This is just a prologue. Please let me know what you think. Mentions of pedophilia, rape, and molestation, I try not to get explicit with scenes like that involving children.
She watched the drops of rain fall from the edge of the roof and thought of the what ifs. What if Mama doesn't come back with the money this time? What if she gets hurt real bad? What if she doesn't come back at all? This is Gotham! Immediately after that, she shook her head. She didn't want to think of those possibilities. She continued to watch the raindrops.
What if I were a raindrop? She wondered absently. Then I wouldn't have to wait for Mama at all. But she said to wait right here. How long ago was that? Again, trying to distract herself, the little girl poked her thumb through one of the larger holes in her blouse. Besides all that, where were they going to live now? Mama gave away the apartment.
Just then, she heard the sound of footsteps coming toward her. She turned toward them, knowing she had nowhere to hide. What did she have to steal anyway?
It was her Uncle Raymond. The odd man who touched her in odd places. Mama said he was funny and he brought them money sometimes, so the little girl never mentioned anything to Mama.
"Leila, honey, where's your Mother?"
"She's picking up some money," she shrugged awkwardly. She was never sure how to behave around Uncle Ray, he was a bit of a wild card himself. "But she's taking way too long."
"Of course, she is," he answered, with that odd, little smirk of his. Leila never trusted it. He could kill you in a minute with the knife he hid up his sleeve. "How about I wait with you? We can sing a song."
Leila gave an uncertain smile and proceeded to sing the song that she knew he loved to hear her sing. "Raindrops on roses. . . "
He watched her intently with those shiny, little eyes of his, and Leila found herself shivering. Something was coming, he was going to do something. And all she could do was hope that it wouldn't be like the time, he'd nearly broken her arm just to hear her scream.
"You have such a beautiful voice, my Leila Rose."
She wanted to tell him not to call her that. She wanted to tell him to stop watching her. But you didn't tell Uncle Ray what to do. So, he reached out a hand to touch her. It started with just a finger across her cheek, going down past her jawline to her neck. Then his hand reached out to turn her head towards his. She had to meet his eyes.
"I've been having a real bad day, Lei, and something tells me your mom ain't coming back."
Leila's eyes filled with tears as she remembered the empty apartment and her green eyes gazing back at her from the mirror they'd had to leave behind.
"We've both been left behind, and I want you to do me a favor."
"What?" she managed to choke out, catching the glint of silver coming from his sleeve.
"I want you to make me feel better."
From then on, Leila Rose's world split.
After Ray left her with little more than a kiss on the cheek and ten dollars for food. She knew she had to disappear. He would probably come looking for her again in the near future, and she didn't want to be around for that.
She was seven years old with no family or home to speak of.
But what could she do? She was still in shock wondering if anything he'd told her had been the truth. Wondering if he'd really done more than touch her. It hurt, and the pain and shame was most of what she could remember. She didn't like to think about the rest. She was cold and shivering, thinking she should move. But she couldn't.
It was then that she heard the second set of footsteps. Maybe it was Mama. She wanted to run over and tell her what happened, the odd thing Uncle Ray had done to her, but what if it wasn't Mama? What if it was Uncle Ray again?
In the end she stayed where she was. She closed her eyes, not really believing, but still hoping that if she couldn't see who was coming, they wouldn't see her. The footsteps stopped right in front of her, and she stopped breathing. A feminine voice echoed through the alley.
"What are you doing here, dear?"
Leila looked up to find a rather disheveled woman looking down at her. She seemed kind and warm, and so unlike her mother. Her mother was elegant and cold. This woman's voice had an accent that made Leila want to smile, but she couldn't.
"You're such a pretty child," she continued. "You can't be alone!"
"Mother!" A voice yelled from the street. It was a boy, perhaps a few years older than Leila. "We're going to miss the magic show!"
"I'm sorry, Oswald, but this girl seems troubled!"
Oswald joined them, holding tightly to a black umbrella that reminded her of her mother's. He stared down at the small girl with her pinched face and pale features, before sitting down beside her and putting his arm around her. "What's wrong?"
She paused. He was a boy like Uncle Ray. He could hurt her. She pushed him away. "Get away from me!"
"We can't help you if we don't know what's wrong, little girl."
She wanted to snarl at them. She wanted to say she didn't any help. Instead she said, "He hurt me."
"Who hurt you?" The woman asked. The boy was keeping a respectful distance.
"My uncle. And he told me my Mama wasn't coming to get me," she pulled her knees to her chest and buried her head in her arms. "No one's coming back for me."
It was silent and the boy put his arm around her again. Grudgingly, she let him. "Let's sing her a song," Oswald said. "You sing to me when I'm sad, Mother."
"But what should we sing?"
Leila hoped they wouldn't sing that song. Instead, she heard the boy sing, "Somewhere over the rainbow. . . "
And somehow, she found herself smiling. She lifted her head to watch the boy fumble through the words and even managed to giggle. He looked at her and grinned before continuing to the end. His voice cracked a bit on the last note.
"Thank you," she murmured.
"Good job, Oswald. Well, what's your name?" The woman asked the girl.
"Rose." She didn't want to be Leila anymore. Leila felt dirty and used, unloved. Rose was new, these people would like Rose.
"Do you want to come with us, Rose?" The woman asked, holding out her hand for Rose to take. Rose took it, smiling. "We'll give you some food and clothes. . . "
Oswald took her other hand as they left the alleyway. "I've always wanted a sister," he said.
"I've always wanted a family," she replied. All she'd ever had was her mother and her uncle. She wasn't quite sure if her dad was any of the men who'd come to their house. She didn't spend enough time with her mother to really miss her, she just didn't want to be alone. As long as she had Oswald and his mother, she could forget all of that. She could forget Leila. She could forget that stupid song.
But she wouldn't. That song would come back to haunt her. And so would Leila.