ACT VII
The Johnson family was beginning to wrap up their grandmother's birthday celebration after they consumed their final desert that was offered to them. "Thanks for throwing one of the best birthday parties she has in her life today Sonia! Really appreciate the hospitality and the food." said one of the relatives of the birthday woman as she tipped Sonia on a job well done. As soon as the party depart the premises, Sonia discovered that she has a lot of work to do. "Well, most of the staff are on a late holiday which leaves myself and Janice to pick up the pieces the family left behind today" thought Sonia as she begins to do her work in the party area. As the work begins to commence, a doorbell rang near the entrance. Sonia would proceed to head to the entrance by travelling on foot on the sand colored floor of the house and from there, out came Janice returning from her day trip alongside the newest tenant of the facility Madeline Sawyer. "Welcome back Janice, and I see you brought a visitor along with you" said Sonia "Yup, you remember Maddie right? She's gonna be staying with us for a little while because she needs our help getting back on her feet" said Janice "Good evening Ms. Hayley, been a long time since we first met all these years ago. Your daughter's a great woman and a great person to me and others over the years" said Maddie. "Tell you what, why don't you get yourself cleaned up because you seem to endure a long couple of days my friend" said Sonia "The bathroom's on both floors of the place so you can make your pick if ya like. When you're done, we'll give you the tour of the place if ya want" "Thanks, I had in fact went through alot Ms. Hayley, should be done momentarily" said Maddie as she proceeded to the bathroom area. "I know what you're thinking Mom, it's probably not a good idea to house a former stalker, murderer but she has helped me out of a dark spot in my life several years ago. Felt like that I owed her for her work to make me a better person because if it wasn't for her, I would still pursue my former basketball coach back in school and hurt people along the way" said Janice "I don't know Janice, you see even though she wants to change, I don't know if she tried out other options for her quest to be a better person." said Sonia "She implied to me that no one else wanted her whether its somewhere to live at or work at. Maybe we could help her get a job here since we have a couple of our workers retiring real soon. In addition, we could help her out with her social and job skills because I believe that she's kinda 'rusty' in her social life." said Janice "...ok, I hope you know what you're doing" said Sonia. As the Hayleys were discussing the presence of Madeline Sawyer in their facility, Maddie was finishing up her cleansing in the bathroom shower. As she wrapped herself up in a white towel around her body, she has an unexpected visitor…. "Well well well, that was refreshing for you to finally get out of that 'wretched' place" said Dark Maddie facing Maddie in the mirror right in front of her. "I'm really not in the mood right now to talk to you right now. By the looks of it, I have a good reason for leaving that place earlier" retorted Maddie "Just because you left that place doesn't mean that you flat out drop everything and forget where you came from my friend." said Dark Maddie "Sooner or later, your precious Hayley buddies would leave you as a result of your actions just like your 'best friend' or should I say ex bestie Amber Halligan." "Playing the 'Amber' card once again. Try and be more creative sister and you're going to be playing the same record over and over again" said Maddie "I'm afraid I'm just getting started as a matter of fact, have you ever checked out what happened to one of your Straight Path students lately. I bet you think that they're staying out of trouble after their dirty deeds in the past." said Dark Maddie attempting to peep into Maddie's psyche "Their whereabouts are none of my concerns…" said Maddie. Just then, Dark Maddie brought up a couple of newspaper articles that mentioned that one of her Straight Path students named Marcia Anderson (who initially came in the program as a result of gang activity at her school and out of the program as a bookkeeper for her local library afterwards) was shot and killed by her former associates late at night in the middle of nowhere. "Remember Marcia, she was a very troubled yet determined person just like you Maddie. She didn't have a lot of friends and support to help her along the way in the game of life so she had to turn to her 'posse' for that need. Lets just say that her 'demons' caught up to her some time later after the abandoned that life thanks to you. I just wonder how her family would feel now that they lost another member that means so much to them…." said Dark Maddie "I've tried everything I can to keep them out of trouble and if you excuse me, I got somewhere I need to be right now" said Maddie trying to brush off what she has learned about one of her former students. Soon after, Maddie got dressed in a long gray and white striped shirt with long jeans and black shoes on her feet and proceeded to head out to meet the Hayleys. By the time Maddie made her way downstairs to the lobby, she saw the Sonia looking into Janice's phone. "All set and ready to go!" said Maddie "Glad you're all dressed for the occasion, why don't we show you around shall we?" said Janice putting down her phone. "By the way are you feeling ok Maddie?" "Lets just say that its been a long couple of days or weeks for me. Just got dumped back into society after a decade and that'll do that to me" said Maddie. "It's tough for former offenders to return to society after a stint in prison but hey, look at the bright side it's a new beginning for you" assured Janice as she begins to show Maddie around the center. During the tour, Janice and Sonia showed Maddie the kitchen area where they prepare food for the residents and the workers from time to time, the TV/Rec room where clients can tune in and watch various TV shows as well as old time movies, a mini exercise gym for residents to keep up with their health, residential rooms that comprise of a bed, a lamp, dressers, and a soft carpet on the ground. In addition, there's a video game room for young visitors who stop by and do volunteer work for their schools or churches, an area for special events or parties that is still barely dirty after the Johnson party, and a couple of rooms for the tenants: Janice and Sonia Hayley and now Maddie Sawyer. "So, what do you think of the place?" asked Sonia "Looks neat, and it looks like you guys put in the work for it as well! If you don't mind me asking and I apologize in advance if I might've asked you already, are you guys hiring at this time?" said Maddie "Well, looks like you're in luck and as a matter of fact we'll start with your interview tomorrow morning. For now, why don't you go and make yourself at home ok Maddie. If you want some leftovers from the party, feel free to let us know" said Sonia "Thanks, really appreciate it, see you soon" said Maddie being thankful for their initial hospitality. As soon as Maddie went into her room, Sonia and Janice went on to have a little mother and daughter talk once more. "Don't know if Maddie knows about this but I saw on the news that one of her former students is killed by her former gang members." mentioned Sonia "At first I thought that she's still recovering from being released into prison and wasn't sure how she's going to survive into society" said Janice. "Kinda figured that Maddie would feel that way because I seem to understand that her participation in her program during her time in jail meant a lot to her and she did her best in steering the youth out of harm's way including you Janice" said Sonia. "Tell you what, to help keep her mind off of things, I might try and help her out with her interview skills before she goes to work tomorrow" suggested Janice. "Sounds fair Janice." said Sonia as both women begin to wind down for the day.

END ACT VII