Dark is Here:Tainted Spirit-Jayneice

They Make Noises Version: Uncut
By Termaine Jenkins

Rated: M

Tainted Spirit

Part One


Jayneice


Another busy night as I get to my apartment door. I lean my stack of textbooks against the wall. This is a pretty routine thing now with me holding my books and reaching for my keys to unlock the door. It’s harder now because I’m trying to balance my glass sculpture on top of my books. I use my free hand to get the keys out of my purse, I’m careful not to let my glass presentation slip off the stack of books. I feel around inside my purse for my keys till I hear someone walking slowly. It sounds like a big person walking in boots.
The footsteps sound heavy so I turn my head a little to catch a glimpse of the person making the noise. It’s a very big someone strolling in this direction on the sidewalk on the other side of the street. The footsteps draw nearer and I feel around a little faster for my keys. I dig and feel but I can’t seem to get a grip on them. Suddenly the footsteps stop and I can’t hear anything else. Nothing. No cars, no other people, not even a cricket. Average horror flick setting. I need to get my ass on in this apartment.
I start feeling for the keys again and the footsteps start again but louder and they make a different sound as this big whoever it is, must be crossing the street, this way.
“Oohh Shit…” I mutter to myself. I finally get a grip on my keys. My purse slips off my shoulder but I hold onto the keys and let it fall. I can’t see but it sounds like this person made it to my sidewalk and has just stepped into the grass. I jam one of the keys into the knob and turn it. The door opens and I twirl in still balancing my books and sculpture. I lean them against the wall and just barely catch sight of a very tall and large figure already halfway across the lawn headed for my door. I snatch my keys out of the knob and toss them on the floor behind me as I slam the door. Darn, it still has to be locked.
The sculpture is at the edge of my book stack about to fall but I force my chin down on the books and reach to lock the door. My hair is in the way and I can’t see the lock. The sculpture starts to tip, I just barely miss the lock, and now this huge person is right outside my door.
Suddenly I feel someone behind me; their pelvis is on my butt. I freeze. The person’s hand reaches forward and locks the door. Then they grab my sculpture just as it nearly falls and put a finger to my lips. I start to lose my balance but then the person puts an arm around my waist. Mom?
“Shh!” They go quietly.
The doorknob jiggles once, and then twice. After a moment the person outside starts to walk away.
“That was a close one honey.” The person behind me says. It definitely isn’t my mother. The voice is female, but with a country accent. The woman still positioned behind me, holds out the glass sculpture in front of my face. It was a white woman’s hand.
“Did you make this honey?”
I can’t say a word. A million and one thoughts rush my brain all at once. Who is this person? Why did she help me? Do I know her? Why is this strange woman still standing so close behind, speaking so casual, and holding onto me like this? I only nod my head slightly. Whoever this lady is, she has her chin rested on my shoulder and is leaning right up against my backside. This is really uncomfortable. Abruptly, as if she just notices it, she backs away. I put the books down and turn to look at her.
“Sorry bout that hon, ya mama told me you’d be gettin home late, but I didn’t spect you to come this late.”
I just stare at her. Not sure what to say or do, she’s a complete stranger who probably just saved my life. Who knows who that was out there or what they were planning to do?
“Name’s Angel.” She says, and then offers her hand. “I’m an ol friend of your mama’s.”
I warily take it. I don’t know about her being an old friend, as she put it because she doesn’t look much older than me. She’s definitely from the country though. She’s taller than me, she’s got long braided extensions and she’s got an accent. She’s dressed normal though. Jeans and a tee shirt.
“Hi,” I say, “I’m Jay-’’
“-Jayneice, yeah I know.” She said smiling and staring into my eyes. “That’s a pretty name. Your ma was just talking about you.”
“My mom, where is she?” I ask.
“Oh, well she fell asleep not too long ago.” Angel says as she hands me my sculpture back. “Asked me to wait for you to get home, told her I would and well, good thing I did right? All kinds of predators and stuff in this area.”
She glances at her watch and moves toward the door. “Boy, it’s late.” She says as she pulls out her car keys. “I need to be getting home now or I won’t get no sleep before work tomorrow. Sorry to be leavin so sudden, it must not feel right.”
“Uhh…” I’m not sure what to say.
“Oh yeah, before I ferget,” She comes close like she’s about to whisper something to me in my ear, but she just gets really close, stares into my eyes and says “Honey don’t worry about wakin your mama up right now, I’ll just call her later tomorrow to finish talking bout what we discussed. Alright?”
“Um, ok…” I say.
“Alright now honey, have a goodnight.” Angel turns away and opens the door to head right out.
“Uh, w-wait!” I said suddenly. “You don’t need me to-’’
“Walk me to my car?” She finished. “Don’t worry about it honey. My car is right out front and believe it or not, I can take care of myself. See ya’ll later.”
She’s gone, and I’m half relieved. This whole situation is stranger than it usually gets around here; and that’s saying something. Aiza and Natasha are gonna be blowed. I pick up my stack of books and my sculpture and I make my way to my room. My room isn’t big but I like to keep it neat and in a natural black style. I place my stack on the empty table in the corner. All my work is finished for the weekend. I sit down on my bed and take my shoes off.
I want just to lie down and close my eyes; but I have standards, and I never just go to sleep before taking a shower, conditioning my hair, and brushing my teeth. The usual night routine. I slip off what little jewelry I do wear and drop it onto my dresser. A thin golden necklace with a J charm, a couple of rings, a thin bracelet, and an ankle bracelet. All my jewelry is thin and crafted to complement the features of my body.
My mother used to say often, “People like us, we are born with what most famous supermodels want. Incredible beauty that comes natural without the use of elaborate makeup or jewelry that try to create great beauty.” It made me proud when she used to say things like that to me. I got my beauty from her. People who have seen us together say we look more like sisters than mother and daughter. I used to feel proud of her, but she often made me use my beauty in the wrong way. I’m ashamed to even remember.
Well I might be able to do without makeup and jewelry but one thing I can always use more of is money. There will always be bills and food and after what I just went through to get my rent money back from a thief, I know that I have it nice and safe in my-

