No Outlet

Funny. She had been called a bimbo before, but for some reason, on this corner, on this day, it made her laugh so hard she doubled over. She doubled over so hard her head nearly touched the ground and a car full of Koreans on their way to church stopped, rolled down their window and when they heard her cackle, they rolled their window back up, and sped away. When she caught her breath and raised her head he was still standing next to her. She was tempted to double over again, falsely this time, with the hope that when she lifted her head the second time he would be gone.

“What? You’re still here? I thought you said you didn’t want to be with a bimbo. So why you still standin’ here if you’re smarter than a bimbo?”

“This is what I mean. This is exactly why I call you a bimbo. Look at you. Your eyes are all smeared and black, you’re missing an earring, and your hair's not even blond no matter how much you put that shit on it." He flicked his cigarette into the street and then finished his last comment shrouded in smoke. “And honestly, you’re just not that smart.”

This is when her laughter started, deep down in her belly. Not because it was funny, but because it was ludicrous. She looked up at the yellow sign and reminded herself: there’s no outlet being a woman.

Smart. She just wasn’t that smart. She was smart back in the 4th grade when Tommy O’Brien asked her over every day so she could do his math homework and in return he would kiss her for each correct answer. And she was smart when her mother’s boyfriend would stay over and she would lock her door. And she was smart when she worked at Wall-Mart and did an extra five hours a week to make sure she got overtime and benefits. And she was smart when she left her last boyfriend because he had a problem with gambling with her money and her heart.

And she was smart when she turned down Sanchez Street, knowing what he would say.

“See, you’re such a bimbo! It says no outlet. Jeez, how do you think you’re gonna get outta here?” He yelled and pointed at the sign as she kept walking.

She walked with purpose, head in the air. Being a smart bimbo she knew that no outlet was the story of her life and that today, like any other day, she’d find her way out.