My Heart’s Home by Kris Michaels

Chapter 5

"Here you go." Mercy Cahill handed a brown paper bag to her daughter. They'd stood in line for the last hour behind the Ever Hope Shelter to get a baged lunch. Enzo was in line behind them, which lessened her anxiety some. Still, she and her daughter, Destiny, wore stocking caps over their auburn hair and kept their heads down. There were always cops around. She glanced toward the end of the alley where a black and white car was parked. The officers were visiting while drinking a cup of coffee. They watched the homeless as they left the back alley. The constant fear that lived inside her grew.

"Mom," Destiny warned.

"I see them. Just keep walking and keep your head down." Mercy grabbed her daughter’s hand and held her sack lunch in the other. They'd made it about halfway when Enzo's larger strides put him in front of them. He was a tall man and blocked them from the cops’ view. She held her breath as they turned the corner and headed back home. Home. She sighed. The small hut was all they had, but it was better than being dead.

Destiny was quiet as they followed Enzo across the street. Mercy spoke quietly, "Enzo, we need to refill our water bottles."

Enzo nodded. "See you later." The man turned left, and they turned right. If only she could get into one of the shelters, she'd be able to find work, but her ex had made it impossible to register for a spot. Destiny dropped her hand and opened her lunch. "I got an apple. Cool." The girl lifted the sandwich out. "Peanut butter with jelly." She flashed her wide smile at her mom.

"You can eat that while I fill up the water bottles." She nodded to the service station, and they walked around back. Destiny sat down on the curb while Mercy carefully filled the water bottles that she carried in a pack on her back. She pulled out a pair of toothbrushes. The owner of this gas station let them clean up in the bathroom as long as no customer was waiting. He had liquid soap in the bathrooms which they used to wash their hair and clothes when they had time.

She hated the thought of the coming cold. They'd survived last year thanks to Collette. The woman had taken them in and taught them how to survive but had OD'd while partying on the east side of the Cottages. They lived alone in Collette's shelter now. It was tin and cardboard held together with plastic bags that she used to tie the pieces together. They'd worked all summer on shoring up the walls with newspaper and plastic. She'd also found a metal pot in a dumpster outside one of the restaurants. Punt showed her how to dig a hole in the ground and put rocks around the pot to make a place for a fire. It would keep them from freezing to death. They had a small horde of wood pieces to burn in it when it got too cold. But, of course, if the flames got too big, they could burn down their shelter.

She watched as Destiny ate the apple down to the core and nibbled around the thing until it was stripped clean. "You can have mine." She nodded toward her lunch bag.

Destiny shook her head. "This is enough for now. Toothbrush?" Destiny carefully folded her bag and sat it next to the one she hadn't touched.

Mercy fished in the backpack and handed it to her along with a comb and small rag they used as a washcloth. "I'll keep an eye on the door."

"Okay." Her thirteen-year-old daughter took the offerings and went into the bathroom. Mercy filled the last bottle and put them away after ensuring the caps were tight. She picked up the lunches and carefully tucked them in her coat, careful not to squish the sandwiches. She could hear the water running in the bathroom. When Destiny finished, she'd go inside and clean up quickly, keeping her daughter with her.

Mercy watched the street for any sign of a threat. When they'd first started living on the streets, a man had followed them into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. Her screams brought the cashier around and then the cops. She'd given them a fake name and slipped away as soon as she could, but they'd never gone back to that gas station. She couldn't risk it. Her ex had been a cop. At least, he was until she reported him for domestic abuse. Her report had caused the police department to make him quit. Things went downhill from there.

A shudder of revulsion rippled through her as she found the knife in her pocket. She wasn't that woman any longer. She'd learned how to fight back and learned how to live in a world where there wasn't anyone to run to for support. She was all Destiny had, and she would kill before she'd allow her daughter to be beaten again.

Never again.

"Done, Mom."

Destiny's call pulled her from her wandering thoughts. She gave the area another long look before entering the bathroom and locking the door behind her. "Comb your hair out and I'll braid it, then you can do it for me." She took off her coat and the two shirts under it. The utilitarian bra was one of Collette's, and so were the shoes she was wearing. They were too big, but stuffing the toes with newspaper helped.

