Maternal Absence

by Jamie Ott

  “Uh, my name is piper and my mom is missing. She’s been gone all night.”

  “When did you see her last?”

  “Um, yesterday before I went to school.”

  “When did you notice that she was missing?”

  “Yesterday, when I came home from school.”

  “Well, you have to wait until she’s been missing twenty four hours before you can file a report. Is there any evidence that something bad happened? Something violent, perhaps?”

  Immediately, she thought of the broken window.

  “No.”

  “Okay, then call back later in the afternoon. If she hasn’t turned up, we’ll a send a cop.”

  Piper hung up.

  She should have explained that she was a kid who spent the night under a dumpster. But for some reason, she clammed up. Piper knew what happened to kids who didn’t have homes. They had a few kids, like that, at school, and though, contrary to belief, they were treated well, the kids were very mean to her, too.

  Learning Homeless

  Chapter 5

  Two days had passed since her mother’s disappearance. She called the lady back, at 9-1-1, but made sure not to be home when the police came.

  During the two days, Piper frequented the alley with the dumpster, under which she continued to sleep, until she was woken abruptly. She hadn’t anticipated the servicemen.

  HONK!

  Suddenly, brightness shined down on her. She jumped to standing position, raising her hands to her eyes. The sun light, blinding, gleamed off the mirror of the dump truck. Several feet above her head was the dumpster in the truck’s clutches.

  “Get out of here, you rat!”

  She ran, fast. Tears sprang to her eyes. In all she’d ever been subjected to, she never felt lower than she did at the moment. Hearing the men yell at her, as if she were just trash. How could Mom do this to her?

  She sat on the stone bench she visited the night before, when Mom first went missing. It was a bus stop bench. She stared straight ahead and willed herself not to cry again.

  People, behind her, walked past. In the air, a scent of sweetness and bread baking lingered.

  As Piper took a deep breath, she looked up and spotted a man in a long black coat standing next to her, staring. A look of concern was on his face and in his large dark brown eyes; it made Piper even more self-conscious and irritated, which made it harder to control her emotions.

  She continued to look straight ahead. When the man turned and walked off, her chest lightened. A few minutes later, the same man returned with a large cup of coffee in one hand and two donuts in his other. Placing them in her hands, he asked, “Are you okay?”

  She looked at him and could no longer hold back. The man looked surprised and he handed her a napkin.

  “What is it? You look so sad.”

  “Yes, I’m just a little upset right now. I’ll be fine, though. Thanks for the donuts and coffee.”

  She tried to smile.

  “Do you want to come in for a bit and warm up?”

  “No, I gotta go to school.”

  “Well, I need to start work, but if you need anything, come in and see me.”

  “Okay.”

  She turned to see where the man would go. He disappeared through the glass door behind the bus stop. Then it dawned on her: the smell of sugar and bread. The man ran a donut shop right behind her.

  Piper started to eat her donuts and drink her coffee. The warmth and the sweetness filled her and immediately she felt a degree of relief. As she sipped her coffee, she heard a grinding noise and looked to her right. A small, white, truck stopped some feet ahead of the bench.

  Feeling that the truck was uncomfortably close, Piper stood up and walked to the opposite end of the bench. The armored truck men went into the small grocery store next to the donut shop.

