"Are you sure this is the right address?"

Hilary looked down at her phone, then back to the run down house that appeared to be abandoned then back to Devon. "Yeah. I mean, this is the address Justin sent me."

"I'm not sure this was a good idea," Devon said surveying the area. The two wasted no time in going straight from the airport to the address provided. Devon wanted to take some time to formulate a strategy but as usual Hilary wanted to jump in feet first and improvise their landing.

"You know, it amazes me how a city kid can be so apprehensive about sketchy neighborhoods," Hilary joked.

"Yeah well, I had a lot less to lose back then," Devon replied grabbing Hilary's hand.

"Come on!" Hilary began pulling Devon across the street and up the front steps of the home. When they reached the porch, they could tell by the boots and tools strew about that the house was in fact being lived in.

"What exactly are we going to say?" Devon asked.

"Just follow my lead."

"Really? Hilary, this isn't some buddy comedy. We should have a pl…"

"Devon, relax." Hilary huffed before knocking on the door. "I got this."

Before Devon could offer a rebuttal, the door swung open revealing a black woman who looked to be in her 50's wearing a house coat, slippers and a cigarette hanging from her lips. "What you want?"

Hilary and Devon looked at each other not being able to form words. Hilary had an entire dialogue in her head on the drive from the airport and now it was gone.

"Um," Devon said seeing that Hilary was frozen. "We're sorry to bother you ma'am. We were looking for someone by the name of Savannah."

"You cops?" She asked.

"No. We're not cops." Devon smiled trying to charm her defenses down.

"You look like cops."

"I can assure you, we are not cops."

"So then what do you want with Savvy? You a social worker from her school? Let me find out her ass been skipping again."

Hilary perked up when she realized that the woman in front of them knew Savannah and that they were in the right place. "Are you Brenda?"

The mention of Brenda's name made the woman visibly more defensive then she already was. She shifted her weight from one foot to another, threw her cigarette out towards the lawn and began reaching for the door. "Whatever you selling, I ain't buying. Have a good day."

"Wait, please!" Hilary said stopping the door from being slammed in their faces. "We're not with the police. We're not with social services or anything like that. My name is Hilary Curtis. I'm here because Savannah is my sister. I just wanted to meet her. Please."

The woman opened the door again, looked Hilary up and down and stepped to the side. "Come in."

Devon, surprised by how quickly the woman relented, followed behind Hilary as they walked towards the back of the house. The inside wasn't as unkempt as the exterior but it was clear the occupants of the home weren't living in the best of conditions. Once in the kitchen, they took a seat at the table and watched the woman pour herself a cup of coffee. "No, thanks," he said as she motioned the coffee pot in their direction.

"So, You're Brenda?" Hilary asked.

"No. I'm Hattie. Brenda's my sister," she replied taking a seat across from them at the kitchen table. "How'd you find me?"

"Well, we weren't looking for you per se. I was given this address as a starting point by a private investigator."

"A PI huh? Well I hope you give him a bonus or something."

"So, Savannah does live here?" Devon asked.

"I guess you could say that."

"Is she here now?" Hilary's eyes lit up.

"No. I can't keep track of that child. She's in and out. The girl hit 16 and all the sudden she thinks she can do what the hell she wants."

"Where is Brenda?" Devon asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine. She dropped Savvy off to live with me when she was 10. Have barely heard from her since. Last letter we got from her was from Chicago, but that was a year ago."

"That's odd," Hilary whispered.

"Not if you knew Brenda. That's right in her wheel house. She's never been the most reliable person in the world," Hattie replied rolling her eyes.

"You let us in pretty quickly when Hilary said she was Savannah's sister. I'm guessing you already knew about her," Devon inquired.

"Yeah. I knew that good for nothing Greg Turner had another family out there. Brenda told me all about it when she got pregnant with Savannah. I guess I should apologize for my sister's part in breaking up you family."

