The Homeless

I am Ivonne. My parents got married when they were too young and they got divorced when I reached my adolescence. My mother remarried a man of bad character, and both became alcoholics. At first, my stepfather didn't sympathize with me, because he scolded me without reason. When I turned sixteen years old, his attitude changed, becoming more affectionate. But I found out about his true intentions. If I told it to my mom, she would not believe me and would side with her husband. I realized that I no longer had a home, so, I simply disappeared. I took a few clothes in order to escape from my home.

I spent some months strolling for the city, but I there saw drugs, prostitution and hypocrisy on the part of the community help organizations; the same things from which I escaped from my house. For that reason, I never stayed in a same place for much time, but I rather walked on leaving there.

In the suburbs, I hardly got food and the little clothes that I took along became tattered. Soon I went by a middle-class residential complex, and through a small forest, I got to the local streets without being noticed. I observed how certain families lived, and one in particular drew my attention. It was a single father, with two children, a girl about to enter adolescence, and a young boy. The gentleman was nice, in spite of the fact that he had difficulty to care for his offspring; he even seemed to be young. The mother never appeared. Soon my hunger forced me to take a desperate action, and I watched this family for several days, until through a negligence, I entered through the back door.

At first, I only ate dry cereals and I drank a little water from the refrigerator, but this didn't satisfy me. I thought of cooking, since I saw all kinds of food in that refrigerator unable to taste them. I could take this no more. But I could not handle foods being so dirty, after months, perhaps years, wandering for so many streets of my country, so I had to take a bath. I took almost half an hour in removing so much grime, and after taking off what I was wearing, I could not put them on again. I put it into the washing machine with some of the family clothes, but upon finishing, mine disintegrated and no longer had anything to wear!

I was overcome by hunger and told myself:

"I will take care of my clothes later."

I put on an apron, and I cooked chicken with boiled potatoes, some in the broth, and mashed the rest. When everything was ready, I served the table and I began to eat. I felt revitalized, but I soon heard the noise of the man's truck arriving at the house. I was filled with fright, because here I am an intruder, and also, I am naked. I tried to slip away toward the back yard, and I tripped over stuff, until hiding in a corner of the rear patio. I thought for a moment that nobody had heard me, and I forgot that the scent of so much food them would make them suspect about my presence. Soon the man arrived to where I was hiding, aiming me with a modern kind of gun, and we both were horrified. I begged him:

"Please, don't kill me! I'm sorry, I will leave!

"No, you thief. What I will do will be to turn you over to the police."

"No! Not that! You better kill me, but I don't want to return to my stepfather!"

I cried and I even soiled myself, and then, he lowered his weapon, because some of my sorrow got to him. He responded:

"It's all right, I won't denounce you; at least, not like this."

He called toward inside to his daughter:

"Illy, bring me one of your mom's robes."

After five minutes, the girl brought it and he handed it to me so I got dressed. Then, he sent his children to clean up, then me, and we all sat at the table together. The young son gave me the same plate from which I began eating, already reheated in the microwave oven. We ate in silence, although the boy asked his father:

"Dad, is she our new mom?"

We all felt uncomfortable, but we concealed it. When we were done eating, the children commented to me:

"You cook well, more than..."

The father sent the children to their rooms so he could interrogate me. I explained my history to him and I added:

"My name is Ivonne. I ran away from my house because my stepfather began to abuse of me. I won't say anything more. I don't use drugs and I only took from your cereals until was hungry for hot food, done at home. I didn't make too much of a mess. My clothes came undone in the washer, so now I can't leave from here."

The man was moved and asked me:

"Does somebody know that are you here?"

"No. Nobody has seen me here."

"It's all right. I will tell you what we will do. You will stay for some time but I can't pay you with money. You will have food and I will even buy you some clothes, but I will soon need you to leave."

Although he didn't offer much, I accepted. While the father observed, the girl measured me, and the three of them went out to the shopping center. I picked up the table, I washed all the dishes, and I sat waiting for them. Soon they arrived, with new clothes, including underwear. He also gave me a towel and a toothbrush. I had to sleep on the sofa, much more comfortable and fluffed than where I have had to sleep all this time.

The next day, I heard the noise and the voices of the family waking up and getting ready to go to work and school. I got up, I put on the robe and I cooked a light breakfast for all. They marveled upon seeing carefully prepared food again, although they ate quickly. The man looked at me with a mixture of emotions, but he turned away to usher the children. I finished eating and picking up, in order to wash up and then to clean the house. I only swept the living room and other common areas, I cleaned the kitchen of old stains of spilled food, avoiding the bedrooms. I thought of fleeing again, but I was afraid, and in my indecision, I saw that they soon would arrive, so I cooked another meal. Little by little, I fell into a routine, and the house people began trusting me. I already learned their names: the father's name is Philip, and he is a construction foreman, the twelve-year-old daughter's name is Ileana and the eight-year-old boy is Manuel. Sometimes, I joined them to children's activities, and he introduced me as a cleaning lady. Through comments, I found out that his wife left him for another worker, before Phil was promoted, and now, they have economic difficulties because the guy is irresponsible. They no longer live in this town.

