"Aubrey baby?" An elderly Ms. Anderson poked her gray head into the house of the Taliaferros. Her thin framed glasses fell to the tip of her nose as she searched for the young girl whom she called for. Inviting herself in, she placed the dish of casserole she held on the kitchen counter as she looked around at the condition of the house.

"Lord..." She fanned herself as she looked around at the mess that was much unlike Sandra. She was known to always keep everything neat and tidy, and by the looks of broken pictures and glass than still remained untouched around the living room, no one had bothered to clean up and keep true to the nature of the house.

 "That baby been up in this mess all of these days..." Wiping off the counter with her hand, she called for Aubrey again. It was well into the afternoon, and she had once again called Aubrey multiple times. She called until she could no longer leave a message on the answering machine, and for the first time since Sandra had passed, she was able to walk into the house to see things for herself.

    Aubrey pulled back her hair as she examined her face in the bathroom mirror. Next to her was a torn page with Antonio Russo ‘s picture plastered on it. Her eyes darted back and forth between her own reflection and his face.

  She turned to the side and made different expressions just to find the similarities that they shared.  She gasped silently as she noticed the shape of their nose...their eyes...

   Turning her head, Aubrey perked at the sound of movement in the house. She could hear the clatter of glass and quickly left the bathroom, and placed her ear against the bedroom door. Another loud sound came through, and she immediately looked towards the gun she had tossed aside on the floor.

  Her worst fear was that whoever had come for Marquis's blood nights ago was there to inspect for more. Tip toeing to the weapon, she hesitated with unsure fingers as she reached down for it, drawing it to her side.

   She didn't know what the hell she was doing with it, or if it was even loaded. All she knew was that when the bedroom door was suddenly thrust open, she held the gun like she had done it many times before.

   "Oh, no, no,no. Put that thing down!" Ms. Anderson had stood shocked at first as she stared down the barrel of the gun, but as she saw that it was Aubrey in behind it trembling like a leaf, she went to move it out of her hands.

   "Come on out of here baby. That's right." As she pulled Aubrey to her feet and out of the bedroom she had been locked up in for days, Ms. Anderson shook her head.

   "Lord have mercy...bless this child..." Ms Anderson wrapped her arms around a tense body as she led Aubrey out of the room, her eyes still wide from fear. She couldn't stand to be touched, and resisted the urge to shake Ms. Anderson off with all she had. When she was sat down at the dining table, she covertly shivered and slid away when she felt a motherly hand rub at her bare arms.

   Her action didn't go unnoticed, and as Aubrey tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and stretched a fake smile across her face, she squirmed under the scrutinizing stare of the older woman.

   Standing with one hip jutted out, Ms. Anderson surveyed what was presented before her.  Aubrey's hair was a mess, it looked like a comb hadn't been through it in weeks. Though there wasn't a smell in the air, she could tell just from looking that she hadn't taken a bath, let alone a good wash off in the past week.

   Picking at her cuticles, Aubrey looked everywhere but at Ms. Anderson as she waddled away to the kitchen sink, turning on the faucet and placing her hands under the spray.

   "When's the last time you bathed Bre?"

  Shrugging her shoulders, Aubrey looked down at her tattered clothes. She rubbed her feet together to relieve an itch as she thought back to the last time. Had it been the morning of the funeral? No, maybe the night Sandra had been shot...

   "I brushed my teeth like two days ago." She said with a groggily voice.

  "You don't say? Well since you think you're grown enough to since you think you're grown enough to sit up in this house all by your lonesome, I'm sure you could at least take care of yourself by washing all of that dirt off." Finding nothing to dry her hands with, Ms. Anderson ran her hands down the front of her knee length dress as she searched for a clean plate to serve some of the food she had brought over.

   "I'm doing just fine." Aubrey slouched in her chair becoming defensive.

   "Just fine? Whew... I can tell by the wide open hole in the front of your house with those raggedy sheets hanging up. Or, by the look of this floor, when's the last time you vacuumed? I'm finding gnats all over this kitchen because you haven't bothered to take out the trash or clear the food off of this dishes. Girl, you are not doing just fine." Slopping out spoon fulls, she went to place the plate before Aubrey who gave a deathly glare the entire way.

