Home > Work > When No One Is Watching
41 " This is a historically Black neighborhood, but none of the important people you’ve mentioned thus far have been. What does that mean?” Her face flushed but she hit me "
― Alyssa Cole , When No One Is Watching
42 " My parents said I should come out to their place in the Hamptons,” she says. She has to clarify because they also have a place in Martha’s Vineyard and one on the Carolina coast. "
43 " I spent spring hermiting away, managing my depression with the help of a CBD pen and generous pours of the Henny I’d found in Mommy’s liquor cabinet. Now I’m sitting on the "
44 " Where am I supposed to live?” I cut her off. My face is hot and I feel ridiculous and exposed: broke, jobless, and half-naked, about to be kicked out of my own house. “I threw most of my savings into moving into this place with you, I’m on the mortgage, and now you think you can— "
45 " You know what I mean,” she snapped. “The neighborhood better change as fast as the realtor said it’s going to, because I’m not gonna put up with a bunch of— "
46 " followed, smirking because annoying people with history they didn’t want to acknowledge was kind of fun. "
47 " You don't look dumpable, whatever that means. You have the eyes of someone who's been treated worse than they should've been, that's all. "
48 " If there’s one thing I know well, it’s how people act when they’re up to something shady. And then he’d headed straight for Sydney. "
49 " Sydney, you’re the one who put this on the schedule last minute,” Ms. Candace says in her no-nonsense tone that reminds me she spent years managing a bank. “You need help. Our neighbor has offered to help. What exactly is the problem? "
50 " I just wanted some scrambled eggs and got Dashboard Confessional instead. "
51 " Of course there was nothing to be done!” Sydney points the gun at her. “Tell me the truth. You helped cheat a sick older woman out of the home she’d poured her life into. "
52 " grimace in his direction. He’s wearing jeans that are too thick and too tight for the heat index and the amount of walking he’s doing. There are sweat stains around the armpits of his tight gray T-shirt, hinting at the swamp-ass horror show that must be playing below. His face sports carefully contoured stubble and eyes that are red-rimmed from too much booze or coke or both. His light brown hair is carefully styled, though, so he’s not entirely a mess. "
53 " When I’d clambered up there as an adult, alone, I’d been struck by how claustrophobic the view looked, with new buildings filling the neighborhoods around us, where there had once been open air. Cranes loomed ominously over the surrounding blocks like invaders from an alien movie, mantis-like shadows with red eyes blinking against the night, the American flags attached to them flapping darkly in the wind, signaling that they came in peace when really they were here to destroy. "
54 " This is no time to get squeamish. Inching slowly toward rejuvenation isn’t an option anymore, and with the police, the media, and the government on our side, there’s nothing to worry about. Even with any destruction and bribes, the cost of getting this over and done quickly is negligible. "
55 " You work at the public school. This is going to be an independent school priced just high enough to do the work of segregation for the people who will send their kids there. "
56 " Much like my dear departed husbands. When you expect others to serve you, especially others who you mistreat, you should really be more careful about what exactly it is that’s being served. "
57 " kaffeeklatsch "
58 " Then I pick up my fork and eat. "
59 " persistent sense memory of restraints chafing my wrists. "
60 " He runs a hand through his hair with that look of practiced innocence white men use when they're on some bullshit. "