If things went the way she hoped; her parents wouldn’t learn about her trouble with Benny until Tammy came home. Charlie paced while praying. After some time she looked around the room, smiling when she found a small radio.
She carried it to the bed, plugged it in, and set it on the nightstand. She turned the dial until she found an all night gospel station. She laid down, and with the sounds of good gospel music, managed to drift off to sleep.
Charlie sat up, forgetting for a few seconds she’d slept in a strange bed. When she began to move she felt the effects of Benny’s handy-work. Her back ached, and she could see bruises all over her body. She glanced at her watch to see, six-thirty. She stretched gingerly and moved to peek out the door. The shirt Allie gave her came above her knees, and she didn’t want anyone but Allie to see her.
She needed to talk to Allie, to see if she could stay longer than a few days. She wanted to get a job and make some money for the trip home. She slipped out of the bedroom and saw Allie sitting on the couch taking off her shoes.
Charlie smelled the pot before she saw the smoke. Benny used it often enough for her to know that odor. Her nose wrinkled as she walked down the hall. Charlie stopped in her tracks and thought about backing into the bedroom and avoiding Allie. Why did God lead her here? Charlie didn’t know people like this girl. She went to church. She didn’t even curse and now this happens.
She could handle this situation in two ways. Accept Allie and then try to witness to her, or pretend she didn’t notice anything and distance herself from the girl. If she ended up staying, would she sink to her level, or would she be able to bring Allie to a higher plain? Charlie closed her eyes for a moment and said a quick prayer. She knew she needed to get her life back on track, and this situation was a reminder of that fact. It was time for a definite change.
"Lord, I don’t know why I’m here or what I should do, but please help me. Lead my steps and my words and turn me into a person who can be a great light to Allie and others. Amen."
Charlie walked into the room and sat down in a chair. After a few moments Allie spoke, but she didn’t open her eyes. “I know I shouldn’t smoke this stuff, but it's something I do after a rough night. Don’t think I’m a pot head, ‘cause I’m not.”
“I try not to judge people.”
“Judge . . . that sounds like a church word.”
“Well, I go to church most of the time.”
Allie opened her eyes. “Really? You go to church? But you spent the night here with me?”
“I needed your help. You didn’t find me in the street, beaten, but you were my Good Samaritan.”
“I know that story. My aunt goes to church; she read it to me once. So tell me Charlie, what brings you to my door?”
“I guess God.”
This made Allie laugh and she leaned back and shook her head. “God gave up on me a long time back.”
“Nah. He’s waiting for you to come back where He can reach you again.”
“Reach me? He wouldn’t touch me with a ten foot pole.”
“I’m sure if you ask He'd wrap His arms around you and let you cry on His shoulder. We just don’t give Him the chance.”
Allie shrugged, closed her eyes, as if thinking something through. She sat up, put out the joint and let the smoke roll out before she spoke. “If you have so much faith, how did you end up here?”
“I don’t know. Maybe God sent me to help you; to show you He really does care. Maybe He sent me here to teach me something. It’s hard to tell what the Lord has up His sleeve. He lets us go through stuff in order to teach us a lesson.”
“And you don’t care? I never did understand that. If He loves us so much, why does He let people hurt?”
“Well, the Bible gives us one example. God let Job suffer to prove to the devil his servant wouldn’t turn his back on his Maker, even when terrible things happened to him.”
“So you think this could be a test?”
“It could be. Or maybe I’m here to help you, or someone else I haven’t met. I won’t know, maybe for months. I may never know why this happened. I may not want to know why I got chased by my sister’s boyfriend, and why God let my dad lose his job and grow hateful to me.”
“Did your sister know about this? Did she kick you out?”
“No. I ran away. I can’t stay with my parents now. My dad’s in a tight spot; he blames God for everything. He doesn’t understand how I can be so faithful when God’s allowed him to be in so much pain.”
“Why do you still love Him?”
Charlie smiled. “That’s easy. I love Him because He loves me. No matter what I do, I can go to Him and He’ll be there.”
“How is He here for you now? You’re on the street. You can’t go home.”
“Well, He helped me find the diner and He sent you to feed me. He knew we’d meet, and He put me in a place where I could help you. He led me here because He knew you’d take me in.
“Well, however you got here, I’m glad I could help . . .”
“Me too. But, will you let me stay another night? Maybe several?”
“I don’t know. Are you going to preach at me?”
“If I feel God wants me to.”
Allie laughed, shaking her head in dismay. “Why do you want to stay here? Look at how I live. I sleep with men for a living; I smoke pot in the morning to help me forget what I do at night. This ain’t no place for you.”
“Well, that’s kind of what I thought. But Jesus hung out with all kinds of people. They called Him names because He hung out with prostitutes and drunks. A woman like you came one day and washed His feet with her tears, and dried His feet with her hair. The rulers back then said if He was a prophet He’d know what kind of woman was washing His feet.”
“I don’t remember that story,” Allie rose to go to her room.
“I’ll read it to you some time. But I’ll tell you, Jesus knew all about her. He knew what kind of woman she was. He could sense her regret and sorrow, and He forgave her.”
