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Chapter 13

I couldn't stop myself from crying. I was in big trouble. They said I had committed some kind of fraud but I confused by their brief summary. I was taken into the county jail and placed in a cell with a dozen other woman who looked like they had been through hell and back. They gazed at me like I was their prey and they moved to the side when I tried to sit on the bench. I ended up sliding down the wall, hugging my knees on the floor. I don't know how long I was there. It seemed like hours before someone came to the cell and called my name.

I was fingerprinted and my picture was taken. Then I sent back to the cell. People came and went from that cell most of the night. The click and clang of the metal door made it hard to sleep.

I had a cracked mat and a thin itchy blanket issued to me and I curled up in a ball in the corner. I was scared that one of the other prisoners would attack me in my sleep but as I laid there listening to the soft chatter and snores, I realized that none of them cared that I was there. They had their own problems to dwell on.

I felt like I had lost everything all over again. I bit my fist, hoping to absorb the sound of my uncontrollable sobs. All I could see was Roman knocking on my door. He would be heartbroken when no one answered and I cried even worse when I thought he might believe I had stood him up or had given him a false address. There was no way I could explain what happened. I guess it was fate. Even she knew that I needed to stay away from Roman.

"Someone wants to talk to you." The next morning I was handcuffed and led to a small room. I didn't know who I had to talk to but I didn't think anyone would believe anything I said. I wondered if I should just refuse to talk until I was able to secure a lawyer. I wondered if they would appoint a lawyer to me like they had promised when they read me my rights. How could they prosecute me when I was just as much a victim as the owner of the house?

"You're name's Keri?" I sat down at a table in front of the woman who had burst into the apartment the night before. I rested my handcuffed wrists on the table in front of me and I looked away. I didn't want to talk to her. I didn't need to talk to her.

"I've been talking to people at the concession stand." She spoke much softer than she had the night before. "They said you've been managing? They all seem to like you. They said you work really hard and there's not a station you won't jump in to help on."

I didn't respond. I just looked at my hands. What did she want me to say? Yeah, I worked my ass. Paid for that apartment with almost every dime just to end up in jail for it?

"I'm sorry for how I behaved last night." She sighed. "I don't blame you for not speaking to me. You see that apartment belonged to my brother. He's been away a long time. At war. And he's been missing for the past year."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too. I went to look for him myself. They said he went awal honestly I didn't believe them."

"I hope you find him."

"Thanks. Actually I did." She smiled. "He was living in a some small town not far from wherehe was last seen. He was taken prisoner, beaten pretty badly. Then he woke up in a hospital and had no clue who he was."

I didn't know why she was telling me her story. She sure didn't care to hear mine the night before. I took a deep breath and tried to understand, but the woman had no idea how much she had cost me.

"How much have you been paying Sylvia?"

"Six hundred a month."

"You really didn't know, did you?"

"No maam." I insisted.
"She doesn't own the stand either." she continued. "Sylivia was my manager. I thought I could trust her. She was supposed to check on my home and deposit the earnings. But she stole almost every dime. All the employees last checks bounced."

"Mine didn't."

"I guess not." She giggled. "Not when you were handing her most of it."

I laughed to and held my hands to my head. "I should have known finding a job and a place to live on my first night in town was too good to be true. So what now? How long do I have to stay in jail for living in someone else's home?"

"I'm dropping the charges. I didn't see it last night but this morning I realized that you were a victim in this too. You will have to move out, of course." She said sadly. "My brother is coming home and I want him to have his own place. A familiar place. Maybe it will help with his memory."

"I understand. And my job?"

"I lost a lot of good help because of her. Sylvia fired anyone that she thought would cause her trouble. I have to offer them their jobs back." she said. "I had a full staff and they all loved working there. Some of them have been with me for five years at least."

"It's okay." But it wasn't. I was on the street again with no money to find another place and I guess I again had no job.

"I will keep you on until they come back. They may have to put in notices at their current jobs and I'll need help until then."

"Thank you."

"Come. I'll give you a ride and you can get your things from the apartment."

The woman arranged for my release and she took me back to the apartment. I didn't' speak to the woman whose name turned out to be Julia. I just went upstairs to the apartment and I began to pack my things. I took what little possessions were mine and I left, but not without checking the ground below the door. I hoped that Roman had left a note or something, but it wasn't on the door and it hadn't fallen to the ground below. I guess he was really upset. I'm sure he'd left a note otherwise.

I spent that night in that castle at the park again. Although I found myself homeless, I tried to keep hope. I still had my job for the moment anyway, so I was sure I would find some place as soon as I got my check. I scolded myself for not seeing all the signs that something was not right in the beginning. It had all been so clear to me the moment I had been told I had to leave.

The apartment had everything, right down to towels and pots and pans. The box of pictures sitting on the top shelf of the bedroom closet should have tipped me off. I guess I had been desperate and didn't want to see it. At least now I knew why Sylvia never stayed in the house. Because she didn't live there. She'd dropped me off that night and left town. Julia said they still haven't found the woman.

