Angrily, Norma looked at him. "I beg your pardon," she protested, taking the waiter's notepad and throwing it across the room. "She's no eating with us, Francisco. You're really pissing me off!"

Her reaction stunned everyone.

"Get out of here, now!" She yelled at the waiter.

Guardedly, he rolled his eyes and ignored her.

"Young man!'

"Listen, white lady! You're not going to talk to me like I'm your slave. Just because you shack up with the niggahs now experiencing black cock doesn't give you the greenlight to talk shit to me. I don't know you or your man, real talk...!"

Norma snapped. Throwing water in his face, she rose in her six inch designer heels and pushed him from the table, kicking him hard in the ass.

"Get your lame ass out of here! Bum! Who hired that clown?"

Pulling his sleeves over his gang tattoos, he left without further comment.

She wildly looked around. "In fact, everybody out, now! Get the hell outta here before I have half of your corporate secrets headlining every newspaper on the face of the earth and your confidential nude photos as well."

Silently, everyone gathered their belongings and filed out of the restaurant, including all of the staff.

Once the coast was clear and the nosey rich folk she represented was gone, she walked over to Lynn, getting in her face.

Round One, fight. "Your presence has compromised my image. I'm a brand and you are not eating on my dime. You're gonna be washing dishes for two weeks in this restaurant to pay for that three hundred dollar a plate meal. Who told you I was a caring bitch? Goodwill, what's that?"

Yeah, yeah, bitch! Lynn stared at the glass of water, snatching it up, gulping it down. She hadn't had clean water in weeks.

Norma took the glass from Lynn's hand and shattered it on the floor.

"Actually, she's eating on my dime," said Francisco, trying to calm down his wife, but knowing that they were already beyond the point of no return. No Man's Land.

Norma said, "The devil is a lie! What's yours is mine, have you forgotten?"

"And what's yours belongs to me as well. My bank account doesn't have your name on it. Besides, where is your heart? The woman is starving."

Norma swallowed the lump in her throat. "Fine, eat the damn food. And once you do...don't ever come here again!"

Chile, please.

Digging in her smelly panties, Lynn pulled out crumpled cash and dropped money on Norma's nine hundred dollar hair do.

Lynn pointed at Norma. "I can afford to buy my own food. I never asked for your charity. Obviously your husband cares enough to offer me a meal. And I accept."

"So the cunt can talk for herself. Ok, bitch. I see you."

Lynn smiled, lowering her forehead and looking up with vicious eyes. "Any man that passes up good iron clad good gushy white pussy for a conversation with my dirty ass must tell you a lot about your imitation gold clitoris, Madam Asshole. I see you wipe back to front, choking on your bacterial infection. I'm not the one to fuck with. I'll beat your expensive ass all over this ugly ass restaurant. In front of your goddamn husband, bitch, now try me! Make my day! Hit me and can't fight, bitch I'd ruin you!"

Clapping her hands, Norma laughed so hard she almost threw up in the mouth "Bitch, I didn't listen to a word you said. My ears are immune to stink breath bitches. I'll pack your food to go," Norma retorted. "Take it with you. I'll even include one of the soap dispensers so you can wash your dirty ass on the way out. And pick your five one dollar bills up off the floor. You can't afford the tab."

Lynn's thoughts weren't of lilies and roses...

Leaning over, her passion fruit exposed from her short skirt or whatever the hell she had on, Lynn picked up her money.

She faced Norma with startling intensity.

Francisco found it amusing. Lynn had spunk. No one dared to challenge Norma, but a famished bum just brought her back down to earth and reminded her that her shit stunk, too.

Where do I know her from? Norma thought to herself. I've seen her before, but where?

Defiantly, Lynn opened up the bills one by one, never looking away from Norma's eyes.

"One hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, oops five hundred dollars actually."

Lynn threw the money in Norma's face.

"I don't wash dishes, bitch. I can afford to eat like a queen if I so desired. I get two crazy checks and I collect disability. I'm a bipolar bitch that isn't afraid of your lame ass. Those chicken heads may have left the restaurant at your declaration, but bitch, I resist temptation. I don't scare easily. Not after the hell I've seen since I was nineteen, turning tricks to survive."

Repulsed, Norma slapped her and Lynn took one of the plates of food from the table behind her and cracked it over Norma's head.

"Thank you, sir, for the invitation," Lynn told Francisco in gratitude. "But I decline. While I roam the streets, looking for purpose and direction, I'm a blackened soul. The only woman I ever loved killed herself in front of me and our parents because we found out that we were sisters. She was a product of my father cheating on my mother."

Lynn said, "I'm sorry, lady. I was hungry, yes, but I only wanted shelter, for just a moment. Every night I sleep on the streets. I can afford a hotel room, but I save every dollar I make. I used to be filled with life, my light taken when Gene took her last breath. I've been street walking ever since.

"I saw the way you and your white constituents glared at me when I sauntered through those doors. But neither of you suffer the loss I'm still grieving. The love of my life, a woman I loved for years, was my sister. And it kills me inside."

Stunned, Norma slowly sat down in her seat, taken aback.

"Gene, I remember that case," Norma found herself saying, recollection swarming her body in warm overtones. "It was the very first case of my career. I remember you now. I interviewed you during that investigation. You were a beautiful young lady. What happened to you that turned you into this caricature of who you used to be? Have you no love for yourself?"

Norma looked in Lynn's soulless eyes and shuddered.

"I have nothing to live for," Lynn said. "Gene was my everything and I had to end it the instant I was made aware that she was a sister I never knew I had. You don't understand. She didn't want a sister. She wanted us to pretend that it was all a lie and carry on sexually, but I'm not an incest type of girl. And my decision cost her her life."

Lynn broke down and, teary eyed, Norma hugged her. Tight. Her heart broken. The gesture threw Francisco off. He was actually smiling. Norma did have a heart under all that ice. For once she snubbed her image and truly had empathy for someone other than herself.

"I'm sorry about your loss. But you gotta find a reason to move on. This lifestyle isn't a way to live. It's unapologetic and cruel."

"I don't have anyone. I'm an outcast from my family."

"Do you want help?" Norma sincerely asked. "If you're serious about getting off drugs I can put you in the best rehab facility in the city. I can't imagine what you're going through. And I'm truly sorry for the initial way I treated you. I wasn't raised to hate. I'm just a control freak and I'll do anything to win. It's not always right, but it works for me."

Lynn thought about it. At least she'd have a bed, a meal, a hot shower. And she wouldn't have to make ends meet by selling her body any longer. She could get all the rest she desired.

Yes, that was it.

Gene would want her to move on and get her life together.

She just had to believe that.

It would be tough, probably hard, but she accepted Norma's proposition and for two years, Norma never left her side.

They loved each other like sisters...