Prologue

My father had at last drawn us back into his orbit, yet I knew I couldn’t stay. Lying in the dark, the familiar knot tightened in my stomach as I thought about my mom’s disappearance and all the times my dad abandoned us, leaving me in the care of my abusive Uncle. 

 

I had my fill of the brown rice and mugwort tea diet, which turned my stomach, and I’d had it with fulfilling my quota of macrame plant hangers to keep the family business afloat. I didn’t realize then, however, that my decision to escape home would set in motion a chain of events that would pull me further into a savage, unforgiving world. 

 

Already awake when the alarm clock under my pillow went off at five a.m. I quickly dressed, carefully walked up the stairs from the basement, and slipped out the back door. I didn’t want to wake my dad and siblings. 

 

Crickets were chirping and the early morning sky was still filled with stars as I left the house, but the birds hadn’t started singing yet. I took a deep breath and paused to look around; I was waiting for some sort of blessing or good luck omen. Omens sometimes appeared for me in difficult moments.

 

Barefoot, I was wearing my favorite blue sweat jacket and carried my Converse sneakers in one hand and my heavy backpack in another. Crouching and peering ahead, I stepped into the alley where my boyfriend waited. I could see Willie’s silhouette standing outside his ‘72 dusty blue Toyota Corolla with the hatchback open. The moon cast a long shadow behind him down the dark alley. 

 

Willie was 19, tall, with a big afro, and I felt grown up with him. I remembered the day we had met in Winchell's donuts, several months earlier. That was right before I had helped rob the place.

 

I had taken the garage key from my dad’s keychain the night before and left it in the lock. I turned the handle on the yellow brick garage door that faced the alley, and slowly lifted it. 

 

My heart pounded as we loaded the back of Willie’s car with my boxes, and I imagined my dad trying to catch me as I made my escape. Would he attempt to hold me back, or would he shrug and say he didn’t know what my karma was and that I needed to find my own way?

 

The car was loaded so I didn’t have any more time to worry about that. Willie got in and quietly closed his door. Leaning over, he pushed open the passenger door and urgently whispered, “Get in, Baby. We’re going home.” 

 

I was 13.