The children grew fond of me and the elder one even asked me to become their new mother, and I felt flattered, but I didn't think that I was prepared for the responsibility. One day, I looked at the calendar and I calculated that I became eighteen-years old at some point of my wanderings, before meeting this family. I am already free, being of legal age. I asked Philip's help to enroll in the night school, and I went to look for my file in my old high school, to know by how many courses was I short for an equivalent diploma. Only the personnel of the school recognized me, but no longer being I a minor, they had to respect my conditions of not notifying my parents, and I left again.

While I got registered, I noticed that I was the only one not pregnant or with children, no counting those who adopted me. The other case was one handicapped youth, with lower mental age that her chronological one. One night, while I studied for a somewhat difficult class, the gentleman began to converse with me:

"I want to thank you for all that you do for my family."

"I also thank you for allowing me to stay here."

"I also admire what you do to take your life back."

"Thank you."

"All right. Now I leave you; keep studying."

I did so for one more hour, until I was too tired, so I put the books in my bag and I went to sleep. I woke up late at night to go to the bathroom, and the boy also did. I waited for him to finish, but the father told me:

"Come over here, use the one in my room."

I accepted relieved, and upon finishing, I thanked him. He murmured a "you're welcome" and he continued:

"If you need to use it again, it will be available."

"Thank you again."

He didn't respond, so I supposed that he fell asleep. But something took possession of me and I didn't want to leave his room. I watched him sleep in the dimness, in such a big bed, and I understood that it was incomplete. I moved toward the side that his wife should occupy, and it frightened me a little, after all, I was reminded of my mean stepfather. But I told myself:

"This man could not be as bad as that one. In fact, I love this one."

So I lifted the bedsheet and I went to bed next to him, as if by impulse. He reacted surprised, and he asked me:

"What are you doing?"

My only answer was to surround his cheeks with my hands, in order to find his mouth and kiss it. He wanted to ask again:

"Wh-why do you do this?"

But my tongue already went as far as to get entangled with his, and he could not resist any more. I hovered over his face, inviting him to lick my nipples, and then, he turned me so that I lay on the bed, while he continued traveling over my body. I felt the first little orgasm even before he penetrated me, and then, I heard how he opened a drawer and ripped an envelope. I knew that it was a condom. He explained me:

"I kept this for a special occasion, and finally, it happened."

"It is also special for me."

He put it on and he began to probe for my vagina with his glans. I was so slippery, that with a quick stroke, his penis went all the way inside easily. Instinctively, I squeezed it with my vaginal muscles, and he praised me:

"You are exquisitely tight. I am not going to last long like this."

"I am ready for you."

And he moved out a little, and he then went in again. I loosened a little so that he could find a pleasant rhythm, but soon, the ecstasy invaded me again, and I squeezed a little more, and he accelerated until he achieved his orgasm. I did feel another, much stronger, might it have been the G-spot? We were both exhausted, and we barely had enough strength for a kiss before falling asleep.

Philip woke up first, accustomed to the sound of his alarm clock, and he was a little surprised upon seeing me in his bed. Then he felt the squeeze of the condom around his member and he pulled it off him. Then, he remembered everything. He came around to wake me up with kisses and caresses, saying:

"Get up, my love. I don't want the children to see us like this."

"What?"

I woke up startled, and in an instant, I also remembered the passion that we shared before dawn. I looked for my robe, I put it on, but once out of that room, the children met us and everything was discovered, and they began to chant:

"Ivonne and Dad are in love! We have a new mom!"

Exasperated by the teasing, I asked them:

"Enough! How did you know?"

Manny volunteered the answer:

"You didn't come to the hallway bathroom, I supposed that you would be in Dad's."

"Come here!"

And I chased them in order to hug them. They slipped away for a short while, but soon they let me catch up with them and kissed me back. They asked, always with the typical childish curiosity:

"Does this mean that you will marry Dad?"

"I don't know."

But "Dad" bumped into me from the back, and he surrounded me with his arms to touch the children. I felt his erection against my buttocks, and impulsively, I said yes. Any way, we came back to reality and we got ready for the day that was beginning, now with optimism, now that I do have a home, and a family that I love and loves me.