To the Friends, Part II...

Bernice set up a lunch with Elizabeth right after she moved in. It was important to make the only white woman in the ghetto feel at home after all. She brought her best friend with her, and the three women went to a local fried chicken fast food place.

"My boy works here," LaDonna Jefferson said, motioning at the 18 year old black male behind the counter. Elizabeth smiled uncertainly. She was certainly a stranger in a strange land. Lamont Jefferson eyed her shrewdly. She hadn't been in the ghetto long, but everyone looked at her like she was just a fucktoy.

The three women feasted on their dark meat.

"So you got a job yet, Elizabeth?" LaDonna said, licking the grease off the back of her hand. "I bet my boy could get you in here."

Elizabeth blinked her blue eyes wide. She hadn't considered ... but of course. Moses was funding her with Douglas's child support enough to pay some of the bills. But she needed money on the side. She flushed.

"Yes, that'd be great actually," she agreed, smiling at her new friend. The two Black women exchanged knowing glances.