  "Well, I'm sorry. My schedule has been a bit tight lately. I haven't had time to fit in housework with my emotional breakdowns."She stood up so forcefully that she nearly knocked over the wooden chair she sat in. As soon as she had given Ms. Anderson the cold shoulder she was whipped around to face the stern face of the other woman.

   "Sit.Down." Lowering herself back into the seat, Aubrey huffed with an incredulous laugh.

   "You can sit there and laugh all you want, be disrespectful; whatever! But let me tell you one damn thing," The curse falling from the mouth of the neighborhood Jesus fangirl got Aubrey's attention as she looked up through thick lashes to a pointed finger," Sandra ain't raise no fool up in this house, yet here you are acting like one."

   Aubrey sniffed and rubbed the back of her hand across her nose, leaning back in the chair, she crossed her arms and disengaged by looking just past Ms. Anderson's face.

   "Look at me when I'm speaking to you! Before I haul off and-" Rocking back in her chair, Ms. Anderson watched as the young girl before her showed a different side of herself. She acted with no manners, no respect or concern for the woman who had been there like a grandmother throughout her life. When Sandra's mother had died from late stage three breast cancer just a year after Aubrey's birth, Ms. Anderson had become a trusted mother figure for her. She gave her advice and helped her during the toughest times of raising a baby alone.

   The same sweet faced child who would run into her arms at first sight now sat aged before her. She hadn't seen the girl cry one tear at the funeral, and during no other time since her mother's death. If anyone knew the hurt of losing a loved one because of a gun, it was Ms. Anderson. Before the birth of her third child, she had lost her husband after a drunken argument playing cards one night long ago. She had been devastated that she had to be the one to suffer such an ordeal. When she lost her oldest son, youngest son, and first born grandson to the same violence, she was in church with her bible praying to God to end the misery falling upon her life.

   She should have been mad at the world for all that had happened to her family and should have questioned every move and plan that was laid out for her, but she didn't. No one had better knowledge of what God had for her future than Him. Trusting in that helped her make it through four deaths. Trusting in that helped her to continue to learn how to love and enjoy what she still had here on earth. She learned acceptance for those things that which she could not change. Staring now at Aubrey, she could see that she was dealing with her loss in a different way.

  Kicking the leg of the chair Aubrey tilted on, Ms. Anderson caused her to fall into the floor with a hard thud.

   Oh, she was going to give Aubrey all of the love and support that she could. The thing about Ms. Anderson was that she gave tough love, and would kick you in the ass when needed.

  "Get up off the floor! Sit up straight and eat." She commanded as Aubrey scrambled to obey.

   Lifting her fork to her mouth slowly, Aubrey begrudgingly chewed the meal as she watched Ms. Anderson search the kitchen cabinets. She pulled out cleaning supplies and rags, tossing them onto the counter.

   "You finish your food, every bit of it y'hear? And then you and I are gonna get up and straighten up this house. Your mama took too good care of it for it to look like dogs live here."

   As Ms. Anderson searched Sandra's collection of CDs and inserted one in the stereo, Aubrey sat hovered over the plate. She sniffed back tears while simultaneously stuffing her face with bite after bite until her cheeks expanded. She stopped chewing after her third shoving.

  "You're gonna choke yourself doing that. Eat right." Ms. Anderson waved her hand as she fluttered by, moving her hips to the sound of The Spinners.

   Aubrey finished off her meal listening to the lyrics of music float to her ears, and fill the house with the first sign of life in weeks.

oOo

   Aubrey placed the mop inside of a soapy bucket and collapsed to the ground on her back.

   Ms. Anderson had run her across every single inch of the house. Dusting, washing, sweeping up everything in sight. Even when she protested that some things were better left alone Ms. Anderson would ignore her cry and instruct her on what to do next.

