by Solveig Yrsa
Rachel wasn’t poor by any means either. Her father was a very well-known music producer who had contracts with some of the biggest hip-hop and pop artists out there. Rachel and her mother lived their lives shopping and posting everything on social media.
She flashed him her perfect smile, and wrapped her arms around his neck while looking deeply into his green eyes. “Well…” she said seductively. “There is that bracelet from Cartier.”
Spencer’s mouth fell open. “Seriously?” She seriously wanted a bracelet for a night together? Sure, he was rich, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed throwing his money away. Rachel smiled and pressed herself closer to him. “I promise it’ll be worth it.”
***
Layla woke to the feeling of something crawling across her leg. Swallowing, she held herself perfectly still until she felt the rat crawl off of her. She didn’t want to scare the thing for fear of it biting her. Sitting up, she rubbed her throbbing head and looked around, noticing it was still dark and the trashcans were still lit. She stood up and headed towards the group sitting by the fire.
“Ah lookie lookie, I told you she ain’t dead!” Layla looked at Maggie as she spoke to another member of the group. “You’ve been out since yesterday. We thought you died.”
“You didn’t think to come check?” Layla asked, as she looked from Maggie to the others sitting by the fire.
“Not my business,” Maggie said matter of fact, before taking a swig out of her bottle. “But I will tell ya, Old Man Marcus says you best be paying him or he will cast you out.”
Layla gulped before walking away from the group, and headed to the city. She didn’t want to go to the city now, but her stomach was growling so hard that she knew she would end up resorting to hunting a rat if she didn’t find something.
Hopefully I didn’t miss the dinner rush, and the trash cans will be fresh, she thought as she made it to the city line. The skies were dark, but with all the restaurants and streetlights you would think it was still day. She saw families enjoying their meals together, and couples walking down the streets holding hands. She couldn’t believe she’d slept over an entire night and day. But it was becoming more and more difficult for her to stay awake for long periods of time. She often wondered if she was preparing for the ‘big sleep’. The thought of dying didn’t scare her. She figured it couldn’t be any worse than what she had already been going through.
Sitting down in her usual spot, she scanned the garbage can closest to her, and watched as people walked by, hoping someone would throw some half-eaten food out. Fresher is always better. She had less of a chance of getting sick that way. If, after a couple of hours, no one had thrown anything edible away, she would dig through the trash cans, and if she still couldn’t find anything, she would have to go dumpster diving. The thought made her shudder. There were good places, like behind a grocery store or restaurants, but those were already spoken for by the other people in her nest, and if she went there, she would be in trouble. Sighing, she closed her eyes, hoping and praying someone would drop something soon.
***
Spencer shook his head as he and Jensen sat down at the burrito restaurant.
“Spence, I can’t believe you spent all that money just to get laid.” Spencer sighed at Jensen’s comment.
“Dude, I know, it’s just, she looks at me, and, I don’t know, I lose it.”
Jensen rolled his eyes as he took a bite out of his burrito. “You’re not in love with her, she’s using you and you know it, so why?”
Spencer shrugged as he took a long sip of his soda. “She’s pretty hot.”
Jensen snorted. “Yeah, if you’re into bitchy skeletons.”
“She’s an aspiring model.”
Jensen raised a brow. “And? Your mother was a supermodel, and she never looked or acted like that. But whatever, dude, if that’s what you’re looking for, go for it I guess.” There was a moment of silence before Jensen spoke again. “Hey, is your cousin still dating the jerk?”
“Uhhh… no, I think Liam broke up with Andrew last month. Wait, are you actually going to ask him out?”
A crimson color appeared on Jensen’s cheeks. “Ummm, well, I don’t know, if he you know… just broke up, I don’t want to be like a rebound or anything.”
Spencer chuckled and shook his head. “Dude, you’ve been in love with Liam since Junior high, just ask him out.”