  Moments later, the same two men carried brown bags to the truck. Guns were displayed on their hips. She sipped, ate, and watched.

  ~~~

  Over the next few days, Piper maintained her independence by going to school and then hiding in the alley. Her hygiene became questionable rather quickly, which is why she began showering in the girls locker room. Although she tried to remain inconspicuous, her emotional state must have been apparent in her face, because she found herself constantly being questioned by teachers. “How are you” and “Are you okay?” and “Why are your clothes so dirty?” It wasn’t long before Piper decided that it wasn’t safe to return to school.

  Can’t Stay

  Chapter 6

  Fourteen days had passed. There was still no sign of her mother, and she was still sleeping under the dumpster in the alley. She’d expanded her wanderings to places where she could spend much time inside, where it was warm, such as the library, coffee houses, and fast-food restaurants.

  She hadn’t returned to school. Instead, she spent her days reading and pan handling on Main Street. A couple of times, older men approached her, but she knew too well about their kind of business. She didn’t waste time talking to them, but she just ran. There were too many stories of abductions in her neighborhood.

  Her teeth became gritty and yellow. It was the worst thing to walk around feeling an unwashed mouth all day long. The taste and feel affected her just as badly as the sight and smell to others. A few times, she gagged on her own putridness.

  This was how and why Piper managed her first feat of thievery. She stood in the aisle of the convenience store, staring at the rack of brushes; across from them, tubes of toothpaste.

  She was in a zone, almost like someone else had taken over her body. All she could hear was a buzzing that was only in her mind. She raised her hand to the brush, and while it was still hanging, slid the length of it down her sleeve; with her fingers, she pushed the plastic off the metal holder. The she did the same with toothpaste, raising her wrist to the tube and pushing it in her sleeve. Calmly, she left the store.

  The toothbrush and toothpaste now rested in her backpack, which no longer held school books, but instead her paper, pens and rentals from the city library.

  She never thought the simple act of brushing her teeth could bring her joy. Piper found the closest coffee house with the intent of just that when all of a sudden, her stomach violently rippled. Pain spread up to her neck and down to her knees, causing her to buckle. Inside the coffee shop was even worse, as she pulled back the glass door and warm air scented with bread and croissants hit her face. It had been two days since Piper had eaten. At the library, she read a person could survive weeks without food, but never did the book mention how painful it was; that she’d be faint, sickly and have vision problems. She’d have given anything for a coffee and a sandwich. Briefly, she considered returning to school for lunch, but knew she couldn’t. They’d know something was up.

  She walked to the register to ask for the bathroom key. No one was there. On the counter, a clear cup half way full of dollar bills and change sat. She considered taking it and running. No, she said to herself. It would be bad to become known as a neighborhood thief.

  Piper continued to the back of the café. The bathroom door was unlocked. Inside, she dropped her back pack and locked the door.

  Over the sink, she covered the entire length of the bristles with the white paste. “Aaaahh,” she sighed, as the bristles removed a layer of grime. After a few minutes of brushing, she spit out the paste, rinsed her mouth and the bristles, and went for second round.

  Feeling orally refreshed, she stared at herself in the mirror. The reflection was of someone she’d never seen before. She was never a beauty queen, but the girl in the mirror was a horror. Sunken eyes and a line on her forehead and the sides of her mouth, probably from being tense all the time. Her skin was papery white, and oil glistened on her scalp.

  Once more, hunger ripped through her insides. It took all her strength not to cry out. Her hands gripped the porcelain sink. Tears leaked out of her eyes.

  Finally, the pain lifted. Like
a zombie, she picked up her bag and exited the bathroom. At the front of the café, the counter was still unoccupied. She walked up, grabbed the cup, and then ran out.

  For many blocks, she zigzagged through the neighborhood, fearing that she was being followed; that someone saw her with the plastic cup in her hand. She slowed to walking when her stomach grumbled, like an earthquake again, bringing her to her knees on the cement. Across the street was a fast food burger shop. The grease permeated the air.

  Weakly, she pushed up from the ground and stumbled across the street as though she were drunk. Her stomach gave a mighty lurch when she walked through the door.

  People milled about everywhere, so she decided to go the bathroom first. In the stall, she pulled the cup out of her backpack and began counting. The cup had almost $25 in it. She was so happy that she cried again.

  She put the money in her pocket and dropped the cup in the trash; then swayed her way to the line. At the counter, she ordered a huge burger meal with chicken strips, coffee and two hot apple pies. The man just looked at her as though she was crazy, but Piper was too busy anticipating food to care. The guy gave her a large coffee and she moved aside to wait for the food.

  Before, she never liked coffee. Now, there was nothing she loved more, especially after being outside all day long. She sighed when the man set her tray on the counter. Quickly, she grabbed it and sat at the nearest table.

  Only a few minutes passed before a different kind of pain set in: the pain of eating after being hungry. She’d read it could kill, and so could drinking too quickly after being thoroughly dehydrated.

  “Slow down, slow down,” she mumbled.

  Despite the new pain, her mind cleared. She felt better than she had in days. She dipped her fry in ketchup and brought it her mouth and chewed, slowly.

  She needed a plan. Piper couldn’t spend the rest of her life wandering the streets and stealing tips. For days, Piper considered that she needed to figure out how she would get off the streets, but no ideas came to her.

  The pain in her stomach started to mount, just like the book said it would. She packed up her leftover burger, strips and pie. Thinking about a nap on the partly concealed soft couch at another coffee house two blocks over, she headed in that direction.

