Like A Woman by Debra Busman

Author:Debra Busman [Busman, Debra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781938103247
Publisher: Dzanc Books
Published: 2014-03-15T07:00:00+00:00

tracks

As soon as Taylor crossed the railroad tracks, she knew something was wrong. Throat tight, she broke into a jog, cresting up out of the last dusty ravine. Behind her, the August sun was setting, turning the smog crimson. Below, inside the wrecking yard she called home, red lights and police radios. The torn section of chain-link fencing that was the girls’ private entrance gaped open, unsecured.

She heard a soft voice call her name and turned to see Jackson, sitting crouched up against a boulder, waiting.

“What the fuck happened?” she asked, looking around. “What the fuck is all this?”

Jackson got up and walked over to her. “It’s over, baby. The pigs got Jimmy. We gotta get out of here.”

“What do you mean the pigs got Jimmy?” Taylor asked, confused. “Jimmy’s clean.”

Jackson glared at her, disgusted. “Girl, you’ve been around enough to know that doesn’t mean shit. Of course Jimmy’s clean. Mama says a successful black man is the biggest threat of all, way more dangerous than the thugs and the junkies. You see how it is. Mama says they take the good brothers down, give the rest guns and the white man’s drugs, and sit back and watch the fun.” She spit on the ground and slowly kicked dry dirt over it with her boot. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. They got Jimmy, the place is crawling with pigs, and we can’t go back.”

Taylor felt like she was going to be sick. She thought of Jimmy, letting them stay for free in the yard, teaching her how to strip down a car for parts. She thought about how last week he let her rig up the cherry picker and pull an engine out of a wrecked Chevy all by herself. She thought about how happy he was working at the new free breakfast program the Panthers had set up down at the church. Rage rose like bile in her throat as she thought about him in the hands of the police. She wished she could reach over to Jackson, pull her in close, hold her tight up against her heart, but she knew there was no way her lover would let herself be touched right now. “Well,” she said. “Guess we gotta go get our shit out of the fuckin’ camper, and then find a place to stay tonight.”

Jackson pointed to the small pile she had gathered by the boulder. “I got our stash, all my journals and some clothes, and grabbed what I could of yours.”

Taylor picked up the pillowcase, bulky, heavier than she expected. Reaching inside, she rummaged through the books and dirty clothes, felt some plastic crinkling and pulled out the pack of new boxer briefs Jackson had just bought her. She laughed. “What the fuck. Shit’s going down and you grab my fuckin’ skivvies?”

Jackson smiled. “Yeah. It’s like that thing where they say your house is on fire and you’ve only got sixty seconds to get out everything that matters. So, yeah, I grabbed your dope, books, and boxers.

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