Disclaimer: I don't own this story
And a big thank you to my dear Animalium for Beta reading whatever I manage to write, You are the best
Chapter 4: The streets 2
"Too many holes
To short
Too baggy
Too dirty..aha!" shot a small voice triumphantly startling a few clothing company employees who were in charge of discarding the defective clothing but they did not expect to find a short redheaded child in the middle of the dumpster, the workers were aware of how rotten the system was, they knew how much children suffered in and out of foster care so they acted as if the child was not there.
Said child was happily walking away with a large smile on her face, clad in black shorts with torn cuffs, a white shirt that had a few bleach stains, making her red hair stand out more than before.
Watching the town come to life was slowly becoming one of Lydia's favourite things to do, she simply walked around town and fished food from garbage bins, *people are so wasteful* she thought as she pulled a very nice half-eaten sandwich and a bottle of juice,she repeated the action with a few more bins and was able to feel full for the first time in her life.
People ignored her, she was a dirty barefoot child with clothes fished out of a bin, Marking her as a 'street urchin ' and was given looks of distaste, moving their children away from her. But she continued on walking, head held high with a sad smile on her face.
Her small dirty feet had led her back THERE, the run down buildings were slowly coming back to life, bars and other attractions that brought people in droves making Lydia think about the night before, she had refused to spend her money, but perhaps she could make more then. The problems were the lack of kids her age and the adults throwing her dirty looks, she clearly did not belong here but ignored everything, 10 pounds a night was enough for her, hell she might even find a house somehow! Her childish innocence peaking with the thoughts of a nice house of her own.
"Hey little girl,you're not supposed to be in this place, where are your parents?" asked a soft voice behind her, Lydia turned around and tilted her head in curiosity, the voice belonged to a woman no older than twenty, she was dressed in skimpy clothing and a face full of makeup all framed by long locks of golden hair reminding Lydia of the first rays of sun after a night of rain, sharp blue eyes studied her head tilted as well, both girls seemed to assess the other.
" well?" pushed the woman, her curiosity was certainly peaked, she had never seen a child in these parts of the slum, but this one..this one was odd, she was a street rat of course but..she wasn't broken, her next words confirmed her musing.
" My parents died when I was young and I'm searching for work" replied the young girl, Malena was In shock, they certainly did not start this young!
"Look, kid, this is not a game, you don't know what you're saying!" warned Malena who grabbed Lydia by the arm and led her into a small room for privacy, she will definitely call the child protective services.
Lydia followed the older blonde into the small simply decorated room, she knew that the blonde would not be understanding so she decided to make her understand, she sat on a chair facing Malena and started explaining herself.
"My name is Lydia, I'll be six in a few months and my family are dead, I was in the streets for a few weeks now and yesterday a man hurt me by doing something to me, I know it was wrong but it got me 10 pounds, I would like to keep doing it till I'm able to care for myself."
Malena was frozen during the girl's speech, the child was too calm, too logic for her age, she was sitting comfortably on that chair, her head held high and her emerald eyes shining with the prospect of the independence she could get.
"I'm afraid that I do not have the authority to takes such decision, you will have to wait for the mistress of the house to come'
Lydia nodded her head and watched the blonde girl's retreating figure.
" What did you say? a child? wants to work here? it's impossible! children aren't supposed to be whores!, TAKE ME TO THAT CHILD!" barked a voice making Malena tremble from the sheer authority that was Luna mistress of the Red den brothel
