When A Woman Hustles, Danielle Martin [books to read in your 20s .TXT] 📗

of pine sol and cinnamon filled her nostrils. Coming to a clean house never grew tiresome. She looked around, admiring her zebra print furnished apartment. This place was the only thing she had to be proud of. In-between herself and her roommate, they kept the place well maintained and neatly polished. She kicked off her shoes at the door. Reese began to hear music coming from Jayla's bedroom which was just next to hers. It wasn’t ordinary for her roommate to have time home from work so she wasn’t looking forward to interrupting her with bad news. Reese slowly tip toed down the hallway, taking a moment to gather her words together. She took a deep breath as she prepared to break the news to Jayla that the lights will be out for 2 days until she got some money. She approached the outside of the bedroom door, hesitating a moment before she went in. No matter how many times Reese found herself in the midst of these financial hardships, it never became any less embarrassing to deal with. Deciding to get it over with, she balled up her fist and knocked on the door.

She heard Jayla shout as if she were startled Reese was home. The music turned down and the door swung open. She was greeted by Jayla smiling and bopping her head to the music that continued to play in the background. She was dressed in a matching Pink sports bra and sweats with her natural hair pinned up in a messy bun on the top of her head. Jayla was extremely obsessive when it came to working out and eating healthy. Reese wasn’t into it but she couldn’t help but admire Jayla’s abdomen which was nicely toned. Her brown complexion glistened from sweat. "You scared me girl." She held the door open, allowing her to walk in.

Reese laughed as she stepped inside the room. "I don’t know why your ass in here with the door closed when you home alone.” She plopped down on Jayla's queen size bed which was covered in fluffy pink sheets and pillows. Jayla went back to the stereo turning the radio up a few notches. ''It’s a habit. Girl I was in here jamming. I had my music going.” She went back to bopping to the music, dancing to one of her favorite songs on the radio in front of the mirror.

"So I heard." Reese laughed again. She nervously played with her hair. Reese wanted to skip the small talk and get straight to the point. "Soooooooo." She skeptically beat around the bush.

Jayla stopped bopping to the music and eyed her, hearing the hesitance in her voice and knowing automatically something was up. "What’s going on?" She asked. Jayla turned her body towards her preparing to question her.

Reese shrugged her shoulders while picking at a loose string hanging from the thread of her t-shirt, avoiding eye contact. She didn’t respond immediately.

"Oh God." A worried expression spread across Jayla’s face as she went back to the radio turning it down once again. "What is it?" she asked, obviously concerned. ''What’s on your mind? Just say it."

Reese took a deep breath having déjà vu as if she had been here before. She was growing increasingly tired of being a constant disappointment but there was no running from it. The situation had to be addressed no matter how badly she wanted to avoid it. Jayla was her roommate and upon moving into this apartment, they both agreed to split the bills 50/50. Reese was ashamed to admit she wasn’t holding up on her end of the deal. She looked up at her. “I really thought I would have money left over to pay the rent and the lights this week. But that check I got really didn’t cut it Jayla. I get paid in the next couple of days but we past due on our extension and I got a disconnect letter in the mail today." She spilled it out, silence flooding the room after she laid everything on the table. Reese looked up. Jayla didn’t immediately respond. She continued to stare straight forward with her arms propped up on her hips. She wore a blank expression as she marinated everything she just heard. "If the lights do shut out, it will only be for a couple days.” Reese continued. “No more than 3 at the most. I will get the money no matter what it takes" She conducted damage control hoping her poor attempt would work. Jayla sighed while shaking her head. She grabbed a t-shirt from the chair by her night stand and whipped it over her head, obviously not in the mood to exercise anymore. "I can’t go 3 days with no lights Reese." She didn’t mask her frustration as she began to pace the room. Reese sat back, unsure on what to say to make it better. Jayla walked over to her desk that was positioned in the corner. She busied herself rummaging through the desk drawers as she murmured under her breath. "How much is the light bill?" she asked over her shoulder.

"$387.00. It’s a double bill." Reese continued to avoid eye contact even though Jayla was now looking directly at her. She was a failure in life and could not look her in the eye because of it.

