Deadly Tricks by Kimberley Mansfield

Author:Kimberley Mansfield
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC044000 FIC031010 FIC000000 FICTION / Contemporary Women / Thrillers / Crime / General
Publisher: General Store Publishing House
Published: 2013-07-13T00:00:00+00:00

Tricks and trolls

And sleepin’ holes,

Tricks and trolls

Thin curls o’ smoke.

Tricks and trolls

A little hope,

Tricks and trolls

And sleepin’ holes.

Tricks and trolls

And cracks of hope.

Beth held the flame under the foil and waited for the curls of sweet smoke; she eagerly bent over it to inhale deeply until there was no more. “Oh, yeah, baby; that’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout,” she said as she exhaled the smoke. “Hey, baby, you want some more? It’s real nice, ain’t it?” shaking her head up and down, up and down.

Rick reached out his hand toward her foil and said, “Yeah, I want another, come ’er.”

“Wait … wait … wait, you gotta pay me more, first,” she said, pulling the foil in close to her chest.

“I already paid you. Come on; give me another fucking toke, please.”

“Yeah, right, you paid for the first one. If you’re not paying for another, bounce, will ya? So I can enjoy my buzz.”

Rick stood up and kicked the dirt and cardboard and grabbed his coat and said, “Fuck you, Beth,” and walked back out to the street.

Beth carefully stood up and moved as far to her left as she could, squatted and peed, and then pulled the back of her skirt forward and wiped herself before moving back to her spot. She balanced herself on the concrete wall behind her to slowly sit back down on her big knapsack. She reached for her dope and sprinkled a bit on the foil; she steadied the flame again beneath it, and waited for the thin curls of smoke to save her. She hadn’t left her spot for days, and was scared to even go back out to the street. She had seen the bastard who had molested her when she was thirteen, and was positive he had recognized her. So she stayed in her little spot at the back of the abandoned restaurant near the city shelter, wedged in behind an old milk truck with a blue tarp stretched over the top to provide shelter and invisibility.

The spot was a shared one but tonight it belonged to her. She reached for the blankets that the outreach workers had left for her and pulled them tight around her. She laid her head back until she could see the stars between the tear in the tarp, and tried to count them and make a wish on each and every one until her eyes fell heavy and closed.

“Hey, Beth. How you doing in there? Do you wanna come inside tonight? Maybe have a hot meal and get some sleep? They have a bed for you.”

Beth held up her hand to shield her eyes from the flashlight. “Who’s that? That you, Lori?”

“Yeah, it’s me and Darlene. Do you want a sandwich and a carton of milk?”

“Yes, please. But no way am I goin’ in ’cause they’ll make me hand over my dope, and I don’t trust them in there. Hey, you got any more toilet paper for me, Lori?” she said, taking the sandwich and milk.

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