Tender knew today was Friday, the first of the month. And she also knew that Kat went to pick up her son at school around this time. Faithfully, she went and got him, spending the day with him. She had just hung up the phone after antagonizing Niecey, Q’s crazy baby’s mother, as if she were Kat. By giving her Kat’s home address, she sealed her fate.

Leaving her house, Kat never suspected anything was wrong. She had no reason to. She was looking forward to spending some time with her son. She had been slacking in that department lately. Ever since she hooked up with Q, her son’s time had diminished drastically. Today she was going to make it up to him, she was going to buy him those new sneakers he asked for. That oughta make him happy, she thought.

Walking toward her truck, she never paid any mind to the dark tinted windowed Honda Accord that was parked directly behind her car. Just as she was about to enter her truck, the driver’s-side door of the car flew open. Gun in hand, Niecey exited her car.

“Kat? …” Niecey called as she raised the gun.

Kat looked at her with sheer fear in her eyes. “Noooooo!!!!” she begged. “Don’t shoot!”

“Take dis, you big mouth bitch!!! …” came the reply.

Simultaneously, she fired a shot, from a small .22 caliber handgun, directly into Kat’s skull from point-blank range. Kat died instantly. And she never even knew why.

Tender found out about the murder on the news. A sly smile spread across her lips. Somehow she felt good about this evil deed. Good riddance, she thought. The world was now a better place.

“Excuse me, miss, ya face look kinda familiar …. Don’t I know you from somewhere? …”

Busy braiding a client’s hair, Tender looked the man directly in the face, to see if she recognized him. She didn’t. But it was still a possibility he came in contact with her in her previous life as a stripper. She couldn’t be a hundred percent certain.

“Nah, you don’t know me …” she replied. “I ain’t from Philly … I’m from York, York, PA … Eva heard of it?”

“Yeah, I hearda it. Neva been there though.” he answered. “But I swear, I know you from somewhere …. I don’t neva forget a face ….”

Tender turned back around, ignoring the man. She had lots of clients lined up, waiting to get their hair done. She probably would get that kind of response from different men from time to time. If her past occupation did surface, then she would deal with it. She wouldn’t deny it, she promised herself. That was in the past. She had done that out of ignorance. Everyone had done something in their lifetime that they weren’t so proud of—everyone.