Naima hugged her mommy as she got out of the car.  'Be good, okay.' Naima rolled her eyes. 'Aren't I always?' Taissa chuckled and passed her her school bag and a few wads of money. 'For munchies and souvenirs and whatnot,' she said. 'Okay, thanks, Mommy. You want me to get you something?' Taissa pretended to chew over this for a moment. 'Anything will do,' she said finally just as the son came out from the other side of the car. 'What of me?!' he asked loudly as he bounded over to his sister. He held her right hand and made puppy eyes at her, sticking out his bottom lip. 'Aren't you gonna get me something, Naima?' 'Oh, why would I ever forget you? I'd get the best anything for you.' 'Can I get a Jag model, please.' 'No way, man. It's way too high-priced. 'Sides they might not have that.'

Annoying Thing, somewhere along the line, had sidled up to Naima and was trying at small talk and didn't get the gist that he wasn't wanted. He kept on talking to a brick wall that was already making a gap between them.She cast her gaze around wildly for her former company. They were nowhere in sight. Where were those friends of hers when she needed them the most?"I got an extra toe, did you know that?" Annoying Thing was saying. Naima rolled her eyes and made a retching sound, clawing at her throat. But the girl was only disappointed to find out that didn't keep off Annoying Thing, it only impressed the morbid creep. She crossed her fingers and hoped Wanda and the rest would show up and save her.But they didn't. And the poor girl tried to drown out the sound of a mooning Annoying Thing telling her about his obese aunt who did yoga to rid herself of asthmaUgh!Her rescue came in the form of Mr Quasar as the wiry man came up with two guys in office wear to announce to the bored

Trying to not worry was definitely not an easy task for Taissa. Nothing seemed to be, nowadays. The worrying parasite thoughts kept running all over her head like energy zigzagging through her brain. Where was the next money going to come from? She didn't always get the paperwork (she wasn't the only one who applied for them). The current client she had was a shoestring budget man who'd come to her in the first place because he couldn't afford them famous and more expensive advocates.His sweatshop had been run into by a FedEx truck and he hoped to squeeze some money from them for damage control.Was it this man she was going to depend on? It wasn't easy keeping her head above water. The landlord was getting more aggressive each day, that problem wore her down the most but she was almost through with paying the rent money and then she'd look for a nice apartment building. Tears stung her eyes at this. She couldn't help remembering her dream, her and Aeneas's. To live happily in a 'hom

Naima waited for the crowd to dwindle before she approached Mr Chevrolet, who had just finished signing on Lin's sneakers. Silly girl, Naima thought of Lin as she approached him, nervous all of a sudden.'Hi there,' he said and flashed a smile.'Hi.' She let out a deep breath she didn't know she was holding. 'I was wondering if you could sign in my autograph book,' she said at the same time unzipping her backpack for the big book.'Sure thing, you've got a book for autographs?' He sounded surprised.'Yes.' She blinked. 'Is it not okay?''No, no, sounds . . . sensible, actually.''Thanks.' She handed him the book and he signed on the front page and then a blank page.'Do you want anywhere else?''Yes! On my sketchbook . . .' She broke off, knowing she'd said something she shouldn't have. 'Oh, never mind,' she muttered.'I heard alright, Ms Allendale,' Channing said. 'Bring it out.''It's not here,' she said softly, he almost didn't catch it.'You could get your dad to stop by anytime

The calm cerulean-blue pool reflected the room opposite, giving the impression that it was right beneath the water and inverted.Channing squeezed a blob of sunscreen into a palm and settled back in his recliner to stare at the shape in the water. He wanted to see if he could make out the wordings on the high windowsill without having to look up at the real thing. He couldn't see anything from his position. He rubbed the lotion all over his muscular chest and sat up leaning over the edge of the recliner to stare at the water.Something Tex. Good thing he didn't even remember what was actually written on the sill.Anyways the angle at which his head was bent was making him dizzy and he feared he'd start haemorrhaging from the nose. As he sat back he was struck by how lonely he felt. Everywhere was dead quiet — even the clouds weren't moving. It made him wish he'd had put aside time to make friends. But he just wasn't the friend type of person, he was used to people holding him in hig