Callie remembered gripping her brother's hand tightly in her own as they entered their very first foster home. The Seagal's had been nice enough but alas, they were just temporary. The older couple with three grown kids of their own only helped out when required. They were not in any position to take on two young children on a permanent basis.
Next they went through a string of homes that just didn't quite fit. Callie was abused in one of them; Jude was bullied by the biological son in another; the third got pregnant soon after the Jacob siblings moved in; the fourth claimed that Callie was making sexual advances on their son; one of them weren't granted adoption rights simply because the universe seemed to be against them all and the last one had accidentally forgotten about them and gone on vacation for over two weeks, leaving a fourteen year old alone to take care of herself and her eight-year-old brother. The two had then been moved to another home but after the first time the foster father threatened to beat Jude for 'crying like a little girl' Callie decided that enough was enough.
The young girl took her little brother and they ran. She had absolutely no plan but she figured anything was better than being stuck in the system that seemed to take enormous pleasure in torturing them. She'd already been taking care of Jude for the better part of four years and so she was pretty confidant that she would find a way to do it. The only worry Callie really had was money and once she got her hands on some of that then she was sure that things would be okay. It was still early June and so she knew that for a week or two they could make do with sleeping in archways and alleys while Callie made some money.
She started with a few small jobs like cleaning cars and offering to pull the weeds from people's gardens. This gave her just enough money for food for the two of them. Through all this, Callie made sure that Jude was going to the public school with a firm warning to lay low. Callie would drop Jude off at school and then find odd jobs for the next six hours and then pick Jude up from school. The two would hang out in various places for a couple of hours, get dinner then find a place to bunk out for the night. This plan worked for almost a month but slowly things began to slide there as well. First Jude brought home a letter saying that he had lice and needed treatment immediately; a few days later he failed his math test and was recommended for extra help classes and then the biggest issues arose when a teacher noticed Jude's unclean clothes and that his lunches mostly consisted of stale crackers or dry bread. At this point Callie knew she needed something more - she needed a proper job that would give her a steady wage.
Callie's first real job was cleaning the bathrooms in a shady diner that was mostly filled with truckers. She worked there for exactly two weeks, got her first salary of twenty-five dollars and then tried for something better. She began wearing a cardboard sign for a hotdog stand and then washed dishes at a Chinese restaurant and even swept the floors at a hair salon. But three months later, by early September, the two were still sleeping in building entryways and washing up in diner restrooms and Callie knew that she had to do something drastic soon or else they would really be in trouble. The nights would start getting colder soon and Jude needed a proper place to sleep.
A few days later Callie thought that her luck was finally turning around when she walked passed a small bakery and saw a sign telling her that they were hiring. Callie put on the only jacket she had, brushed out her hair and washed up her face and then walked in, trying to look just a couple of years older. The lady was sweet as she interviewed her and Callie felt like they had really hit it off. She offered her a cupcake and a cup of hot cocoa as Callie fed her one lie after another about her name, age and experiences. The lady offered Callie a decent salary, had her fill out an employee form and told her to come back the next day and start. With a huge smile on her face, Callie picked up her uneaten cupcake and walked to the playground where she'd instructed Jude to wait for her.
But the following day as she walked towards the bakery she saw the woman talking to two police officers, her employee form being passed between them. Callie wanted to cry as she turned around and ran as fast and far as she could and that's when she realized that she couldn't take these risks any longer. She'd seen the girls on curb just two streets over and knew that she was now desperate enough to ask for their help and so that night Callie found herself in the back seat of a fancy car, between a random stranger's legs while Jude slept on a blanket behind a dumpster in an alley.
Within two weeks Callie had bought Jude a new jacket and could even afford to pay rent on the apartment they now shared with the work friends she'd made. By the end of a month she'd sent Jude to school with a warm jacket, a brand new backpack and five bucks for lunch. She'd found a way to provide for them and though it wasn't ideal, it was a living and that's what they desperately needed.
"The view was great." Jude's voice interrupted Callie from her thoughts.
Callie smiled at him as she got up and the two began walking back the way they'd come, towards the exit. Jude describing vividly, each and every thing he had seen from the top of the ferris wheel.
"It was like I was flying up there." Jude said, his eyes sparkling. "I could see the ocean and there were boats out there. The beach up near San Diego looked so clean and someone had a pool in their back yard. The city didn't look so bad from up there. Next time you have to come with me."
"I promise." Callie smiled. She couldn't help but feel relieved that she was still able to do these things with Jude. If she ever got arrested, permanently, then Jude would be left to fend for himself and Callie knew she could never let that happen. She'd lay low for a while and stay away from that street until a bunch of the other girls returned and then she'd go back. Her record was still clean and she intended to keep it that way.
Callie was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't noticed the couple stopped right in front of her. "I'm sorry." Callie mumbled to the woman she'd accidentally banged into as she watched her turn around.
Callie's heart nearly stopped and she was sure she'd turned as white as a sheet as the cop from the night before looked back at her with a warm smile.
"No harm done love." The blond said, patting Callie on the shoulder and giving Jude a sweet smile. "I should have stopped on the side."
Callie didn't know what to say for her mind was reeling. She didn't know what to think. On the one hand this was the woman that had arrested her and thrown her in jail for the night and could very easily ruin their entire lives but on the other, she was nice and kind and had been even as she was cuffing her and escorting her to her cell. Callie hadn't had much experience with cops in the past and the little that she'd been told wasn't good but something about this woman told Callie that she was different and that alone made Callie want to get to know her.