Laura lurked around outside the coliseum door. She knew they were having a big wrestling event tonight. She enjoyed wrestling when she got a chance to watch, which wasn't much these days. She was too busy trying to scrape money up to keep herself fed. Laura was one of the thousands of homeless out there through no choice of her own. She was 17 and been on her own since she was 13. Her stepfather had tried to molest her and her mother didn't believe her. So she split. It wasn't that great before he had tried to rape her anyway. She was regularly beat, kicked and slapped for any or no reason at all.
This brings her to why she was hiding in the shadows of the arena. Great place to rob drunks. Plenty of these people drank too much at wrestling events. She decided to move around to the side exit. That's where all the rich cats left at. She slid into the shadows to wait.
A promising Drunk just stumbled out the door. He stopped, and fumbled through his pockets looking for his car keys. Laura moved up to him. "Can I help you Sir"? He looked at her and leered. "Yea Baby you can help me alright". He grabbed her and pushed her against the wall and started pulling her shirt up. Hell if Laura could figure why men always tried this shit with her, she thought herself plain. But in reality, what she didn't see in herself. She had beautiful long brown hair, well past her waist, large gray eyes that held a haunted look. She Had High cheekbones that spoke of her Indian Heritage. She had a nice body, just a little too thin since she didn't eat the way she should. She slipped her hands in his back pocket and lifted his wallet, while he was busy pawing her breasts. She quickly slid it into her jacket pocket. Ok, she thought, I've had enough of his shit. "Get the Fuck off of me you Cocksucker", she yelled. She kneed him hard in the crotch. The man fell forward cussing, "you little whore". Laura saw a shadow fall over both of them. "There a problem, Little Girl" Said the shadow in a southern accent. She looked up and saw the biggest man she ever laid eyes on. He had on jeans and black tank, Reddish looking spiked hair with a bandanna tied around his head. Her eyes were drawn to the tattoos that covered both his arms. Oh My God, She thought, it's the Undertaker. He was her all time favorite wrestler. She looked right into his startling green eyes and was for once at a loss for words. Mark looked at the kid with concern, He was thinking she might be injured or something. Mark jerked the man too his feet and punched him right in the face and knocked him out cold. He had seen enough to know the asshole was trying to rape this kid. He went over and took the kids arm to help her up. She jerked away from him; it was pure instinct for her to do that, she had learned early that people only touch you to hurt you. "Take it easy Little Girl, I ain't going to hurt ya". "Sorry" she said "I'm just a little freaked out from that asshole". He looked her over, she was a beauty, those large eyes were lovely, but she looked too thin. She had a layer of dirt on her, dark smudges of dirt on her pretty little face. Her clothes had seen better days. They had holes and rips in them. Her damn shoes looked like they were held together with dirt and a prayer.
"How old are you Baby"? "I'm 20, and I'm not a Baby" she snapped. He busted out laughing, "try again Little Girl, No way are you 20"."Jeez" she said, "okay I'm 19".He shook his head at her, "try again". "Shit, okay I'm 17".He grinned. "See that wasn't so hard, only took you twice to tell the truth". She glared at him. "Look Thanks for your help and all, but I gotta get going". She turned to leave. He stepped in front of her, "I don't think so Little Girl, Its Midnight and this aint the best part of town, I'll give you a ride". "My Trucks over there". "Umm look, I don't live all that far". "I'll be fine", she said. He took her arm and started towards his truck, "No Arguments Baby". Great she thought this is all I need, Big brother Undertaker tagging along. "Was you here for the show tonight"? He asked. "Umm yea" she said. "Great match between me and Kurt angle tonight, wasn't it"? "Yea awesome" she said. He narrowed his eyes and looked hard at her, she was lying through her teeth. He didn't even fight Kurt tonight. He opened the door of the truck for her and waited for her to climb in. "Damn" she complained, "what is this truck 10 feet
In the air"? She struggled to climb up into the truck. As she boosted herself up in the truck, the wallet she had tucked into her pocket fell out. Mark bent over and picked it up, "Baby you dropped something". He looked down, the wallet had fell open. He seen it was the drunks wallet, he recognized the picture on the drivers license. Laura turned to see what he had in his hands. Oh Great she thought, I'm busted. "This just jump into your pocket
Darlin". She looked at him, "so what" she said, "he attacked me. I might as well get something from him, I'm sure he's got plenty of money. He won't even miss it". He just shook his head. "Missy you just sit right there in that truck and don't move"."If you do and I have to chase you down, you wont like it when I do catch you, understand". She just turned her head from him. He slammed the door and walked back over to the drunk and dropped the wallet on him. Mark then headed back for the truck. He climbed in and slammed the door. "Where do you live" he asked. "I wanna talk to you Daddy". "A good belt across your ass seems to be what you need"."Believe me it's been tried" she said quietly, "it don't work, I'm just a bad seed". Mark looked over at her, but she was staring out the window and wouldn't look at him. "Where do you live", he asked again. Fine, she thought he wants to see where I live, I'll show him.
