"Someone, please," a frail girl pleads, sitting in her box on the curb with a cup in hand. Everyone is passing her, not even giving her a split second of their vision. Those who do look at her with disgust. One person accidentally trips on the box, knocking the girl over along with her cup sending nickels and dimes rolling everywhere. A few people pocket the money before the girl realized what was going on. When she does, she begins to tear up. She fixes up her box, goes inside, closes the flaps, and silently weeps.
"Daddy! daddy!" a little girl says, walking with her father, "There's a box for mommy's gift!"
"Why, yes there is," the father responds, "And it's the perfect size. And seems to be in good condition. Stupid litterers." He begins to pick up the box, only to realize that there's something inside. Curious, he opens the box to find the girl.
"Oh," he says, disappointed, "It's in use. Looks like we gotta go find another o-" The father then tips over the box over, dumping the girl out, picking up the box, and takes off. The girl lays there on the concrete, tears running down her face. She then crawls to an alley entrance, curls in a ball, and starts crying her eyes out.
"Hey, cutie. What's wrong?" The girl hears through her crying. She looked up to see a beautiful woman who was a foot taller than her. She had long, curly, brown hair with bangs, a midnight blue hoodie with a pink shirt underneath, a black mini skirt, black thigh high stockings, and white tennis shoes. The girl tries to stop crying, but can't.
"Ok, ok" the woman responds, hugging her, "Shh. It's ok. I'm not gonna hurt you." The girl, loving the woman's embrace, starts to calm down. Once she stops completely, the woman says,
"There we go. Now, what's wrong? Are you lost?"
The girl shakes her head. "This is basically where I live," she answered. The woman is stunned. This girl fended for herself for God knows how long and managed.
'Poor thing,' the woman thinks to herself, 'This is no condition for anyone to be in.'
"And how old are you?" The woman asks.
"I stopped counting after fourteen," the girl responds, looking down, "The message of me not mattering to anyone kinda stuck around since then, so why keep track of something that's so irrelevant. I don't even remember my name. I barely remember anything about myself." This broke the woman's heart.
'This girl needs to get out of here before something bad happens,' the woman thinks to herself again.
"You hungry?" she asks. The girl nods. "Ok," the woman responds, "We'll get a bite to eat and chat for a bit, we get your information checked out, and you live with me. How's that sound?" The girl is starstruck. This was the only positive interaction she had with another being she had in awhile. She couldn't believe this was happening.
"Thank you so much," she said through tears of joy. She then constricted the woman in the biggest hug she could muster. The woman hugs back, petting her head and says,
"You're very welcome. Now let's go."
The woman stands up, extending her hand to help the girl up. The girl takes it and they walk to a nearby fast food sandwich restaurant. When they get there, they stand in line. Luckily, the line was really short, but the people have apparently never ordered anything in their lives because it took forever and a day for them to relay a single item.
However, while they were standing in line, the girl could feel people staring at her. She hears people whispering, laughing, sounding disgusted, etc. She begins clutching the woman, who's confused at first, but notices everyone's reactions. She hugs the girl and whispers,
"It's ok. They're probably just looking for a way to distract themselves from their own misery. Like this guy behind me. Don't look, but he's clearly here because his wife made him. He's unshaven, beer's on his shirt, he's still groggy looking, he's clearly got problems of his own. So just keep that in mind when someone judges you, alright?" The girl smiles and nods her head. The woman boops her nose and says
"Alright, now let's get some food in your tummy." She tickles the girl, who giggles and they go back to waiting.
When they finally get to the cashier, the woman orders a meatball sub for her and a ham and cheese for the girl. Afterwards, they go into the bathroom to wash their hands. Afterwards, the girl looks in the mirror and gives a dour look. The woman notices this and gives her a hug from behind. The girl smiles and they walk out.
They take their seats and wait on their food. The girl looks down and fidgets with the napkin holder. The woman tries to pick a question to get to know her new acquaintance. The girl is first to speak.
"So, what's your name?"
"Oh," the woman said "I guess I never did tell you, did I? Sorry, that's so rude. I'm Alex."
