The trek to the playground took Jordan and Jason through the very heart of the South Bronx.

For many, it was not a place to be traveled lightly. People gave the area where Jordan lived a bad wrap, and they were right to do so. It was dirty, ethnic, and poor with an ever-burgeoning homeless society to boot. It was everything a ghetto should be, and there was little room to argue otherwise.

But walking through the cracked sidewalks and paint-chipped apartments, Jordan argued anyway. The place had something that kept an odd smile in place as she walked down its streets. Amidst the evictions and gunshots, the shouts and cries, there was culture. There were family dinners, there was romance, and there were friendships. People grew up and died here, and they left a part of themselves that she couldn’t describe. In religion class, Sr. Rachel called it an “imprint”, a faint voice that whispered ‘we were here – and we lived.’

Jordan made a sarcastic face. But unfortunately, not many who lived there had much of an imprint to leave. When it came to the South Bronx, there were plenty more horror stories than happy endings.

At that point, her bleak thoughts were cut short by an excited gasp from Jason as they came upon the playground.

Returning to the present, Jordan laughed at his reaction. “You ready?”

“Yeah!” he declared.

She shook her head as she gazed upward. The place was by all means a dump. The playground bars were rusted, the grass spurted forth unhindered, and ancient cigarette butts and beer cans littered the ground.

But to the three-year-old, the state of the park was irrelevant. All her brother saw was a playground.

Jordan’s arms swung forward. “Go to town.”

At the order, Jason gave a forward battle cry. His little legs broke into a run, and he immediately began climbing the steps to the slide.

She smiled at his innocence. She wouldn’t interrupt his wonder, no matter how misplaced. There were definitely worse places that they could be frequenting.

Jordan stood back and watched him scoot his bottom around the twisting slide. He could easily go for hours at what he called ‘their’ playground, as if they owned it or something.

It was all the better for Jordan. The more he wiped himself out today, the better he would sleep tonight.

She had been standing there for a few minutes and was about to join him on the swings when the unmistakable sound of footsteps crunched behind her.

Remembering the imminent dangers the neighborhood held, her instincts kicked in, and she looked back.

Three men strode forward, heading straight in her direction.

A fierce look set into her eyes. Gathering her courage, she stood strong and cold as a marble statue, arms crossed and a frown looming across her face.

One of the men she recognized.

Bryce Layman strolled up to her confidently, a pair of Oaklands covering her eyes and a slight smile lining his features.

He slowed his stride as he neared her. “Hey, Jordan,” he greeted.

Her glare deepened, and she turned her back to him and his two silent associates. “What’re you doing here?”

Bryce’s smile fell, and he tilted his head back. “Well, that’s a nice way to greet your employer.” He patted his lips. “A little snippy this morning, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, I get that way when someone leaves me in the middle of Fairton close to twelve in the morning.”

Bryce breathed an icy sigh and opened his palms. “It happens, kid.”

Jordan sighed, upset. “You know what a dirt-hole Fairton is. What if I hadn’t been able to get a ride, huh? What if some junkie just lifted me up off the streets like a free hit?”

He gazed around the playground. “But you did get a ride.”

She made a derogatory noise. “Yeah, by the skin of my teeth.” She paused, looking down. “I couldn’t believe you just left me there.”

“Hey.”

He waited a few moments for her to comply, and eventually, Jordan snuck a glance at him out of the corner of her eye.

Bryce reached out and gently turned her around by her shoulders. “You think I leave just anyone out there?”

Jordan answered with a roll of her eyes.

“I can trust you,” he said convincingly, letting her shift out of his grasp. “You improvise. If something doesn’t happen like it’s supposed to, you find a way around it. You’re smart. That’s why I hired you.”

Jordan sighed. He was conning her, and it wasn’t the first time. It always left her feeling a little tired. “You came out here for something, Bryce. What is it?”

He put his sunglasses back over his eyes and cut to the chase. “I like the job you did last night. There’s another one open. If you’d be interested.”

“So you’re following me now?”

He grinned in his basic devil-may-care fashion. “It’s not like you make it that difficult.”

