From the streets - Chapter 21

Sophie had planned to be in Ireland about now, but this worked out nicely as well.  Doctor Wilson cleared her to fly, so she could fly from Boston to Ireland after the house hunting had been settled, and she had met some of Angela and Destiny’s family.  Nicole was still recovering, but Jane came along to help David protect the girls since they’d be taking on all three soon enough.

“How much is this place again?” Maev asked as they looked around the house, a big Victorian two story with enough bedrooms for the boys, the girls, and an office.

“280,500.” The woman who was showing it to them stated.

“Makes me wonder what’s wrong with it,” Thom, Destiny’s other brother, said.

“It needs some work.” The woman nodded. “There’s no appliances, and the paint on the outside is going.  But it’s an excellent neighborhood, close to A+ rated schools.”

“Nobody walkin’ around with AK47s out in the open,” Dean said.  “That’s already a plus.”

The woman gave Maev a sort of hesitant ‘He’s joking’ right?’ glance.  Maev just said politely.  “I dunno.  It just seems a little...”

“Haunted?” Destiny asked.  Maev laughed, remembering the cat incident from a couple of days ago.  “I was running the numbers.  For about $15,000 we could fully renovate, maybe more if the foundation needs work, but it would bring the total value up to at least $600,000, probably more.”

“That much aye?” Maev said, looking at the notepad Destiny had been scribbling on.  “That’s a fair point, property values around it would bring its value up quite a bit after it’s been fixed up.”  They had already looked at half a dozen houses in much worse neighborhoods, for much more.  Maev wasn’t afraid of a little manual labor, nor were the boys.

“I like it.” Thom shrugged.

“Oh, I have some lovely mansions in that price range if you’re interested,” the woman said brightly.  She knew damned well who those three girls with Maev were.

“Oh no no.” Maev shook her head.

“Oh come mom, it doesn’t hurt to go look.” Sophie teased instead of Destiny. “If you don’t like them, you can always come back to this one.”

Maev groaned.  “Yeah, come on Mom,” Dean joined in.  “You might actually like having a solid gold toilet.”

“Diamond mirrors.” Destiny nodded.

“100 dollar bill toilet paper.” Angela giggled.

“A fridge with its own zip code,” Thom laughed.  The poor Real Estate woman had to use every last ounce of self control not to giggle.

“Fine.” Maev sighed, “We can go look.”

~oOo~

The sun was shining brightly from behind some light clouds as they pulled up into the driveway of another Victorian style home, this one mostly brick, with a two car garage.  It had two stories plus an attic, and slant style roofing with a chimney, suggesting a nice fireplace.

“I don’t want to have to pay you back a half million dollars.” Maev stated to Destiny.

“We can rework the contract.” Destiny said. “I know you wanted to pay part of it back and I know why.  The contract was mainly so you’d know we’re really going to go to college anyway.”

“Now this exquisite example of modern Victorian architecture,” the realtor began, “Recently had its price lowered to $890,000 from $1.5 million and features 7 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms and 5 half bath including a half bath in the basement, which was converted into a game room by the previous owner, solar panels on the back half of the roof,” she went on and on as she walked them through the house.

It had recessed lighting in the living room and kitchen, a completely separate den, and to Dean’s delight, a pool in back.  It had a decent sized yard as well, but the landscaping was nothing to write home about, just a row of hedges to divide the property line in front, and a privacy fence in back.

“Only $890,000 mom.” Destiny said, “400k is half.” 

“Still a bit much.” Maev stated. “It is in a quiet neighborhood though.”

“They lowered the price because they’ve had it on the market for about two years since the previous owner passed away,” the realtor explained, adding, “Oh, not in the house.  She was in a nursing facility for about six months.  All the furniture is brand new, and it’s been fully inspected by a state certified inspector.  Really the only work it needs is the pool filter needs replacing.”

“I dunno,” Dean said, “I didn’t see any golden toilets,” he teased.  Maev laughed.

