West End Girls Read Online Free Page A

explosion.
    Boom!
    The explosion was tremendous, a deafening and sickening sound Sinclair would not soon forget. “Noooooo!” Sinclair screamed again, leaving her safe place and rushing into the street, dodging flying debris. She was hysterical, jumping up and down, feeling as if suddenly her heart too had gone up in flames.
    Within five seconds another larger gas explosion went off, taking out the windows of Ms. Johnson’s house on the right and that of the Smiths on the left.
    Sirens could be heard in the distance, racing their way. Surely it was a commotion heard all over the world.
    â€œSinclair! Sinclair!” Unique screamed.
    Sinclair was in a daze. Her ears were ringing, and all she could see was a blur of faces, as everyone came out from hiding and rushed to the street. Her mind went immediately to her bedroom and all she held precious there. Her treasures were gone.
    Fire engines and police cars filled the street, where emotions were high. The damage had destroyed their mother’s home completely. The explosion, meant to intimidate, became a spontaneous combustion that blew the house off its foundation. Sinclair had no idea that fooling with the electronic pilot, using a lighter to turn on the stove because the power was out, had created a gas leak. It was amazing that no one was killed.
    â€œMama!” Unique’s oldest son screamed, seeing her through the crowd.
    Sinclair’s mind barely registered the question of why her nephew Marquis was in the P instead of the W.E., where Unique and her family lived. But then maybe he’d heard the explosion and seen the billowing smoke all the way from the West End. Surely, it was a noise that had rocked the world.
    There was usually lots more incidents like this one in the West End, where there were a lot of apartment dwellers and so more people to make stuff happen. More people always led to something cracking, and more drama. Today, though, the normally quiet streets of the Palemos had topped the ghetto charts in excitement, with dogs howling, babies crying, and old folks coughing themselves into asthma attacks. It was horrible.
    Sinclair just stared at what was once her home and tried to sort her thoughts. What was to become of her life now? She saw her best friend, Malcolm, through the crowd. She hadn’t seen him in a minute and wondered where he’d been. Or where had she been? Her mind was such a jumbled mess.
    Malcolm’s expression was shock-filled. “ Daaaa-yum !” He pulled off his baseball cap and looked up in the sky, as if some of the house might still be falling. “Did you do this?”
    â€œWhy in the hell would I blow my own house up?”
    â€œNo comment.” Malcolm snickered, halfway to fading. “Who did, then?”
    â€œI dunno, but a nigga with a buncha gold in his mouf told me this morning at the courthouse when I went to see Deb that I’d have to get some money for him.” Sinclair shrugged, realizing now she was fighting emotion. She glanced again toward what was left of the house and the mound of rubble.
    â€œOh, maan! He had lots of gold jewry in his mouf? Damn! That’s not a good sign. Deb done really messed up this time if he was fuckin’ with them Oak Park cats. What Deb doin’ fuckin’ around all the way in Sac Town?”
    Sinclair wanted to cry but didn’t dare. Unique was doing enough of that for everybody.
    â€œMaaaammmaa!” Unique sobbed while the paramedics checked on her and Apple.
    There ain’t nothing wrong with her that a good slap in the face wouldn’t cure , Sinclair thought.
    â€œTell me what he said to you. Is he gonna be back?” Malcolm asked, growing a little bit more sober.
    Sinclair turned her attention back to him. “He just said Deb owed money and that now I had to pay.” Sinclair explained. The reality that maybe, old Gold Mouf, had really meant business had her scared witless, but she wasn’t going