“Easy for you to say, your nickname throughout Junior high and high-school wasn’t Jumbo Jen,” he muttered while glaring at his half eaten burrito. He glanced up and looked out the window. “Hey, isn’t that the homeless girl?”
Spencer looked behind him and saw Layla outside, digging through the trashcan. “What is she doing?” he wondered out loud.
“Maybe she’s looking for dinner.” Spencer looked from her back to Jensen and then at their tray of food. He instantly felt the guilt all over again from taking her money the day before. Her words rang in his ears.
‘I need that so I can eat!’
Spencer looked from Jensen, to the cashier at the register, and back to Jensen. “Do not mention this to anyone,” he warned as he stood up and went to the counter, Jensen smirking behind him.
***
Layla cursed as she placed all the trash back into the cans, making sure not to miss any. She didn’t want to leave a mess behind and end up getting in trouble with the police or anything. Usually, if she just made it quick and cleaned everything back up, people left her alone to search.
“Shit,” she whispered while looking across the street at the apartments. She knew she was going to have to go to their dumpsters to try and find food. Glaring at the dark alleyway, she felt a pit in her stomach. She was terrified to go look, but if she didn’t there was no telling when she would eat again. Sighing, she walked towards the alley, when someone blocked her path. Looking up, she instantly felt a fiery ball of rage. It was him.
“What do you want?” she hissed. If looks could kill, Spencer would definitely be six feet under at that point.
Spencer sighed; he deserved the hostility. He held up a bag from the burrito restaurant. “Here,” he stated, shoving the bag towards her. She raised a brow and peered into the bag. All she could see were several bottles of water and containers, but she could smell all the fresh, hot food. Her stomach growled so hard it actually hurt.
She looked from the bag to Spencer suspiciously. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch,” Spencer sighed. “Just take the bag and never, ever mention it. I mean it, if you do, I will deny it.”
Layla stood there for a minute. She wanted to tell him to piss off, but instead, looked from the bag to the dark alley that she had been heading towards. “Fine,” she stated in defeat as she grabbed the bag. She quickly opened a bottle of water and chugged it. “Thank you,” she whispered before walking away.
Spencer shook his head and walked back into the restaurant. He looked at Jensen sitting at their table with a huge cheesy grin on his face.
“Not a word,” Spencer warned while sitting down.
“I knew you had a heart.”
“Jensen, I swear to God.”
“She could be your new best friend.”
“You’re an idiot.” Spencer rolled his eyes and picked his burrito back up. He got one bite in before Jensen started grinning again.
“Maybe this’ll be like a rag to riches story, and you’ll end up falling in love.”
Dropping his burrito, Spencer stared at his friend. “Maybe you should start running before I kick your ass.”
***
Layla panted as she quickly made her way back to her nest. She slipped through the rip in the gate and raced to her spot under the bridge. Sitting down on her cardboard bed, she sat her bag down. Her hands were shaking with anticipation as she pulled the containers out. She opened the first one, and found it full of steaming rice, the next container was full of chicken. Tears spilled from her eyes. She had never seen so much food at once, and there were stil
l several containers left in the bag! She was so happy she thought she might pass out. She used her dirty, shaking hand to grab a handful of rice, and placed it in her mouth. It was the most delicious thing she had ever tasted. She got a couple more handfuls of chicken and rice in before she heard someone clear their throat. Slowly turning to look behind her, she instantly felt like someone punched her in the gut, it was Old Man Marcus.
He glared down at her. His salt and pepper hair was wild and crazy looking, with a few leaves stuck in it. He gave her a mostly toothless grin that sent shivers down her spine. “I see you got food, LaLa.”
She inwardly gagged. LaLa was his pet name for her, and she hated it. “Yes, sir, a person saw me digging and bought me some,” she mumbled as he got closer. She knew what was coming, and she wanted to cry. She looked at the bag of unopened food and handed it to Marcus, hoping that that would get him to leave, though she knew better.