“How about this,” Destiny said.  “If you let us buy the house, you have to go back to college and finish your culinary  degree, and you can pay me back half of the half?”

“Oh, sweetie,” Maev sighed.  “I can’t afford college at my age.  I’d be paying student loans until I was 90.”

“Yes you can.” Sophie said. “It’s in Destiny’s contract that the company will pay for it.”

“They’re paying half April’s,” Destiny giggled.  “She argued them down to half and applied for grants and scholarships for the rest.”

“No question she’s my daughter there,” Maev laughed.  “Alright, alright.  You win.  Pride can only carry me so far.”

“Okay then I'll get the paperwork started.” The woman said.

The boys high fived, and Maev just exhaled slowly.  “What have I done.”

“Agreed to give my brothers a nice place to live?” Destiny said.  “And to go back to college like you always wanted.”

“Still got to find a new job,” Maev said.

“That shouldn’t be too hard.” The real estate agent stated.  “Maybe I can help?” she asked helpfully.

Maev chuckled.  “Oh I’ve a fine collection of both waitressing uniforms and fast food hats, with a handful of manager tags to go with em.  My ex husband...  Let’s just say he was not the man I married.  I’m surprised my wedding ring wasn’t from a Cracker Jack box.”

The real estate agent grinned.  “So you’ve had a wide array of work experience and team management skills, and you’re good under pressure.”

“Wow,” Angela said.  “She’s good.”

“I have to get to the airport.” Sophie said.

“Oh that’s right, we have to get to the airport.” Destiny giggled. “We’re headed to Ireland for a couple days.”

“Yeah I’ll see if I can’t show up for a day or so.” Angela giggled and hugged them both.

“You better,” Sophie giggled.

“You two be careful okay?” Maev stated firmly. Sophie texted Jane to let her know they were ready for their ride to the airport.

~oOo~

“Well, hello Sophie!” Sister Mary Francis said as they entered her classroom.  “You’re almost becoming a regular face around here,” she teased.  Sophie giggled. “You as well Destiny, it’s good to see you.”

“I wish.  We had some time off though so we wanted to come back for a couple of days.  I’m also going to take a train to Cork later this week and meet the rest of Mom Kate’s family.”

“Oh that sounds lovely,” Sister Mary said brightly.  “Today we’re going to continue our drawing lessons so I hope everyone has their sketch pads.  Have you all been practicing spoons like I showed you last lesson?”

“Yes sister,” most everyone answered.

“Whoa,” one of the girls sitting next to Destiny whispered.  Destiny, bored, had put considerable effort into actually decorating the simple spoons they were asked to draw.  All 200 of them.  It was basic line art, but there was definite progression in each, straighter lines, more careful curves, even some shading on the last ones.

“Your good.” Another girl said.

“Just patient,” Destiny giggled quietly.

“You two staying somewhere near?” One of the girls asked.

“Oh aye,” Sophie whispered, careful not to interrupt the lesson.  “We’re staying with friends o’er at the shelter.  We’ve got plans for later tonight, but after school we’ll be volunteering a lil bit.”

Sophie suddenly realized Sister Mary was smiling down at them.  “Destiny these are lovely.  Would it be alright if I showed the class?” she asked, motioning to Destiny’s more ornately sketched spoons.

“Sure?” Destiny said.

“We already know you’re a good artist Sophie.” the Sister winked.  She picked up the sketch pad carefully and carried it to an overhead projector.  “This, class, is a perfect example of what I’ve been saying.  A few simple lines, placed with patience, can become something magnificent with time.  As the late, great Bob Ross said,” she paused, to let the iggles die down, “There are no accidents in art.”

One of the girls raised her hand to add, “Unless you sneeze while working a clay pot like I did yesterday.”  Sister Mary chuckled as she returned Destiny’s sketch book and went on with the lesson.  She didn’t mind the girls talking in class, so long as they at least partially paid attention.

One of the many unique, some would say innovative ideas of the school was that they didn’t ‘grade’ students, per se.  They monitored performance.  Students who excelled tended to earn more leeway, like more off campus passes or visitors to their dorms - if they lived on campus of course.