Allie nodded as she walked down the hall. “You can stay, but I may ask you to do things now and then.”
“I won’t sleep with men for you.” Charlie laughed, shaking her head no.
Allie turned with a smile on her face. “That’s my job. But I can’t cook so maybe if you want to stay for a few weeks you’ll have supper on the table around five this evening. There’s some money in the sugar bowl if you need to go out and get some groceries.”
“What about a key to the apartment?”
“It's on the peg by the front door. Whatever you do,” Allie stated, “please do it quietly.”
Chapter 4
Settling In
The first evening Charlie cooked a beef roast with potatoes. It was one of many meals they would share over the next few weeks. Charlie would rise at dawn, talk with Allie about her night, and plan a menu for the next day.
Allie wanted Charlie to feel at home. It was fine if she wanted to use the phone, and she could stay forever, as long as she kept cooking those fine meals. She could also use the key to come and go as she pleased, as long as she kept quiet in the mornings.
The day after she moved in, Charlie called her mother to say she would be spending some time with a friend in Chicago. She found out Benny survived her right hook, and that Tammy didn’t want to hear her side of the story.
She promised to keep in touch but didn’t mention Allie. Her mother would not approve of her new environment.
Since she’d moved in with Allie, things were changing. Some mornings Allie didn’t smoke pot but instead Charlie would rub her shoulders and tell her a Bible story. They were getting to know each other and they were becoming good friends. Charlie decided to stay, so she found a job at a restaurant a couple of miles away. She didn’t like riding the bus, but she was getting used to the system, and learning her way around town.
Each evening Charlie arrived home in time to cook supper. They would sit laughing and talking, forgetting their proble
ms for a while. Allie didn’t discuss her profession, but Charlie knew it was stressful. A couple of times she came home crying.
Charlie tried to talk Allie into quitting and getting a better job. One night during a thunderstorm while they sat in the dark waiting for the power to come back on, Allie confessed she wanted to move to Florida. She spoke about the move as if it was a distant dream. Charlie told her all dreams felt distant at first, but it was no reason to give up on them.
One Friday evening, a few days before Halloween, Allie walked in and sat a small box in the center of the table. “What’s that?” Charlie asked as she set a kettle of hot pasta on the table.
“It’s a small present I picked up. Today makes two weeks since you moved in. You can call it an anniversary present. I hope you like it.”
“Thank you; I love presents.” Charlie sat down looking at the small box. “What is it?”
“It’s our dream box. I know you don’t want to live here forever and I don’t either. This is our way to a better life.”
“I like that idea.”
“Me too. My dream is to take my aunt and move to Florida. If you want, you can join us or you can have a dream of your own. We’ll each have our own envelope. I’ll be putting as much money in as I can and I thought you might want to join me.”
“This sounds like fun.”
“It will be. And don’t forget, you’re welcome to join me and my aunt in Florida. I haven’t told her about it yet. I want to save enough money for the trip first and maybe even go down, look around, find an apartment and get a job.”
“This is great! I got paid today so here’s my first ten dollars on my dream.”
“I’ll match it.” Allie pulled a ten out of her pocket and they sat down to eat supper.
Over the two weeks of living with Allie, Charlie started saying a blessing over their meals. She knew Allie felt uncomfortable at first, but soon softened to the idea.
A couple of times, as she went out the door for the night, she’d even asked Charlie to pray for some of her friends. They were becoming close and both of them were glad for the night they’d met.
This night as Allie headed out the door, she stopped and looked at Charlie. “I need you to pray about something, but I’m not sure how to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Well. I met this guy the other night; at one of Rico’s parties. He’s so good looking, and not like most of the men I meet. He kept watching me. I’m sure he knew why I was there, but we had a nice talk and only a talk.”
“That’s great.”
“So far, but he’s going to be at this party tonight. I’m so nervous. I don’t want him to be one of the guys . . . you know . . . I like him but not that way. I’d hate to have to . . .”
“Don’t worry. I’ll spend some serious time in prayer. Just look for it to work out the way God wants it to.”
“I’ll try. Also pray for me ‘cause I get nervous when I’m around him. I don’t know why, but there’s something about this man I really like.”
“I’ll pray.”
“I know you will.” Although it wasn’t normal for Allie, she hugged her new friend. Charlie could see tears in Allie’s eyes as she turned to go out the door.
Charlie headed to her room to pray for Allie. The tears flowed for her friend. She knew down deep Allie hated her job. Charlie even hated to think of it as a job; it wasn’t. Although Allie made money, it seemed more like a prison than a job.
After praying, Charlie called to check on her dad. His surgery had been postponed again, but thankfully his pain and stress levels were lower. Charlie didn’t keep her mother on the phone long but wanted to let her know things were well. They never spoke about Tammy or Benny. Charlie wanted to ask how her sister was, but didn’t. She knew if anything serious happened, her mother would let her know.
After saying goodnight to her mother, Charlie slipped into her nightgown. Her body ached from working such long hours. She glanced at the Bible the young pastor gave her and sighed. For the second time, she missed going to the new church over on Park Ave. She turned the lights off and looked out the window on the city, thinking about her new job.
