I was pissed because my car was in the shop and that meant I had to take the bus. Oh well it was only for a few days but still I had to walk about two blocks because that was the closest stop to my house. I guess I should say a little about myself, my name is Daniel Hill, I'm 38 and work for a water bottling company; we bottle water for office water coolers. I'd been married once but that went to hell after my wife miscarried and then decided to cheat on me.
Suffice it to say the divorce was very nasty and she pretty much cleaned me out. I know she cheated on me, but you'll be amazed at what a good divorce lawyer can do for you. In this case they argued that I didn't provide enough emotional support after she lost the baby so she was inclined to look elsewhere. They even had a shrink and all. Oddly enough she didn't ask for alimony payments even though she had the chance to clean me out. I swore never to get married again and moved to another part of the town, and shut everyone out.
My friends after a while stopped calling because I didn't return their calls and that's where I met Betty; she was my next door neighbor and took it upon herself to bring me back to the real world. At first I tried to resist offering polite excuses but she is one very persistent woman. I think she is about my age or slightly older, quite frankly I never asked and she never told. She's about 5'6 blond hair and soft brown eyes with a beautiful face to match. She would take me out for coffee and dinner and wouldn't accept if I offered to pay.
The interesting thing about all this was we rarely spoke which from the outside seemed very odd but for us it was natural. By nature I'm the quiet type and after the first couple of outings I realized she wasn't bothered by it. We would chit chat but for us it was more about keeping each other company. We would take walks at the local park and hold hands as we walked. Then slowly I started opening up to her and told her about my personal ordeal and it surprised me how relieved I felt after talking that. In turn she opened up to me and I learnt that she was also married once but she left after he got too physical.
She owned a local temp agency which mainly helped women with little or no skills get back on their feet after coming out of abusive relationships. As time went by we would talk about anything and even though we never expressed it the level of trust had finally been established. We exchanged house keys even though we weren't dating and the closest intimate gesture we ever shared was a soft kiss on the lips after she took me out for my 38th birthday. I offered to return the favor but she told me she didn't celebrate her birthday anymore and that was the end if that.
Now as I was walking towards the bus stop, I was thinking how I'd have to change my schedule because I'd have to catch the seven fifteen bus if I was to get to work by quarter to eight. I was a floor supervisor which meant I had to be there before everyone else. When I got to the stop, there was only one other person, a woman who looked pregnant and was crying. Usually one tends to stay away from other peoples domestic or personal problems, especially in my case, but for some reason I had to ask. I guess hanging around Betty had rubbed off on me.
'Are you okay ma'am?' I asked. She looked up at me and she had the most clear blue eyes I'd ever seen almost transparent. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and nodded her head. I handed her a handkerchief and she blew her nose. She looked unkempt; her hair looked like it hadn't seen a comb for a while and her dress looked like it had seen better days.
'I'm sorry it's just that I've nowhere to go,' she replied amid tears.
'Listen there's a women's shelter about two blocks from here, they can help you I'll take you there if you want,' I offered.
'Please you don't have to, thanks for the offer.'
'Where's your husband or boyfriend, I'm sure someone is looking for you.'
'I have no one …' then she broke down again and this time cried for quite a while. I didn't know what to do, so I just hugged her and tried to console her which even surprised me.
'Listen this place isn't very safe especially for someone in your condition, when was the last time you ate?' What was I saying, here's a woman I'd just met and I'm offering to buy her food.
'Last night,' she answered breaking my train of thought.
'That's not good you're supposed to be eating for two, come with me,' I told her as I took her hand and offered to carry her small bag and headed to the nearest restaurant. Looks like I was going to be eating out tonight. 'What's your name?' I asked.
'Annie,' she replied shyly.
'I'm Daniel nice to meet you.' We walked in silence, and when we stopped at a traffic light I got the chance to really study her. She was about 5'5, shoulder length dark hair although I wasn't sure that was her real color and despite her tired look a very pretty face. She caught me staring and blushed; 'do I look that bad?' she asked and for the first time saw her try to smile.
'No it's just that you remind me of someone I met a long time ago, she had eyes like yours but I'm sure people tell you that all the time.'
'Actually they do but you get used to it after a while.' At the restaurant she ate like she'd never eaten before and even some of the patrons were staring at us. She really was hungry and she even offered to finish my meal for me which I was glad to let her do.
'Wow you really were hungry,' I said trying to liven up the mood. One thing that we still had not discussed was where she would spend the night. After paying the check, I offered to take her to the shelter but she still resisted. Then she made a very strange request. She asked if she could crush at my place. Now I've never had anyone crush at my place and was a bit hesitant. She saw this and offered to work for her stay; you know clean the place, cook and general upkeep. But there was still a lot I didn't know about her and I was hesitant because we'd just met.
