Permanent Resident at the Purse Table by Keisha Bass Page B

aren’t getting mixed up in that mess, are you? You have one month left until you get out.”
    â€œI know, but it’s hard in here.” His eyes filled with water. “I don’t want to but then I’ll be left out.”
    â€œTommy, what you’re talking about is peer pressure. You have to be your own person. Forget about what everyone else thinks.” Wishing she could do the same, she went on. “The folks trying to get you to join their gang will still be locked up when you’re on the outside getting a fresh start in the right direction. And you need to stay out of trouble in here to be released out there.”
    Tommy shook his head with a partial smile. He was a good kid. Just picked the wrong friends to hang out with at the wrong time, and got caught in the driver’s seat of a stolen car. Ever since his father left, he’d been trying to find approval from many different sources. Nothing worked in his favor yet. But Ava was determined to get him back on the right track.
    â€œListen, I want you to do your daily duties and stay away from kids who are going to pull you down. Concentrate on who you are and who you want to be. And what you’re going to do when you get out of here. Like check back into school, handle your business in the classroom, and get involved in some extracurricular activities.”
    â€œYes, ma’am.” His grin grew larger by the second.
    â€œHey, you like running in races; we can have you join the track team.” Ava stood.
    He laughed and gave her a hug. “Thank you, Miss Alexander. I’ll see you soon. And I’m going to be good. I promise.”
    â€œThat’s what I want to hear.”
    On the way home, she rolled through the drive-through and ordered her favorite combo with a milkshake. The remarks made to her a couple hours before didn’t sting so much as she savored every bite of delicious melted American cheese on each inch of the hamburger patty. The fries had just the right amount of salt, and the sweet coldness of the shake sent it over the top. Once the meal had disappeared, her anxiety about the hurtful comments did too.
    Instead of eating away her problems, Ava needed to take her own advice that she bequeathed to Tommy: not to worry about what others thought. But her brain had been trained for so long. It’d be a struggle to change now. Mulling it over in her mind tired her out. She soon fell into a deep sleep on the couch.
    Her cell phone went off Saturday morning early, waking her. Seeing Rene’s picture on the screen, she set the phone on the coffee table. Saturdays consisted of trying new recipes for her catering ventures, washing loads of laundry, and catching up on her favorite recorded shows on the DVR. All of this kept her busy and her mind off of the situation at hand. For the most part. Ava hated avoiding her friend.
    Sitting on the edge of her bed, she closed her eyes. “Lord, I pray for your guidance. Please forgive me and help me to forgive myself. Right now, I need your strength. I know my mistake will damage my relationship with Rene, if not end it all together. I truly do care about her and did not intend to hurt her in any way.” She slipped underneath the covers. “I need to get hold of this self-esteem, self-image, whatever my problem is ’cause now it’s leaking into other areas of my life. Please help me, Lord.”
    Ava clamored out of bed the next morning to get dressed for church. Looking forward to pouring everything out at the altar, she planned to take the courage she needed away with her when she left the House of the Lord church. God knew what she was feeling and what she needed, but Ava didn’t have the slightest idea for moving forward in her situation. In fact, she was in the negative range now. She had backslid and backtracked so fast, she didn’t know what moving forward felt like anymore.
    As churchgoers filled the sanctuary, she headed