   A clock on the wall opposite of her read 7 o'clock in the evening. They had been cleaning for hours, and as Aubrey laid there on the island fresh carpet, she knew she could nod off right there. A soft kick to her side made her open her eyes to a shapely figure standing above her.

  With tight limbs, she began to stand up slowly, cracking her back on the way up.

  "Everything is cleaned now. I even got you a load of clothes started. I'm going on home now, it's way past supper time and Lord know what my house looks like now." She said with a light chuckle. Aubrey wasn't able to produce a smile, but her face had lightened from her earlier mood as she looked at Ms. Anderson. She wouldn't have said it, but she did want her to go just yet and leave her behind.

   "I still got a place for you to lay your head should you ever decide to come on over Bre." The offer still stood. It was as if she had read her mind.

 "No thank you." She replied quietly. Her eyes drifted away from Ms. Anderson's.

  "Listen, this thing here, it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt for a long while. You'll wake up in pain, and go to sleep in pain, I know. What's happened here breaks my heart just as well, but you can't live shut off moping around in all of this sadness. It's not good for you. Your mama wouldn't want you doing this Aubrey. She loved you so much and I know you loved her too. Don't let what those fools did take away your entire life."

   "She was all I had." Aubrey croaked. Placing her hand over her heart, Ms. Anderson went on.

   "I know baby, I know. Your mama didn't leave you without anything. She raised a beautiful intelligent girl. Those lessons she gave you, you cherish them. Everything she ever told you is precious. Every word. Every hug. Every kiss. Don't let those slip from your memories honey. You need to remember who your mama was, what she stood for. Not just what happened to her."

   Looking up, Aubrey's eyes were rimmed red with large droplets that didn't fall.

   "I know it sounds hard right now, but you're going to have to find it in your heart to forgive. Forgive those who have done you wrong, those who have caused you pain because baby, otherwise they will Run. Your. Life. Don't let them. You can't let them do that. You learn to forgive now and trust in God, and you will clear a path in your life to travel. You'll find a road leading to love, understanding, and happiness. I promise."

  Nodding her head profusely, Aubrey allowed Ms. Anderson's arms to envelop her. She couldn't find the strength to return the gesture, but for a brief second she closed her eyes and dropped her head into the crook of her neck as a kiss was laid on her temple.

   Standing back, Ms. Anderson wiped a stray strand of hair from Aubrey's cheek.

   "Since you won't come to me, I'll come to you. I'm gonna check on you tomorrow, okay?" Gathering her purse, she headed for the door still calling out commands behind her.

   "Take yourself a good sit down bath, put some baby oil in the water. And do something with that head of yours..."

   Watching the door that Ms. Anderson left out of, Aubrey could hear her words still sound off in her head.

   She replayed them over and over as she filled up the tub with steaming hot water and began to undress. The hot temperature was a relief to her aching body as she lowered herself in until the water covered her chin. The picture she had hung on the mirror fell off from the steam of the bathroom, falling towards the tub. Reaching on wet hand out, she picked it up as she leaned on her arm over the edge .

   She studied the man in the picture, and as she did an Idea formed in her head. Dropping it out of the way, Aubrey took a gulp of air and let herself fall down into the water. She held her breath until her lungs burned.

   When she came up gasping for breath, she had an idea in mind.This path that Ms. Anderson had talked about had Antonio Russo at the end of it.

   Aubrey just knew it.

oOo

  Cracking her neck Aubrey typed away at her desktop computer. It was outdated and ran on a slow bandwidth, but for the past two days it had served its purpose in letting her Google Antonio Russo's name to find out all of the information she could.

   She tapped the metal spoon she held in her hand against her lip as she read another article on the man. Reaching for another scoop of the banana pudding Ms. Anderson had made for her, she found herself clinking around in the glass bowl. Tossing the spoon, she sat back in the spinning chair.

   She was dressed in jean shorts, sneakers, and a light sweater. It was designed with hole large enough to keep her body cool, and she enjoyed the feel of the fan blowing against her. The $10,000 air conditioning unit in the house had once again gone out. There was no way she was going to contact the landlord for she knew that this time it couldn't just be rigged up to work.

