Runaway
Irissa heard her mother screaming her name as she ran down the street. She had no idea of where she was heading. Her face stung from the scratches her mother’s nails had left on her face and the salt tears that ran down her cheeks. She ran until her sides ached. Her sobs slowly stopped and the tears dried on her face. Necessity forced her to slow her pace and she began to pay attention to her surroundings. She had run into one of the busiest haunts for working girls in the area.
To her right a man was talking in a fierce voice to a girl with a lot of makeup and very skimpy clothing. It didn’t take much to work out that he was her pimp. He half turned as Irissa ran past but paid her no more than a glance before turning back to the whore.
A very young looking girl in pink sports clothes with a little girl hairstyle was standing directly in Irissa’s path, talking to a man. Irissa had to stop in her flight and try to duck around them. The girl moved back and forward on the sidewalk as she talked, with her hands as much as her mouth. Every time Irissa tried to move around her the girl stepped into her way.
The man suddenly stopped talking to the blonde and quickly walked a few paces along the sidewalk. The girl moved out of the way and Irissa finally was able to continue on her way. For a couple of seconds only, though. The guy who had been trying pick up the blonde girl stepped out in front of her.
“You, little lady are exactly what I’m looking for,” he said in an oily voice. “Do you have somewhere we can go....?”
“You’ve got the wrong girl...” Irissa began.
The man moved closer to her.
“Oh no, Sweetie. I’ve got exactly what I want,” He smiled.
“Leave me alone, you pervert. I’m not a street girl and one of my best friends is a police detective!” Irissa snapped, pushing at the man and starting to run again.
She ran on and consciously made sure she cut back along roads that took her out of the area and past the diner and ‘Magick’. A little way from there she was in a better area.
An odd, eclectic mix of house styles stood side by side in this part of the city. A couple of old warehouses which had been turned into loft apartments, a few older houses in good repair and several new architect build homes. Irissa walked more slowly now, shivering from cold and the after effects of her fight with her mother. She walked around the streets until the early hours of the morning.
In spite of her mother’s treatment of her, Irissa had always felt loyalty to her. She had never known anything else. Irissa had been moved from one place to another and had never had real friends. Her mother had made sure that she never got close to anyone. Tonight, though, she walked, she became aware of the weight in her pocket. The phone Sergey had given her. She thought about calling him, but realised she knew little of his personal life other than that he had a son. ‘Slava’, he called the boy. He probably had a wife, too. Neither of them would be impressed by late night calls from some stranger.
Amarose, she knew, lived alone. Maybe it would be alright to call her? She was so tired and cold.
She pulled the phone from her pocket and stood for some time, staring at it, wondering if she should do this. If anyone knew what had happened she could get her mother in to trouble. And what if Amarose told her to go home, or hung up on her. Irissa paced back and forward, so uncertain.
Finally she punched the buttons on the cell phone that would give her Amarose’s home number.
Amarose had been online on her computer talking too some friends. Finally she had decided that it was time for bed. She had made herself some hot chocolate and was reading on the sofa when she heard the phone ring. She was astonished to hear Irissa’s voice early in the morning. She could barely make out what the girl was saying, her voice was so shaky, but it was obvious that she was in trouble.
“Come here,” she ordered and gave Irissa her address.
Irissa finished taking the address and hung up the phone. From what she could gather she was only about two blocks from Amarose’s house. Still nervous, uncertain of the reception she would get, she walked the distance to Amarose’s home.
Amarose was waiting outside her door.
“Oh my God, girl, you look half frozen! And what happened to your face?” She gasped.
“I... my mother and I ... we had a fight,” Irissa explained haltingly.
Amarose lifted Irissa’s chin with her forefinger and studied the girl’s face.
“She hit you!” Amarose gasped.
“It’s nothing. She didn’t mean it. She was tired and I provoked her,” Irissa replied.
“Yeah well, no matter what you did, she shouldn’t have done that! Come in to the house. I’ll get you something hot to drink. You look half dead with cold,” Amarose commanded.
Irissa entered the small, warm house gratefully. She caught her breath at the feeling that swept over her. She felt as if someone had swept her up and wrapped her in their arms with the warmest, most welcoming hug. The feeling was tangible, overwhelming. The sensation of love was so strong Irissa almost began to cry again.
