I Cry, You Cry, We Cry Together

Chapter 1

               Whoever said that being with a dope boy was the life to live, lied! The utility truck parked beside the light pole outside of apartment 217 in 'The Greens' was sure proof of that. As Noel waved her hand towards the utility worker in a failed attempt to buy more time to pay the electricity bill, she watched helplessly as he sped past her, leaving a trail of dust. She could not believe that after all the late nights and early mornings that her boyfriend claimed to be pulling out in the streets, here they were again, without electricity in the smoldering heat of the down south summer.

               As the heat from the sun smothered her while she made her way back into her apartment, she felt her disdain for her boyfriend grow more and more. How the fuck was he out until after midnight each night and gone before 9 in the morning in the "streets", but here they were, with the lights off and what little food they had left in the refrigerator going spoiled?

               Frustrated, Noel didn't give a damn about her neighbor who peeped out her living room window to be nosy, after hearing the ruckus outside. She flipped the old lady the bird and walked into the hot apartment, slamming the door behind her. This was not where she expected to be in life at the age of 33. She had allowed the love she had for her boyfriend to overshadow her purpose, but she figured she'd already lived through any karma she deserved, and life should've been better.

               The electricity had only been disconnected thirty minutes and the unbearable heat within the walls of the small apartment was already making its presence known. Sweat beads began to appear on her forehead as she grabbed the tattered chair from the wobbly kitchen table that sat near her back door and sat it outside. The heat outside wasn't much better than being indoors, but at least a breeze would come through periodically making everything seem ok. If only for a little while.

               Noel grabbed her cellphone and was happy her neighbor had WIFI so she could connect to it. She knew the older lady wasn't experienced enough to secure the services, and she wouldn't be the one to tell her because during times like this, she needed it. The unsecured WIFI was many times her only communication to the outside world. As she scrolled Facebook, she placed a call to her best friend, Sei, who picked up almost immediately. Noel didn't have many people that she could talk to that she trusted with her business, but she knew Sei was always one phone call away.

               The two women had become best friends 15 years earlier after they'd met one another at the registration office of Southwest Community College for Nursing. Even though they were different, in many ways they were the same, especially when it came to the loyalty that they had for one another. Although neither woman finished the nursing process, it was the beginning of a bond that couldn't be broken.

               "Hello," Sei answered.

               "Hey," Noel managed to mumble.

               "Hey best friend," Sei squealed. She was happy to hear from her friend. "Where in the fuck have you been? I thought I was gone have to put out an APB on yo' ass."

               "I've been around. You should've just stopped by," Noel snorted. She knew she didn't mean what she'd just said. Although she knew she could trust Sei with her soul, she didn't like the way she was living.

               The Green Projects or 'The Greens', as the hood called it, had housed her for the last 5 years and she was over it. Her boyfriend, Kwasi, had made broken promises for years to get her out the hood, yet they were still there. She had always wondered how a woman could allow a man to keep her in the bottom with him, but Noel no longer had to wonder since she was living the life. She was living the life of a petty, dime sack selling, weed man's wife, but without the ring, and she was over it.