“My purse!” I jump to my feet.
What did I do with my purse? I pace and search the room but then finally it hits me. I run from my room to the front door. I open it and look down at the empty place where I had let it fall earlier. Gone.
I was in such a panic to get inside that I forgot to grab my purse. Shit! Whoever that was who was trying to get in must have seen the purse and taken it with the four hundred dollars I saved up inside. I slam the door to vent some frustration off. Not good enough. What a waste. Since probation I’d been earning money the right way. Working. It’s been hard but I never complained and it was always better than what I used to do. I reluctantly head for my mom’s room in the back of the apartment.
I can hear music playing and people talking inside. Is Mom awake in there? I knock once. No answer. I knock again loudly.
“Dang is that the po-pos?” I hear someone say. “Well we ain’t did nothing…”
Soon the door opens a little and standing there in the doorway looking up at me is a girl. I’m so surprised, I just stare at her for a moment. There’s not way she’s older than about sixteen. She stares right back at me biting her thumb like I’m a stranger knocking on her front door at one in the morning.
“Yeah?” She says impatiently. “What?”
“I want to speak to my mother.” I say.
The girl looks me up and down, then looks back in the room, and finally back at me.
“She’s sleep.” She says and almost closes the door in my face but I put my hand on the door and stop her.
“I said she’s asleep!” She goes all stank.
I keep my calm and use a low and serious tone. “Wake her.” I order. She looks at me again pondering weather or not to challenge me. She’s got three seconds to make up her mind before I go ahead and start some drama.
“Wake her yourself.” She says as she opens the door and stands aside. An excellent decision. I step into the room and immediately my steel-backbone disappears because I smell cigarette smoke, alcohol, sex, and the unmistakable sent of marijuana. Well…weed.
My mom is in her bed in the middle of the room; but I’m in complete awe at what her room looks like. It takes me back to the life I lived before threatened to throw the book at me. There are liquor bottles everywhere. The fifteen-year-old girl picks up a half-filled bottle then goes over to another girl not much younger than herself to sit and drink the rest of it with her. There are two young men smoking in the corner with an older woman that stop to stare at me. “Well damn who is dat?” one of the men asks.
To get to the bed I have to step over a boy who’s passed out on the floor. There’s a man in the bed with my mother. As I walk to the bed everyone who’s awake is watching me. I notice that the two girls are both biting their thumbs and are scanning me from head to toe with devious smiles. I seriously do not like the way they are looking at me. I go over and shake my mom until she wakes up.
“What? What is it Jayneice!” She shouts irritably.
“I-I have to talk to you mom.” I say.
She reluctantly gets out of bed and follows me into the kitchen. I know this isn’t going to turn out good.
“Mom, it’s about the money.” I say.
“Yes it is.” She agrees. “Bout time you learned that.”
“…No mom, that’s not what I mean.” I say. “It’s about the rent money.”
“Good, I been meaning to talk to you about that anyway.” She goes.
“What?” This can’t be good. It never is.
“Baby can you find a way to come up with my half by tomorrow?”
I stare at her in complete disbelief. “Mom, I can’t-”
“Baby, you already got four-hundred right? All you gotta do is-”
“Mom! I don’t even have that anymore!” I exclaim.
“What? Why? Baby what happened?” She asks like she’s all concerned.
“I lost my purse mom.” I tell her. “Someone tried to come after me and I dropped it on the way in just before Angel helped me lock him out. I didn’t even notice till later and now the rent money is gone!”
“It’s a good thing I asked Angel to stay till you came-”
“Mom never mind that, I just lost our rent money!”
She looked at me and nodded. “Baby it happens.” She said.
That doesn’t make me feel any better. “Mom, did you come up extra on your half because maybe Mr. Sam will give us more time if you-”
“Baby, Baby I had bad luck today gambling and-”
“Mom!” I Shout. “Please don’t tell me you-”
“Wait, baby listen it wasn’t my fault-”
I’m upset and panicked. When I get that way I talk hysterically. My words come out too fast and I can’t seem to stop my panicked speed-talking, as Aiza put it. She said if I was writing a story, there would be no periods.
“Mom it’s never your fault-that’s eight hundred dollars-what were you thinking-we’re going to get put out-we don’t even have half the money-the rents due tomorrow-what are we going to do?” My voice has suddenly gotten high and shaky.
