I had used the money he had paid to get Milly a new inhaler, the drugs she needed and I had just enough left for two meals and a cab fare
I walked past the small boutique near the club, the kind of place I would walk past but never enter. Red neon sign. Lace in the window. I told myself, I was just looking
Twenty minutes later, I walk out with a red set. New. Not damp from sink wash. Not held with threads and prayers. Real lace. Soft. The kind a woman wears when she wants to be seen
It’s for the job I told myself he paid triple so he deserves better.
Standing in front of the mirror of my dressing table, holding the delicate fabric I knew it was a lie
I wanted him to look at me. I wanted his jaw to tighten again. I wanted to see the flicker in his cold eyes
I wanted to be worth his