Oh, how could I be so stupid? I tried to make excuses for myself, but there were none. I was so desperate and so naïve that I believed everything. Damn it! That was what got me where I was in the first place.

Finally I put it out of my mind. That part of my life had ended and I would move on. Hopefully a little smarter. When I returned to work the next day, I found out that Sylvia had been found in the next state. At least she would pay for her mistakes. Most criminals seemed to get away with their crimes in my experience.

"Can I speak to you a moment Keri." Julia called me into the office and I shuddered. I can still feel my heart beating faster as I think about it now. I was sure she had changed her mind. I was sure she'd found something else Sylvia had done that she would pin on me. Sylvia had trained me. For all I knew she could have had me covering her crime all along. My name were on so many checks that paid the venders.

"Sit down." a man said as I walked into the office.

"this is my father." Julia explained.

"I'm I going to be arrested again?" I asked him as I took the chair he directed me to.

"No. it's obvious you had no idea that Sylvia did not own the house or this business." he stated. He did not look up from his paper he had been busy writing on. "That's correct?
"No. I didn't know."

"This is a paper for the police that I need you to sign. They asked that we get everyone's story about what went on during our absence. They should have had you do this at the station yesterday."

I read the paper and saw that everything on it was just as it had happened to. I signed it and handed it back to him.

"I can't keep you on staff here. I wish I could. You've kept these books organized better than I ever could. " I hung my head, but I will honor my daughter's word and keep you on two weeks. That will give you time to find something else."

"Thank you." I said. I knew the man was being generous. He didn't have to keep me on at all and he could have had me arrested if he had wanted. I had been thankful that he had seen that I had been taken advantage of as well and didn't cause me any more problems.

"I would like to call you if I have something come up in the future."

"That would be okay." What else could I say?

It still did not help the fact that I was living on the streets. The local park had become my home. The winter made its presence known each and every night as the temperatures began to get colder, especially at night. At the end of the two weeks I had still hadn't been able to find a job. I had asked everyone. I'd put in applications everywhere, but it seemed no one was hiring.

My last day at the stand had been a sad one for me. I knew after my shift had ended I would no longer have a way to support myself and my last paycheck was only half of what Sylvia had paid me. I didn't expect them to pay me that. I received their normal wage. It was only fair, but it made things a little more difficult.

I wondered if I would ever be able to get back on my feet and I thought seriously about getting back on that bus and returning to New York. I knew Taylor would give me another apartment if he had one. I knew Tony would hire me back at the diner, even though he would probably be a jerk about it for a while. And I had enough money to buy a gun.

Yes, I was fuming. I was so angry and I was tired of being scared. I wanted to go home. I wanted to be around people who cared for me and I was ready to kill Will. I wanted him dead. I think something in my mind had temporarily snapped. I was already forming a plan in my mind. I had taken out a restraining order. He'd walked through it. I had done everything I was supposed to do and Will still walked around, free to prey on me again and again.

"Keri." Julia handed me my last paycheck and called me back before I could leave. "I have a job for you. Well actually, my aunt does. This business is kind of a family tradition." She laughed and touched my shoulder. "She moved to south Carolina when she got married. Her husband died last year and she took the insurance money and bought out a stand there. She needs a good manager. I told her about you and she said the job is yours if you don't mind moving."

"Sure." I didn't have too many other options or anything keeping me in the location I had been in. I was ready to leave that town anyway. She had saved me more than she knew. That job had kept me from doing something horrible. That one conversation snapped me back into reality and the idea of leaving Oklahoma was welcomed. I felt like I needed to keep moving.

So I spent three more days sleeping in the park. The owner's daughter had been nice enough to buy me a plane ticket. I was heading back East. It wasn't home, but at least it was in the same time zone. An woman who wasn't as old as I expected met me at the airport. She drove me to the auditorium. I stayed quiet on the journey. The only thing I had on my mind had been where I would live when I got to this new city. I didn't expect it to be as easy as the last two places I'd lived since leaving Will.

Greenville impressed me when I first arrived. The city truly looked enchanting with its fresh blanket of snow. Even though it worried me knowing I would have to sleep in it that night, I still found it beautiful.

"Don't get used to this." Eleanor, my new boss laughed. "It doesn't' snow often and it doesn't stay long." She took me to her house. "You'll have to stay with me a couple of nights." She escorted me inside. "Everything shuts down here. A little bit of ice and everyone goes nuts. No one knows how to drive in it."

"There are some nice places in town." She continued. "I already called a friend of mine. She has little house not far from the arena. The bus runs from there so you can use that until you get a car.

"I don't have much money."

"It's not fancy and Gloria will work with you."

"I'm sorry. I'm a little skeptical of accepting things like this these days."