"Ouch," Destiny mumbled as she pulled at the snarls in her hair.

Mercy glanced over while soaping up the rag in the lukewarm water. "No, sweetie, start from the bottom."

"It takes forever that way." Destiny extracted the comb and started at the bottom.

"Yeah, but you'll have hair on your head when you're done." She chuckled when Destiny rolled her eyes. It took her less than five minutes to wash, brush her teeth, and comb out her hair.

A knock on the door froze both of them. "Times up, I got customers."

She grabbed their stuff and shuffled out of the room. "I'm so sorry, I checked."

"Whatever." The cashier that barely tolerated them on the premises gave her a second look. She held her flannel shirt against the tank she wore and bunched her coat in her hands. Destiny, fully dressed, carried the backpack.

The man's eyes traveled over her and landed on her breasts. The cold and her wet hair tightened her nipples in the thin bra, and they were visible through the light tank top she wore. She grabbed Destiny's hand and they scampered across the cement, taking shelter behind the dumpsters. She got dressed quickly. Her waist-length auburn hair was wet, but she twisted it tightly and spun it around the back of her head before she shoved the knit cap over it.

"Come on." She grabbed the backpack and Destiny's hand.

"Hey, you know, I could get you a shower, maybe some food." The man leaned against the other side of the dumpster fencing. Destiny turned around to look at the man. "Maybe some money, too, but that bargain would include the both of you."

Mercy broke into a run and pulled Destiny along with her.

Damn it.

"Mom!" Destiny pulled on her arm.

She stopped, gulping air. Her mind was frantic with the need to escape.

"Mom, he's not following us."

She nodded and motioned for Destiny to come with her. "We need to make sure."

"I'm sure he went back inside the building. He wanted sex, didn't he?"

Mercy stopped and turned to her daughter. "Yes."

"With both of us."

"That will never happen, Dezzy. I'll kill before anyone touches you like that. Let's go."

Destiny was quiet for most of the walk home. "Are we ever going to live in a house again?"

Mercy stopped and looked at her daughter. "I hope so, baby. First, we need to figure out how to get into a shelter without Ian finding us."

"But we didn't do anything wrong. He did. He beat you." Destiny's smaller hands rolled in a nervous gesture. Her daughter's big green eyes pleading as she asked, "Why can't the police understand that?"

Mercy pulled her daughter into a hug. "Because Ian was one of them. A cop. Remember when we tried to leave the first time?"

Destiny nodded. "Yeah… I thought you were dead."

"But I wasn’t, and we got away, didn't we? I figured out how to get away, didn't I?"

Destiny lifted her head. "Yeah. We'll be okay as long as we are together. Right?"

"You bet. Now, let's get back so you can braid my hair and maybe play with some of the others."

Destiny rolled her eyes. "I'm too old to play those silly games."

Mercy chuckled, but her heart broke a bit more. Dezzy wasn't too old. At just thirteen, she should be playing, having fun, and going to sleepovers. Instead, life on the streets aged children, made them wary and untrusting.

Dezzy used to be a vibrant child until they moved in with Ian.

That was her first mistake. Not leaving the instant he raised a hand to her was the second. The long trail of 'should haves' of her past affected not only her but her daughter. She carried that guilt like a millstone around her neck. Somehow, someway, she'd make it up to the girl. She'd find a way out of the mess they were in.

Somehow.

They turned the corner and walked back into the Cottages. Destiny stayed beside her, and they skirted the area to the east. Catcalls and disparaging remarks hurled at her and her daughter with offers of drugs for sex was nothing new. Nevertheless, they kept their heads down, and she kept her hand on her knife.

When they reached their shelter, she unloaded the water, put their food in a plastic bag, and tucked it in the hole at the back of the tent, covering it with their old blankets. Destiny braided her hair, and they left the shelter. She watched as Dezzy wandered out to the other kids. They sat in a circle, playing some game they'd invented using rocks and sticks as game pieces.

