Ch. 4 Becks
Author's notes:
1. This story follows on from my previous story 'Mixed Emotions' in which the characters are introduced and developed. It is strongly recommended that 'Mixed Emotions' is read first.
2. This is a work of fiction. The activities and practices described in this series are neither condoned nor recommended. If you choose to do anything described in real life with real people you do so at your own risk.
3. All characters are fictional and any likeness to any living person is purely coincidental.
4. The chapters are numbered in a sequence for a reason. It is recommended that they be read in numerical order.
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Thursday started off the same as any other day this first week after opening night. The students had all left to continue their studies and Greg had gone to work, leaving Pam, David and Marcie to clean and tidy, sort out the admin, take bookings and deal with anything that came up during the day. They had no bookings until official opening time 8pm, so were surprised when the doorbell rang. Marcie opened the door to see a woman in her early twenties, Marcie guessed, looking dishevelled and distressed. Her clothes were not quite in tatters but definitely looked second hand, her hair was unkempt, her finger nails dirty and broken and face tense and pale. Beside her was a small, battered suitcase.
"How can I help you?" Marcie enquired.
"Are you Marcie?" asked the woman.
"Yes I am."
"Oh thank God I've found you. Can I come in please? I'm really cold."
Marcie stood aside and let the woman come into the heated office area, then escorted her into one of the small private waiting rooms.
"Come in here," said Marcie, "It's warmer than out there. Would you like something to eat and drink?"
"Oh yes please. I haven't eaten or had a hot drink since yesterday morning. My name's Rebecca but everyone calls me Becks by the way."
"Pleased to meet you, Becks. How do you have your coffee?"
"Milk and one sugar please."
Marcie brought the two coffees over along with a plate of cookies.
"Help yourself to those," she told Becks.
Becks did just that, wolfing the first one then taking a second which she ate a little slower.
"So tell me about yourself," said Marcie, "What brings you here?"
"Oh, where to start. About two weeks ago I was thrown out of my home, literally. I still have the bruises. My partner of three years decided he didn't want me so kicked me out, saying that he had a new girlfriend. He kept Emma, my two year old girl though. He wouldn't let me back in to get her, wouldn't let me take anything. I slept under a bridge that first night, nearly froze." She shivered involuntarily at the memory. "I found a place to sleep the next night, a home that takes in desperate homeless women, and they gave me a meal as well. I went back to my home the next day and it was abandoned, locked and empty. He had left the house, taken Emma, everything from the house and the car. All I had were the clothes I stood up in. I didn't know where to go or what to do; I was frantic. I returned to the place for homeless women for that night also; that was last night. They told me that I couldn't stay there more than two nights because it was for emergencies only. I asked if they knew where somebody with no money, job or anything could stay and they said that a person called Marcie who ran a club called 'Dana's' may be able to help me. They told me where it was and here I am."
Marcie sat on the couch alongside Becks and put her arm around her shoulders.
"Oh you poor, poor woman," Marcie said softly into her ear.
Becks buried her face into Marcie's shoulder and sobbed, her whole frail body racked and shaking with each sob. Marcie continued to just hold her and let her release the pent up emotions. When she had quietened down, Marcie dried her tears and looked at her.
"So now what?" she asked. "Now that you're here, how can we help you? What do you expect us to do? What do you expect to find here?"
Becks thought for a few minutes, prioritising her needs, wants, desires and ambitions. She realised she knew nothing about these people, she was in a strip club and brothel, a place of sin her mother would have said, and that she should really leave.
"Look, thank you for the cookies, the coffee and the shoulder to cry on, but I have disturbed you enough with my problems. They are mine, not yours, and I had no right troubling you with them."
Becks made to stand up but Marcie reached for her hand and gently, but firmly, pulled her back onto the couch.
"Oh no you don't. You are in no position to go back into the wide world as you are. Please let us provide a refuge for you so that you can at least gather your thoughts, strengthen your body and become healthy again."
Becks hesitated, looked at herself in the mirror on the wall, looked at Marcie, then slumped down into the couch again.
"You're right. Thank you for your kindness and hospitality. I will reluctantly accept it because I really haven't any realistic options. But I feel awful because I don't know how to repay you."
"There is nothing to repay. Surely we can help a fellow human being who has fallen on hard times. It will be our very great pleasure to help you along life's pathway. But first we really need to know what you wish us to do. So again I ask you how can we help you? What do you expect us to do? What do you expect to find here? Where do you want to get to?"
"I don't know. I am beside myself with worry for Emma, I really need to know that she is well and safe. But I don't have any idea where she is. Then there is my situation. Obviously to make it I need money, so I need work, and that will allow me to buy food, clothing, shelter and maybe even transportation. It's like starting from scratch again. But nobody would employ me like I am now."
"So what about relatives? Are your parents alive still?"
"I have a distant aunt but she is the only living relative I think I have, and I don't have any idea where she is or what her surname is as I think she remarried. My parents died in a boating accident five years ago. I have no brothers or sisters."