  A light sheen of sweat covered her face as she spun around to sit directly in front of the air flow.

  Beside the front door were two bags packed with a week's worth of clothes and necessities.

  The first night after Ms. Anderson had left, Aubrey stayed up all night researching on how to buy a plane ticket. At seventeen, she had never flown, and had absolutely no idea how to go about arranging a trip. When she had found out that Antonio Russo lived in Chicago, she knew that a bus trip from Texas would take too much time.

   It was just her luck that she could find an early flight, but when she went in to use her mother's credit account, she had found that it had been frozen. In a hurry, she had called a travel agency within the city, and was able to pull out a plane ticket. When she had arrived there in a taxi, she had received curious stares for the young face that was making a deal like an adult. When she pulled out large bills to pay for it, the travel agent had accepted the cash tight lipped, and booked a flight for her.

    Walking to the kitchen sink, she began to wash out the bowl she had been using, placing it away just as Ms. Anderson would have wanted her to. There was a knock at the door, and knowing that it couldn't have been anyone she knew, she hesitated to open the door.

   Going to the peephole, she stood on her tip toes to get a better look.

   She saw the glittering of a diamond earring as the man on the other side looked around him, waiting for her to open the door.

    Opening the door, she recognized the guy as one of Marquis's men. She had never spoken to him, but figured he would cause her no harm.

   "Yes...?"

   A cell phone was handed to her, and out of confusion she looked at it.

   "Bre?" She could hear Marquis's voice through the speaker, and slowly lifted it to her own ear.

   "Hello?"

   "I hear you finally got around to Ms. Anderson." Marquis had found out that the girl was finally eating and showering, which relieved him.

   "Where are you?" She asked ignoring his comment.

   "I'm taking some time off right now." By that she knew he was laying low for whatever he had planned ahead.

   "Oh." The silence which fell became uncomfortable as Aubrey stood in front of the tall man before her while she held the cell phone to her ear, She knew he wasn't intentionally listening to her, but she had found it strange to hold the conversation with him there.

  "I asked my man there to run some things by you." Looking down, she saw a black bag hanging from his large hand.

  "What kind of things?"

  " Some money to get you by."

  "No worries. I found mama's stash you've been giving her. I think I'm good in that department." Marquis could hear the disapproval in her voice, it was the same tone as Sandra's whenever he would show up with money in hand.

   "I can't exactly be there now to help you out, so this is the best I can do."

   The henchman looked over his shoulder to find Aubrey's eyes on him.

   "Well, you can hold it for now. I'm not going to be needing it here in the next week." Crossing her arms, she leaned up against the door, looking down to her feet.

   "I don't think I understand what you're saying."

   "I'm taking a trip."

   "A trip?"

   "Yeah. To Chicago. It's just for a week so-"

   "Chicago? What would you need to go there for?"

   Aubrey suddenly wished she could backtrack on revealing a part of her plan.

   "Vacation?"

   "You don't sound so certain Bre."

  Closing the door softly, she entered the house for more privacy.

 "Look, it's nothing major. I'mjustgoingtomeetmydad."

  "Excuse me?"

  "I said it's nothing major." She repeated.

  "Oh, I got that part. You said you were going to see somebody? Who do you got up in Chicago?" Marquis fidgeted where he was just as Aubrey did.

  "My dad. I'm going to go see him."

  "Hmm." Was all he could say. Aubrey immediately began to explain.

  "It's not for long, just a week. He's kinda this big shot up there, some white guy. Can you believe it? I guess I should have figured that one out sooner." She laughed, twirling her brown hair that had always contrasted with her mother's black locks. Paired with her eyes, she should have seen that there was something more to her than she believed. When nothing was said from the other line, she went on.

   "I'm not going to live with him or anything like that. With my luck I may not even find him. Hell, he'll probably run or ignore me as soon as he sees me anyway. After I get what I went there for, I'm coming back to live with Ms. Anderson, at least for this last school year."