Jordan turned away with a huff. But though she stared off to the side pretending to ignore him, it was obvious.

She was listening. “What’s the job?”

“I need you to make a delivery inside the city. Tomorrow morning.” He joined her at her side. “He’s a regular customer. There shouldn’t be any problems.”

“Oh, like last time?” she chided.

“Look, last night was a fluke. You want to bitch and moan about it, you go right ahead,” Bryce let her know. “But don’t do it in front of me. I came here for you. To offer you a sum of money you won’t be getting anywhere else. You don’t have to sell your family, your body, or anything else, except what I put in those Ziploc bags.” He once again opened his hands. “You tell me where you can get a deal better than that in this city, honey, and I’ll pack up shop right now.”

Jordan frowned nastily. In all honesty, she couldn’t tell him where to find a better deal, without including sarcasm and expletives in her wording. So she kept her back to him, and predictably, her eyes found Jason.

And as she gazed upon him, her frown ebbed away, like footprints along the shore. The child continued in his reverie, oblivious to the choices she was making, innocent to the deteriorating world about him.

A few moments of silence passed between them, and looking away, Bryce took off his shades. He pointed them to the toddler hanging from the monkey bars. “He yours?”

“He’s my brother,” Jordan said. “So, yeah.”

“Uh-huh.” Distracted, Bryce studied Jason. He smirked a little, glancing back to Jordan. “Cute kid.”

Jordan nodded in agreement, watching her brother tear across the playground.

“Deserves a strong college education.”

His words had their desired effect. They caught her attention.

Bryce trained his eyes on her. “You do this job for me… I’ll make it worth your while.”

Jordan’s self-control waned. Though she couldn’t believe the words, she said them anyway. “How much?”

“Five hundred,” Bryce said. “Double what you made last night.”

Jordan hesitated, and he continued, “You do this for me, and I’ll sort you out. In a couple months, you get into this business… You could be making two thousand a week without breaking a sweat.”

She snorted at the offer. Yeah, right. She would believe that when she saw it.

“You’ll be in my rolodex,” he added further. “And trust me, when you’re looking for money, it ain’t such a bad place to be.”

Jordan turned to face him and brushed back her hair. “Five hundred?”

He nodded. “Five hundred.”

She took in a breath. “You plan to leave me out in the rain again?”

“That was never the plan.”

Jordan closed her eyes.

“It’s a good deal, kid. Opportunities like this… they don’t happen everyday.”

Jordan opened her eyes, squinting up at the man before her. She thought about how simple it had been, dropping off the delivery. She thought about her empty pockets, and as always, she thought about Jason and what having money would mean for both of them.

“Okay,” she finally relented. “Okay, you got me.”

Bryce looked pleased. “Okay.” He replaced his sunglasses. “Seven ‘o clock tomorrow. I expect your ass to be there.”

When he started to walk away with his two cronies in tow, Jordan called after him. “Where do I meet you?”

His words echoed against the cold. “You know it. Same place as last time.”

Jordan watched him take to the streets and disappear around the corner. She shook her head. That’s exactly how it was with Bryce. Here one minute, vanishing into thin air the next.

When she turned back around, Jason stood at her feet, and she jumped in surprise.

“Jor.”

As Jordan caught her heart and let out a long breath of relief, Jason tugged on her pant leg. “Jor… who was that?”

With one hand still clutching her chest, she rested the other atop her brother’s head. “Nobody, honey,” she reassured him. “Nobody.” Blinking, she bent down to take him by the shoulders. “So we don’t need to talk about them. Right?”

Though obviously confused, Jason tried to please her. “Right.”

Jordan let out a deep, cleansing breath. “Good.” She sent him a smile, trying to convey that everything was okay, that she loved him, and that she would always take care of him. “You ready for lunch?”

Jason’s eyes widened, and he held his tummy. “Yeah.”

“Awesome,” Jordan said. In one swift movement, she lifted him up onto her shoulders, leaving a trail of giggles in his path.

Lucky for him, she thought, straining under his weight. She had just the leftovers for the job.