Although Amarose was already in the tiny kitchen, Irissa felt herself being guided to a comfortable arm chair. She found herself sitting on a book. She lifted it from under her and sat holding it.
‘I’d just pop it on the shelf, dear,’ a voice in her head said.
Amarose came back out of the kitchen with a mug of hot chocolate and a slice of pie for Irissa.
They sat side by side on the sofa and Amarose coaxed the full story from Irissa. The girl told her everything. About her mother’s reaction to her purchases and the way she had lost her temper. About her flight from the house and her encounter in the street.
“You should have phoned me at once,” Amarose said. “Now, you need some sleep.”
She led Irissa to the sun room at the back of the house and showed her the two daybeds there.
“You can sleep here tonight.”
Irissa was used to sleeping on beds like this. Her own in the living room of the house she and her mother lived in was lumpy and old. This mattress was firm and comfortable and with the warm, loving feeling this home engendered in her, Irissa was asleep almost as soon as she lay down.
Before she went to bed herself Amarose checked on the girl and was relieved to find her sleeping so peacefully. She was not sure what to do with the situation, but she knew that she was not going to let this happen to her again.
For having slept for so short a time and considering the previous night’s events Irissa awakened completely refreshed.
I need to go to school, she thought. I can’t miss any more. The way we move around I find it so hard to keep up as it is. I won’t wake Amarose, though.
She got herself a drink of water then headed to the bathroom, moving quietly so as not to waken he hostess.
Amarose awakened Irissa was gone. There was a note on the table.
“Gone to school. Thanks for everything. See you in work this evening. Irissa.”
“Better you than me, honey. I hope you can stay awake. And that face is going to get some comment,” Amarose murmured to herself, wishing Irissa had stayed here and slept.
Then they could have talked and planned what they were going to do.
There was something Amarose intended doing, though.
The Visit
On her way to work Amarose took a detour past Sergey’s home.
“Am I treating you to breakfast this morning?” He teased. “I was about to make pancakes.”
“That would be nice, Sergey, but I’m here about something serious. Irissa spent a small part of the night at my place. She had spent the rest of it wandering about in the cold,” Amarose came to the point of her visit straight away.
“What in the name of heaven for? Is she crazy? Doesn’t she know what could have happened to her out there at night?” Sergey roared.
“She had a bad encounter, but nothing serious. A guy tried to pick her up. Thought she was one of the street girls,” Amarose told him.
“Asshole. How could he mistake that kid for a whore?” Sergey said sourly.
“I get the impression he was the kind that likes them young. She’s okay, and that’s what matters. She was gone to school when I woke up. She intends coming into work, but I’m going to keep her away from the public. Her face is a bit of a mess,” Amarose revealed.
“Her face? Did that bastard hurt her? I’ll find him...”
“Sergey, calm down. It was her mother. They had a fight. From what I can gather her mother slapped her but her ring scratched Irissa’s face.
“Her mother hit her? Marked her? What kind of parent hits their kid like that?” Sergey demanded.
“I don’t know, and I don’t know what I’m going to do about Irissa, but if she decides she doesn’t want to go home I won’t make her.”
“You can’t put her into the shelter. It’s not the right place for her. There are some very hard girls there,” Sergey commented.
“I know,” Amarose replied simply. “Am I getting that breakfast or am I eating at work.”
Moving Out
Suzanne had waited up watching television, furious and ready to give her daughter more abuse for her dramatic exit from the house. When Irissa had not returned two hours later, the hangover got the better of her and she went back to bed, locking the door to make sure the little bitch would have to knock when she got back.
She was awakened by the phone ringing. It was nine thirty in the morning and Irissa had not returned. She had no time to think about where the girl might be, as Marco's voice pulled her fully awake.
“Meet Julius at this address. Half an hour,” he ordered brusquely.
Full of apprehension Suzanne dressed and called a taxi to take her to the address Marco had given her. A black sports car was parked in the driveway of the modern house. Julius opened the door and indicated that she should come in. Suzanne thought the house was amazing as she walked through the open plan living area. Watching her reaction Julius grinned.
“You like?” He asked.
“It’s beautiful. Who lives here, and why am I here?” Suzanne asked.
“You do. Marco said you deserved a reward for your obedience the other night ... not sure what he meant but Angelo thought it funny. I’ll show you round. The ground floor’s open plan, pretty nice if you like this modern stuff,” Julius said.
