All Or Nothing Read Free Page A

household. It was she who was responsible for the meager furnishings, the food and the rent. Brenda’s drug habit had placed her daughter under the gun and kept her there.
    Shantell watched her mother leave the house without saying another word. It was a sad day when a child could disrespect their parent like that, without fear of retribution, but this is what their relationship had come to. It was a shame that it had become almost natural for Brenda and Shantell to exchange heated words like this.
    After cleaning up her mess, Shantell went upstairs. The first thing she did was to check on her baby daughter, Jordan. Quietly she stuck her head into her bedroom, careful not to disturb her sleeping child. The television provided the only light in the room. It shone on the sleeping baby, as she slept comfortably on the bed. Satisfied everything was okay, Shantell backed out of the bedroom and headed across the hall to the bathroom. She stripped down to her black Victoria’s Secret braandpanty set. Shantell closely examined herself in the fulllength mirror behind the door. With her hands on her hips, Shantell admired herself. She struck a confident pose. There was no question that Shantell was blessed with all the physical gifts to succeed not only in her current occupation, but also in life.
    She was drop-dead gorgeous. She stood 5’5 inches tall, with long, shoulder-length hair and walnut brown-colored eyes. Her honey brown skin seemed to radiate. Her waist was small, but Shantell’s ass was phat. She could give a lot of video hoes a run for their money. Her body, in general, was in immaculate shape with nice, firm breasts and washboard abs. Shantell’s body looked as if she worked out vigorously, yet she hadn’t exercised a day in her life. Her curvaceous figure was all natural. If there was such a thing as a body to die for, this was it.
    Satisfied with her own physical self inspection, Shantell slipped off the rest of her underwear and stepped into the shower. The warm water pulsated all over her body and Shantell just stood underneath it, eyes closed, enjoying the moment. She wished the water could wash away all the sin from her soul as easily as it did the dirt from her body. Unfortunately for her, it wouldn’t be that easy. There was a long road to redemption ahead of her. Shantell had more than a few issues to address before she got right with God or herself. Taking a long shower was relaxing to Shantell. She began to hum her favorite tune by R&B queen Beyonce, as the water gently messaged her body.
    “...Me, myself and I that’s all I got in the end…I’m be my own best friend.” She sang. Shantell sang so beautifully she would have put Beyonce to shame. It was too bad that her talent emerged in the shower. She was too shy to put her talent on public display.
    Finally she soaped up twice and rinsed off.
    Shantell stepped out of the shower, toweled off, then put her dirty clothes in the hamper. When she left the bathroom she was careful to make sure that she took all her valuables with her. With her mother’s drug habit in full swing, if Shantell left any valuables lying around, they would surely come up missing. This was the nature of the beast that she was dealing with. Shantell knew it and understood it well, yet she was powerless to do anything about it, at least for now.
    Shantell yawned. Outside her window, she could hear the birds beginning to chirp. To them, their noise signaled the coming of a new day. For her, it was the same old shit, different day.
    Shantell climbed into the bed with Jordan. She kissed the infant and whispered ‘I love you’ into her ear. Shantell looked at her daughter and said a silent prayer that Jordan wouldn’t end up like her. Although Shantell’s life was far from finished, she didn’t like what she was becoming.
    After tossing and turning she finally found her spot and got comfortable. Within minutes she dozed off and went to sleep. This was a form of suspended