"Shit." Jayla tapped her foot, suddenly becoming anxious. She ran her fingers through her hair as she thought about what to do next. I’m sick of this life. Reese secretly chanted to herself inside her head. When are things going to change for me?? When is it going to be my turn??? She looked up at her roommate. "I'm sorry." Reese felt repetitive as she apologized again.

She smacked her lips. "Yeah I get that." Jayla brushed her off while walking back towards her desk as if she could not sit still. She opened the top drawer and retrieved a black and gold checkbook that Reese only seen appear in emergency situations. Apparently this was one of those situations. Jayla pulled out a pen and began jotting numbers down on a blank check. "I'm going to pay the light bill. Just go online and use my check routing number. This shit is coming out of my savings Reese. Dammit."

A sense of guilt rushed through her. Jayla constantly picked up her slack and she knew it was unfair to do her this way, but Reese had no one else to go to. Her mind began to wander as she thought about how tight things were before Jayla got her nursing job working at the hospital. She was doing better now financially then she was last year, but money was still tight at times and Reese not keeping a job longer than 3 months only added extra stress to the already stressful situation.   "I'm really sorry Jayla." Reese pleaded her case again. "As soon as I get paid, I will pay you back every dime. I promise." Reese began to think about her last paycheck, which was extremely short on hours and well below minimum wage. In-between rent and all the money borrowed she was going to have to pay back, her check was spent before she could get her hands on it.

"I know Reese." Again Jayla brushed her off. She heard it all before and refused to beat around the bush. "You just paid me back for the $200 I let you borrow last month. How long are you going to live your life like this girl? I know you got to want better for yourself."

Reese shook her head, wishing Jayla understood that getting a real job out here wasn’t easy. She didn’t go to a fancy college or get a degree the way Jayla had done. There was no red carpet laid out. She defiantly wanted to walk out of the room and avoid a lecture but she knew everything Jayla was saying was right. Reese wanted so much more for herself. She would be 30 years old in a few weeks. Reese was sick and tired of stressing about money, working these dead end jobs that could barely pay bills and keep food in her mouth at the same time. She began to think what life would be like if Jayla became fed up and decided to move out. There’s no way Reese could afford all these bills alone. She would lose everything.

"Listen, you got to have a game plan." Jayla persisted, interrupting her thoughts. "If you have to ask Mr. Frank to let you put in some extra shifts at work, you got to do what you got to do to make sure you are able to take care of yourself."

Reese dropped her head, her existence shrinking even smaller as she began to dread the next subject. She was so concerned breaking the bad news about the electricity, she forgot all about the chicken spot drama..  "About that" Reese fidgeted with her fingernail, afraid to look her in the eye. "I quit my job today."

 Jayla's eyes widened and her jaw dropped open. She stepped closer in disbelief to make sure she heard her correctly. "What did you just say?" She asked, nearly standing over her as Reese continued to avoid eye contact, too ashamed to look her in the eye.

"I told you about Ms. Linda. That lady kept harassing me Jayla. I couldn't do it." That was a typical sorry excuse, but it was the truth.

Jayla huffed, the anger displaying on her face.  She threw her hands up in the air "Your fucking kidding me!” she cursed out loud. Reese wished this was a joke. But it wasn’t. “What the hell? How long were you even there??? 2 weeks???” she asked dramatically. Her reaction indicated she was not happy at all and Reese couldn’t blame her for being upset. She sat quiet as Jayla ridiculed her like she was a child. “I don't understand you Reese.” she continued to vent as her voice grew louder. “You can be really fucking selfish! What about me?! Did you forget you have bills??  Or did you assume I was going to pay your bills for you??? You don’t quit a job before you find another one!"

Reese sighed, taking a deep breath. She was a fuck up and she wasn’t in denial about that. Standing to her feet, she finally made eye contact. Jayla stood in the middle of the room with her arms crossed over her chest, breathing heavily as she grew quiet. Reese dropped her head, deciding to escape the room before Jayla could lash out again. Arguing about it wasn’t going to make a difference. The only way she was going to solve this situation was by getting out here and getting on the grind so she can bring some money into the house. "Don’t worry about it Jayla. Just trust me. I'm going to figure this out. I won’t let you down."

Reese turned on her heel and headed out the door, knowing it was time to make shit happen and she had to figure it out fast. She shut the door behind her, convincing herself inside her mind that it was time to get on the grind. She was tired of being broke… and she was going to do something about it.

Chapter 3