14. Chapter 13
Life had been beating Miss Loretta's ass lately.
The rowhouse near Kensington and Allegheny was damn near falling apart now.
The walls were peeling. There were leaks in the ceiling.
And the heat worked when it felt like it.
Most of the foster kids were either grown or locked up, and the little money she had left disappeared fast between bills, liquor, and shit she couldn't afford.
The checks stopped coming the second the city started cracking down on her paperwork.
Loretta stayed two months behind on rent with collectors blowing her phone up day and night.
And ever since that little Asian bitch disappeared with twenty-five thousand dollars, something inside Miss Loretta never let it go.
Not because she lost the money.
But because Yoon-Ji got away with stealing it.
That was the part that still fucked with her till this day. And after all these years later, Miss Loretta still remembered opening that closet panel and seeing every dollar she ever had gone. Yoon-Ji ain’t just steal cash that night. She stole her whole entire future.
Miss Loretta never forgot people who fucked her over and one day she'd swore she would find that little bitch and make her pay for what the fuck she did.
That Friday night she sat inside a Chinese takeout spot a few blocks from Broad and Erie waiting on her order when she overheard two girls talking loud near the soda cooler.
“You seen Marcus new bitch?” A girl name Mina asked.
“Nah, but everybody at Heaven’s Door been talking about her.” Said a girl named Ari.
“Yeah. She bad as shit too.” Mina stated.
Miss Loretta barely paid attention at first until one of them pulled up a picture on Instagram.
“See? That’s her right there.” Mina showed it to Ari.
Miss Loretta looked over on the sly zooming in on the woman on the screen.
Then she went still.
The Styrofoam cup nearly slipped out her hands. Yoon-Ji was on the screen.
She was older, thicker, and more polished.
But she was still the same girl. Some time had went by but Miss Loretta still recognized those eyes.
It was the same girl she had fed. The same girl she housed.
And the same little girl that disappeared into the night with her money.
Miss Loretta stared at the picture in amazement.
“Well I’ll be damned…”
Miss Loretta was grinning from ear to ear.
The next night, Miss Loretta pulled up outside Heaven's Door and turned the car off.
For a minute she just sat there smoking.
She still couldn't believe she finally found her after all these years.
The club looked just as busy as everybody claimed.
People lined up outside. Music blasted through the entrance every time the doors opened.
Miss Loretta didn't care about none of that though. Her eyes stayed on the front door. After a while, she flicked her cigarette out the window and pushed the door open. Twenty-five thousand dollars. That was all she could think about. Miss Loretta stepped out and headed toward the entrance. She looked completely out of place, but she ain’t give no fucks.
She stepped up to the front while security looked her over with a confused expression on his face.
“You lost, old head?” the guard asked with a smirk.
Miss Loretta took a slow pull from her cigarette before blowing smoke near his shoes. “Nah, baby. I’m exactly where the fuck I need to be.”
The guard was about to say something slick back before his earpiece crackled and he suddenly redirected his attention toward the front entrance.
Miss Loretta took that moment to step off to the side near one of the black SUVs parked along the curb.
Then the club doors opened. Miss Loretta’s stomach tightened up as she saw Yoon-Ji coming through the club doors with two dancers beside her laughing at something one of them said.
Her body looked completely different now.
She damn sure wasn't that skinny little girl from Kensington anymore.
She spent that money well. She also looked healthier and better dressed.
Like life had been treating her real fuckin' good.
But Miss Loretta still saw that same angry little girl underneath all the glamour.
Miss Loretta quickly stepped behind the SUV hoping that Yoon-Ji didn't see her. Miraculously, Yoon-Ji never looked her way. She didn’t even see her standing there watching her.
Miss Loretta took another drag from her cigarette while her eyes followed her every move.
Then an evil grin crept across her face.
"I gotcho ass now bitch."
Allure sat in the chair at Southeastern PA Oral Surgery office down Tulip and Allegheny with dark sunglasses covering half her face even though it was cloudy outside.
Her fingers tapped anxiously against her designer purse while people walked past pretending not to stare, but she caught them staring anyway.
She saw their eyes drop toward her mouth before quickly turning away.
The humiliation was at an all time high.
A nurse finally pushed the door open. "Brandi Harris?"
