chapter three

word count: 542

jessa rummaged thru her purse… “a lighter.. a frickin’ lighter,, is that so much to ask?? i have to have a frickin’ lighter in this purse….” she dialogged with herself as she squatted down right in the middle of the sidewalk,, in her miniskirt, torn black fishnets and stilettos… panti-less,, and caring less,, as she dumped the remaining contents of her black pleather bag onto the cement….

“aha.. i knew it… ” she said out loud to herself,, as she snapped it up, shoveled the remains of her life off the sidewalk, and scampered behind the overflowing dumpster closest to the alley….

she spit out the little white piece of dope she had under her tongue,, and slipped it into the glass shooter… she fired it up…. aaaagggghhhh….. the drugs hit her lungs,, her heart jumped,, her face got hot, her heart beat loud and hard in her ears.. boom.. boom.. boom… oh yeah,, this is what it was all about … this was all that mattered right now…. and all she really had left…..

the sun was beginning to set… the traffic was increasing… if she wanted to keep it going.. she had to get going… her heart sank… three tricks… if she could just do three tricks.. she could get smokes,, dope,, and a room for the night… she could do this….

she took a deep breath,,, exhaled… lit a cigarette,,, and walked out into the middle of the street… there was a car coming,, one person in it .. cool cool…

“hey baby,,, what chu doin’… hey baby… you looking for a date??? c’mon man,, you know you wanna…. look man… no panties… ” she smiled her best attempt at childlike innocence just as the car got next to her.. it wasn’t slowing … “c’mon baby what else you doin’ down here… your momma don’t live on this block… ” she yelled at the driver as he rolled past her…

“yeah,, fuck you too,,,” she muttered under her breath,,, whatever…

an hour and a half later,, with what was left of her her three trick minimum under her belt,,, well actually in her bra,, she walked the final block to the roadside paradise inn… she was a frequent flier,, they would surely have a place for her to crash…

she settled into the hole in the middle of the no tell motel bed,, scrabble game for company,, tv on ,, no sound,, just picture,, lit a smoke,, took a long pull off her boons farm,, and cut a piece off her rock… finally… it felt good to sit down…

she laid out the game,, and picked her first seven letters… m-j-c-k-e-e-l… they sucked ,, she threw them back in the box,, and stared blankly at the tv screen as she shook them…

the devo headed news caster was talking a mile a minute,, and no sound was coming out his mouth… blah blah blah…

then she saw it… holy shit,,, that was jason!!! she grabbed the remote and mashed the mute button…

“….. was found today just off the highway in glen ellen,, the work crew from the hunter valley correctional facility was doing a routine roadside clean up when two trustee inmates, pictured here,, jason alexander and raul martinez…” she allowed his voice to trail off…