Because of the school’s zero tolerance policies, things tended to run smoothly.  Those that didn’t want to be there very quickly found ways to have themselves removed.  There were a handful who did genuinely want to be there, but couldn’t seem to stay out of trouble, making the zero tolerance rules difficult to skirt.  Fortunately those rules only applied to certain severe infractions like bullying.

Try as they might, the Sisters couldn’t stamp out all sign on the campus though.

“Hey,” one girl whispered to another behind Sophie and Destiny, “Where’s Krystal?”

“Probably living up to her namesake,” the other whispered back.  “She snuck off campus last night, said she didn’t feel well this morning.”

The first girl sighed.  “I thought she was clean...”

Sophie listened, and then whispered to Destiny, “I’ll take care of that after school. Want to make a run with me?”

“What are you going to do?” Destiny whispered back.

“I got friends, and if she’s really doing drugs, I can put a stop to it.” Sophie grinned.

Destiny shook her head.  “Addicts have to want to quit, babe.  You know that better than anyone.”

“I know, but I can at least make it harder for her to get them around here.” Sophie grinned.  She felt a pencil tap her shoulder lightly and leaned back in her chair.

“If you’re talking about helping Krystal we’ll meet you after class.”

“Yeah, we have to do an intervention, I got friends that will help.” Sophie nodded. “Meet me at this address after school?”  She wrote down the address on a strip of paper.

“Sure.  We got evening passes to hang out with some non-St M’s friends, but this is more important,” the first girl said.

The second girl nodded.  “She’s my roommate.  But she’s also an actress.  If this got out it would destroy her.”

~oOo~

The pair of girls, the first being a ginger and Irish, the second, Krystal’s roommate, being black haired with ocean blue eyes and very English, arrived at the street Sophie had directed them to after school, withought even bothering to change out of uniform.

Sophie led them down the alleyway, “Jim?” she called out but not yelled.

“Swapped me ciggies for lolis,” the tavern keeper laughed, commenting on the lack of identifiable smoke that usually accompanied his cigarette breaks at this hour.

“Hey Jim, you seen Dawnie?” Sophie asked.

“Now what in the world are you looking for her sort for?” he asked.

“I got a massive favor to ask her, well to collect on anyway.” Sophie said.

“Uh huh.  Just don’t get too much blood on the street,” he teased.  “She’s hanging out around the corner at the little bistro as a matter of fact.”

“Thanks Jim.” Sophie said and gave him a tip, “Good on the quitting smoking thing.”

“Trying to,” he laughed, rolling up his sleeve to show her the nicotine patch.  “About ready to start licking this bloody thing.”

“Make sure to take it off if you really need to have a fag.” She waved as she lead the girls down to the Bistro where a tall woman with black hair was sitting and casually enjoying a sandwich with a cup of coffee at one of the street facing tables.

Sophie sat down at her table, “Hey Dawnie.”

“Sophie!” she said, and got up, surprising her with a hug.  “I heard you ran off to Hollywood,” she teased.

“I did.” Sophie said. “I need to collect.”

“Sure honey.  God knows I owe you more than one.  What can I do for you?”

“There’s a girl at my school, who's been skipping to go to the allies and use.” Sophie said. “I know where and I could just put a complete stop to it, but I want to do this proper, make her want to quit.”

“Jesus.  If someone’s slinging to a minor, I want to know about it too.  That’s just not right. Bad for business and all.”

“Yeah I think it’s the guys on the up allie.” Sophie nodded.  “Think you can do a good intervention to scare the shit out of her enough to make her want to quit?”

Dawnie grinned and cracked her knuckles.  “By the time I’m through she won’t even want to go near a bowl of sugar.”

“Don’t hurt her.” The ginger girl frowned. “She’s a good person, just uses the needle too much now.”