“Calm down baby, calm down it’s ok.” She trys to sooth me but I’m gone now.
“No it’s not ok-” I gasp. “If we get put out, I won’t have a mailing address anymore, and if that happens I go to prison mom. Not jail, real prison-mom I’m eighteen-I don’t know anything about no prison-that judge lady is going to hang me-they’re-”
“Look baby, there may be something I can do about this, just give me a minuet to go in there and talk to them ok?” Mom heads towards her door.
“Mom what are you gonna do-you gonna?-”
“I’ll be right back baby, don’t worry.”
I sigh and sit down at the table, muttering to myself hysterically.
“Don’t worry, what is she talking about-I shouldn’t have trusted her-now I’m gonna get-”
I stop quickly and to try and clear my head. I can’t hear what my mother is talking about to the people in her room but maybe she can convince one of them to lend us the money till we can pay it back. I rub my head and wipe tears from my eyes. Not long after, mom comes back out.
“Now baby listen. The only ones in there with the money we need is big Jack, and those two girls Tyesha and Star.” She says. I let out a long sigh and I squeeze my head with my hands.
“Big Jack has one grand, and between Tyesha and Star, they got about nine hundred.”
“Then get it from them-mom why are you-”
“Listen listen listen! They said their willing to pay you, but you have to do a little favor for them.”
“See Mom?-I knew it!-What favor?-I know what they want-they don’t want no favor from me!” I cry and speed-talk at the same time. “No!-I can’t-just-let them-no-God-mom-why would you-you want me to give them my body-how could you do this to me-I can’t do that-I don’t know them-I’m not a whore- why don’t you sleep with them-I-can’t!-”
“Baby they want you not me, just listen to me,” She pleaded. I shake my head and put my hands up. Mom grabs me by my shoulders and pushes me into the wall.
“Calm down girl!” She says blowing the cigarette smoke in my face. “Now pull yourself together! There’s a lot of easy money in there. Would you rather get evicted? If I was you I’d take all that money.”
“Mom! No!-I Can’t do that-who is Jack-I don’t even know who he is-and who are those girls in there-you lettin them drink in your room-they barely in high school-I don’t know them-I don’t even like girls-this is so messed up!” Once I panic, I talk so fast that I can barely understand myself.
“Listen baby, listen! You got options.” She says. “Jack wants to spend the night with you for a thousand dollars.”
I shake my head in all disbelief that my mom is putting me through this again. “Mom I can’t, why are you doing this to me?”
“Or, or if you don’t like Jack, you can just lay with the girls for a couple hours for nine hundred dollars, that’s not bad.”
“If I don’t like Jack?” I exclaim. “I don’t even know Jack!” I sob.
“Well to tell you the truth your best shot would be to just spend two hours with Tyesha and Star.” She said.
“Mom! What are you talking about? I ain’t about to lay down with no girls!” I exclaim. “I mean damn mom, are you trying to get me turned out or something?”
“But Jack sleeps around without protection so there’s no telling, he might have a disease.”
She says I have a choice but I have no control over my life. There is no other way for me to come up with eight hundred dollars in seven hours. After I swore never to do it again, it’s the only way I can save myself from going to prison. I have to give someone my body. I cry and sob, and cough and cry.
“Baby just lay with the girls for a while.” She pleaded. “What’s the worse the little whores can do? I mean they can go down and lick or they might finger you, but you know the rules; you don’t have to do anything. I’ll even give you a knockout pill so you can sleep through it-”
“Mom!” I exclaim I am not takin no pill to let those girls do whatever they want to me!”
“Baby you need to do this or you could go to prison. And in prison, they take whatever they want from you, you don’t have a choice.” My mom is right, but she’s not so concerned with me going to prison. She takes a napkin and wipes my face. “So baby, what are you going to do?”
“Do I have a fucking choice?” I choke through clenched teeth. She uses her thumb to wipe a tear from my eye.
“…I’ll go ahead and tell them then.” She says and then she hands me a pill.
“What’s this?” I ask.
“A two hour pill.” She says.
“I told you I’m not taking anything!” I say. “And tell them they get only one hour!”
“Ok, I know. And I’m sorry baby.”
“Whatever…”
