.
    Jeraine nodded.
    “ I want to see
everything,” she said.
    Her dream had come true and they went
inside.
    ~~~~~~~~
    Tuesday early-morning—12:39 a.m.
     
    “ Charlie,” Sissy
whispered.
    Sound asleep on his futon, Charlie stirred
but didn’t wake. Sissy pushed on his leg with her foot and jumped
back. Like he always did when he was awoken at night, he came up
swinging.
    “ What?” He growled at
her.
    She gestured for him to come with her.
    “ Why?”
    She gave him the evil “Do what I’m telling
you to do” sister look and he got out of bed. She crept down the
hall to her and Noelle’s room. She waved him into the room. Charlie
groaned.
    “ Shh,” Sissy said. She
glanced down the hallway toward Sandy and Aden’s room. “Come
on.”
    Charlie stumbled after her. Stepping through
the threshold, he saw that Nash and Teddy