“We won't be hurting her.” Dawnie laughed. “There's other ways than Pain.  I can show her the evening girls, for one, the ones that used to be like her. As a matter of fact, Sophie dear, can you go talk to Amanda about this as well I got some errands to do.  Planning an intervention like this takes some work.”

“Sure, She’s at the house right?” Sophie asked.

“Helping another junkie, aye,” Dawnie nodded.  “Don’t worry, it’s not our doing.  Some Russian assholes trafficking girls through our docks.”  She winked.

“Jesus,” the black haired girl said quietly as they left. 

“Mary and Joseph,” the ginger continued.

“Don’t worry,” Sophie said.  “Dawnie looks scary as all hell, but she’ll help Krystal.  I promise.  Now we have to go talk to Amanda and then you guys an go do your thing.”

“I’m going out on a limb,” Destiny said, “And guessing you don’t mean our Amanda either.”

Sophie grinned.  “Far from Mom Amanda.  But on the plus side, she’s not as scary as Dawnie.  She’s more like Nicole, but not tall.  Very down to earth no nonsense. She’s also got HIV but that doesn’t stop her from living.”

“You know what,” the black haired girl said, “If she can help Krystal I’ll pay for the cure for her, no goddamn questions asked.”

“We all pitched in to help her.” Sophie said, “And she gets medication from the shelter I setup. She’s a big help to the homeless community here.” she led them to a really old nasty looking run down house. The girls saw a woman that they didn’t expect to see, she was about 15, “Hi Am.” she waved.

Amanda looked Sophie up and down and giggled.  “Now here’s a sight I never expected.  Four schoolgirls on my doorstep,” she teased and hugged Sophie.

“I just went to see Dawnie to pull a favor she owed me.” Sophie said hugging Amanda back, “Got a schoolmate that needs a shocking intervention. She’s using needle drugs..”

“You were smart to go to Dawnie first.” Amanda said. “She’s good at scaring the druggies straight.  I’ve got one inside right now that’s detoxing.  I don’t know if she’s going to survive, so I sent for one of the docs at the shelter.”

“I was just telling the girls about you.” Sophie said.

“I was like the kids here once.” Amanda nodded, “Hooked on needle drugs, it’s how I got HIV.  And before you panic,” she quickly added, “As soon as they get cleaned up, I’m sending them to Sophie’s shelter.  They need a place to lay low, with others like them.”

“They come here first to clean up.” Another girl spoke up.

“I’m confused,” the black haired girl said.  “The way that Dawnie person talked, I thought she was a dealer?”

“She is and she isn’t.” Amanda stated. “She runs drugs really.  But we got rules.  If someone sells to kids, they get blacklisted.  And since Dawnie has connections, being blacklisted means you don’t sell in Galway anymore.”

“Or the surrounding towns.” The other girl nodded.

As they talked, a woman with long strawberry blonde hair came up the path carrying an EMT style medical kit in one hand.  She was moving at a healthy pace but trying not to run, so she wouldn’t draw too much attention.

“I parked a half block away so I wouldn’t scare anyone,” the woman said.  “But we may have to get an ambulance out here if it’s as bad as it sounds.”

“That’s fine,” Amanda said.  “Just please no sirens.”

“Yeah we’ll run code silent.” the woman nodded as she walked into the room with the other girl.

“I’ve got a crew of 6 older teenage girls here, all street walkers or ex street walkers.” Amanda said. “And we’ve all been junkies at one point.  I got a feeling Dawnie’s going to want Viv to talk to your girl.  Viv used to be a St. Margaret’s girl too. She ended up pregnant by a john not once but twice..”

The ginger haired girl spoke up, “You mean Vivian Anderson isn’t just an urban legend?  ... Holy hell.”

Amanda nodded.  “She had it all and threw it away selling her body for more smack.  At least ‘er kids didn’t suffer.  She gave them up for adoption, so I’m told.  Anyway, we’ll get it sorted and then come find you at the shelter, Soph.”