“Downstairs bath. There’s another upstairs,” he said.
Suzanne’s jaw dropped. Two bathrooms. And this was the nicest house she had ever had.
“The kitchen is lovely,” Suzanne enthused. “I could enjoy cooking here.”
“Good, because there will be times when Marco will expect you to entertain. He isn’t letting you live here entirely free. He’ll let you know when you are having company,” Julius told her.
Suzanne schooled her face to show interest rather than disappointment. Nothing ever came free.
“Let me show you upstairs,” Julius suggested.
“Marco decided you were to have this house on Wednesday. Angelo said you made some faux pas a couple of nights ago that almost lost you it. This room is kind of weird. It plain and empty except for an exercise machine. My kid brother Enrique got our interior decorator over here and they worked together all Wednesday night. Apparently he has seen your kid and thought she’d like this. That boy is weird. Sending him to college was a bad idea. Marco despairs that he’ll ever fit in to the family business.”
Suzanne looked around the room. How could Enrique have got it so spot on what Irissa would like? And why had he bothered.
She had noticed at the mansion that he seemed quieter and more reserved than his brothers. Although he had ‘auditioned’ some of the girls, herself included, he had been gentler and more considerate than the other brothers.
He was young, little more than twenty two or three, she remembered. Young enough to be seduced and got on her side, Suzanne wondered?
“Oh my, this is lovely; Suzanne gasped at the second, bigger bathroom.
She turned to find Julius reclining on the bed.
“I thought we might try this out,” he smiled.
Suzanne bit back a sigh and went to join him on the bed.
Julius left very quickly after he was done, telling her that Marco had
wanted him to report back on how she had settled in. Suzanne had a bath, made herself coffee and checked out every corner of the house. The closet in the bedroom was full of clothes in her size. The lingerie was undoubtedly purchased with ‘entertaining’ in mind. She changed into a red and black outfit with high stiletto heels and danced happily in front of the mirror.
Just wait until Irissa saw this place. It would put a smile on her sulky little face. A room of her own decorated just for her. Irissa. Damn. She had better find out where the little bitch had got to.
Promises, Promises
Suzanne walked into the diner full of self righteous anger, ready to teach her daughter a lesson for giving her so much worry. She was taken aback to find Irissa sitting in a booth beside the window with the diner owner and a tall, muscular man. Suzanne was ready to lay on the charm with this one. He was positively edible. She froze at the look on his face as he stood to meet her.
His face was a mask of tightly controlled anger. Suzanne took a deep breath and forced a smile onto her face.
“Well, I see my little drama queen is, thankfully, quite safe. I’ve been worried sick,” she said sweetly.
“Sit down, Ms Galloway,” the man said in a tone that brooked no argument. “I’m Detective Sergey Solarin and I think that we should have a talk.”
Oh my God, a detective. Suzanne glanced at her daughter’s marked face.
”We’re trying to decide what Irissa should do, in light of last night’s events,” Sergey told Suzanne when they were all seated.
Suzanne glanced at her daughter who was staring at the table. The little bitch was not going to give her any help. Who were these people and why were they interfering in her life. And how had Irissa got to know the big detective? Working in here, probably. Cops liked donuts and coffee, she thought sourly. Not that he looked as if he had to worry about overindulging.
“I don’t understand what you mean,” Suzanne retorted, “She’s coming home with me.”
“It’s not that simple, Ms Galloway. You assaulted your daughter.” Sergey said in a cold, tight voice.
“Assaulted!” Suzanne said in a soft low voice. “I chastised her for bad behaviour. I think she has been twisting things just a little.”
Sergey looked fit to explode. Amarose said his name softly.
“We have to let Ms Galloway have her say,” she said.
Irissa made a helpless gesture with her hands. Things would change now. Everyone believed her mother, always. She twisted people around her fingers. Now she would lose her friends. Her throat burned and her eyes were beginning to fill.
Sergey pursed his lips and shook his head at Amarose.
“Perhaps you’d like to explain how chastising your daughter led to her having those marks on her face. I have a son a little older than Irissa and I can’t say I’ve ever felt the need to punish him that severely,” He almost growled.
“I’m sure your son doesn’t need to be kept in check like Irissa does, Detective. She can be a strange girl, very dreamy and difficult,” Suzanne purred in her hypnotic, compelling voice.
