"Happy Birthday Mom." Tanya Sharp smiled almost sadly from the thirty-fourth floor of the office building where she worked. She was on the phone with her oldest daughter, Courtney, who was in California with her father. "Thank you honey…I miss you." Tanya tilted the picture of her children toward her, missing them with all her heart. It was summer and the threesome were far away, with Dale, her ex-husband for the entire month. "I miss you too Mom. How does it feel to be forty?" Tanya groaned. "Don't remind me." Courtney laughed, the clear bell-like sound carrying over the miles to warm her mother's heart. "Oh don't have a cow Mom, you know you look thirty." Tanya smiled, not believing it but loving the compliment anyway. "Are you having fun?" She asked tilting back in her chair. "Yeah, pretty much. Ryan and Laura are already asleep." Tanya chuckled. "Well give them hugs for me and I'll see you in three weeks." It sounded like an impossibly long time to Tanya and her heart ached to be with the children she loved. "All right Mom, I'll see you. Don't work too hard." They hung up and Tanya stayed in her seat a moment before swinging the chair forward and standing up to collect her jacket and purse.
As she headed out into the chill Chicago night, Tanya shivered and wished they would hurry up and get her car fixed. She had been walking too and from work for the past three days and while it wasn't a long walk, it was cold, dark, and sometimes creepy. Especially when she cut through a back ally to reach her apartment. She had walked no more than ten feet into the ally when a sound behind her made her spin around. Her heart raced at what she saw. Four tall, lean black boys had followed her in. Swallowing thickly she hoisted the purse farther up on her shoulder and held it to her body, staying very still as they approached. "Can I help you?" She asked in what she hoped to be a fearless voice. "Sure can." One of the boys said with a smile. "Give us your purse and all your jewelry." Tanya's heart pounded. She scanned the boys for a weapon but they didn't appear to be armed.
"I'd rather not." She said stiffly. The boy's smile quickly turned to a frown and he reached out and gave her shoulder-length auburn hair a firm yank. Tanya gasped reaching up to free her hair and he closed his other hand around her throat. "Don't make me hurt you." He hissed. "Okay, okay," Tanya nearly wept. "Just please don't hurt me, I have three children." He let her go and Tanya quickly handed over her purse. She took off the gold chain around her neck and removed the diamond studs from her ears and quickly handed them over too into his waiting hand. "That's it?" He asked rifling through her purse, tossing her things onto the ground till he came to her wallet. He pulled out the forty-seven dollars in cash and dropped the wallet on the ground too.