“I-if it helps,” the black haired girl said, “When I asked where she was going the other night, she said she was going to meet a friend for pizza.  I don’t know if that’s code for something or if she was just straight up lying.  I’m not ‘street’ at all”

Amanda laughed.  “Be thankful for that.  You two got a chance few do.  Like Sophie, you’re in a position to change the world for the better on a much bigger scale than I can.”

The doctor emerged.  Amanda looked up at her.  “I gave her a sedative to help her sleep, and called for an ambulance.  You called us just in time.  Another couple of hours and she wouldn’t have made it.  It looks like she’s been poisoned, probably with cut product.”

“Here,” Amanda said, opening a drawer from which she took out a bag labeled ‘Natalie’, which contained a syringe.  “Someone found her with this still stuck in her arm.  Maybe it’ll help you ID what poisoned her.”

“We should get going,” Sophie said, guiding the girls back outside.  She sighed, turning to the two students.  “I’m really sorry you had to see that.”

“No,” the black haired girl shook her head, “I’m glad we did.  Amanda’s right.  We’re in a position of privilege.  We can help change things.”

“Exactly, one person at a time if you have to.” Sophie said.

“Thank you Sophie,” the ginger girl said as they both hugged her.

~oOo~

Later that evening as Sophie and Destiny were preparing for their first official date, Sophie’s phone rang; the caller ID said it was Amanda, so she picked it up.  “Good morning Mom Manda,” she said cheerfully.

“Sophie, sweetie,” Amanda said, “I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt here, but can you explain why there’s a photo of you, Destiny, and two girls from St. Margaret’s, leaving a crack house?”

“We were planning an intervention for a girl at school.” Sophie stated.  “It’s not a crack house.  It’s an intervention house.  My friend Amanda Saint Francis runs it.  You can check with the shelter records.  She helps underage junkies detox and then sends them to the shelter.”

“I don’t have to check the records,” Amanda said.  “I believe you.  I really just called to warn you about the photo so you can get ahead of it tonight when you’re inevitably swamped by reporters at the restaurant,” she teased.  “I’m already on top of a press release.”

“Thanks Mom,” Sophie sighed.  “I hate these blood sucking leeches so much.  I’m trying to help someone keep from ruining her life, and they’re going to destroy it if her name gets out, or if she even gets wind of it before we’re ready.”

“I’ve got someone on it.” Amanda stated.  “Like you said, Ms. St. Francis runs an intervention shelter connected to yours, so we’ll say you were visiting her to check up on the tenants.”

“There was a doctor there when we were there.  I want to say her name was Doctor Claire.  She’ll corroborate that 100%.”

“Oh that’s perfect,” Amanda said.  “Thanks sweetie.  We’ll contact the shelter to get her information for a statement.  We’ll have that tabloid backpedaling so fast their heads will spin.”

“Our carriage arrives in 30 minutes, so, you’ve got 45,” she teased.

Amanda laughed.  “Good thing I work best under pressure.  Have fun sweetie.”

“You know,” Destiny said, causing Sophie to jump.  She giggled.  “Sorry.  But I bet if Princess what’s her face visited an intervention shelter they wouldn’t be making up shit about her.”

“Yeah.” Sophie sighed, “I think they’re just pissed because I make a fortune and i'm transgender.”

“Or that we embarrassed them over the us dating story,” Destiny giggled.

There was a knock on the door, “There’s a bobby here she wants ta talk to you.” a girl spoke through the door.

“Uggggh,” Sophie sighed.  “Tell her to come in, but we’re doing our makeup.”

“Hey girls.” The detective said, “Got wind that you were being tailed.”

“Oh!” Sophie said.  “Hi Jane!”

“The people that are tailin ya don’t have a license to operate around ere, so I put em in jail to cool their heals.”

“I bet they’re the idiots that took that picture,” Destiny sighed.

“Aye, they had a cheapo camera with em with some nice shots of you two with your friends, if you want to press charges.”

“What can we charge them with?” Sophie asked.

“Well as I said,” Jane said, “Operating withought license for one.  Stalking, possible harassment charges as well.  We take this sort of thing seriously since Diana.” 