  "Marquis? You still there?"

  At first, Marquis thought that it sounded plain dumb for Aubrey to have such a plan. He thought that all she was going to do was get herself hurt in the process. As he sat and listened to her, he began to weigh her options.

   She could go see this guy, even if it's from a twenty foot distance, and then come back to live in the hood with nothing.

  Or, she could have a chance at a decent. One that Sandra had at one point, and wanted desperately for her daughter.

   "...I was going to call the land lord and let him know what's gone down. I'm pretty sure he already heard, but I was going to let him know that no one will be staying here anymore and then he can-"

 "Don't come back."

  Pausing, Aubrey stuttered, "W-What?"

   "If you leave this place, don't come back. There's nothing for you here."

  "Why do you keep saying that I have nothing here? Here is all I got." She became irritated as she heard what Marquis was saying.

  " I got Ms. Anderson, my mama's still here, and you! That's something."

  "Ms. Anderson can't do much for you; she's got a house full of her own. Your mama isn't here anymore Bre, and soon I'm not going to be either. If I'm not locked up soon, I'm going to be six feet deep. Now tell me, what is here for you?"

  "Don't...Don't be so damn mean Marquis!"  Aubrey's voice was filled with emotion. She didn't want to hear him talk about what she didn't have; she didn't want him to break the false reality that she was trying to make up in her own mind.

  "Life is mean. I'm just telling you the truth."

  "But I-"

  "You're gonna have to go ahead and drop whatever it is you got in that pretty head of yours. This isn't life here. Aubrey. You gotta want more for yourself like your mom. Don't come back here. All that is going to happen is you may get your little GED, but you're going to mess around with some of these niggas here, they're gonna lay up and get you pregnant then dip. That's not what you need. You can have something different. Don't fool yourself otherwise."

    "Whatever Marquis."

  "Don't whatever me. Listen to me. I don't ever want to hear about you being back. I don't want to see you. I want you to disappear."

   Marquis  had his eyes and ears on the streets, looking out for who had come for him, and instead got Sandra that night. His sources had led him to the people who were hanging on to life by a thread for as far as he could see. That's why he had to keep away from Aubrey. For however many eyes he had watching his target, he knew that many were on him. If this was the last time he spoke to her, then he wanted to make sure he did something good in the least. If he could get her to understand how important it is to get away from a place like this, he could at least honor Sandra in some way.

    He couldn't keep her safe, but maybe he could push Aubrey into the right direction even though he had never been pointed that way in his entire life.

   "Fuck you. You don't have to see or worry about me. If you think I'm going to just up and leave, then you must be crazy."

   "You're crazy for wanting to come back here." He spat. Putting his head into his hand, he rubbed at his temples. "I owe your mom at least this, Aubrey. I gotta get you somewhere where you can become someone, and not someone's."

   "And so you think going to find this white daddy of mine is going to help me get there? Are you even thinking? He's not gonna want anything to do with me; there's no point in hoping for more. I just want to see him, see where I come from. My only other connection to this life is gone, Marquis. I'm not trying to become his daughter or nothing; I just want some kind of answer to everything." She felt her body slump as she became less upset.

   "Mama-she never talked about him, y'know? I never asked either. I didn't care too much. I mean, I still don't care, but I just want to do this so that I can say that I did one day. That's all." Pulling at a frayed end of her shorts, Aubrey twirled the string around her finger until it became red, breaking the piece of cloth off.

  "Aubrey, this could be your one shot."

  "At what? Chances are I won't even see him. Maybe he'll be gone on some important business trip, and I won't see him at all. You say there's nothing for me here, but shit, that could go the same for there."

  "Kids here aren't going to get an opportunity like this, ever. But you have it right in front of your damn face, Take it. Don't waste something like this, it may not come around again."

  "Goodbye Marquis."

  "Leave Aubrey." He couldn't get another word in before he heard the dial tone in his ear.

  "Marquis..." His name was called by a dark figure in the shadows. Turning, he listened to the relay of information. Clenching his fist he stood.

  "Let's get these motherfuckers."

