Painted Windows by Gera Jones

Author:Gera Jones [Jones, Gera]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Geralogy, LLC
Published: 2021-12-06T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14 – Football

October 6, 2018

“Ruby, are you awake?”

Ruby heard Abby’s whispering voice through the dark room.

“Yes.”

“Can’t you sleep?” Abby asked in a low tone.

“No.” Ruby was on her back with her arms crossed on top of the yellow chenille bedspread, her fingers playing with the soft raised parts. She was thinking about the cabin and what it must look like, her few new possessions scattered about, when she left the other day. She had always been amazed at how people typically left behind so many possessions when they vacated a place, but now she wondered, had they left not knowing they would not be back? Like herself?

“Are you having bad dreams?”

“No. Well, sometimes I do.” This was a lie. Ruby’s sleep was always plagued with one dream or another.

“I just cannot sleep,” Ruby said, yawning. “I guess I am not really used to sleeping during the night so much. Nighttime is usually when I would move from place to place or be out searching for food and stuff.”

“You had some bad times, didn’t you?” Abby asked quietly. “Mom and dad don’t think I know anything about homeless people—kids—and what happens to them. Drugs, sex trafficking, you know. But I know a lot more than they think. I read.”

“Yes, bad things do happen out there,” Ruby said in a whisper. “But I managed to stay away from the human traffickers and the drugs. Well…not taking them myself. I got good advice from some people who were on the street and went through those things. They told me how to avoid it. Basically, they told me to stay off the streets. Pretty easy really. That is why I always looked for smaller towns with rural areas around. They were safer. Most of the time.”

“Was your mom…Vanessa…into drugs?”

“Yes. Not too bad at first. When I was younger, we really had some good times. But we moved around a lot. When I was younger, I did not really understand, but as I got older, I realized she was basically dependent on one man after another, and they had drugs. So, her habit got gradually worse over time.”

“Did those men ever hurt you?” There was a hesitancy in Abby’s voice.

“Well, I am really not supposed to discuss those things with you. Jonah…your dad asked me not to,” Ruby whispered.

“Ruby, we are in the dark, and technically you can’t see me so you’re just talking to the dark!”

Ruby chuckled quietly at her reasoning.

“Sometimes they hurt me. Beat me. Other stuff.” Ruby left details out. It was hard to have gone through those situations, much less live them again. “Vanessa pretty much protected me when I was younger, but as I got older, and she got… She just taught me how to stay out of the way as much as I could. Dressing like a boy helped. I stayed hid most of the time. She was around some pretty bad characters, especially right before I left.” Ruby told Abby about the raid where the police took Vanessa and her ‘friends.

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