Chapter 1: Lanie
The Day she left Fisherman's Warf, she went by ferry, to the Oakland train yards. The ferry to Oakland was free. She knew the driver from previous visits to Oakland, but those were to visit her Aunt Martha's grave.
"Hey Lanie! Where are you heading today?" She looked up at Joe, the ferry driver. He always meant well, by starting conversation so she always did her best to answer.
"The train yards," she told him all he needed to know, which practically, was nothing.
She had ventured as far as Tracy, CA but never out of the state.
"Oh," he seemed to understand, because when the ride was over, he told her to keep her head held high. She smiled and started to walk off. She was leaving now, and that's all that mattered, she was leaving, and she was never coming back.
Lanie Jacobs was 16 years old and highly attractive for a girl living on the streets. She had short brown hair with bright hazel eyes and a very tan complexion. She was three years younger than her brother, Jack Kelly. Contrary to popular belief, Jack and Lanie weren't their real names. After their father was put in the New York state Penitentiary their mother renamed them, and they have gone by those names ever since.
The train ride took at least three days. The train stopped in Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, then Philadelphia and finally reached New York. But the train stopped in Brooklyn instead of Manhattan. It was around 2 in the afternoon when Lanie got off the train; she soon realized she was an alien in unknown territory.
Then it started to rain. She found the nearest shelter, cardboard box, and hid under it. Hours seemed to pass by, day turned into night, and humid, muggy weather, turned into cold wet weather. She felt like she was back in the Warf in Frisco, and then she heard voices, voices of boys. They were coming closer by the second, and they would pass without noticing her if only, AAACHOOO. She had to sneeze.
"Who da hell is there??" Asked one of the boys, she shuddered, she had been revealed. She slowly came out from under the box.
"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you," She looked the boy in the eye, "I just got in from Frisco and was looking for some shelter, until I could work my way to Manhattan." The boy stared at her in confusion. The other two boys, who looked like his sidekicks, were twitching awkwardly. This was quite annoying.
"Frisco, ya said??" He narrowed his eyes, "I got a boy who came in for da night, whos from Manhattan. He'll lead ya back tomorrow. Oderan' dat, ya needs to come stay at da lodgin' house, before ya catch a cold."
And that's how Lanie found shelter. She didn't know she was in the hands of Spot Conlon, her brother's partner over way, all she knew was there was a bed, and that was something that she hadn't touched in a good three years. She was the last to wake. She looked around to see the boy who brought her in last night, he was in deep conversation with someone else, someone who looked extremely familiar, but she ignored it.
"I noticed ya have some extra clothes, so we don't needs to give ya any. My buddy over there is gonna guides ya to Manhattan, alrigh?" He looked at her strangely, almost in pity, and she hated when people pittied her. She gruffed at him and walked towards the bathroom There was a knock on the stall and she figured it was him again.
"Yes?" She asked extremely impatient. But it was a different boy.
"Ya know Lanie, I thought you was neva coming back," she stopped dead in her tracks, she cracked the door open, to face someone she didn't even know still existed.
The Day she left Fisherman's Warf, she went by ferry, to the Oakland train yards. The ferry to Oakland was free. She knew the driver from previous visits to Oakland, but those were to visit her Aunt Martha's grave.
"Hey Lanie! Where are you heading today?" She looked up at Joe, the ferry driver. He always meant well, by starting conversation so she always did her best to answer.
"The train yards," she told him all he needed to know, which practically, was nothing.
She had ventured as far as Tracy, CA but never out of the state.
"Oh," he seemed to understand, because when the ride was over, he told her to keep her head held high. She smiled and started to walk off. She was leaving now, and that's all that mattered, she was leaving, and she was never coming back.
Lanie Jacobs was 16 years old and highly attractive for a girl living on the streets. She had short brown hair with bright hazel eyes and a very tan complexion. She was three years younger than her brother, Jack Kelly. Contrary to popular belief, Jack and Lanie weren't their real names. After their father was put in the New York state Penitentiary their mother renamed them, and they have gone by those names ever since.
The train ride took at least three days. The train stopped in Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, then Philadelphia and finally reached New York. But the train stopped in Brooklyn instead of Manhattan. It was around 2 in the afternoon when Lanie got off the train; she soon realized she was an alien in unknown territory.
Then it started to rain. She found the nearest shelter, cardboard box, and hid under it. Hours seemed to pass by, day turned into night, and humid, muggy weather, turned into cold wet weather. She felt like she was back in the Warf in Frisco, and then she heard voices, voices of boys. They were coming closer by the second, and they would pass without noticing her if only, AAACHOOO. She had to sneeze.
"Who da hell is there??" Asked one of the boys, she shuddered, she had been revealed. She slowly came out from under the box.
"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you," She looked the boy in the eye, "I just got in from Frisco and was looking for some shelter, until I could work my way to Manhattan." The boy stared at her in confusion. The other two boys, who looked like his sidekicks, were twitching awkwardly. This was quite annoying.
"Frisco, ya said??" He narrowed his eyes, "I got a boy who came in for da night, whos from Manhattan. He'll lead ya back tomorrow. Oderan' dat, ya needs to come stay at da lodgin' house, before ya catch a cold."
And that's how Lanie found shelter. She didn't know she was in the hands of Spot Conlon, her brother's partner over way, all she knew was there was a bed, and that was something that she hadn't touched in a good three years. She was the last to wake. She looked around to see the boy who brought her in last night, he was in deep conversation with someone else, someone who looked extremely familiar, but she ignored it.
"I noticed ya have some extra clothes, so we don't needs to give ya any. My buddy over there is gonna guides ya to Manhattan, alrigh?" He looked at her strangely, almost in pity, and she hated when people pittied her. She gruffed at him and walked towards the bathroom There was a knock on the stall and she figured it was him again.
"Yes?" She asked extremely impatient. But it was a different boy.
"Ya know Lanie, I thought you was neva coming back," she stopped dead in her tracks, she cracked the door open, to face someone she didn't even know still existed.
