Dippin' Low: A Girl Named Cassandra (Book 2)

AGNC: Chapter 8 |Growing Pains

"Old friends are like Gold. New friends are like diamonds. If you get diamonds, don't forget the gold because only gold can hold diamonds."- Anonymous

(Damion in the MM)

Chapter 8: Nova

"Hey, how much can I get for all of this?" I pulled my jacket up over my shoulders and zipped it a little tighter. It was a little chilly outside and the pawn shop wasn't any warmer.The black man behind the counter took my items and carefully inspected all of them I'm guessing to make sure what I was giving him was legit. He separated the jewelry from the electronics, to the clothes putting them all into their own pile.

He pointed to the pile of jewelry first, rubbing his black goatee before speaking. "I can getchu fifty for the watch, fifty for the ring, seventy-five for the chain. Everything else, isn't valuable enough for me to re-sell." I shifted my weight to my other leg and leaned against the counter. "Okay." That wasn't too bad.

He then pointed to the electronics. "For the phones, I can give you fifty." 

Lastly the shoes and purses. "These haven't been worn or used right?"

I nodded my head.

"Then for the lot I can give you one- fifty. Total, you'd get three seventy-five back."  

"That's perfect." I said. Which was. It was more than I expected to get since last week I was only able to get one seventy-five for a pair of never worn Uggs and a watch. He nodded his head and reached underneath the register to grab for a grey zipup bag. He placed it on the counter with a heavy plop and unzipped it, digging out a hefty wad of cash. It was so much money, it would put one of these street dealers to shame.

I watched as he carefully counted three hundred and seventy- five dollars with a lick of his finger in-between. 

"Three hunid and fifty, three hunid and seventy-five." He slid the crisps dollars in front of me. "There you go." I placed my hand on top of the money to grab it but his hand was also still on, not letting go. 

I looked at him wearily. "Can I have the money?"

He seemed to ignore me and instead scrunched his eyebrows together in thought as if he was trying to remember something. "You look familiar. I've seen you somewhere but I just can't remember where..." He trailed off and immediately my heart raced. I hated this, especially going out in public where I was prone to people recognizing who I was...well what I did. 

I tried to play it off and shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know from where. But I'm told i have a familiar face. Can I have my money now?" I asked a little more impatiently. 

He stared intently for a few seconds longer before standing straight and relaxing his face. "It'll come to me." He removed his hand and I grabbed the money quick folding it and placing it in my pocket and wasted no time getting out of there.

The street lights were just now coming on and I knew I was in there longer than I should have been. I fished my phone from my front pocket to check the time. 7:48 p.m.

"Shit!" I sped up my walking almost damn near running down the street. If I didn't get to my job quickly, Chris was gonna tear me a new one for being late, again. Good thing the building was only a few more blocks away. Taking short cuts and back ways, I was able to make it in fifteen minutes with two to spare. I opened the back door to the club and stepped inside being immediately greeted by half naked women. 

"I see she made it on time today." One of the girls mocked. I rolled my eyes and continued to my locker. I popped it open and began taking off my clothes.