  He knew that Sandra would be shaking her head if she knew what he was about to do. He couldn't help it, this was the best way he knew how to handle things, how to clap back for her murder. He hoped that Aubrey would do as he said, and help to make up for yet another sin he was about to commit.

oOo

    When Aubrey had opened her door, she was ready to thrust the phone back into the hand that had given it to her, and tell him to leave along with what he had brought.

   There was no one on the other side, and when she took a step out to look down the street, she saw that the black SUV was gone too.

  "Damn it..." Tossing the phone into the air and catching it, Aubrey saw the strap of the book bag Marquis's man had with him lying in the bushes. Looking around she contemplated grabbing the little kid down the street and giving it to him. He was towered by older boys, and knew that getting the money into the wrong hands would only lead to something bad. With regret, she picked the bag up, checking its size in weight.

  Slipping back into her house, she locked the door and began to unzip it.

  Her mouth hung in awe as she eyeballed the stacks of paper which filled the bag.

  There had to have been over thousands of dollars in there. Aubrey's heart jumped at the realization of what she possessed, and paranoia began to set in as she felt the heavy responsibility which came with a load this big.

   "No, no, no." She said. Closing the bag, she tossed it on to the couch and sat opposite of it in an old chair. Covering her mouth with her hand, she took deep breaths.

  She had already struggled with figuring out what to do with the money she didn't need from the $5,000 she had found in her mother's room, and now this.

  What was she going to do?

  With the prospect of something better out there for her, Aubrey didn't want to admit to Marquis that what he had said sounded good to her. She didn't want to admit that she wanted to go someplace far away to get away from the horror that had happened here. Aubrey was too afraid to leave everything that she had known, too afraid to try something bigger.

   Deep down, she was anxious about rejection. So what if she went to meet her father and saw a chance to grab hold to a better life?

   He could easily deny her. Turn her away. Spit on her.

  This Russo guy may have been a horrible person, why would she subject herself to that kind of trauma?

  She thought back to the stories she had read about him. How he donated to impoverished inner city schools, setting up after school programs to give the kids a chance to stay off of the streets. His family was important in the government of Chicago, his father and mother holding official positions within it.

   Sure the guy could smile pretty for the little poor kids he gave slides and swing sets to, but who ever said he would give her the same kind of warmth he seemed to give them?

  There wasn't much he could gain from her other than a liability.

  Grabbing the book bag, Aubrey hoisted it over her shoulder and headed to her mother's bedroom to add in the cash with the rest of what she had.

oOo

    $30,000

   Aubrey sat quietly with her legs criss crossed beneath her.

   She had counted and recounted the money at least ten times now.

   She was beginning to think that she had definitely miscalculated somewhere along the way, but each time she got to the end of the pile, she came up with the exact same number.

  $30,000

   What had Marquis expected her to do with all of this? When she had added in the $25,000 he had given her to what she had left of the first $5,000 she had come across, her mind had been blown. There was no way she could carry this around with her, or leave it here in the house while she was gone. The place was nearly empty now, and she could barely lay claim to it now. Soon, the water would be shut off, and electricity cut any day now. She had no doubt that the house would be left to deteriorate and become a shelter for the people who lurked the streets endlessly each night.

   Pacing the bedroom floor, Aubrey turned to the sound of Ms. Anderson in the living room.

   In a panic, she began stuffing the bag full again, and just before the bedroom door was opened, she managed to toss it into the closet.

   "Well, hello. I knocked but no one answered."

   " I was-I was just getting dressed." Messing with her shoe strings, Aubrey stood up to see Ms. Anderson lift a brow.

  "Uh huh..."

 " I didn't know you were coming by so soon..." Leading her out of the room, Ms. Anderson didn't miss the way she was rushed out.

   "Child, what is wrong with you? You're acting a fool..." Maybe she had stayed in this house for long enough. " That's it, you're coming to my house. Today. You don't need to be hanging around here, it's not good for you." She emphasized her point with a shiver.

