E’STEEM
LITTLE GIRL LOST
Copyright © 20l7 Shawn James
Published by SJS DIRECT, Bronx, NY, 10456
Chapter 1
My, my, my, I sure look good tonight.
The tune of Johnny Gill’s smooth song plays softly from the speakers in the ceiling as I get one last look at myself the full-length mirror on my closet door. If this sexy little piece of lavender lingerie doesn’t get John in the mood for some romance, I don’t know what will.
After I dab a little Chanel No.5 behind my ears, I saunter out of my bedroom filled with anticipation. I can’t wait to see John’s reaction to me in this new nightgown. When I step into his bedroom across the hall and hear the snore of the husky toast colored man slumped over on the mahogany four-post bed my eager expression twists into a frown. There go our plans for a romantic evening.
Well, I can’t get too mad at him. With all the work he does in a day around here at Morris Phillips I’m surprised he doesn’t crash more often.
I give my boyfriend a kiss on the forehead and stroll out of his bedroom onto the balcony. As I jump up onto the parapet I look up at all the stars twinkling in the moonlit sky and smile. Since it’s a nice night I think I’ll take a little flight around Times Square. Maybe when John wakes up he’ll be in the mood to pick up where we left off.
Chapter 2
The air gathers under my bat wings while I make the turn around the antenna at the top of 4 Times Square. As I start my descent into the cross roads of the world, I smile looking down at the throngs of tourists rushing out of the theaters and gathering in the pedestrian walkways. Since we have a couple of days off next month, maybe I’ll ask John if he wants to go to a Broadway show-
Hold on. One of these kids just doesn’t belong here. One of these kids just isn’t the same.
Among the children wearing jackets and sneakers coming out the theater showing Frozen, I spot a little black girl wearing a nightgown tucked into a pair of rumpled jeans and a pair of untied sneakers. Someone’s out way past her bedtime. I better keep an eye on her.
While she stares blankly into the screen of her Smartphone, she walks blindly into the crowd of tourists not looking where she’s going. As I land on the rooftop of one of the theaters and rush across the moldings on the edge, I notice a man in a hoodie, baggy jeans, and sneakers looking at her. He smiles and brushes the elbow of his friend and they start following behind her. When the girl turns into the alley behind the theater on 45th Street, they rush up behind her and snatch the phone right out of her hands. Before she can start screaming, they’re bolting up Broadway. Time to scare some crooks straight.
As I rush across the rooftops I change myself from my human form into my demon one. Long black horns shoot out of my forehead, my brown eyes turn into reptile ones, and my fingernails and toenails change into black cloven claws. Before the men get halfway up the block, I jump off the rooftop and land right in front of their path. “I don’t think that belongs to you.” I tell them.
“OH MY GOD!” One of the thugs screams on seeing my demonic visage.
With his fight or flight response kicking in, the terrified thug grabs his friend and starts getting ready to run. “C’mon man, let’s get outta here!” He pleads.
Unfortunately his partner isn’t feeling as repentant. He yanks out of his grip and reaches into his waistband for a nine millimeter pistol. “Man, I ain’t going nowhere!” He insists.
“But she’s a demon!”
“I don’t care if she’s Mother Theresa!” He barks. “This phone is worth over three hundred dollars! I’m not giving up that kind of payday for nobody!”
The thug fires a series of shots that echo in the alley. I see the bullets coming at me and catch them before they can even hit me. In any other situation I’d just let them bounce off me, but the last thing I want to do is ruin my new nightgown. “Ouch.” I chuckle as I present him with his bullets.
The man’s eyes grow wide watching me I drop all the spent rounds on the sidewalk. Before he can fire a second round of gunfire, I rush over to him with a burst of super speed and snatch his gun out of hand. When I hold him up in the air I notice a wet spot forming on the front of his pants. “The phone.” I say crunching his gun up in my hand. “Or I do to you what I just did to your gun.”