'Why don't you want me to take you to the shelter? They would take care of you better than I would,' I pitched in.
'I don't want my family to find me,' she said after a long pause.
'But isn't that what the shelter does? Protect you from harm and in your case your family.'
'You don't understand, they kicked me out and told me to get out of town,' she said then broke down again. Something wasn't right here but I wasn't going to push it. After a while I don't know why but I took pity on her and agreed she could spend the night at my place, she looked sincere. When we got home she asked to use the bathroom and practically ran in. My house was a modest two bedroom house or shack depending on how you looked at it. The spare room still contained unopened boxes three years after my divorce which meant one of us had to sleep on the couch. I decided I would sleep on the couch and told her so when she got out. She offered to sleep on the couch since she didn't want to be an imposition. I wouldn't hear any of it and after a bit of back and forth she reluctantly accepted.
So far it had been an interesting day and I was sure tomorrow would be even more so because she had a few questions to answer and this time I wasn't going to let her off easy. I didn't even know how far along she was, but all in good time. I was tired and so was she, so I grabbed a few beddings, showed her where the towels were and left her to clean up. I tried to watch some TV but couldn't because something about her still nagged me.
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul; there was something about her eyes I couldn't quite put my finger into because I knew I had seen them before. This brought back memories of when I had been invited to the Locke mansion. They were the power brokers in this city. I guess being rich does afford one certain rights and privileges and in their case they exploited every one of them. They treated everyone like shit especially the help. The only exceptions were the old lady Rose and the granddaughter Samantha.
I had met them during the party which I believe was Rose's fiftieth birthday and the girl Samantha must have been no older than fourteen. She was shy and it didn't help that she had braces and tried to avoid smiling whenever she could. The party was coming along good until the son Robert, Samantha's dad, started arguing with one of the guests and literally tossed him out. I later learnt that the matriarch Rose couldn't control him because her husband had left Robert in charge of everything.
Robert had a reputation of being mean and would black ball anyone who dared cross him. No wonder his kids turned out like him, because hardly a month passed without something in the local news about one of the boys' little adventures. The only exception was the girl Samantha. I remember one of the few times she was featured in the new was when she saved an old man's life by giving him CPR and resuscitating him. But for some reason they made him change the story and say he had tried to get 'fresh' with her.
Poor man, he was sued for inappropriate behavior with a minor and even spent time in jail when he refused to change his story. Talk about getting screwed. After that the girl disappeared and nobody had heard of her since. For some reason Annie reminded me of her because they have the same eyes which her grandma Rose also has. But who was I kidding Samantha wouldn't be out on the street alone. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard sobbing from the bedroom; I hadn't realized that she had finished showering.
I contemplated going in and comforting her but what if she wasn't dressed or she just wanted to be alone. After about ten minutes I couldn't take it anymore so I knocked softly on the door and when she didn't answer, I entered. She was sobbing into the pillow and to make it even awkward for me; she only had her bra and panties on. I approached the bed slowly and sat down.
She must have felt the bed move because she looked up at me, her eyes were puffy and red and I could see the sadness in them. Then she did something unexpected, she moved closer and rested her head on my lap and continued crying. This was getting really awkward, and after my initial shock did what any caring human being would do; I started caressing her head which was still dump from the shower.
'It's okay, everything is going to be okay,' I cooed. This brought back painful memories of when my ex-wife lost the baby and for the first time since I met Annie I thought of getting up and leaving. But something stopped me; she just wanted a shoulder to cry on so I let her cry. 'Let it all out, don't hold anything back,' I tried to encourage her.
As I caressed her, I got the opportunity to study her a bit more, I know it's not right, and that's when I saw it. She had a scar on her right shoulder shaped like a crescent and that's when it hit me, it was Samantha. You see a few weeks after Rose's party Samantha tore some ligaments on her right shoulder while playing tennis with her grandma and had to under go surgery. And I remembered a picture of her in the papers wearing a tank top with her scar was exposed.
My head was spinning because first off she wasn't supposed to be here and secondly if her family found her here I would be in a lot of shit. Considering what they had done to the old man, I didn't want trouble from this family. By now she had stopped crying so I motioned for her to sit up which she did.
'What are you doing here? And please don't tell me this is some kind of social experiment,' I asked a bit harshly.
'I don't understand, did I do something wrong?'
'I know who you are, I saw the scar, so no more games,' I replied and then I saw the panic in her eyes.
'Please don't kick me out …' then she started crying again. 'My family kicked me out because I wouldn't tell them who the father was,' she added amid sobs.