“Since they very nearly ruined someone’s life,” Destiny said flatly, “Then yes, I want to press charges to the full extent the law allows.”

“Okay then.” Jane said, “Hope you girls are free in a few weeks to come to court.”

“We can be.” Sophie nodded.  “I’ll call Mom and let her know you arrested the snoop.  We got him outside the shelter trying to take pictures, not even obeying the distance laws.  Richie put the fear of God in him,” she laughed.

“Aye,” Jane grinned.  “He tried to file a report on the incident, and that’s when we got him.  Bloody fool American.”

Destiny looked right at the Detective.  “I never did see him.  Maybe I’m being paranoid, but... he didn’t have brown hair, scar over his left eye,” she paused, switching to a strong Boston suburban accent, “Talked like this, pahkin’ the cah?”

“That sounds about right..” Jane stated.  Destiny slumped back in her chair.  She suddenly had a white knuckle grip on her hair brush.

“Can we add violation of restraining order to that list?” Destiny finally spoke.

“Mom,” Sophie said into her cell phone, “Just a second.  I’m putting you on speaker.  We got a serious problem.”  She switched the phone over to speaker.

“What?  What’s wrong?” Amanda asked.  “Who’s crying?”

“Me,” Destiny said.  “My goddamn piece of motherfucking shite asshole dad violated restraining order to sell photos of us to the motherfucking tabloids!”  She screamed, throwing her brush so hard it left a dent in the far wall.

“I’m going to fucking kill him,” they heard Nicole say in the background.

“Now hold on,” the detective said calmly.  “Everything’s going to be alright.  We have him in custody for stalking, harassment, and acting withought license as a paparazzi and we have more than enough evidence to take it to trial, especially since Destiny can positively ID him, being her father and all.”

“Sophie,” Amanda said, “I’m taking the corporate jet and I’m bringing Sarah and Valerie.”

“Fuck that, I’m coming too,” Nicole said.

“I’m sorry, he got through my protection.” the other Jane, Amanda’s bodyguard spoke up.  “I never even saw him until he tried to start something with Rich at the door.”

“You did your best Jane,” Amanda said.  “Don’t blame yourself.  This was my cockup for not watching him more closely.  I should’ve known he’d pull something like this.”

By now Sophie was holding Destiny tightly.  Destiny shook her head.  “No, this isn’t you guys’ fault.  The fucker probably got wind that I was back in Boston.  He’s probably been following us since then.  This is his own goddamn fault.”  She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.  “I’m not going to let him ruin tonight, but if Krystal gets burned because of this, I’m going to burn him.”

“Krystal?” the detective  asked.

Jane spoke up, “A girl from school the girls are trying to help.  They can’t say anymore about it withought risking the girl’s safety.”

“Ah,” the detective said.  “Now the pieces are falling together.  You don’t have to worry.  We’re not ganna raid the school.”  She winked.

“Actually the safe-house is where he got some pictures of me and Dest and two girls from school coming from.” Sophie sighed.

“I saw.  But I also happen to know the girl who lives there,” the detective said, winking.  “Remember, I volunteer here too.  I know you’re trying to help someone detox.”

“Yeah, we’re moving money from the budge to help er remodel.” Richie spoke up. “It used to once be an ol crack den, but we bought it along time ago to help kids clean up.”

“Destiny,” Amanda said, still on the line, “I’m sorry sweetie, do you want me to tell your mom what’s going on?  We’re about to leave the house for the airport after we pick up Valerie.”

“She needs to know,” Destiny said, “But I’ll call and tell her myself.  That was just my brush that you heard hit a wall, not my phone.”  She laughed a little.

“Destiny’s scary when she’s angry,” Sophie teased.  “Kinda like me.”

“Sorry you all had to see that,” Destiny sighed as Sophie and Amanda hung up.

Sophie giggled and hugged Destiny, “I’ve had worse blowups than that.  Fairly recently in fact,” she teased, causing Destiny to laugh.