As he watches the pieces of his former pistol litter the sidewalk, the thug nervously hands me the child’s phone. After I take it from him, I toss him into his friend and laugh as they tumble onto the sidewalk. While the terrified criminals scramble to their feet and scurry up Broadway, I hurry back down the block to reunite the little girl with her lost iPhone.
Chapter 3
I suck my teeth on watching my boys run up the block scared. I didn’t think E’steem would ever grace Times Square with her presence. But social media’s Devilish Diva has found her way into my territory.
Just as I’m about to let my boys know what’s up, my burner phone rings. I know who’s calling me before I even see the number on the screen. “Boss, we got trouble.” One of my boys tells me.
“Yeah, I know. E’steem’s in the square.”
“If she stays here we’re gonna lose a lot of money.”
We’ll lose a lot more if they get into it with her. “I got this. Head back up to the club.”
“But she cost us three hundred large-”
If my best pickpockets and phone swipers are locked up they can’t make me no money. I’d rather lose a few dollars than lose the whole operation. “Don’t worry about the money. I got this. Head back to the club.”
After I get off the phone with my boys, I cut to another one of the NYPD security cameras on the block I hacked into and watch her rush down the street in the direction of the kid my boys stole the iPhone from. Guess she’s doing another one of her good deeds. Well, that may be the game she runs on the East Side, but I ain’t havin none of that superhero mess here on Brimstone Jack’s territory.
Chapter 4
The screen of the little girls’ Smartphone lights my way as I make my wings magically shrink into my back and hurry down the dark alley searching for its young owner. When I hear her whimpering and see her wandering back towards Broadway I smile. I think she’ll be happy to have her most prized possession back.
A flash of light takes me from where I’m standing in between Broadway and Sixth to the spot on the sidewalk in front of the little girl. Her eyes grow wide when she sees me standing in front of her. “Ahem…I believe this is yours.” I say presenting her with her Smartphone.
The startled girl shakes on looking into my yellow reptilian eyes. “AIIIEEGGGGHHHH!!!! A MONSTER!” She screams.
I guess she’s too scared to see the horns. The little girl starts running back up the block. I kick myself as I take off after her. I should have changed back to my human form before I went to approach her. If my demonic visage strikes terror in adults it’d definitely traumatize a small child. She’s halfway up the block before I manage to catch up with her. Tears are in her eyes when I grab her arm. She’s about to scream when I squat down and meet her eyes again with a smile. “Hey-Hey-Hey- I’m not gonna hurt you.” I plead. “I just wanted to give you your phone back.”
The girl looks me up and down. “But you’re a monster!”
I’d like to think I’d be kinder to her than most of the people around here. “You don’t have to worry about me, I’m a friendly monster.” I say handing her the phone.
“Like the monsters on Monster High?” She says taking her phone back from me.
“Yeah. Except I’m all grown up.”
The girl’s eyes light up as she looks me over again. “I know you, you’re the Devil Lady from Yo
uTube!”
It seems someone has been very naughty. Not only has she been going out without her parents’ permission, she’s been watching content that’s not appropriate for viewers her age. “It seems my reputation precedes me. Now what are you doing out at this hour?
“What happened to your red dress?”
It’s impolite to answer a question with a question. But if me explaining my change of clothes will help me find out why she’s walking the streets of Times Square in her pajamas without her parents, I’ll tell her the abridged version of the sordid details regarding my romantic evening. “Er…I was getting ready for bed. Now where were you going?”
“Home.”
I give her a quizzed look. “Home?”
The girl quickly taps the screen and turns on the Google Maps app. “Yeah, I wanted to see Frozen. So I bought the tickets on my phone.”
“Phone?”
“Yeah. And I just followed the directions on Google Maps to get to the theater.”
Ah, the wonders of technology. I don’t know what’s more dangerous, the fact that she knows so much about using a Smartphone or the fact that she’s completely oblivious to all the danger around her. Thank God I was in the right place at the right time. “…And you were relying on those maps to get you back home?”
