“Oh hell, no,” Juanita mumbled. Repeated raps on the back door had awakened her from a fitful sleep. The television screen glowed in the dark living room. She propped herself up on the couch to determine whether the noise meant what she thought it might.
“Come on, Nita. Let me in. I saw your car out front.” The male voice outside sounded desperate. “Pleeease, baby. We need to talk.”
Juanita didn’t want him to wake up her four-year-old daughter sleeping down the hall, so she sighed and shuffled to the door. She thought her ex-boyfriend would be in jail until his court date next month. His crazy mama must have begged or borrowed enough for the bail money to get him out.
“Go away, David. We’re done. I got nothing to say to you.”
David pleaded in hushed tones, “Just for a minute. It’s important.”
Juanita cracked open the door to repeat her demand that he leave the property. David panicked when the neighbor’s pit bull started to bark and pushed his way inside the house.
Juanita grabbed David’s forearm, trying to pull him back outside. “Go now. I don’t want whatever trouble you’re bringing.”
David broke free and plopped down on the worn couch with a smile on his face. “Why you always assuming there’s trouble, baby? Maybe I wanna see you and little Rosie. Maybe I wanna pick up some of my clothes.” He adjusted his sagging cotton pants with a small rip at the knee. The plain white t-shirt hung loosely on his lanky frame. Sweat stains were visible under his armpits.
“Showing up here after midnight? Five years with you brought me nothing but trouble. Exactly like my father told me it would.”
“Nita, that’s not fair. We had a whole lotta good times together.” David offered his sexiest grin and took a slow step toward his ex-girlfriend.
She stood firm with arms folded across her chest. “I left all your stuff on your mama’s front porch two months ago. What do you really want?”
David asked to borrow her car, but she loudly refused. Then he asked for a flashlight, knife, and some cash instead. He promised to leave if she gave them to him.
Juanita rummaged through kitchen drawers then returned to the living room with a pen flashlight, small knife, and wallet in her hands. “If you’ll leave me alone, I’ll give you $80.00. That’s all I’ve got.”
“Thank you, baby.” David planted a kiss on her forehead. “Don’t ask me where I’m goin’ because I can’t tell you. Give my little girl a big hug from me.”
“Goodbye, David.” Juanita closed and locked the back door behind him.
She grabbed a bottle of beer from the refrigerator but hadn’t even taken a sip when someone pounded on the front door shouting, “Police, open up!”
Juanita faced four menacing officers with guns drawn. “Is David Gardner here? Are you hiding him? Where is he?” They took a few steps inside the house, scanning the interior.
Juanita stuttered that she didn’t know what they were talking about. Her face expressed genuine surprise when the officers informed her David and two other inmates had escaped from the county jail three hours earlier.
At that moment, Rosie appeared in the foyer in her pink nightgown. “Daddy?”
Juanita smiled at her daughter. “Go back to bed, sweetie. I’ll tuck you in soon.”
The fat, bald officer put his gun down before stepping between Juanita and Rosie. “Hi, princess. I want to ask you something important before you go back to bed. Have you seen your daddy tonight?”
Rosie looked toward Juanita who told her to answer the question. “No,” she half-whispered.
“When’s the last time you saw your daddy?” the officer continued.
The little girl responded she didn’t know and hid behind her mother.
Juanita glared at the officers. “David isn’t here. We broke up before he went to jail. Rosie misses her father and hasn’t seen him in months. You should check his mother’s house.”
The plain clothes detective handed Juanita a business card and told her to call if she heard anything. “Harboring a fugitive is a felony.”
After the police cars disappeared, Juanita walked Rosie to the bedroom. Under a fuzzy blanket, Rosie told her mother she had a dream her father came home and she could hear him talking.
Juanita’s voice cracked when she said, “Daddy loves you and misses you, but sweetie, that was just a dream.”
Word Count: 745 (excluding title)