"Heard there's a new vet in camp." Dina, her “neighbor” for lack of a better word, walked toward her.

She glanced to where Bull and the others camped. Sure enough, a new, larger tent was there. She would have shrugged off the information, but the vets, like Enzo and Bull, kept watch over the children and had made it known if anyone messed with the kids, there would be hell to pay.

Mercy crossed her arms. "The church on Tenth is allowing us to use their washers this Saturday. I'm taking everything I can carry. You going?"

"I need to. I think one of the wool blankets has bugs. I've been beating it and airing it out, but Shelly has bites all over."

Mercy grimaced. "Throw it out or they'll spread. Go to the gas station and wash her hair. All of you should." There were six people in Dina's shanty: she and her two children, and Mona and her two children. Lice were an affliction Mercy had been able to avoid, but once they got into your shelter, it was almost impossible to get them out. Collette had lined the ground around the shanty with plastic bags to keep them from coming in under the wood and cardboard. If the bugs came in, they'd come in on either Dezzy or her, and she was meticulous about checking both of them.

A motor drew their attention. Two trucks trundled up the broken roadway. The sound brought Bull and another man down to the front of the camp. She glanced at the man and then away quickly. He was very handsome and not long homeless. He was clean and had a decent haircut, and his beard was just starting to fill in from where he’d trimmed it. He was the new one, and by the looks of him, he was strong, too.

The children came in without having to be called. Destiny stood beside her. "What is it?"

"I don't know." It looked like food trucks, but no one in their right mind would think anyone here would be able to pay for any extravagance.

Bull and the new man walked to the stopped trucks, and the driver of each vehicle stepped out to talk to them. The new man reached out and shook one of the driver's hands. Bull turned back and jogged up to the congregation of women who'd stepped out of the shanties. "Okay, good news. Some saint is starting a new food program. A hot dinner, once a week. They'll be here at six every Monday evening. Get your kids and form a line. They have men with them to make sure no one cuts, and Cam and I are going to wait to make sure."

None of them had to be told twice. They all jogged to the food trucks, and as the men who drove the trucks instructed, they formed two lines. "It's the same food—form two lines. Anyone cutting will not get food. Anyone fighting will not get food." The men made the same announcement over and over as the Cottages began to empty.

When it was her turn, Mercy accepted the Styrofoam container and watched as a helping of roast beef, potatoes, carrots, and a portion of some type of cobbler slid into her holder. Dezzy received the same amount. Next, a worker handed them a plastic bag with a fork, knife, and spoon, with small salt and pepper packets in it. Good Lord, there was enough food in the containers for them both to eat for a week.

Finally, at the end of a line, an older woman with dark hair sprinkled with grey stood with several old blankets slung over her arm. "Do you need any blankets?"

Mercy turned and pointed to Dina. "She does. Her place has lice. They need to throw out what they have so they don't get sick."

The woman's eyes grew wide. "All right. Thank you, but do you need anything?"

Mercy glanced around, and against character, she blurted out, "Toothpaste and brush, soap and socks. Especially socks. All the kids need the basics."

"Thank you. We weren't sure where to start. This food truck is my daughter's idea. I'll come back next week with her, and I'll try to have some of the basics."

The line filtered around them as one of the women working cocked her head and smiled. "Hello, sweetheart. How old are you?"

Destiny stepped behind her mom, careful not to juggle her food container, and glanced up. Mercy nodded, and Destiny answered, "Thirteen."

"I have a grandson, but he's a bit younger than you. I'll see you again next week and maybe I'll bring something for the kids." The woman looked around. "How many children?"

Mercy shifted the food in her hands. The aroma made her stomach growl loudly. "Ah, twenty-five or so, but if you want to give anything to them, make sure you ask their parents. Trust doesn't run deep here."

The woman blinked at her and then nodded. "That makes perfect sense. Thank you for taking the time to educate me. My name's Hannah King."

"Mercy." She nodded and placed her hand on Dezzy's shoulder. "Thank you for the food."