“Google Maps are never wrong.”
Google Maps may show her a direction to go in, but they can’t show her the dangers around her. “What’s your name?”
“Melissa.”
“Well, Melissa do you know what you’re doing is dangerous-”
“I just wanted to see the movie…”
“Well, why didn’t you wait for your parents to take you?”
The little girl’s face twists into a frown. “Mommy promised to take me to see Frozen last month. Then Daddy promised to take me to see Frozen this month. And they both promised to take me today afterschool. But they didn’t do it.”
“So you decided to go by yourself.”
“Yeah, everybody at school has seen the movie but me.” Melissa says. “And everybody knows about everything in the movie but me.”
She kind of reminds me at that age. I wanted to be like the other kids, but because I was deemed to be a “Child of the Gods” I couldn’t go out and play with them. So I missed out on everything important to the kids my age back then. “You’re not really dressed for a trip for the movies.”
“You’re out in your nightgown.” She jabs.
Touché. “I was out for flight before bed.” I say smiling at her. “Do your parents know where you are?”
Melissa shakes her head no.
“Well, they’re gonna have to know-”
Before I can scroll through her phone to find their number, Melissa takes my hand. “No you can’t call them!”
With her shaken up by my appearance, the last thing I want to do is make her more anxious than she already is. “All right. I won’t call them yet. But I’m going to have to talk to them about this little trip you took when we get you home.”
“You’re gonna take me home?”
I can’t leave her by herself. Chances are she’d run into more predators on her way home. “Yes, I am taking you home. Now where do you live?”
“The Carlton Towers on 73rd Street and Broadway.”
Oh my God, she rode the train by herself. “Did you take the train here?”
Melissa shakes her head. “It wasn’t that many stops.”
It’s stopping my heart to hear about all the risks she took to see this movie. “You must really like Frozen.”
“It’s the best movie ever made.”
Maybe I’d feel that way about it too if I were her age. While I’d love to get back home to hear John’s snore, I think he’d understand me taking the time to take Melissa home. I take her hand and lead her down the alley behind the theater. As we approach the corner, I’m taken aback by all the bright lights illuminating Times Square. They’re almost like the stars. I’d love to take in all this spectacle, but I can’t get distracted. I made a promise to get Melissa home and I’ve got to see it through.
I feel eyes on me as we turn the corner and start heading down the block towards the Times Square train station. With all the groups of topless women wearing body paint and performers dressed in costumes as superheroes and children’s storybook characters I didn’t think a barefoot she-demon in a purple nightgown would get anyone’s attention. But it seems I’m drawing my own crowd. I do my best to ignore the throngs of tourists and theatergoers circling around me as I scroll through Melissa’s phone to find her contact information. In the moment I find it in the Address Book app, the red lights of Smartphone cameras gets in my eyes. “HEY! IT’S THE DEVIL LADY FROM YOUTUBE!” A boy calls out.
Great, just what I need, my adoring public. On the announcement, more people start crowding around me trying to get a picture. I can’t worry about them, just making sure that Melissa gets home safely. Before I can disappear into a flash of light, a heavyset middle-aged woman rushes up to me. “Ooooh! I watch your videos all the time! Can I get a picture?”
I flash the Midwestern woman dressed in khakis, a sweatshirt, and sneakers s a smile. “Er…I’m kind of in the middle of doing a good deed here-”
“Oh, it’ll only take a minute.” The giddy woman says wrapping her arm around my shoulder. “I can’t wait to tell all the folks in Bismarck I met the Devil Lady!”
Well, I can’t upset all the folks in Bismarck North Dakota. I paste on a smile as the woman’s husband rushes in front of us with his digital camera in hand. After the flash explodes in our eyes, her husband telegraphs an approving smile to her that tells me he’s got the picture that’s going to be one of the highlights of their vacation.