"No need," Hilary said waving her hand. "She wasn't the cause of my families demise. That was all him."

"So you really are just here to meet her, huh?"

"Yes. Well, for the most part. I didn't even know she existed until recently. When Greg came and told me about her, I just…"

"Wait!" Hattie said practically jumping out of her seat. "Greg.. He… he's out of jail?"

"Yes. He was released a few weeks ago," Hilary answered.

Hattie suddenly rose from her seat and started pacing the kitchen. "Does he know you're here?"

"No, he doesn't." Devon said. "Hey, its ok. We didn't tell him anything about this. We just wanted to make sure Savannah and Brenda were ok."

"I know more than anyone that Greg isn't a boy scout," Hilary said standing up and walking towards Hattie. "But this isn't exactly the reaction I was expecting."

"The private investigator gave us the police report from when Greg was arrested. It said that Brenda turned him in. Is that why you seem so scared right now?" Devon asked.

"Turned in? That's what it said?" Hattie took a deep breath and sat back down at the table with Hilary following suit. "That's not exactly how it went down."

"Can you explain what happened?" Hilary asked.

Hattie fiddled with her hands nervously. "Brenda didn't just turn Greg in. She set him up."

Hilary and Devon looked at each other in disbelief as Hattie continued.

"After you and your mother left Greg, he became a thorn in Brenda's side. He moved in with her without really being invited. Slept all day, was out all night. Never had a real job. Didn't even pay much attention to Savvy. He wore out his welcome with Brenda real quick."

"Was he abusive to them too?" Hilary asked.

"Not really. I mean, he never hit them or anything. At least not that Brenda told me. She just said he was pretty controlling over her. Wanted to know where she was at all times. Got jealous easily. After about a year, she couldn't take it anymore. So she had one of the local stick up kids she knew hold up a liquor store on their block."

"Wait, what?" Devon said shocked.

"Yeah. No one was hurt and the kid only got like $200. But he shot a hole into the wall of the place for the police to find, then gave the gun and mask to Brenda who planted in their apartment and tipped off the police."

Hilary sat stunned at Hattie's revelation. It had never even crossed her mind that Greg wasn't guilty. He was guilty of so many other things that Hilary just assumed that armed robbery was right up his alley. "So, the story she gave police about being scared of him and not wanting to go on the run…"

"Half true. Brenda was always scared of him. So she did what she needed to do to get rid of him. To protect her daughter."

"If that's the case, then why did she just dump Savannah off on you and leave?" Devon asked.

"Brenda got notice that Greg's lawyers petitioned for a new trial around that time. Because she knew he was innocent, she assumed his lawyers did too and would be able to prove it. So she fled before they could depose her. She figured Savvy would be safer with me since Greg didn't know much about me or where I lived. Now why she didn't come back after his request was denied, I don't fully know."

Hilary sat silently for a moment to take in everything she just heard. "I… I don't even know what to say."

"Me either," Devon added.

"Is there anything else I should know?" Hilary asked.

"That's all I got," Hattie answered. "Any other questions might be better asked to Brenda if you can ever find her. I just want to make sure your being here doesn't put my niece in danger. I'm not sure what kind of mindset Greg is in."

"Honestly, neither am I anymore. He gave me this story of wanting to find his other daughter to get an chance to be the kind of father to her that he wasn't to me, but it's clear that was bs."

"And you're sure he doesn't know you're here?"

"Positive."

"Good. Because that's the last thing Savvy needs right now."

"What is?"

Hilary and Devon spun around in their seats to see who the voice coming from behind them belonged to. Standing in front of them was the teenage version of Hilary. Brown skin with long black hair pulled into a ponytail. She stood about 2 inches shorter than Hilary but with almost identical bone structure. It was like looking into a time capsule. Hilary stood and stared into the girl's dark eyes as tears started to well up in her own. "Hi, Savannah..." her voice cracked. "I'm Hilary. It's nice to finally meet you."