Alex groaned as she heard the text message alert sound on her phone. Who the fuck could be texting her at this time in the morning? She heard another message come through.
[Awake? ~N]
[Come on Stretch. We need to talk. ~N]
Alex rolled over and grabbed both her phone and glasses from the nightstand. She fumbled with her glasses as she shoved them on her nose and unlocked her phone. "Fuck."
[No. I'm still asleep!]
[No you aren't ~N]
[Yes I am. Leave me alone Nichols.]
Suddenly the phone was vibrating and ringing. Alex punched the answer button and shouted, "What Nichols? What is so important that you need to wake me up?"
"Hey buddy. Nice to talk to you this morning. Actually that's why I'm calling. We need to talk."
"Well I need sleep."
"Bullshit. You can sleep when you're dead. I'm ten minutes away. Meet me at the café on the corner. Breakfast on me."
Alex's protests went unheard as Nicky hung up on her. She grumbled as she pulled on her jeans from the previous night and a sweatshirt. Her jet black hair got pulled into a ponytail as she made only minimal efforts to get ready. Alex splashed water on her face and brushed her teeth. Once her outer wear was in place, she headed to the café.
Nicky had beat her to the eating establishment just long enough to have two steaming mugs of coffee waiting her friend's arrival. "See, I care about your well-being Stretch." Nicky motioned to the caffeine with a nonchalant wave of her hand.
Rolling her eyes, Alex gulped some of the scorching liquid to warm her insides from the short jaunt over in the chill. "You just know I'm extra bitchy without caffeine."
After the women had placed their order, Alex growled at her friend. "So pray tell what is so important that you have to drag me out of bed when you know I need my beauty rest."
"Come on Alex, old buddy, old pal. We talked about this the other night at the bar."
"Oooohhhhh this is about us running a con on your mother. Let me recap. YOU are supposed to be serving a cause greater than yourself, but you want ME to do it for you?"
"Yup." Nicky grinned widely. "That pretty much sums it up."
"And exactly how do you propose this to work?"
Their food arrived and Nicky talked while the pair ate their breakfast. "So what do you think?"
"Let me see if I have this right. You want me to find this greater cause so you can keep your mama's money." Nicky nodded. "And what's in it for me?"
"Money. I'm not cut off yet and have access to pretty good funds. How does a weekly salary sound?" Nicky threw out a number.
Alex nearly choked on her coffee. "Fuck Nichols. Are you serious? Okay – and if I agree to do this and successfully keep you from financial ruin and being disowned, then what?"
Nicky tossed out an additional dollar amount which really caused Alex to raise her eyebrows. Alex paused, contemplating her options. "Plus expenses," Nicky threw in. "Come on Alex. I know you are strapped for cash. We haven't pulled a con off in ages."
"I still can't believe you are too damn useless to do this yourself. But my friend, you are in luck as I am indeed in need of cash and have no other cons in mind at the moment. So you have yourself a deal." Alex put her hand out for Nicky to shake.
Nicky leapt up and began to spin in circles whooping excitedly garnering glares from the waitress. "I knew I kept you around for some reason. Thanks Alex. Hey, I gotta go." She tossed enough money on the table to cover the meal. Then she withdrew a fat envelope from her jacket and handed it to Alex. "First week's salary."
When Alex saw the cash, she narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Seriously? You just assumed I'd take the job?"
Nicky threw her head back and laughed as she walked backwards out the restaurant. "Once a con, always a con. Later Vause."
Alex thumbed through the cash which was a combination of small as well as large denominations. At least Nicky had given her some money up front which was more than she expected. With most of the cons she and Nicky had run together, Alex seemed to get screwed more often than not which sucked since Nicky actually didn't need the money they bilked from unsuspecting strangers. While Alex worked the jobs to survive, Nicky simply worked for the thrill.
Alex glanced out the window to the park across the street. She froze as she saw a familiar figure sitting on one of the benches in the morning sunlight. It looked like the girl from the other night. Her skin was hidden behind layers of grime, and her hair hung in a tangled mop of greasy blonde. If this homeless girl stood she would probably be relatively tall but with limbs as delicate as a catwalk model, snapping with a gust of wind placed just right.
"Piper." Alex whispered her name.
Alex quickly motioned the waitress over and ordered several breakfast muffins and a large to-go coffee. She tossed her money on top of Nicky's, grabbed the bag of muffins and coffee, and rushed out into the park.
She slowly approached the grimy girl sunning herself on the bench. The wind was not blowing, so it was not quite as cold as it had been the past few days. Alex stopped several feet short as she didn't want to startle the girl as her eyes were closed.
After a few moments, she spoke softly. "Hey." The girl's eyes popped open, a look of alarm crossing her face as she scooted back into the bench. A definite instant fight or flight mode had been triggered and it was evident in her eyes as she grabbed her knapsack readying herself to run. "Hey, it's okay. It's me, Alex from the other night."
Piper's body relaxed some as she seemed to recognize the woman.
"Do you mind if I sit? I brought you some food." Alex showed her the bag and coffee.
Piper nodded. Alex sat on the far end of the bench and placed the food and coffee from the café between them. "It's all yours."