  ~~~

  Several hours later, a man shook her awake.

  “I’m sorry but you’re gonna have to go,” he said meanly.

  “Sorry.”

  She got her backpack and left.

  The night was even bitterer than the previous, and it would only get worse. Fall was here. Tomorrow, the service men would be back, so she couldn’t hide in her alley. She settled on the stone bench of the bus stop. Piper didn’t know if it was possible to die from shivering, but she sure wished for death, at that moment.

  The wind threw daggers in her ears and tried to peel her clothes from her body. She looked behind her to see if anyone was in the donut shop. Nope, it was dark.

  Her ears felt as though they would explode. She pulled her jacket up over her head and rested her chin between her knees. She sat like that a good while until a loud grinding noise took her by surprise. Piper looked over the top of her collar. The armored truck was back; it was parked mere feet from where she sat.

  A guy in a security outfit exited the side door and walked straight into the little grocery store. He didn’t seem to notice her sitting there.

  Was he alone?

  She got off the bench and walked to the passenger side: it was empty.

  Without thinking or even contemplating, she walked to the back of the truck, wondering if it really was loaded with money, just like in the movies. As earlier, it was like an animal inside her had taken over, only this time her conscious mind didn’t try to object. This time, there were no feelings of fear or guilt, and no buzzing in her ears; there was only the hope to overcome her desperation.

  Someone else had decided that she should put her hand up to the silver clasp door opener and give it a tug. Unfortunately, it didn’t open. She gave it a second stronger tug, but nothing. Finally, she yanked it several times, as hard as she could, while shrieking under her breath.

  The handle clicked backward, and the door was released. She looked inside and saw organized leveled pillar like piles of bags in every color; some black, some brown, gray, green. Then there were suitcase sized bags in every color that lined the floor.

  She picked up a bag and unzipped it, hurriedly. Her hands shook so hard that the zipper got caught as she pulled it, but when she looked, her breath stilled. A two inch wad of money was inside. Clipped to it was a length of receipt. Behind it were checks and more receipts. Quickly, she stuffed the bag in her backpack and reached in two more times. She only had time for a third grab at the bags when she heard the man running up to the truck. Not bothering to close the door, she ran across the street and down an alley. The guy screamed at her to stop.

  Escape

  Chapter 7

  Lying under another trash dumpster, on the dirty disgusting ground, Piper managed to hide from the security guard. She estimated that it had been about an hour since she last heard footsteps, police sirens, or talking about the girl who got away. All they knew was that she had long brown hair, wore a shabby blue jacket, short jeans, and had a blue backpack. Lucky for her, that could have been any kid in the neighborhood.

  Despite her urge to keep running through the neighborhood until she got far away, she stayed under the dumpster, afraid to sleep and afraid to move. What if she left her spot and walked right into someone who would turn her in? At the same time, she realized that she would need to move at some point. Police patrolling the area would make it difficult for her to live in the neighborhood the way she had the last few weeks. No panhandling or moving from café to café, trying to escape the cold.

