Believe Like a Child by Paige Dearth

Author:Paige Dearth [Dearth, Paige]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Thrillers, Suspense
ISBN: 9781461105671
Google: KUyGZwEACAAJ
Amazon: 1461105676
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2011-06-22T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Eight

During their explorations, the girls came across several boarded-up properties in a rundown West Philly neighborhood. As dusk fell, Alessa picked the house that had the greatest number of boards still covering the windows. The front of the house was overgrown with wild ivy and the steps to the porch were blocked by overgrown bushes. The paint on the porch had flaked and the white stucco was covered with grime and graffiti. On the small lawn lay a ripped mattress, with a hole burned into the center. A plank of plywood hung in place of the front door to deter intruders. The girls walked around to the back of the property and entered through the back door, where the plywood had been pulled down and was leaning up against the doorway to prevent the cold air from blowing through. Alessa pulled the plywood over, allowing Lucy to slip in, and quickly followed her.

The girls found themselves in a kitchen. The wall cabinets had been stripped of their doors and a rusted sink stood in one corner. As Alessa and Lucy picked their way carefully through the debris on the floor, they noticed that the walls, once plaster, were stripped down to expose the wood support structure. When they reached the living area, they heard voices floating down from upstairs. But before they could approach the staircase and go up to investigate, the girls’ attention was drawn to several homeless people lying here and there on the cold floor. Most of them were covered with blankets so you could barely tell there was anyone underneath. The two kept walking until they had reached the foot of the stairs. Lucy hesitated, clinging to Alessa’s side. Just then, a man came down the stairs, drinking a quart of beer.

“Get the fuck outta the way, will ya?” was all he said, pushing past them.

The girls climbed to the second floor. Upstairs, there were more people, most of them partying, some of them openly shooting drugs. Alessa pretended she belonged there. They looked into each of the bedrooms, trying to find an empty one; they were let down, but not really surprised, to find none. Finally, they settled on the bedroom with the least number of people inside and walked in. The other homeless teens in the room, along with the twenty something’s, sized them up shrewdly. Alessa quickly moved Lucy into a corner of the room and told her to sit down.

Alessa sat shielding the child and buried their measly belongings in her lap. It was cold in the house, but within its walls, they were protected from the harsh wind. Lucy was asleep in minutes, but Alessa was too on edge to relax. No one had uttered a word to them since they arrived. She sensed they were not welcome.

About half an hour later, a young black woman approached Alessa. “What the fuck you doing here with that kid?” she barked. “This here is our room and you’re sleeping in our spot.”

Surprised by the intensity of the attack, Alessa said, “Listen, my kid here needs to sleep.

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