Irissa cringed.
“She’s been working for me and I have never found her to be that way,” Amarose retorted sharply.
Irissa’s head shot up and she gaped at Amarose.
“She’s different at home. And if you know her long enough....”
Sergey leapt to his feet.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, Ms Galloway, your daughter is sitting right here with us. Have you no idea how she must feel listening to you? As far as both Amarose and I are concerned your daughter is a lovely girl. And neither of us are prepared to sit here and listen to you badmouth her,” he yelled.
”You have no idea what you are talking about,” Suzanne stood up herself.
The man was intimidating enough sitting face to face. To have him looking so far down at her was worse.
“I think that I’ll be calling social services to deal with this situation,” Sergey said fiercely. “See what they make of the state of Irissa’s face.”
Irissa and Amarose stood up and moved between the two of them. Irissa tried to calm Sergey while Amarose took Suzanne aside. The woman was crying.
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “You don’t know what it’s been like in that tiny house. And things have been so tough, trying to make ends meet. I didn’t mean to lose my temper, and I certainly didn’t mean to mark her like that. It was my ring. I felt so bad when I saw what I had done.”
Sergey folded his arms across his chest, his face set in a hard scowl.
Suzanne turned back to him
“It won’t happen again, Detective. Things are getting better. I’ve got a better paid job now and today I got the keys to a new house. I won’t be so stressed. I’m sorry I hurt Irissa and I was making stupid excuses for my lapse in control. Please, let me take my daughter home? If you call social services she’ll be put into the foster system and that wouldn’t be good for her...” she pleaded.
Amarose sat Suzanne back down at the booth and gave her a pile of tissues to dry her eyes. Sergey took Irissa aside and spoke gently to her.
“Tell me what you want to do, honey? If you don’t want to go back to her Amarose and I will find a way. There is no way you’ll go into the foster system,” he assured her.
Irissa was trembling, feeling sick. She had no idea what to do. The idea of getting away from her mother was so appealing, but what right did she have to be a burden on her friends? Amarose had her own life and Irissa would get in the way. And she could not impose on Sergey, who had been so good to her already. Besides, her mother had said it would be different now. She was afraid, too, of change. Of the unknown. What if she decided to leave her mother and it made things worse? Or made trouble for her friends?
“I ...I think I should try to go back with her,” Irissa stammered, thinking of how much her mother liked drama. She could cause all sorts of trouble Sergey and Amarose if she wanted to.
“Irissa, are you sure?” Sergey pressed.
Biting her lip, fighting back tears, Irissa nodded.
“You have your cell and my number,” Sergey said, resigned. “If you need me, any time day or night, then you use that phone. And I will be here, anyway. You will still be working here.”
His last words were a statement, not a question.
As Irissa got her things together Sergey cornered Suzanne.
“I’ll be watching you and Irissa, Ms Galloway. She won’t be giving up her job here and I had better not see anything like this again, or I will take her away from you. I don’t think your lifestyle is good for her either and I know who you work for. If any further harm comes to that girl, any at all, you will have me to answer to, do you understand?” He demanded.
Suzanne scowled resentfully, but nodded.
She left the diner with her daughter walking behind her, aware that the big detective was watching them. She was angry. Angry at him for making her feel so small. Angry at Irissa for putting her in that position. And damned angry that she found him so bloody attractive. She was not used to men she liked being immune to her charms. Maybe she was getting old.
“I wish she had made a different decision,” Sergey told Amarose. “I really don’t like that woman. There is something unnatural about her. I don’t believe she cares anything at all for her daughter. And I’m very fond of that kid. I wish we could do something to keep her safe.”
“I feel the same way. I’d have been happy to have her stay with me, Sergey. I’m not keen on her mother, either. I suspect Irissa went back not to inconvenience us. She’ll be here, though. We can keep an eye on her,” Amarose replied soothingly.
“I guess so,” Sergey sighed, unconvinced.
Family Ties – 1
Suzanne showed off the new house like a game show hostess displaying the prizes. She smiled like an excited child and it was as if there had never been any conflict between them. Irissa smiled and reacted positively to her mother’s enthusiasm. She had long ago learned that it was best to go along with her mother’s mercurial moods. She could understand why her mother was so happy though the house was light and bright, unlike the dingy dark place they had been living. It felt odd, though. Not unpleasant, exactly, but cold and unwelcoming.
