Chapter Five

Stupid tears sliding down her nose bridge, Maddie knelt and stuffed her strewn clothes into the ratty suitcase that had been hers since she was sixteen.

She swiped angrily at the tears. What was she? Five? She shouldn't be surprised by her father's actions. They shouldn't hurt her. And yet, here she was, tears and mucus running down her face.

She didn't know which she mourned the most. The chance to fulfill her promise to her mother or the money — her savings — tucked under her bed.

When the box couldn't contain any more clothes, she sat on the old box and forced the zipper close. She looked down at the remaining clothes that were left.

Well, she wouldn't be needing these much clothes out in the streets. At the thought of having to live on the streets, the tears came rushing back.

She sprang to her feet, pulled the box up to stand on its wheels and began to think of her options of a place to sleep this night. She wasn't really close to Andrea and Rache, plus she had no idea where they lived.

She scratched the "bunk with a friend" option out of the list. There was only one option left, she thought grimly.

Sleeping in the park.

At least it had benches. If she wasn't chased away.

Her eyes burned but she pushed the tears down, threw her shoulders back, gripped the handle bar of her suitcase and proceeded her march to the park.

Fresco Park was dimly lit, but even then she could make out human forms slumbering on the grass. Some were tucked under blankets. There were even few tents here and there. Then there were those that had no form of protection against the elements.

In all her twenty-two years, she had never for once imagined that a day would come when she would be sleeping in the midst of vagrants.

"Hey, you, pretty girl." The call came from her left. The voice was scratchy, like the owner smoked for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

She turned her head, wondering who it was.

A man with unkempt hair and mouth that had more missing teeth than anyone she ever knew. The teeth remaining were so weird looking she shuddered.

"I have a blanket, and I can keep you warm if it is not enough." The man continued.

Over her dead body. She faced forward and hurried away from the man.

Apparently, he had friends who laughed and made more lewd remarks as she fled.

Was this option going to yanked away from her? She would not sleep in a place she didn't feel safe. No matter how desperate she was.

Just then she noticed a woman with a face that told of life stories that were undoubtedly sad staring at her. Her eyes were unsettling. The woman was clothed from head to toe, save her face. When she got nearer, the woman spoke, "you can sleep close to me. No one will disturb you."

She looked around and noticed that the woman seemed to have carved out her territory and no one was attempting to breach the invisible boundary. 

Maddie almost wept with relief. "Thank you."

"You might want to use your suitcase as your pillow." The woman said as Maddie claimed a spot not so far from her, while being not so near. The woman spoke so quietly, as though she couldn't dredge up the energy to speak louder than that.

"It is hard." Maddie replied.

"You have to choose between a crick in the neck or stolen property." The woman said, her stare still unsettling.

"I'll use it as a pillow. Thank you."

The woman nodded once, then dipped her hand into her jacket's inner pocket and produced a croissant. The woman habded it to her. "I do not have coffee."

Tears threatened. She collected the roll, and flashed the woman a watery smile. "Thank you." She gobbled it, then laid on the ground, her head hanging on her suitcase. It was a weird position, but like the woman had said, it was either a crick in her neck or her clothes stolen. "Goodnight."

The woman nodded. "No one will bother you."

That was enough for her. With a smile on her lips, Maddie settled into the most uncomfortable sleep.

The soft warmth of sun rays nudged her from sleep the next morning. She cracked her eyelids slowly. God, her neck hurt. She sat upright and rolled her neck around, trying to ease the cramps in her neck. She noticed the woman staring at her just as she rotated her neck to the left. 

She froze then smiled. "Good morning."

The woman dipped her fingers into her jacket's inner pocket and this time produced a sticky bun. It seemed that inner pocket of hers was equivalent to Mary Poppins magical bag. Maddie wondered what else it contained.

"Thank you."

As soon as she collected the sticky bun, the woman stood up, grabbed her things and started to leave.

"What's your name, please?"

But the woman didn't answer. Just kept walking away.

Biting into the sticky bun, she let her eyes sweep the park in one glance. It looked like she was the only one left.

She sighed. The day was early yet, so visitors were yet to start trooping in.

What was she to do? Bruce would most likely have an heart attack if she showed up looking and smelling like she was. With a suitcase in tow.

She licked her fingers. There was nothing to it. She had to show up at Lobster's Cafe, looking all like the homeless girl that she was, and listen to Bruce rant. At the top of his lungs.

A pair of white sneakers appeared in her vision. A pair of expensive white sneakers. A pair that looked so familiar, Maddie was sure she was dying.

"Hello, good morning."

That voice. She knew it anywhere. It belonged only to one person. The hotshot that had made her drop a coffee pot. The same one who had being at the cafe with stupid redhead as his date yesterday.

Drew.

And Maddie knew she was not dying. 

She was already dead.

She shut her eyes tight, willing it all away. But she felt the dratted man crouch in front of her.

When he said nothing, she opened her eyes.

His eyes were furrowed with concern. "What are you doing here?"