"Don't worry child." Eleanor laughed. Reminding me very much of Nancy. "She's a realtor. You'll have an iron clad contract with the person she represents. And if you talk to her and don't want to take it, you are welcome to look for something else." She laughed. "I know how hard it is to move to some place new." She folded her arms across her chest and looked me over. "You look like you've had more than your fair share of hard luck."

"From time to time." I tried to be cheerful, but it still wasn't home. I still wasn't' where I wanted to be. It's where I had to be.

I felt trapped the next few days. The woman wasn't kidding about everything closing down for the snow. I hardly saw a car. No one walked down the road. Eleanor's placed seemed to be in the country in my opinion she had nothing but grass and trees around her. And I know we hadn't gone too far from the airport. It drove me crazy because there was nothing close to walk to. That's when I realized that I could never live in the country.

We arrived at arena, finally a few days later. It was another small venue. It was even smaller than the one I had left. As I gazed around I decided it was too small to host an event like Roman's. I doubted I would ever run into him again. He thought I was in Oklahoma and even if I did get the nerve to buy a ticket to one of his shows, I wouldn't never get backstage or even close enough to for him to see me.

I started work immediately. What Eleanor knew about running the business she had learned by talking to her brother and neice on the telephone. It was up to me to interview and hire people. I had to order everything we needed and I set the prices. We were the largest, but not the only vender in the building that was circular in appearance. I browsed the competition and talked over the prices with Eleanor and eventually the menu was in place. I was ready to open and get back to the life I had been used to before I found out I had been scammed.

The day after that I looked at that house. It was cheap, dumpy and the neighborhood looked questionable. It reminded me of home. I laughed as I compared it to my block in the city. I rented it for three hundred a month and signed a lease. I had a place to call home. A place to lay my head, but I couldn't afford to turn the power, water and gas on. All those companies demanded high down payments and I knew that was going to take some time to secure.

The pay in South Carolina was much less than the pay people in Oklahoma received. And managers of tiny food places like that only made a couple dollars more dollars an hour then the regular employees. I was devastated at first, until I went shopping and gazed at the prices. The cost of living was much cheaper. So it sort of balanced out.

I had no furniture, no utilities and I slept on an old cardboard box, but I had plenty of locks and I didn't have to worry about being arrested. The windows bothered me a bit. I had never had anything on the ground floor before. I had never had a yard before. It wasn't much. I could probably cut all the grass with a weed eater. What grass there was? It was mostly dirt. A rusted chain length fence surrounded the entire property. The fence on the sides were barely three foot away from the side of the house. I had a little porch that I thought I might enjoy in the spring time.

Actually, I enjoyed it then. The winters in the south were much different than what I was used to. It was like fall weather and sometimes it resembled the New York spring. People waved at me as they walked by my home. The rows of mill houses were very close to each other. All the paint was peeling on each one. Everything looked bleak and in disrepair. Including my own. I thought it would all look pretty nice if it were fixed up. I knew I would fix up my own little house, if I had the money and permission from the owner. I think that was becoming a hobby of mine, fixing up homes. I liked to dream about what it would look like and I liked to look through magazines and I found myself browsing the local home and garden store on my days off.

My first couple of few checks went to the utilities and then I enjoyed going to flea markets and thrift stores. There were a lot of them in that town. But I couldn't buy furniture unless I found it at a yard sale on my street because I couldn't carry it home and I couldn't take it on the bus.

I lived in that home with hardly any furniture for a year. I had a small entertainment stand. A second hand flat screen which was the best television I'd ever owned. I had all the small stuff. I had curtains hung and I had bought a kitchen table from the neighbors a few houses down and I had four matching dining chairs. They didn't come with the table but they were they had the same stain and were in pretty good shape. I'd found them in a thrift store. I'd had to make two trips to get them home. I'd walked two miles with a chair under each arm, but it was worth the walk and the bruises under my arms had been worth it.

However, sleeping on the floor was killing me. I woke up sore every morning and it was hard to get to sleep at night. I needed a sofa and I needed a bed. So, I gave in and asked one of my coworkers for help. I never spoke to anyone unless I had to. I kept to myself. I didn't want to make any more friends. It seemed every friend I had ever made I ended up having to leave behind or they betrayed me.

"Not a problem." Celina, my most dependable employee agreed to go shopping with me on our weekend off. She was about my age and I admit I only approached her because she owned a old pick up. I felt horrible. It felt like I was using the girl and I had never been one to use people.

But Celina loved to bargain hunt almost as much as I did. We spent the entire Saturday going from one place to the other. She called it 'Yard Saleing'.

"Oooh, this is pretty." Celina held up items and exclaimed often.

WE laughed and sorted through items in boxes and on tables. I bought an antique bed frame that she said I was lucky to have found before her, but I had to beg her to let me have the matching dressers. I think she had only took the tickets to mess with me. She had a great sense of humor. That night we hung out on my porch, drinking wine coolers and enjoying the cool night air and by the end of weekend I had a roommate.