Charlie liked her boss, Jim. Since she was the new girl, he kept picking her for overtime. She didn’t mind filling in when others wanted some time off. It helped her add more money to the dream box.
The tips she made from waiting tables paid better than she thought possible, but at times the men could be hard to deal with. They wanted to paw her, smack her on the rear, or tell her a dirty joke. It made her think of Allie.
Charlie couldn’t understand how Allie could live like that, going out and working the streets night after night. Sometimes the construction workers came in for lunch; they made kissy faces and called her sweetheart. Whenever she became embarrassed or mad, she thought of Allie.
Charlie began to pace thinking about Allie and her new love interest. Maybe all the men who hung out with Rico weren’t immoral. She found it hard to believe a man would deal with a pimp, and not be in the same line of work.
She heard the rain begin to fall and turned, watching as the raindrops hit against the window. She went over and looked at the skyline. No matter where she went after living here, she knew she would miss this view.
She sat down in a chair and looked out over the city. She began praying for those working and living on the streets. There seemed to be a lot of police out tonight, but then again, it was closing in on Halloween.
Hopefully she wouldn’t have to work that night. She wanted to talk Allie into helping out at one of the local churches. Several of them would be handing out candy to the children for Trick or Treat. She hoped and prayed Allie would go with her.
Chapter 5
Angel
Sirens flashed and Angel cringed as the rookie pressed his face against the back of the cruiser. The cop holding him laughed and pressed down as he took out his cuffs.
“You’re not getting away from me, punk.” The rookie sounded a little too sure of himself. Angel wanted to pull his badge and tell the kid, ‘hands off,’ but he couldn’t. Some of Rico’s guys were sitting right behind him.
He might get away from this rookie, but the kid looked trigger-happy and Angel didn’t want to take a chance on getting shot. He grimaced as the kid once again pressed his face against the car as he tried to cuff him.
“You pretty boys are all the same! You think you can get away with anything. Well, let me tell you. You won’t get away with anything on my watch!”
“I can see that.” Angel's tone won him another slam into the car. After the kid got the cuffs on, he pushed Angel down to sit on the sidewalk. Now and then a cop would come along, pick one of them up, push them into a car and head to the station.
Angel sat for fifteen minutes before someone came along, grabbed him from the back, and pushed him to a cruiser. “Watch your head,” the cop warned as he forced Angel into the car. Angel glared out the window at the kid that cuffed him. Some day he’d get the chance to properly introduce himself.
The man behind the wheel of the cruiser took off a blond wig and a pair of glasses, tossing them aside. He put the car into drive and pulled out.
“It took you long enough,” Angel glared at Joe, a man who seemed more like a good friend than a brother.
“Hey! I got here as fast as I could. You should have called sooner.”
“I took a chance calling you when I did.”
“Well, just be glad you didn’t get a free ride downtown to booking. You’re lucky I was close by, passing out candy with Nyssa.”
“You call this lucky,” Angel leaned forward showing Joe a cut on the side of his face.
“You’ll live. I don’t think it’ll affect your looks any. Don’t be a cry baby.”
“Hey, who went to hold your hand at the dentist last month?”
“I was getting two teeth pulled. That’s a lot more serious then a small cut on your face.”
“Speaking of bad teeth, you got
any candy?” Angel looked over the seat.
“Nope. I got a couple of sandwiches you can have. I can get more when I go back to help clean up. Where do you want me to drop you off?”
“It doesn’t matter. I can walk to my apartment from here. This is Rico’s part of town you know. I’m hoping this will win me some brownie points with his boys.
“So you think you might get to meet Rico soon?”
“I’m still working with some of his punks. It’s really hard to break into the inner workings of this group. But I don't think it should take much longer. I showed them tonight I’m willing to fight the cops. I told the guys I needed the work. I’m hoping they’ll contact me soon.”
“The chief said to keep the apartment for another month. I got some money for you, too.”
Joe pulled the car to the corner and Angel bent around so Joe could take the cuffs off. Once his hands were free he reached for a small bag and laughed at the smiling pumpkin on the front.
“Did you take the kids out trick or treating?” Angel began rummaging through the bag.
“Nyssa took them to church for some apple-bobbing and pin the smile on the pumpkin. We didn’t take them out; there was plenty of candy at the party.”
“You went too?”
“Yeah, Nyssa put her foot down. She wanted me to see the kids in the play. They did a good job. I’m glad I went.” Joe turned in the seat and handed Angel another bag. “Here’s a few other things.”
“A new phone already?” Angel took a couple of bites of one of the sandwiches.
“Yeah, this one comes with a tracking device.”
“I’m not sure I like the amount of faith they have in me.”
“You’re new. No one here knows you but me.”
“I know. I like to complain. Here’s the old phone.”
Joe took the phone and tossed it into the glove box. “I’ll drive you around the street and then you can jump out.”
“Works for me. I’ll try not to get arrested this time.”
“Do that, and keep your nose clean. I’ve got a wife, unlike some people. I don’t need to be babysitting you every time I turn around.” With this comment, Joe checked the mirrors and slowed the car. Angel opened the door, and in the shadows of the side street, he slipped out to make his way back to his apartment.
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