Jenny kept calling and texting, asking where she was. Sarah had to assume that when she left, Preston and Kelly told her mother what she was thinking. She assumed Jenny had figured out which prison Kathryn was at and was likely on her way there now.

However, she wouldn't run into Sarah. Instead, the pink Ranger had opted to search somewhere else for answers. She went a couple of cities over and found herself in Ocean Bluff. She had managed to search the names of a woman on her phone, and it gave her an address. Sarah could only hope it was right.

She made her way up to the front door and rang the bell. A woman answered and as the door opened, a thick cloud of smoke escaped. Cigarettes; Sarah recognized the smell.

"Um… are you Lindsay Baker?" Sarah asked and the woman nodded her head.

"I'm not buying anything."

"I'm not selling anything," Sarah insisted. "I'm actually Sarah Thompson."

"Who?"

"Uh… your… granddaughter, I guess."

"Probably one of many," Lindsay scoffed. "If you're looking for money, kid, I don't have it."

"I just want to talk," Sarah promised.

"'Bout?"

"Uh… my mom. Kathryn."

"Why?"

"I have questions, and since she can't answer them… I thought you might."

"You here to ask why I kicked her out?"

"Uh… kind of," Sarah nodded her head. Lindsay started to close the door, but Sarah stuck her foot in the way, "Wait, no judgements! It's… for a project."

Lindsay sighed as she opened the door a little wider, "There's nothing to tell. Kathryn was a little shit from the moment she was born. Couldn't take it anymore, so I changed the locks. Haven't seen or heard from her since, except when she needed money."

"Can I ask why?" Sarah said. Lindsay looked the pink Ranger up and down, then moved out of her way, inviting Sarah in.

"You look like her, you know," she said as Sarah came in. "You give her as much trouble as she gave me?"

Sarah shook her head, "Uh… I don't know her much. My dad raised me."

"So, this isn't for a project," Lindsay said. "You have questions, don't you?"

"A little bit," Sarah nodded. "Actually, there's this girl at school who… worked with mom and… I think there's still a chance she can be saved."

"She worked with your mother?"

"Sex worker," Sarah clarified. "You knew that… right?"

"Yep," Lindsay nodded. She brought Sarah to the living room, where there was a bottle of wine on the coffee table. She poured herself a glass, then offered one to Sarah.

"I'm sixteen," Sarah declined politely. "And I'm riding home. I mean, there's no law against hoverboarding and drinking but I think there should be."

"Clearly your mama didn't raise you," Lindsay said with a little laugh. "She was thirteen and already going through my liquor cabinet."

"Really?"

"Hell raiser," Lindsay nodded. "She got to be too much for me to raise on my own. I had no other choice but to send her packing."

"Where was her father?"

"You tell me," Lindsay said and took a sip of her wine. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a cigarette. After she lit it, she offered one to Sarah. Again, the pink Ranger shook her head.

"He left?"

"He didn't stick around long enough to know he knocked me up," Lindsay said. "Kind of a one and done deal, I guess."

"So, you raised my mom by yourself?"

"I tried," Lindsay nodded.

"What about your parents?"

Lindsay scoffed loudly, releasing a puff of smoke, "Kid, when I was growing up, it was nothing like today. You waited until marriage to have sex and if you didn't you were a whore. The minute my parents found out I was pregnant, they kicked me out!"

"Really?"

"Can't have the neighbours thinkin' we raised a whore, daddy said," Lindsay nodded. "Don't know how they explained me leaving, but they must have thought of something."

"So, you were on your own?"

"Gave birth in the back of a boyfriend's van. Three weeks later, he dumped me. He didn't like the idea of raising someone else's baby. Slept on couches for a few years after that. Your mother bitched and whined about it the whole time. I tried everything I could for that girl, including working two jobs and there was never any thanks. Never any help. Once she started school, I thought it'd be easier because she wouldn't be home all day, but she gave the teachers shit. Every day I get some kind of phone call, with them telling me my kid was talking out in class, hitting other kids. I whoop her ass when she got home, told her she would have to shape up, but then it was the same old song and dance the next day."

"You whooped her?"

"Different time, kid. Back then, you could hit your kids. Not that it ever did any good. As she got older, she just started getting into more trouble. She'd steal my cigarettes, she's stay out late. Dammit, the girl was only eleven and she was sneaking drinks to school and selling my cigarettes on the playground like they were candy!"

"She did all of that?"