She gave him directions, but other than that did not speak. Finally they pulled into a parking lot of a abandoned building. "What are we doing here", Mark asked. "Just follow me", she said. "If I don't break my neck getting out of this damn truck", Laura mumbled to herself. She jumped down and headed for the building. Mark followed, wondering what she was up to. She went around to the back of the building and started moving a large wooden crate from against the wall. When she got the crate moved, he could see there was a large hole in the wall. Laura climbed in and turned around, "well come on" she said.Mark followed; it was pitch black inside, suddenly a bright light flashed in his eyes. It was Laura holding a battery operated lantern. "This is it, home sweet home" she said. Mark looked at her in shock. "You telling me you live here"? "Yea" she said. He looked around. It was just a small dingy damp room. There were books piled every where. A small pile of folded clothes lay in one corner. A blanket laid in the corner, which he guessed she slept on and that was it. "Ya like to read huh"? "Yea" she said. Mark couldn't believe this little girl was living like this, it made him angry. "Where the hell are your parents"? He asked. "I split from them a long time ago". "Why" he asked. "Didn't they look for you"? She laughed, "look for me, no. They probably threw a party when I left. I left because my step father decided he wanted to fuck me. You know the story, Mommy dearest didn't believe me. I wasn't going to stick around and let him touch me, so I split". "How long you been on your own"? He asked. "Since I was 13".Mark's heart went out this kid, he heard about things like this, but it was different when you came face to face with it. "How do you survive Kid"? "The best way I can" she answered. "You know you can't get a job without an address and you can't go to a interview in raggedy clothes". "I pick up odd jobs around the neighborhood once in a while". "I steal when I have to, gotta eat ya know". She was thinking about the wallet Mark took back to the drunk. No dinner tonight she thought. It had been yesterday morning since she ate last and that was just a pack of crackers. She looked up at him, "only kinda job I'm gonna be able to get is selling my ass on a street corner, and I probably wont make no money at that cause I'm so ugly". Mark walked over to her and put his hand on her chin and raised her head up. "Where the hell ya get the idea your ugly kid"? She flinched when he touched her, thinking he was going to hit her. Mark knew this child had been abused by the way she reacted to him. "Little Girl, I aint going to hurt you". Laura just pulled away from him and looked down. "Okay" He said making a decision, "get your stuff. I'm taking you with me". "Where" she asked. "Well first to get something to eat, then to my hotel room". Eating caught her attention, but no way was she going to his room. "I'm not hungry, just go on. Ill be fine". "No way kid, I'm not leaving you here". "Listen" she yelled ,"if you think your going to take me back to your hotel and have sex with me your crazy, no way". He stood there with his arms crossed, "Look, I'm not going to touch you, you're just a Baby". "There's two beds in my hotel room, Okay". "I'm not leaving you in this place, your not safe". Laura looked up at him; she could see the honesty in his eyes. "Well okay" she said. She grabbed her few clothes and her favorite books. That's all in the world she had. "Come on, let's go" Mark said.
Mark stopped at an all night diner to get them something to eat. From the look of the kid she could use a meal he thought. Mark opened the door of the truck for her and she jumped down to join him. They went in and Mark took a back booth. "What ya want to eat kid"? He asked. She looked over the menu and everything looked good, but she didn't want to act greedy. "Order what ya want, ya look like you need a good meal", He said. She looked up at him, unsure of what to get. "How about a burger, fries and a drink to start with" he said. "Can I have a Pepsi she asked"? "Sure kid". Mark went and put in there order and came back and set down. "Well little one, why don't we start with your name". She looked at him with those large eyes. He could drown in those eyes, they just melted his heart. "It's Laura" she said. "Just Laura" he asked. "Yep". "Okay, I guess we can work with that for now", He grinned at her. "So what's your name" she asked, "besides the Undertaker"? "It's Mark". He answered. "Cool, Mark its nice to meet ya" she said and grinned back at him. It was the first time he had seen her smile and it took his breath away. It transformed her from a beauty into a pure angel. There food arrived and Mark watched amazed as she gulped it down in minutes. "Slow down Baby Girl ya gonna make yourself sick eating that fast". "Can I have a piece of apple pie she asked"? "Yea Girl but slow down". He ordered her a piece of pie and watched as she consumed that too. "How longs it been since you ate Laura"? "Yesterday morning she said". Once again Mark felt him self getting angry at this kid's crappy parents. He would love to get them in a room alone for 5 minutes. "Look Laura, I'm going to lay it on the line and tell me what ya think about it okay"? "Okay" she said. "I'm taking the next six months off because of an injury." "I'm heading back home to Texas tomorrow. How would you like to come with me"? "We will get you enrolled in school down there". "When you finish I will send you to the college of your choice". "What ya think little girl"? She looked at him unbelieving? "Why would you want to do that for me she asked"? "You seem like you had a lot of bad breaks, I think it's time you had a good one" he answered. She looked down, not knowing what to say. "Come on Kid what do ya say, you aint got nothing to lose". He was right; she didn't have anything to lose. She felt like she was going to cry and she hadn't done that in years, so she kept her head down. Mark put his hand under her chin and lifted her head so he could look at her. He could she the turmoil in her eyes and the raw emotions. "We'll take it one day at a time Laura, Okay"? She looked into his eyes and felt so safe for the first time in her life. "Kay" she said. He gave her a smile, you'll love Houston. "How we going to get there she asked"? "On a plane" he said, "You ever been on one he asked"? "No, but don't worry I aint scared, I aint scared of nothing". He grinned; "I can see that already Laura". "Lets get to the hotel, we both need a good nights sleep its going to be a long day tomorrow".
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