  "Actually-"

  "No. I'm not letting you tell me otherwise. You are still but a child no matter how grown you're trying to act here."

   Keeping her mouth shut about the fact she would be on a plane tomorrow morning headed for Chicago, she decided to watch as Ms. Anderson pointed out yet another foil wrapped dish she had left for her.

   "I cooked some breakfast this morning, thought it'd be good to bring you a plate by." 

   "Thank you." Lifting the covering, she found an entire meal, still steaming. Picking up a piece of bacon, she chewed on it as Ms. Anderson checked around the house.

  "See, I knew you could keep this place clean."

  "There's not much to mess up."

  "Even if this place was bare, I know those grandbabies of mine would find a way to jack it all to hell.." Ms. Anderson cleared her throat as she turned to Aubrey. "I know you won't cause me much trouble. Maybe you could even show those youngins a thing or two."

   "Ms. Anderson..."

  "You have your bags packed already! Well that's a delight." Aubrey's voice went unheard as her travelling bags were spotted. "You can come on back with me. I have some errands to run some bills to pay, but you can tag along."

   Swallowing the last piece of meat in her mouth, Aubrey had found a plan for the money hidden in her back closet.

  "Actually, Ms. Anderson I wanted to just finish up here. I'm not quite done yet.."

  "You've emptied the place out honey..."

   "Not cleaning. You know, just kinda say goodbye and what not." Ms. Anderson understood immediately, speaking softer and more somber.

   "Of course dear. You can come later on. I won't rush you."

  "I was thinking I stay here just one more night."

   "Aubrey..."

   "I promise, that's all I want here. "

   Ms. Anderson opened her mouth prepared to say more, but closed it on second thought.

   "If you say so. Something tells me-you know what. I have to go now." She stopped midsentence, which Aubrey was glad for. Showing herself out, she gave one more glance over the shoulder.

   "I'll be expecting you in the morning, Aubrey Taliaferro. Breakfast is served at 8 o'clock on the dot. I'll keep you plate warm."

   Making no promises, Aubrey waved.

  When the coast was clear, she dashed back to the room and began counting out bills for Ms. Anderson.

oOo

    Aubrey sat stiff in her seat, body forced back from the plane's take off as it rose into the sky.

   That morning she had gathered all of her belongings, strapping everything to her body as she walked down the still dark streets of her neighborhood towards Ms. Anderson. In her hands she carried a small leftover cardboard box with her name written on it.

   It was no secret that Ms.Anderson woke up every morning at 5:45am to enjoy her guilty pleasure of a quick smoke. Aubrey had hidden in the shadows as she watched the older woman come out in her house robe, and light the cigarette. When she caught sight of the box addressed to her, Aubrey held her breath as she lifted back one of the flaps.

   She wasn't able to hear Ms. Anderson gasp from the sight of the money as she quickly made her way around the corner to the taxi she had called to drive her to the airport. When she had climbed in, the older man turned on his headlights and began to drive away. In his rearview mirror he could see a woman chasing after the car.

   "Keep going." The girl from his back seat instructed. The entire ride he thought he was driving yet another run away teen to some fantasy get away at the airport. When he called out the total she owed him, he was sure that she was by far the best runaway he ever had as his hands were filled with more money than he had ever seen in all of his 50 years of living.

    The $15,000 Aubrey gave to Ms. Anderson and the $5,000 to the cabbie left her again with just under the original $5,000 dollars she had started out with. She felt less self-conscious about the money as she went through the security check.

   The young worker attending to the machine raised an eye when she had come through the metal detector. On the outside, Aubrey kept a cool demeanor as she smiled at him, flashing a deep dimple in the process. Her heart pounded as she looked around to the uniformed security officers monitoring the area. When she was able to grab her bag, and stuff her feet into her shoes, she nearly ran to her designated gate.

   She nearly missed her flight as she got turned around by the confusing signs of the airport. She didn't let out her first breath until she had buckled herself in to the seat she now sat in.

   Gripping her armrest, Aubrey tried to convince herself that everything would be okay, but somehow she doubted that.