Page 14 of The Devil's Heir

Liliana

I'm sitting outside my makeshift house with two of my neighbors as we play a game of cards. We usually do it when none of us are out trying to earn money. The two of them panhandle all day, whereas I try to stay out of the public's eye.

My lack of a birth certificate or proof that I was, in fact, born here makes it hard to get a real job.

I get it, I probably could have gone to the courthouse, but the loops I would have needed to go through because Heath had taken my ID just didn't fit into my timeline.

I hadn't expected to stay here until I started seeing flyers with my face on them being put up all around town.

That's when I knew I needed to burrow deeper into the parts of town that decent people would never venture into.

I wouldn't say Heath Richards was decent, but I know he wouldn't have looked in the dilapidated building I hid myself in for that first year of hiding. Thoughts of hitchhiking to the next town had crossed my mind, but then I'd have to be seen in public, which frightened me the most.

By the end of that first year of living on the streets, I knew I needed to figure out something different.

I was rail thin, eating out of dumpsters, and sometimes not at all.

I didn't want to die. So, ever so slowly, I began coming out more and more.

That's when I met Heidi and Fran, my two friends who I'm sitting with as I speak.

They helped give me the courage to move into the homeless community, where I could have some semblance of a life, even if it was dreary.

I'd like to say I'm free, but if that were the case, I wouldn't be so scared to venture out in the daylight.

Sitting here, playing cards with them, is the farthest I come out until the sun goes down.

I take small cleaning jobs when I can, as long as it's at night, so I can stay here at my place among all the other homeless without getting caught.

I'm sure the Falcon Heir has forgotten about me by now.

I hear he now runs most of the town and has his hand in the crime family.

I've seen newspapers with pictures of him and different women hanging from his arm, so him remembering little ole me is most likely not going to happen.

On the other hand, Heath would definitely remember me. Whereas Jarek wanted me for himself, Heath wanted to sell me to others. That makes him the biggest monster and threat of all.

"Yoo-hoo, earth to Lila!" Heidi giggles as she waves her hand in front of my face. She's right around my age and also grew up in the foster system but ran away at sixteen due to being sexually abused. She's been on the streets ever since.

"Oh, sorry. I must have spaced off." I smile slightly.

I go by Lila here because I didn't want to give out my real name just in case, but I didn't want to completely abandon the name my parents gave me. So, I settled for something other than Lily.

"Must have?" Fran rasps out as a cigarette hangs from her lips.

"You were outright staring off as if something had a hold of you!

Now, there are only two things that I've come across that would put that kind of look on one's face—either they are worrying about something, or they have a man on their mind. Which one is it, sugar?"

I let out a nervous laugh. Fran is much older than Heidi and me, maybe in her fifties, but she's got a heart of gold even if she is a bit crass. You can't get anything past her.

I scoff. "I can guarantee that I have no man running through my head these days."

"Then watcha worrying about sugar?" Fran asks as she studies her cards.

"You know, money and such. I need to find more work.

Those two office cleaning jobs ain't paying shit.

I'm so tired of people thinking that just because we're homeless, they don't have to pay us full pay.

" It's true. The other cleaning lady who works in one of the buildings I work in gets paid twice as much as I do .

"It sucks, Lila, but what can we do about it?" Heidi pats my hand, giving me a sympathetic look.

She's right. I'm never going to get ahead, no matter how hard I try.

"You know," Heidi continues, "If you would just stop hiding your face under all that dirt, you may get somewhere. You are beautiful, girl—use it to your advantage."

I learned long ago that a pretty face gets me nowhere but into trouble, or at least, it attracts trouble.

So, although I wash every night and day, I always rub my face with dirt before leaving my tent and facing the world.

There isn't much I can do about my hair, so I always tie it up and stuff a cap on my head.

At the moment, I'm letting it air dry because I just washed it, but as soon as it's dry, back up it goes.

"I don't want to have to use my looks to get by in life. I'm smart, and just because I wasn't able to finish high school, I'd like to think I could have gone on and done something great. I don't need my looks—"

"Where has your brain gotten you, sugar?" Fran cuts me off.

"Well, I…"

"Fran's right," Heidi says softly when I can't find the words to argue.

"It sucks, but this is the world we live in.

Look at the strippers who work downtown.

Do you think they grew up wanting to take their clothes off for men and women to drool over their bodies?

No, but they're making bank. If I had the confidence to do it, I would. "

I gawk at my friend.

"Hell, if I was thirty years younger, I'd be shaking my ass up on stage, too. Times have definitely changed since I was your age. It's not so frowned on these days."

If only they knew the real reason why I'm here on the streets. They wouldn't be so quick to say these things, and that's why I don't argue with them. Everything they say is true—it just can't happen for me—that's all.

The sun is beginning to set, and my friends have gone to their tents to rummage through their food storage.

Me? I had eaten my last package of peanut butter crackers for lunch.

I figured I could wait until I head to my office cleaning job tonight, where I know a twenty-dollar bill will be waiting for me when I get there.

Afterward, I'll stop at the tiny convenience store and buy myself a few items to last me until I get paid again in a few days. It's never enough, which is why I need to figure something out.

As my friends eat, I sit outside my tent, brushing through my now-dried hair.

I enjoy the warm evenings before heading to whichever job I work.

There's a slight breeze tonight, and I sit here with my eyes closed, relishing in the peaceful ambiance.

The only sounds reaching me are the soft murmurs of a few others and the crickets that grace us each night with their chirps.

It's not always this peaceful, but now that summer is approaching and daylight lasts longer, most of the others in our little community are still out trying to make a wage. Once they return, some will play music while others will fight, letting the chaos erupt around us.

"Oh, wow. Do you think they're lost?" I hear Heidi question as she comes back outside.

Her question has me opening my eyes and looking in the direction my friend has her eyes glued to.

A sleek black car drives very slowly down Sunset Avenue.

Whether they are trying not to hit one of the many homeless children who are playing in the street or just being nosey, it doesn't matter—they don't belong in this neighborhood.

Nobody ever takes this road except for the occasional person who may be lost. Seeing a car, such as the black sedan, making its way through our community definitely raises flags.

I begin picking up my items as quickly as possible, keeping my back to the road, or at least trying to, but my heart stops when the car slows down even more.

I'm being paranoid, but how else am I supposed to react when I've spent the last four years in hiding?

I spin around and see it's just sitting in the road, idling.

Acting like it doesn't bother me, I take my things and enter my tent.

My hands shake as I zip the door closed and curse myself for being ridiculous.

It's probably some developer looking at the area and wanting to build something new.

We've had those a time or two, never when I'm around, but Fran has told me of times when this community has chased developers away.

Taking the chance, I peek out the small hole in the wall of my tent and sigh with relief when I see the taillights of the car moving down the street. See, you're being ridiculous, Liliana.

Wrapping my hair up and placing the cap on my head, I grab my small bag to carry my groceries back in later and leave my tent. Saying goodbye to my two friends, I walk in the opposite direction that the black sedan drove off in and head off to work.