Chapter 6

After listening to an uninteresting argument between a couple of the girls concerning why they were not attracting the attention they deserved tonight. Ember finished tying up my black worn sneakers. Done for the night all she wanted was a long shower to cool herself off and to cleanse the sleaze off myself. The men were on the way out the front door after emptying their pockets and some of their bank accounts to Ember on stage.

Feeling sorry for the other girls, but knowing after she’s gone their money will go back to normal. It’s not an easy life they live. Yeah, some of them, mostly the really young ones that won’t last long, are just here for the excitement and the easy cash. The others though they have kids to take care of, schools to attend, and debts they must pay. They found themselves in a situation they couldn’t help. Money makes the world go round, right? Some of these would move on from this life soon.

Unfortunately, for a girl like Ember that is always on the move, no real proof of identity, and who can’t allow herself to find any form of connections, besides her cat, this is what was left for her. She knew she had stayed to long here as it was. She liked it here, which was unusual, but nice. Meeting Robert made the adjustment here easy. No one would know by looking at the man about how much good he actually does. He finds quiet ways to help, ways that can make even the most skittish people accept his help when he’s decided they needed it.

The usual places she had passed through were, while Ember did have my limits on how much, were just rough. Greedy people frequent most establishments where she had worked before. Even when she was too young to dance on stage, but just waitressed. The people assumed everyone was an easy target, just another score. Getting by with no identification was hard when you need a place to work, sleep, and live.

Ember walked in to this place just by chance while driving through North Carolina. Thinking that she would spend some time seeing the beaches along the coast. The heat doesn’t bother her and knowing there’s a large body of water nearby was always a plus. Stopping in since making some quick cash could be handy. The plan was to work, take a quick nap in my car, and then head on further South.

Well, after Robert saw my routine on stage he asked if Ember was from around here? As she was just passing through, he offered up a little one-bedroom beach cottage he had empty. Figuring Melody could use a nice break from the car ride she accepted, but told him it wouldn’t be for long. He didn’t even ask for her to sign anything or provide any proof of who she was. It was like a miracle. Strange, but wonderful. Luckily, the place wasn’t one of the places around here on stilts. Ember was able to haul her box she had built in with minimal effort, even though Robert offered to help move her things. Pretty sure he understood she was more comfortable on my own.

“Goodnight, Ember. Sorry about how things went tonight. I should have been paying better attention, but it seems you did well anyway,” Robert said interrupting her chaotic thoughts with his quiet gruff voice.

“No problem. I’m headed home. Yea, decent night.” She wasn’t going to tell him that as soon as I got home that it wasn’t going to be my home anymore. He was looking at her funny, like he knew anyway, but wanting to avoid herself becoming emotional she just scuttled out the door.