On seeing me take the photo with the tourist, one of the topless women across the pedestrian walkway scowls at me. Hey, she’s taking pictures!” She barks.
While the lady from Bismarck rushes over to her husband to see the picture they took, the topless women storm over to me ready to give me the business. “Who do you think you are coming onto our territory taking pictures!” Another demands.
I see the red lights of more Smartphone cameras coming on. “I wasn’t taking pictures-”
“Yeah, you were. Trying to cash in on our action!”
“She’s walking around with her boobies out!” Melissa says peering up at the woman’s breasts covered in body paint.
I’d love to explain how that’s perfectly legal here. But I’ll let her parents explain the technicalities of the laws of New York City to her. “I’m not trying to cash in on anything-”
“Yeah, you are.” Another topless performer growls. “Coming out here pretending to be the YouTube Devil Lady! “Your dress isn’t even the right color!”
Er…I am the YouTube Devil Lady. “Er…it’s not a dress-”
The first woman to confront me rolls her eyes. “That’s because your outfit is bootleg!” She says rolling her neck. “With your fake horns. And your dollar store wig-”
Wig? I spent a half-hour getting my hair this fabulous. “Wig? I say grabbing a section of my silken raven locks. “This is real-”
“We’ll see how real it is when I snatch that weave out your head-”
The tourists become filled with anticipation about the upcoming catfight between the topless women and myself. I’m doing my best to keep an eye on Melissa when I’m given a shove from behind that pushes me into one of the topless women who shoves me back. As I fall onto the asphalt in the pedestrian walkway on my backside the crowd erupts in a roar.
The whoops and hollers of the crowd quickly reach a crescendo when a light explodes in our eyes. Before I can get to my feet, I’m met with the cold look of a toasted almond colored demon dressed in tailored silver sharkskin suit, blue silk shirt, burgundy alligator shoes, and a burgundy pimp hat. He scowls as he points his gold tipped mahogany cane at me. “You should have stayed yo ass on the East Side E’steem.” He snarls.
&nbs
p; I probably would be there right now if my boyfriend had just a little more stamina. “Language! We have children here!”
“They ain’t got no business here! This is Brimstone Jack’s territory!”
I’m guessing he’s a relic from the old days of Times Square when it wasn’t as family friendly. “So you’re the one behind the cell phone snatchers-”
“You’re not gonna mess up my business with your little do gooder act.”
The handle of Brimstone Jack’s cane starts to ignite with blue flames. Before he can hit me with a blast of hellfire from it I roll out of the way and spring to my feet as the asphalt it burns melts back into tar. He’s looking for a fight. Unfortunately, I’m not dressed for one.
The crowds in the Square starts raising up their Smartphones to record the upcoming carnage. I’d love to take down Brimstone Jack, but with the square so packed with people I have to look out for everyone’s safety. Brimstone Jack fires another blast of hellfire from his cane; I conjure a ball of mystic energy to absorb the flames before they can hit me. As I send it into the night sky and it explodes like fireworks, Brimstone Jack peers down at his side and scowls. “Leave E’steem alone! Melissa says punching him in the leg.
Brimstone Jack looks at Melissa and pulls her off him. “Get off me you little rugrat!”
“Don’t hurt her!” I plead.
Brimstone Jack holds Melissa in the air by her pants and smiles at me. “I bet she’s worth far more than a cell phone to you.”
I’ll buy her another one out of my own pocket. “You want the phone, I’ll give it to you. Just don’t hurt her.”
Brimstone Jack looks at Melissa and smiles. “Nah, you keep it. This little girl is gonna be far more valuable to me than any smartphone.”
Brimstone Jack tucks Melissa under his arm and points his pimp cane at the crowd. When he fires a blast of hellfire at them, I jump in front of the flames. As the hellfire envelops me, my silk nightgown disintegrates into vapors. Once the smoke clears, Brimstone Jack is gone and I’m standing in the middle of Times Square in my birthday suit.
Chapter 5