  After debating with herself for a while, she decided it was best to stay until morning. She lined the garbage can as best as she could, with cardboard, and tried to relax.

  ~~~

  She woke feeling as though she had never gone to sleep. Deep in slumber, vivid dreams of going to jail played in her mind. Piper jerked her head up, banging into the garbage can again. Some feet away, she heard people moving about and talking. She lay there, waiting for them to pass. Finally, it was quiet. Piper pulled back the cardboard and slipped out.

  It was an even colder morning. The sky was bright blue but with a glass-like appearance. Immediately, she left the alley and went right, down the street, looking out for cops. Piper picked up her pace, as up ahead she saw a bus stop.

  The people she passed didn’t look or stare at her. Wondering if she had enough change from the tip cup, she ran to the bust stop and, not paying any attention to the number of the bus or where it was going, she stepped on.

  After riding the bus for about 30 minutes or so, Piper drifted off to sleep. She tried to stay awake but the warmth of the heater and many people all together made it difficult. Her muscles ached from shivering all night. In the heat, they relaxed, making it even harder to stay awake.

  An hour later, the bus pulled into the main station.

  “This is the end of the line,” the driver said into her speaker system.

  Inside, the station was old, bright and dirty. The people were just as sad looking. Lines of people waited at the attendants’ windows. She picked one and waited.

  An hour later, she learned that a bus would take her to the train station. That she could leave the city whenever she wanted. She bought a couple tickets, and left.

  Piper knew it was a good idea to leave, immediately, but she needed to take care of some things, first. She needed to make sure that she’d be able to travel without getting stopped because of her appearance. Further, she needed to figure a better way to hide the money and bags. One sight of them and anyone would instantly know she should be turned over to authorities, so she left the station unsure of where to start.

  Down the street, she went for a few blocks, trying to see where sh
e could buy some clothes without people questioning her. After all, it was a school day and, with the way she looked, no one would want her in their shop. One look and they’d think she was going to steal.

  Then she approached a cheap clothing shop and looked in the window. An Asian lady came out and talked, fast, to her. She realized that she was in China Town, a perfect place to go unnoticed. They were known for minding their business.

  The woman beckoned her inside all the while speaking so fast that she couldn’t understand her. She only seemed keen to sell her merchandise. Piper smiled and pointed at a couple pairs of jeans and a few sweaters. Then the woman showed her to a dressing room.

  Immediately, she opened her back pack and opened one of the bags of money. She pulled a few hundred dollar bills and stuffed them in the front pocket of her jeans.

  The woman placed a couple more sweaters under the dressing room door. She paired a soft black cardigan with some black jeans. Perfect, she thought, for contradicting the shabby appearance of the girl who was likely wanted, back in her neighborhood. She walked out of the room, wearing the clothes and stuffing her shabby ones into her backpack.

  “Looks good! Much better!” said the woman.

  “What about this?”

  She held up a couple different sweaters in different colors.

  “Yes.”

  She pointed at the red and the pink, and the dark blue. Piper walked around the shop a little longer, pointing at other things. The woman hardly noticed as she picked up a hair brush and ran it through her hair a few times before throwing it up on the counter.

  Twenty minutes later, Piper walked down the street with a new backpack, filled with a few new outfits. The woman was so friendly and uncaring that she decided to press her luck and see what her chances were of finding a motel for the night. She walked along the street and already spotted one up ahead. It was extremely shabby but it would do.

  Inside the lobby, the man spoke in just as hurried speech. He hardly noticed or cared that she was young and on her own. Like the woman, what he cared about was doing business. He charged her a hefty deposit, and then picked up a key and led her to a room on the third floor. Despite the shabbiness of the halls, the occupants were quiet and much more respectable than in her neighborhood ghetto.