“You are so going to love this,” Suzanne enthused, dragging Irissa up the stairs to the small bedroom.
Irissa stared in astonishment. The room was perfect. There were even books and other items from ‘Magick!’ She could not imagine her mother having done this. She looked at her in confusion. Suzanne shrugged.
“Apparently Enrique did this. Don’t ask me why. He’s a darling, Irissa. The nicest of the Cappelli boys. We got on so well at the mansion. Julius said he was going to call in later to see how we are getting on. I really like him. Irissa,” Suzanne enthused.
Irissa smiled but said nothing. She was used to men coming and going in her mother’s life. For the most part she just tended to avoid them.
“Oh, you might want to have a look in the closet.” Suzanne suggested as she breezed back downstairs.
Irissa walked out onto the gallery and opened the closet doo. The interior was full of clothes which were her size and style. Cautiously she opened the interior drawers and found nightwear and undergarments. There was a strange squirming in her stomach. Had Enrique Cappelli purchased these, too?
Still uncomfortable she took a nightshirt from one of the drawers and headed to bed. She was physically and mentally exhausted. She settled into the bed, the strange sick feeling still in her stomach. It was the first time she had had a room of her own decorated to her taste, yet somehow she was uncomfortable in it.
When Irissa got home from school the next night Suzanne was still on a high. Marco had given her three days holiday to settle in to her new home. She had decided to play the role of housewife to the maximum. The kitchen smelled of baking and cooking and there was a meal on the table.
“Come and eat. It’s been so long since we had a meal together,” she chirped.
Suzanne was the perfect parent that evening, laughing and chatting with her daughter and asking questions about her day. They discussed a variety of subjects. Times like this had been few in Irissa’s life, but precious. When she wanted to be Suzanne could be funny and entertaining. Her mother’s choice of attire, though, made Irissa believe that she was hoping for company.
Family Ties – 2
Sergey came home to find his son working out on the lower floor of their warehouse conversion. The elder Solarins had bought two derelict factories when they arrived in Darksprings and had renovated them to identical specifications then decorated them to their own tastes. Sergey changed into his exercise clothes and took the other machine.
“On your own tonight, son?” Sergey asked conversationally.
“Yep,” Ladislaus answered shortly.
“Britt didn’t come over?” His father pressed.
“Nope.” Ladislaus answered, on an out breath, not stopping in his exertions.
Sergey sighed. He knew the signs. Ladislaus and Britt had had an argument. The girl seemed to like to push his son into an quarrel, leave him hanging for a few days then turn up looking especially gorgeous to ‘forgive and forget’.
Every time the pair argued Ladislaus would hit the machines with a vengeance to burn off his anger and frustration. And usually Sergey would be there to work with him and then to talk to him in the hot tub afterwards. From the sweat on his son’s exercise clothes, Ladislaus had already been here a while.
“I thought you would be home sooner,” he said tersely.
“I had something to sort out at the diner,” Sergey explained.
“The diner,” Ladislaus said in a flat voice. “I guess maybe you prefer hanging out with Amarose and that Irissa girl to being home with me.”
He let finished the last set of eight and stood up. Sergey had left his own machine and was waiting for him.
Sergey stared at his son in astonishment. He had not realised that the boy had been feeling so neglected. He tried to think how many times he had been late home in the last couple of months.
“You used to be here to talk to. We always had time for you to give me any help I needed with my homework, or we had time for a game of chess or a talk in the evening. Now I hardly see you!” Ladislaus continued angrily.
“Slava, it’s been hectic at work lately. With the Cappelli brothers opening their club and the new ‘restaurant’ the Chinoise have opened, I’ve had to work late almost every night. I haven’t been deliberately neglecting you. I haven’t spoken to you about things as much as I usually do because some of what I’m dealing with is nasty. Things I don’t want my son to have to hear about,” Sergey explained.
“Slava, there’s no way I could ever replace you. I am fond of Irissa. I think she is smart and sweet and she’s trying to deal with living in a bad situation. But you are my son and the most important person in the world to me.”
Ladislaus stepped forward and hugged his father.
“I’m being a brat. I’m sorry,” he said.
“No, you’re not. You’re upset about something and you need to talk. So let’s go upstairs and talk,” Sergey replied.
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