Certified Pre-Owned. It was another name for somebody else’s worn out ride. But cars seemed to sell themselves when Jeff Melbourne got hold of them. Salesman of the week. Of the month. Of the year. Twelve hours a day, five and a half days a week (Saturdays they closed early so the boss could make his tee-time). It wasn’t a glamorous job, but it paid. And he was good at it. They gave him the sales manager position and things were working out okay.

Static electricity was simmering in the air above the rooftops, bolts and streams of light played in the sky,
running horizontally above them, in a most unnatural display.

Soldier Boy and Raven were Running the Numbers. That was the slang term that Freetowners used for those brave enough, strong enough or street smart enough to survive walking through that section of town. The Numbers was, arguably, the most dangerous part of Freetown, nearly two miles of housing projects, where the people in the lower levels were more likely to sleep on their floor at night than in their bed. Drive by shootings and gang wars was the life for those unfortunate enough to live there, terrified by the hold that the rivaling gangs held on their everyday life.

The woman he assumed was Shante lay cold and lifeless across a neatly made bed in the room down the hall. Untouched food and a glass of water were nearby. He stood over her for a moment before turning his attention to the room. He saw no visible signs of struggle and no evidence of drug use from the areas he could see of her exposed arms and legs. The only thing that might have fit the scenario was that maybe she had been overpowered and suffocated with a pillow.

The white house was barely standing and it was obvious that the landlord wasn’t up to code. This was the kind of neighborhood where the hard knock cases tried to have their own version, of the American dream; a driveway of their very own, and the luxury of not hearing the neighbors running on the ceiling above their heads, or banging the bed against their wall while they were fucking. Kids were riding their bicycles on the street and for the most part it seemed like, an almost decent place to live, and those were hard to come by in Lafayette.