“Now, now, LaLa.” He had a thick Louisiana accent that made everything he said sound more threatening. “You got to share. You know the rules, and you broke them.” He made a “tsk tsk” noise with his mouth and shook his head. Then in one swift motion his large hand gripped her tangled hair, and he yanked her forward to meet his face.
Layla let out a small cry. “Okay! T-take it all, I’m… I’m sorry!” She fought against his grip; it felt as though he was ripping her hair out.
When he finally released his grip, he opened the bag, waiting for her to place the extra containers inside. Once he made sure she had nothing left, he gave her a malicious smile before cocking his hand back and swinging it across her face. Layla cried as she hit the floor.
“Next time,” he warned while turning away. “You bring the goods to me first, LaLa… maybe then you would get some. Now, rest, you still owe me rent.” He spat near her before walking away.
As Old Man Marcus became a distant figure, Layla let out a small whimper and curled herself into a ball. She looked next to her head and saw the bottle of water that Marcus must not have seen. Grabbing the bottle, she stuck it in the pocket of her pants to keep it safe.
When she closed her eyes, a small smile crept onto her stinging face as she thought about Spencer and his kind act this evening. Maybe he wasn’t all that bad. With that thought, she slowly drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER TWO
Two weeks later
Rachel looked at herself in her floor-length mirror that sat in the corner of her ridiculously large bedroom. The room looked like it was designed for an eleven-year-old princess rather than a twenty-year-old woman. The large custom bed had a frame that was shaped to look like a carriage. The walls were a soft pink color. In one corner she had an oversized vanity filled with only the best makeup and hair products. If you walked into her closet, it was the size of most master bedrooms. On one side, she had a floor to ceiling wardrobe that had all of her high-end, designer clothes, while the other side was home to countless designer handbags and racks of shoes.
She smiled at her reflection. Her makeup was done to absolute perfection, and why wouldn’t it be? She was best friends with some of the biggest beauty gurus out there, so she knew all the tricks. Her long, freshly-dyed blonde hair was perfectly styled with just the right amount of loose curls. She wore a simple white tunic tank top, and tight, black leather leggings, with her nude-colored Louboutin heels. She continued to smile as she made her way to her walk-in closet and over to the back wall where she kept her jewelry, and several racks of multiple crowns and tiaras from various competitions. Her eyes locked with the yellow gold and diamond bracelet that sat in its infamous red box. Plucking the bracelet out, she slipped it on her slender wrist.
At first, upon receiving the bracelet, Rachel was highly upset with Spencer. He hadn’t got the correct one. The one she wanted was wider and had far more diamonds, so of course, it was far more expensive, but she felt she was worth it. Spencer had explained that he felt the other bracelet was far too large for her delicate wrists, and that this one would complement her better.
She nodded in satisfaction, and grabbed her small Louis Vuitton clutch before heading out of her room. Her expensive heels clacked against the marble staircase with every step she took. Once she reached the bottom, her smile of satisfaction turned into a scowl. There stood Spencer in the sitting room off the side of the grand entrance. He walked up to her, and noticed her dark mood.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, furrowing his dark, thick brows.
“Running pants and a t-shirt? Really, Spencer?” She clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes in annoyance.
Sighing in frustration, he ran his fingers through his messy black hair. “Rach, we’re going to a movie, not a nightclub. It’s a dark theater, I’m not getting dressed up in uncomfortable clothes for that. Now come on, we’re going to miss the movie.”
She stood there with her mouth open in disbelief. “UH! Well! I can not go out looking like this, if you are looking like that!”
Spencer growled with irritation. He had already had a rough day, and now she was about to throw one of her fits. “Rachel,” he said in a low, stern tone. “I will be out in the car. I will have the driver wait five minutes. If you are not out there by then, I am going without you.”
She glared at him before spinning around on her heel and storming back to her room to change. Rubbing his face, he walked outside.