Allure stood slowly and followed her down the hallway in heels that suddenly didn’t make her feel pretty anymore. Once they reached the room, the assistant handed her a clipboard before pulling on a pair of gloves.
“Are you having any pain right now?” she asked gently.
Allure gave a small shrug. “Yeah. My mouth is still sore.”
The assistant nodded while typing into the computer. “Any swelling? Bleeding? Trouble eating?”
“The swelling went down some,” Allure muttered. “But I still can’t really chew right.”
The assistant gave her a sympathetic look before standing up. “Okay, we’re gonna do some X-rays first so the doctor can see exactly what’s going on.”
A few minutes later, Allure stood inside another room while the tech adjusted a heavy vest over her chest.
“Stay still for me please,” the woman said while positioning the machine around her head.
Allure swallowed hard as the machine moved around her mouth capturing image after image. Every second standing there made her feel worse. Like this whole thing was becoming more real by the minute.
After the scans finished, the assistant walked her back to the room and told her the doctor would be in shortly.
A few minutes later, the door opened and the oral surgeon stepped inside with her chart in his hand.
“Hi, Ms. Harris. I’m Dr. Kaplan.” He pulled his stool closer before sitting down beside her. “I know this has probably been a stressful couple of days for you.”
Allure gave a tight nod but didn’t say much.
“So from what I was told, you've experienced severe dental trauma during a physical altercation a few days ago.”
"Yes." Allure answered with a sigh.
"Can you open your mouth so I can take a look?" Dr. Kaplan asked politely.
Allure opened her mouth and Dr. Kaplan stared inside her mouth for several minutes.
"Okay, I can see where the trauma has happened at so now let me take a look at the x-rays that we have.
Allure stared at her hands in her lap while he continued. A few minutes later, the oral surgeon pulled up her scans on the screen. He studied the scans for a moment before turning it slightly toward her.
“Well…” he said carefully. “According to the x-rays, the damage is more extensive than we originally thought.”
Allure swallowed hard while staring at the X-rays. She saw a bunch of empty spaces where her teeth used to be. The doctor pointed toward the screen.
“You lost both maxillary central incisors.”
Allure blinked. “My what?”
“Your two upper front teeth,” he clarified gently. “And six mandibular teeth along the bottom.”
Her stomach twisted in knots. “Can y’all fix it?”
“Yes,” he said. “But this will likely require multiple procedures.”
"Wow… okay, so what all would have to be done then?" Allure asked.
He started walking her through everything she would need. Every procedure sounded worse than the last.
Bone grafting.Dental implants.Temporary prosthetics.Healing periods.Possible reconstructive surgery.
Then finally Dr. Kaplan said, “You’re probably looking somewhere between twenty-five and forty thousand dollars total depending on how extensive the reconstruction becomes.”
Allure’s face went completely still. “Forty thousand, you're kidding right?"
The doctor nodded carefully. “Unfortunately, trauma cases involving multiple missing teeth can become very costly.”
“And how long would all this take?” Allure asked.
“For full restoration?” He leaned back slightly. “Anywhere from several months to over a year depending on healing and how quickly treatment begins.”
Her stomach tightened. “And if I get the money soon?”
“Then we can start fairly quickly,” he explained. “First we’d schedule the bone grafting and temporary prosthetics. After healing, we’d move forward with implants.”
For a moment, Allure just stared at him. “Damn.”
Dr. Kaplan gave her a professional nod. “Once you’re ready, we’ll put together a treatment plan and go over financing options as well.”
Allure looked down at her hands. “I'll have the money.”
He stood up while placing the chart back against his chest. “I’m gonna step out and give you a few minutes, okay? The assistant will bring your paperwork shortly.”
The moment the door closed behind him, Allure grabbed her phone and called Marcus.
Ring. Ring. Ring. No answer.
Her jaw tightened. She hung up and sent a text.
Yo Marcus call me.. NOW!!!
A few minutes passed and she got nothing back from him.
Allure tried calling again.
Ring. Ring. Ring. Still no answer.
Now her chest was burning. Cause while she was sitting in an oral surgeon office trying to figure out how she was supposed to rebuild her mouth while Marcus was somewhere laid up with the same bitch that caused all this shit in the first place.
Allure stared down at her phone. She was fucking livid.
Being upset was one thing.
But being ignored was another.