Piper looked at the food then looked back at Alex. She grabbed the bag and pulled out a muffin. Her eyes widened as she held it in both hands and took a nibble. After eating about half, she put the muffin back in the bag and reached for the coffee. Her body relaxed further as the warm liquid went down her throat.
"Thanks." Piper's voice was quiet and unsure. Alex just nodded. She didn't speak immediately so as to not spook the girl again. "Do you mind if I don't eat everything right now?"
"It's your food. Piper, right? I don't mind if you save it." The girl nodded as she folded up the paper bag and tucked it into her knapsack. "I'd drink the coffee while it's warm though." Alex chuckled. "Cold coffee sucks."
Alex could tell that Piper was still fairly nervous about her presence, so she decided to not overstay her welcome. "I'll let you enjoy your sunshine then. Don't let your muffins go stale." Alex flashed the ragged girl a friendly smile before leaving.
Piper watched the woman walk off. Running into her twice gave her an odd feeling, especially since Alex had been so nice to her both times. In her experience during her short period of time living on the streets, most people were not so kind to the homeless. They were more of an invisible population, better to be ignored than acknowledged.
She pulled the muffin bag back out of her sack, reached in for her partially eaten muffin and took one more small bite. Looking in the bag, she saw that two whole muffin remained. As well, something else was in the bag. Piper reached in and pulled out two $20 bills. Alex had again left her money, this time with food and coffee. The dark haired stranger was becoming more and more of an enigma.
She returned the contents to the sack and pushed it safely into her own. Piper looked around. The unnaturally warm day had brought many of the homeless into the park in hopes of money or at least sunny warmth to shake the chill from their bones. Now it's not to say that the day was toasty, but by Chicago standards, it wasn't full blast winter.
Piper watched one particular man sitting beneath a sprawling oak tree next to the walking path. He was a tattered mess of ripped clothing and muck. An oily gray mop of hair framed his gaunt face as a long gray matted beard hung down below his lower lip.
He had a Styrofoam cup just inches in front of his legs that contained only a few small coins. As people passed by, he croaked out in a weak voice. "Please. Spare change." Instead of change, he mostly received averted gazes as people made attempt to avoid his eyes. Some tried to look sympathetic but really were just using that façade to hide their disgust.
A pair of children were running along the path in front of their mother. They stopped and gawked at the broken man with wide eyes. Their mother quickened her step, grasped her kids hands and scurried off as they peppered her with questions.
"Why is the dirty man sitting on the ground Mommy?" "Can't we help him?" "Will he hurt us?"
As the children's voices faded into the distance, the man's shoulders drooped as he looked at the few sparse coins he had collected in his cup. It surely wasn't enough to put a dent in the grumblings of his belly.
Piper approached him and squatted down next to the man. "Hey, are you hungry?" He looked up at her shocked. "Here's some food." She handed him the sack that held the muffins and cash.
He vehemently shook his head as he tried to give the bag back. "I can't take your food miss. You have to be hungry, too. You don't look like you are in any better shape than me."
"It's okay. Just take it. There's a little money in there, too. Don't spend it all in one place." With that, Piper stood and walked away before the man could protest again.
From across the way, a confused Alex watched the interchange between the two homeless people. Why had Piper just given away not only her food but also her money?
The warmth of the day quickly faded into the chill of the night. As the sun fell below the horizon, the temperatures dropped and the Chicago wind began to chill the air even further. Piper spent some time wandering around one of the homeless camps. With her bag of belongings pulled in close to her body, she took in the sites of the people sleeping in makeshift cardboard lean-to's and warming their hands over barrels of burning rubbish.
She couldn't handle the depressing state of her fellow street people anymore and found a bus to take her back to the 65th street shelter. As long as she followed the rules and was in by curfew, she was assured a cot every night. If she was late, even by a minute, her bed would be given to any of the dozens waiting outside.
Piper again pulled out her journal and began to write about her day.
I ran into Alex again. Rather, she found me in the park. I don't know how that happened. But one thing I know is that Alex is stunning. She has a sort of unpretentious look, perhaps it was because she seems to be so disarmingly unaware of her beauty. Her pale skin is completely flawless. She didn't have on make up today and I doubt she even uses expensive facial products. That doesn't seem like Alex's style. I think her skin glows from her inner beauty trying to escape.
She seems to be all about simplicity, making things easy, helping those around her to relax. I can only imagine knowing Alex in a different life, at a different time. I can imagine her smile and laugh. I bet you wouldn't be able to help but to join her laughter. To be in her company would be to feel that you too were someone, that you had been warmed in summer rays regardless of the season.
Piper stopped writing as she stared off into space. When she regained her senses, she read what she had written and gasped in shock. Had this dark haired woman really had that much of an effect on her? Did she really thing the woman was that enthralling or was the woman's overwhelming generosity jading her opinion
Piper chewed on the end of her pen. After contemplating her thoughts a bit longer, she finished her writing, and tucked the journal into her bag. She tossed and turned on the flimsy canvas cot trying to get comfortable. She pulled the thing shelter blanket up to her chin and went to sleep.