PROLOGUE
Prophet (age 15)
I’m struggling to figure out my math homework when the doorbell rings, interrupting my thought process. Tossing my textbook to the side, I get out of the recliner and stretch my tight muscles from sitting in one position for so long before I head to the front door. “I got it, Granny,” I yelled as I looked through the peephole.
Seeing the caseworker that handles any kids coming to stay with Granny, I opened the door. “Hey, Mrs. Henderson, how are you today?” I asked.
“Good, good, Eli. How are you?” she replied as I caught a glimpse of a small statured girl standing behind her, basically invisible unless you were looking for her.
“Okay, I guess. Algebra is killing me, though. Why do I have to know how to use it when I probably won’t need it once I’m out of school?” I wondered as I allowed her and the timid girl to come into the house.
Granny, who appeared right behind me, smiled and asked, “Hello, Joyce. Who do we have here?”
“This is Rosa Cortez, Virginia. Can we go into the kitchen to take care of the paperwork?” Mrs. Henderson questioned.
“Of course. Eli, take Rosa into the living room while I meet with Joyce,” Granny commanded. She was already walking away, knowing I’d follow her instructions to a T. I might be a smartass teenager, but not around Granny.
Neveraround Granny. She and my pops were the reason I was still around, after all, and I owed everything I had and who I was to the two of them.
“Follow me,” I instructed the mousey girl, who still hadn’t uttered a single word. She was either shy, or scared half to death.
Once we made it back into the living room, I sat down in Pops’ recliner and said, “You can sit anywhere you want.”
She glanced around taking in the space before muttering, “Thank you.”
Her voice was soft, almost hesitant and I looked at her far more closely than I had when I first opened the door. While she definitely looked scared, she was so pretty my voice caught in my throat. “How old are you?” I asked.
“Thirteen,” she mumbled.
“Well, you’ll like my school, especially if you participate in any sports,” I replied. “I’m on the wrestling team, but I go to a gym and am learning about mixed martial arts.”
“That sounds… cool,” she murmured. “I don’t know how long I’ll be here, though, so it’s probably not a good idea to commit to anything.”
I shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not, but even if you’re only here for a month, it’ll give you something to do.”
“That’s true.”
I didn’t ask why she was in foster care; that was rude, and Granny had impressed on me that the kids she helped needed kindness and grace, as well as a family environment so when theydidreturn home, they went with the understanding that they had value and worth. Since I loved my granny, I chose to just let Rosa be. If she wanted to share things, she would. But it was okay if she kept her mouth shut as well.
Prophet (age 17)
“Rosa, we can’t,” I groaned out.
While it was okay that we were dating as far as drawn lines were concerned, there was no way I was going to cross the line she was trying to erase. She wasn’t legal and I was, and I knew what could happen to me. I wasn’t going to fuck up the rest of my life just to have sex with her.
“I don’t see why not,” she grumbled, pushing back from her position on my lap. “We’re dating, we love each other, and it’s what I want.”
“Yeah, well, what you want could get me thrown in jail,” I retorted. “A tumble in the sheets with you isn’t worth it, Rosa. Not yet. We have to wait.”
“Nobody will know,” she insisted, trying to lure me onto her side but her way of thinking could have drastic consequences… for me.
Shaking my head, I tried to reason with her, make her think of someone beside herself. “Yeah, they will. You know Granny will ferret that information out of one of us in less time than it takes you to pour a cup of coffee.”
“I hate when you’re all logical and shit,” Rosa sneered.
My girl, she can be selfish at times, but I refused to let this day and situation be one of them. “Well, I hate it when you don’t think of anyone else but yourself,” I rebutted.
She rolled her eyes at me, but I remained firm. I wasn’t willing to throw my life away just to have sex with her. I knew she had friends who were already sexually active, and that was fine forthem, but growing up, my grandpa made sure I understood that every action had a consequence. Some of those friends of hers were playing with fire, but in the long run, their choices didn’t impact me.