Stealing Candy by Allison Hobbs

Author:Allison Hobbs
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2010-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

At Thirty-third and Brandywine Streets, the heart of the section of West Philly known as “the bottom,” Saleema and four girls from Head Up waited for Khalil to arrive with the fliers.

She’d called eight girls the previous night, but Portia was so disliked, she’d only been able to persuade Amirah, Stacey, Tasha, and Chyna to hit the streets with her in an effort to help find the missing girl.

“What’s taking your friend so long to get here?” Tasha wanted to know, frowning as she took a swig from a bottle of water.

In sullen silence, Amirah stood with her shoulders slumped, groaning and shifting from foot to foot.

“I wish he’d hurry up. It’s too hot to be standing around like this.” Stacey twisted her lips into a petulant pout.

Chyna was showing off her thick, shapely legs in a pair of cut-off shorts. “I was on my way to Kelly’s pool, Miss Saleema. I could be chilling with the lifeguard, but I came out here on the strength of you.”

“I know and I appreciate your support. I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t feel so passionate about Portia’s situation.” Saleema glanced at her cell phone, checking the time. “He would have been here on time, but the copy center didn’t have the order ready when he went to pick it up.”

There was a collective sigh, followed by impatient utterances.

Chyna slathered on some lip gloss. “I don’t even like Portia like that. I’m dead up. I feel like changing my mind.”

Saleema looked stunned. “How can you say that? If something bad happened to one of you, wouldn’t you expect someone to care?”

“Yeah, but it’s not like Portia is innocent. She escaped from that place and got in some man’s car. That was her choice,” Chyna responded.

Saleema looked into Chyna’s brown eyes. “She made a mistake.”

“Why we gotta burn up in this hot sun over Portia’s mistake?” Chyna mumbled.

“Because her mistake could be deadly,” Saleema said grimly. “It’s our obligation to try and help find her.”

“I don’t see why. Like I said, I’m out here because you asked me to,” Chyna insisted.

Slouched against the brick wall of a dry cleaning business, the four girls began pointing out Portia’s many flaws, and openly questioning their sanity in even trying to bring her rowdy behavior back into their lives.

If they were at Head Up, and having a sharing session, Saleema would allow each girl to vent and then they’d discuss ways that they could help Portia to mirror their good behavior. But at the moment, she had too much on her mind to successfully alter their attitudes.

She stared at the moving traffic and sighed in relief when she saw Khalil’s SUV barreling along Thirty-third Street.

There was a stretch of silence as the girls gazed at the Nissan Murano, their eyes filled with suspicion and hostility.

Armed with bright yellow staple guns and carrying boxes containing flyers, Khalil and four broad-shouldered, young men poured out of the SUV.

Straightening up their postures, all four girls became enlivened and wore pleasant expressions.

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