I go into my room before she comes back with the girls. If I have to do this, I want hurry up and get it over with. The only setting choices I have are my room and mom’s room. And I’m not going to do this in front of anyone. As I survey my room, instincts from my past experience start to kick in. I have to get my room ready. I can’t be caught off guard by anything or I could end up getting hurt. I clear my bed off and get rid of everything that might be foreign. I don’t want them to be able to use anything at all. Once everything is clear, I sit on my bed for a minuet. I can’t believe what is about to happen to me. My body. Its precious to me. It’s my temple. My pride. My gift. And now I have to surrender it to two girls who are younger than me and who either don’t know about virtues or ethics, or don’t’ care. They had better know the rules.
In five minuets my mother comes in with the two girls and closes the door behind her. She looks a little concerned but she knows that I know how to do this. I just have to be extra careful because these are girls and not men. Mom points to the girl who had answered the door earlier. “This is Tyesha.” And then she points to the younger one and says. “This is Star.” Both the girls are biting their thumbs. The immaturity just annoys me.
“Stand by the bed.” I order them. They do as they are told. I go to my closet and pull out an old bucket. After I place it in the middle of the room, I look at my mother who looks serious with her arms folded. She signals me to begin with a nod. I let out a sigh and walk over to the girls. I hope that all these procedures we’re going through will at least intimidate them. But with the looks in their eyes though I don’t know. They probably have done this before.
I hold out my hands and say, “Money.”
They both pull out four hundred and fifty dollars and put it in my hands. I walk over to my mom and give her the money to count and check for counterfeits. She looks at me and nods. I walk back over to the girls and hold out both my hands again.
“Take off your jewelry. All of it.”
They both look at my mom first, and then they start taking off all their noisy gold and silver. It takes a minuet but they hand over all their jewelry. As I turn and bend down to put the jewelry into the bucket, one of them smacks me on the butt. I paused for a minuet to fight the urge to turn around and beat their faces in. I look up at my mother who is giving them a devilish look. Some help she is.
I gathered myself again and turned to face them.
“Did you bring anything?” I ask them.
Both of them hand me their personal vibrators. I took them reluctantly and showed them to my mother. She examines them and then looks at me. I shake my head. They won’t be allowed to use these on me. My mother hands them back and I drop them in the bucket. I hear one of them suck their teeth.
“Wait.” Tyesha says. “We still wanna use something.”
The little bitch, Tyesha’s probably the one who slapped me on the butt. Darn, looks like they have done this before. I was afraid this might happen. If I don’t let them use their own they can still buy new ones from my mom.
“On yourselves?” My mother asks.
“Yeah, and her too.” Tyesha says pointing at me. Disgrace. I’m being referred to like an object now. Even though this is the part where I have power and I’m in control, I still feel like an object. I look at my mom.
“That’s three hundred and fifty more.” My mother says.
“Danggg…” the girls complain as they reach into their pockets.
“I told ya’ll my daughter doesn’t come cheap.” Mom says.
The only thing I want to know is how much money do these two girls have? And just what are they doing to get it? The girls hand me the money and I give it to mom, who then takes it and leaves the room. The girls both sit down on my bed and stare at me. “I like yo hair.” Star comments. “Is it a weave?”
“Get up.” I order them. They just stare at me. “Fine.” I say. “When my mother comes back, I’ll let her know you broke the rules and forfeited all the money.” When I say this they both shoot up. My mother comes back and gives me two unopened vibrator packs. I hand them over to the girls and move away from them. After they open the packs and examine them, I look to my mother who nods back. This is the final and most important part in our procedures.
“Empty out all your pockets into the bucket.” She orders them.
They do as she tells them. When they empty their pockets I see condoms, pills, needles, small knives, little bottles, razors and more money. Perfect example of why the emptying of the pockets is so important. Any of these items could be used to kill me. After their done, my mother picks up the bucket and leaves, closing the door behind her. It begins. I set my alarm clock to go off in one hour. I take a deep breath, and slowly walk over to the bed and sit down. I’m their personal object for one hour.
“You can start.” I say. I try hard not to show any emotion.