Wayward Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page B

on a street corner, and you call me a bitch? Girl, you might be good-looking, but you need to check your priorities and get over your bitch-fit.”
    â€œI don’t have to take this.”
    â€œYes, you do.” Standing, Erica drew a deep breath and walked around her desk. “Judging by the fact that you’re still here, I’m the closest thing you have to a friend right now. Sit down.”
    Bianca sat.
    â€œBelieve it or not, I’ve done this dance, too.” Erica rested a hip against her desk and swung one ankle across the other. “Do you have somewhere to go? Friends? Family?” When Bianca shook her head, Erica sighed. “You’re not exactly the shelter type, and I can’t imagine where you could park that Jag long enough to sleep in it.”
    â€œI have eighty-four dollars.”
    â€œAnd some change. Yeah, I heard you the first time. You know that might only cover a couple of nights at a really cheap motel, and you’ll still need to eat.” When she dropped her hand into her jacket pocket, Erica Lane looked serious. “This is not going to last long. I don’t figure you for a McDonald’s kind of girl, but maybe it will help you get to family or someone who can help.” She pulled her hand free of the pocket and extended two fifties to Bianca.
    Ashamed, Bianca stared at the cash. I called this woman a bitch, and she’s extending herself like this… “I can’t take that.”
    â€œIf you don’t, you’re a bigger fool than the woman who pulled up to that ATM machine looking for cash. That woman at least knew that eighty-four dollars wouldn’t take her very far. Call it a loan, if that will make you feel better.”
    Still hesitating, Bianca stared at the bills a moment longer before taking them. “A loan, then. I’ll get this back to you.”
    â€œNot a problem.”
    Bianca stood, the manager’s kindness galling her. Wanting to be anywhere other than where she was, she pulled the ATM card from her pocket and folded it back and forth until it finally broke. She laid the two pieces on the desk. “I’m going to handle me from now on.”
    â€œIt won’t be easy, but it really can be done,” Erica Lane whispered, watching Bianca’s stiff back as she left the office. Bianca walked straight out of the door, looking neither right nor left. The manager’s smile was small and hopeful. Sweeping the broken card pieces into the wastebasket, she sighed. Maybe this woman really would make it. She hoped so.
    I am going to handle me, from now on , Bianca vowed again, unlocking her car door. Sitting in the driver’s seat, she had to admit the truth of Erica Lane’s words: KPayne had planned this! Looking at the wrinkled bills Erica had given her, she felt awash with shame and gratitude. But this is definitely a loan , she told herself, and I am going to get it back to her. And she’s right—he planned this.
    Damn him and his squeak-talking mama!
    As much as she wanted to put some of the blame on Catherine Reynolds Payne, Bianca knew she was wrong. Catherine was a snob, not a ride-or-die, out-for-vengeance cutthroat. No, KPayne hadn’t turned to his mother for any of this; this was all him.
    And I let him do it!
    Bianca separated herself from the Jaguar and slammed the car door. Late afternoon sun glittered in the western sky, shining and silhouetting the high Atlanta skyline, and she dipped her hand into her purse for her sunglasses. Slipping them over her eyes, she left the car behind and began to walk with no particular destination in mind.
    KPayne or one of his paid-to-be-right lawyers had to go down to the county office to file for that eviction notice. He had someone pull some strings at the bank to get the money frozen. He had to get my belongings out of the condo. How long did he think about it? A week? Two weeks? All along, looking in my face and planning to dump me