One Way or Another Read Online Free PDF Page A

more. So sue me if I dangle the carrot a little.”
    â€œDios mío.” Jasmine looked up at the ceiling.
    â€œWell, you make sure that all you do is ‘dangle,’ ” said Afrika, picking up her own menu. “Otherwise I might have to end this friendship quick.”
    Toni laughed and handed her menu to the waitress as the tiny young woman took their orders.
    â€œSo how did you end up getting reassigned from this?” Jasmine asked after the waitress had left. “I thought you had the one boss in the world who doesn’t care if you have a record.”
    â€œIt was Gordon,” Toni said, her mood souring again. “He caught some heat from the city over my story.”
    â€œI’m guessing the mayor wasn’t happy about this morning’s photo-op?” Afrika asked, scrunching up her narrow caramel-colored face as she wrestled her long black dreadlocks into a ponytail.
    â€œNo, and that coward Gordon demoted me to assignment reporter.” Toni pouted. “Can you believe it? I’ve been working major stories for over a year and now they want to dump me on random assignments. This week I’m supposed to be covering city court. What am I? A first year intern?”
    â€œWell, you knew something like this was going to happen eventually.” Jasmine took a sip of the drink the waitress had just put in front of her. “You can’t keep blowing up all the big names in the city and think you can get away with it forever.
    â€œDon’t worry too much about it, though,” Jasmine added. “I know you, and even you can find a good story in courts.”
    Afrika snorted. “Don’t hold your breath. My niece Jamelia, who works in booking, says it’s pretty dismal over there. But there are some hot lawyers.”
    Toni rolled her eyes. “Please, they’re probably as corrupt as the criminals they represent. Plus you know I don’t do lawyers.”
    â€œOr doctors ... ” Jasmine added.
    â€œOr politicians ...”Afrika piped in.
    â€œOr CEOs ... ” Jasmine dropped.
    â€œOr pro athletes ...” Africa noted.
    â€œOr anyone who wears a suit or a uniform to work,” Jasmine and Afrika finished together.
    Toni rolled her eyes again. “Hey, I have standards for a reason,” she said. “It’s so I don’t end up with soul-sucking basketball players or spineless investment bankers,” she finished, referring to Afrika’s and Jasmine’s ex-boyfriends.
    â€œOkay, okay.” Jasmine waved away the memory with a flick of her wrist. “Before you burst a blood vessel, I actually might have a story for you.”
    Toni sighed and bit her lip. She had heard Jasmine’s story ideas before. And it made her even happier that her friend had chosen psychology and not journalism as a career.
    â€œIs this another conspiracy theory piece?” Afrika asked wearily as the waitress came back with their food. “ ’Cause I gotta get back to the shop in about an hour.”
    â€œNo, this is real,” Jasmine said, ignoring Toni’s skeptical look. She wiggled her eyebrows. “And it’s really good.”
    â€œOkay.” Toni took a mouthful of tuna and vegetables in pita bread. Now that she was actually being fed, she was feeling a bit more generous. “Let’s hear it.”
    â€œSo there’s this kid down at the center where I volunteer on Tuesdays,” Jasmine started. “Apparently he was involved in some stuff and got caught by the police. But instead of sending him to prison, they sent him to the center, where he more or less works off his time.”
    â€œIs this a touchy-feely story?” Toni grimaced. “You’re not going to tell me that he cleaned up and now he’s going to Harvard or something.”
    â€œPlease, I know your heart of stone isn’t into all that.” Jasmine pursed her lips. “The story is that he’s been