"That's pretty," the girl responds,
"Thank you," Alex says
"And speaking of names, while you might not remember yours, we gotta identify you. What do you wanna be called?" The girl shrugs.
"Ok," Alex said, "How about Eugene?"
"That's just terrible," the girl retorts with a chuckle,
"Well, you better pick one before it becomes your official name," Alex said teasingly, folding her arms. The girl thinks for a second. She didn't know that many names to begin with. But after pondering she finally decides and says,
"What about Kia?"
"Perfect," Alex responds, "It's very fitting."
Soon afterwards, their food arrives. While they dig in, they converse.
"So," Alex starts, "What's your story? You don't have to tell me now if you don't want to."
"No," Kia responds, "With everything you're doing for me, you at least deserve to know who you're helping. And while I don't remember much of it, I still have pieces that are always sticking with me. I was at one point a part of a really nice family. Or so I thought. My mom was seemingly sweeter than pie and my dad was just the most ambitious person you could ever meet. And for a while, they put on this facade that they actually cared for my well being. The way I found out about this facade was the fact that they would trick me into doing everything for myself so they wouldn't have to put in any effort. To the point that they even forgot about my existence. You know, until tax time came. But in the eyes of everyone not there, I was just lazy. I couldn't do anything right. I was a disappointment. Then one day, I was exhausted from working. I was sore all over the place, I could barely stand, my brain was fried, I was completely out of it. But coincidentally, my mom was talking to a relative on her phone telling her how I was just doing nothing like always. They were then talking about how shameful it was that I couldn't be bothered to do anything, how difficult my parents must have it to have to look after me, just the works. Then the relative gives the idea of getting rid of me if I can't act like a proper resident. My parents then took her advice. Words were said to me. I didn't respond because I saw no point. It was already set in stone. Yelling and arguing would just worsen things. So I just sat there and took it. Soon after, fosters took place. And since it was too far from my job, I was fired. No one was willing to take me. In their eyes, I was still too young. So young in fact that I knew nothing about the money I earned, so they took every cent. I bounced to different places. Some were shut down. Others treated me badly and I needed to escape. I had nowhere to go. No one wanted me. I never had any friends. All that I had were the thoughts of everyone wanting nothing to do with me. It was all my fault. I was useless. Worthless. Suicide was attempted a few times. But all of them failed. So seeing as I'm basically stuck here, I resorted to begging for money or at least a crumb to scrape by. Fast forward some years, here we are."
Alex was on the verge of tears after hearing Kia's story.
"I'm so sorry," she says, choking back the tears,
"Well, I'm kinda grateful in a weird way," Kia retorts,
"The things I went through gave me the opportunity to meet you. You showed me that maybe I am good for something." Alex's heart skipped a beat. She was responsible for at least slightly replenishing another person's self esteem. She was so happy to help this poor girl.
The two continue to converse and joke while eating their sandwiches. All of a sudden, a guy walks up to them with a cup in his hand. He then poured the cup containing ice water on Kia.
"You're welcome," he said in a mocking tone, "You just looked like you needed a bath. And lord knows you smelled like it." The guy then starts to laugh along with the majority of the store. Kia sinks into her seat, clutching herself.
Alex, with a stoneface expression, looks at the guy as he laughs. He then notices her and says,
"What? I'm just cleaning up your puppy for you. That'll be fifty dollars. I also take tips. And I even give them if you ask nicely." Alex doesn't say anything. She doesn't even move. She just sat there with no expression on her face, causing the guy to become a little uneasy.
Employees of the shop finally arrive to kick the guy out. Alex then focuses her attention on Kia. She hugs her and says,
"Come on. I'll take you home." Kia nods and stands up. When they walk out the door, Alex's eye catches the guy getting in his car. She quickly takes out her phone, snaps a picture of the front of the car, and puts it back without Kia noticing.
Kia and Alex walk to a nearby apartment complex. Alex takes out her key, unlocks the door, and both enter the room.
"Now," Alex starts, "With it being so late, we'll go to get your information tomorrow."