“This was way better when we weren’t officially going out,” he muttered while getting into the back seat of the all-black Land Rover. “John, five minutes, and if her ass isn’t sitting in this car, drive off,” he stated to his driver before pulling out his phone.
***
Layla slowly sat down in her usual spot on the sidewalk. She winced, and held her throbbing side, wondering how big the bruises on her body and face were. The pain was so bad, she would much rather be at the nest sleeping than out here today, but she didn’t have a choice. She needed food and water, and more importantly, fees were due. She slowly let out a shaky breath. She honestly was much safer out on the street than back at her nest. Memories of the previous night filled her head.
She was still being shunned by the group because of her sneaking the food in a couple weeks prior, so she wasn’t allowed near the fire pits, nor was she left anything to eat or drink, and she was getting yelled at more than usual.
When Layla was in the middle of a horrible coughing fit, which no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t stop, she felt something wet on her hand, and looked down to see some dark spots. She went to wipe them off, and that’s when she saw it was blood. At that point, she became terrified, and started screaming and sobbing.
It was then, that Old Man Marcus, who had been screaming at her to shut up for sometime now, got up and walked over to her. She had hoped that he would take pity on her and try to help her stop coughing. But no such luck. Instead, he wailed on her, kicking and punching and beating on her frail body. He only stopped, when he himself went into a coughing fit due to exerting himself.
Placing her small can in front of her, she sighed again at the memory. She tried to zone out, to go to her ‘happy place’. She just didn’t want to hear the people today. She didn’t want the kids to ask why she was so dirty and smelly, she didn’t want to hear the people walking by muttering about her being lazy and needing to get a job.
Lazy? Yes, that is exactly why she lived this way, it was because she was lazy. After all, any business in this city would die to hire a nineteen-year-old ‘hobo’ with unknown health issues and zero education. She rolled her eyes. Sometimes she felt like they were the stupid ones, not her. She shifted her weight to get comfortable, and let out a small cry in pain.
“Are you okay?”
She was still for a moment. Was someone talking to her? She slowly raised her head to see who it was. It took a second, but then she remembered the auburn-haired girl as one of Spencer’s friends. She’s the nice one that gives me a dollar sometimes.
Samantha had just left the coffee shop and was
headed to her apartment. She was exhausted from pulling an all-nighter to help close a deal at work, and still had to go home and clean up what she was sure would be a disaster area, since she and her brother hadn’t been home in three days and their father had been left unsupervised. She rolled her eyes at the thought while taking a sip of her iced coffee. Out of her peripheral vision, she noticed a figure sitting against the building. She turned and noticed it was the homeless girl that her idiot cousin always tormented. Today, she seemed different though. She noticed that the girl was curled up tightly, and when she moved she let out a cry.
I should check and make sure she isn’t hurt, she thought while walking up to her. As soon as she asked, the girl looked up at her and Samantha gasped loudly.
“Oh my God!” she cried out, falling to her knees and looking Layla in the face. “What on earth happened to you!?”
Layla didn’t respond, she felt extremely uncomfortable with how close the girl was to her. She looked from Samantha to the figures coming up from behind her. It was Spencer and the other two guys that hang out with him. She inwardly groaned. She had figured out why Spencer had said to never mention his friendly gesture that night. It was only about two days after he had given her the food that Spencer and his horrible girlfriend were walking down the street and they crossed paths. Layla, trying to be nice, gave them a small smile, and that’s when the tormenting began again. She was in far too much pain to deal with Spencer and his crap today, which was why she began trying to move as far away from Samantha as possible.
Spencer noticed Samantha talking to the homeless girl, but he didn’t really think anything of it. It wasn’t uncommon for his cousin to stop and pet stray animals and develop a relationship with them; she was odd like that. He stopped for a moment, did I just compare that girl to a stray animal? His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed Samantha kneeling down in front of the girl. He elbowed Liam, who was talking to Jensen, and motioned towards the girls. “What is your sister doing?”