"I'll tell you, even as an adult, I hated getting those calls asking me to come to the principal's office. And then it was the same lecture every time about how I needed to be a better parent. I was doing the best that I damn well could! My kid just wouldn't shape up. Broken, I guess. Some are born that way."

"So what made you kick her out?"

"Kid was starting to make the same mistakes as me," Lindsay said. "She was barely starting high school and she was already spending more time dressing up for the boys, planning out dates, sleeping around. I just knew the trouble would continue, and I remember what my daddy did when I wouldn't shape up and so I showed her the same tough love he showed me."

"But… it didn't work with you," Sarah argued. "You weren't happy after he kicked you out."

"No, but he was," Lindsay said. "After your mother was born, I tried to go home for Christmas. I thought if my parents saw the baby, maybe they'd change their minds. Maybe they'd want to help. But they were hosting the neighbourhood party when I went by, laughing and talking with the neighbours like they hadn't just sent me on the streets. They were happy. I wanted to be happy too. So when your mother didn't come home after school one night, I changed the locks. She was not happy, but I told her, once she shapes up, I'll take her back."

"Did she?"

"What do you think, kid," Lindsay said. "She came by a year later, skinny as a rail, looking for drug money. So I shut the door. She came by another year later, saying her boyfriend was in jail. So, I shut the door. One day, she came by, said she was pregnant, but when I asked if she was married to the father, she said no. Told me what she was doing, asked for a little money, so I said no."

"She was pregnant?"

"Wasn't you," Lindsay shook her head. "This was… oh god, twenty-five years ago now? She never told me about you. Had a man by then."

"Drex?"

"Name rings a bell," Lindsay said.

"So, after you kicked her out, did you ever try to take her back?" Sarah asked. "Like, when she came home for money and stuff…"

"Didn't want her," Lindsay said. "I spent fourteen years cleaning up after that child. I spent fourteen years trying to do what I thought was best for her, and she still turned out wrong. Even a mother can only tolerate so many mistakes."

"So, you just… abandoned her?"

"You've got to do it," Lindsay nodded.

"Did she ever want to come back?"

"Do you know how many times she broke in here?" Lindsay asked. "Climbing in through windows, picking the lock. I'd either have to call the police and have her arrested, or she'd be so out of it, I could just drag her out to the porch and have her sleep outside."

"That's… terrible," Sarah said.

"She brought it on herself," Lindsay shrugged.

"So you completely turned your back on her? She had no choice but to stay with Drex, didn't she?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that," Lindsay frowned. "My parents kicked me out, and all the sex I had was free."

Sarah sat uncomfortably on the couch, not sure how to process all this information. Lindsay put out her cigarette, finished her wine, then looked to Sarah.

"Your daddy, he was a good man?" she asked and Sarah nodded her head. Lindsay smiled, "He treat you right?"

"Very."

"Good. You tell him thank you, okay?"

"I can't," Sarah shook her head. "Uh… he died. A few months ago."

"Sorry to hear about that," Lindsay said. "They didn't give you back to your mama, I hope?"

"No. She's in prison."

"So where did they put you?"

"I'm staying with my step-mother. I've known her since I was nine."

"Does she treat you right?"

"She's the best," Sarah smiled. Lindsay nodded her head.

"Good. Good for you. Anymore questions?"

Sarah shook her head. She had all she needed; a better idea as to why people like Melanie and her mother had the job they had. She wasn't sure how she could use this story to help Melanie, but she did have a couple of days to think about it.

Right now, she just wanted to get home.

"Off you go, then, kid," Lindsay said and stood up. She walked Sarah to the door. "You okay getting home by yourself?"

"Yeah," Sarah nodded.

"I don't have any cash for the bus," Lindsay said, but Sarah shook her head.

"I've got my hoverboard. That's okay."

"A hoverboard, huh?"

"I made it," Saran nodded.

"You made that?"

"I'm an engineer. Well, will be."

"An engineer," Lindsay smiled. "Never thought I'd have one of those in the family again. Good luck, kid."

Sarah smiled back and was about to leave but she stopped herself, "Uh, Lindsay. I do have one more question."

"Yes?"

"That baby… from twenty-five years ago… do you know what happened to it?"

Lindsay shook her head, "I don't, kid. I'm sorry."

"Was it before or after mom met Drex?"

"Around the same time," Lindsay answered. "The kid might even be his."

"But you don't know what happened to it?"

"No clue. Though I can only imagine a working girl won't keep a baby," Lindsay said. "Then again, here you are."

Sarah nodded her head and finally she was able to leave.