“I may be innocent in da court of law, but I’m guilty in God’s eyes. Remember the Ten Commandents? ‘Thou shall not kill’ … Dis ain’t da first time—”

Tender didn’t know what to make of this. “Hurry up! You gotta go,” Kat frantically yelled. “Get ya things and go. Befo’ it’s too late … They might come raid my house. They’ll take my son away from me and put ’im in a home. Oh, my God …”

Kat quickly scribbled a phone number on a small piece of paper, then reached into her pocketbook and removed a wad of cash. She shoved the couple of hundred dollars in Goldie’s hand. Then she practically dragged her through the house toward the door, bags and all.

“… Tender, don’t jus stand there, call a cab,” Kat instructed her.

“Where am I goin’?” she managed to ask. “I ain’t got nowhere ta go.”

“Ya goin’ ta New York. It’s a big city, they’ll neva find ya there,” Kat said. “Don’t worry, I got some peoples up there. They’ll look out fa you. When you get there all you gotta do iz call da number on dat piece a paper I gave you ….”

Kat had some people in New York alright, and they were just like her. They’d use Goldie for their own purposes. They would finish the job that Kat had started, that was destroying Goldie’s life.

“Tender, come wit me …” Goldie pleaded. “Pleezzze!!! I can’t make it by myself ….”

There was a long painful silence for what felt like an eternity. Goldie looked so sad and pathetic that it broke Tender’s heart.

“She can’t go wit you,” Kat snapped, putting a quick end to that notion. “Then she’ll be in jus’ as much trouble as you. Then what good will she do you? Huh? She gotta stick around till things cool off. She’ll join you later. And so will I.”

“But. But,” Goldie sulked. “Tender—”

The noise from the cab’s horn interrupted their conversation. This was music to Kat’s ears. It couldn’t come quick enough for her. She rushed her out the door. As she led her, Goldie turned and looked at Tender as if it were her last time seeing her. A look of pure sadness was etched across her face. She was a lost soul.

Tender never felt so helpless. She wanted to help her but she didn’t know how. She was caught up too, just not as bad as her friend. Her best bet was to stay put. She could help her more on this end by hustling up the money for a lawyer, than to join her on the run.

“Goldie,” Tender said, feeling tears well up in her eyes, “I luv you—”

“You gotta go,” Kat announced as she pushed her out the door. “Hurry up, befo’ the cab leave you—”