Read Unzipped: An Urban Erotic Tale Online
Authors: Noire
Unzipped: An Urban Erotic Tale (33 page)
“Y’all know I asked you to come down here because I see hope and promise in each of you. Some of y’all probably came just to get off the track for a quick minute, others might have come because I promised to hook y’all up with some free food.” Pearl waited as they laughed and dapped each other, covering their mouths like the joke was on her.
“But I want you to know,” she held up her hand and continued, “that it really doesn’t matter why you came. The important thing is that you made it here.”
Pearl paused and took a deep breath. She felt the blood of her father coursing through her veins and it felt so damned good. Pearl was starting to believe that if she opened up her arms wide enough some of the girls would walk into them on their own.
“Check it out. I’ve heard it said that every journey begins with just one step, and I believe that. But before we can walk we have to crawl. And before we can crawl, we have to first believe. Belief begins with the words we tell ourselves. It begins with a single sentence.”
Pearl came from behind her podium and stood before the girls, the light in their expectant eyes warming her soul until there was no room in her heart for selfishness anymore.
“I’d like you to turn around, ladies. Turn around and read that sentence written on the wall behind you. Let’s say the words out loud together as we begin a journey into the possibility of a new life.”
“There are no limitz on a soul emboldened and a mind inspired. ”
• • •
Pearl smiled. Every one of them, even her tough little Cookie had spoken the words out loud. And really, Pearl knew, that was all it took. Speaking could lead to believing, and believing could lead to changing.
Pearl looked out at the young prostitutes and sighed deeply. Grief tried to sneak up on her and shut her down, but she wouldn’t let it. She might not be Daddy’s Pearl anymore, but these young girls needed her, and from now on she would always be Harlem’s Pearl.
I can change!
was something Pearl had heard her twin sister say over and over throughout the years.
I can change!
Yes, Diamond
. Pearl whispered a few silent words of love to her twin.
There are no limitz in this life, my sister, but with a soul emboldened and a mind inspired, all of us can change. Even me
.
She’s Harlem’s Pearl and she’s here to stay
She cut down the thugs who took her family away!
She found room in her heart for the girls on the track
Now she’s helping little sisters get their precious souls back
There’s no place like Harlem so she stayed and flipped the script
’Cause hell has no fury like a chick who comes unzipped!
Thanks to the Father for my highs and my lows, my peaks and my valleys.
Without both, who would I be?
Stay Black
NOIRE
N
OIRE
is an author from the streets of New York whose hip-hop erotic stories pulsate with urban flavor. Visit the author’s website at
www.asknoire.com
or email the author at
[email protected]
.
Unzipped
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A One World Trade Paperback Original
Copyright © 2010 by Noire
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by One World Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
O
NE
W
ORLD
is a registered trademark and the One World colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
eISBN: 978-0-345-51969-6
v3.0
