The Sitter's Sister

Chapter 56

It was nearing seven p.m when the gang was on their way back from the neighbourhood.

Jade was the one driving this time. They had arranged it that Ray Ray would drive them to the neighbourhood and Jade would drive back.

She looked behind her seat at her passengers.

Everyone was fast asleep from their hectic visit. It went well I'd say. The members of the community had been happy for the food and utilities to keep warm. After everyone had eaten they had come out to talk to a few of the residents. Sairah had introduced them to her friends and Perrie had introduced them to hers . . . meaning the children she had been playing with. At first I thought she'd just been being sweet but after a while it became increasingly clear that Perrie'd been the one having the most fun. Jade remembered playing ring around the rosie with the children and Sairah. That had been earlier on. A little later they had spoken to a few other people and Sairah had shared some fond stories of herself and the people she knew. Some were horrifying but at least she looked happy.

Jade turned to her side and saw that Sairah was still awake. She sat in the passenger's seat next to Jade. Looks like she's just staring out the window.

After the fun and games, Jungkook had put on a fat suit and his Santa costume so they could distribute presents to the children. That had been the best part of everything. Jade couldn't help but smile as she remembered the kids happily accepting their toys. Didn't bother wrapping them up. After they handed a toy to a child, the kids would run off and start playing immediately. She remembered the sight of little boys racing each other on their little buggy trucks and girls playing doll house with their dolls in the dirt. The children had hugged 'Santa' and thanked him for their toys before chasing him around to tackle him. Jungkook had let them chase him for a little while before he had just allowed them to jump him. He didn't budge for a long time though. He was very firm and strong even with several small children on him. When the older kids had joined in was when Jungkook had finally toppled over.

Jade remembered everything fondly. We'd asked the folks who function as the village counsel if we could build a shelter and they were all for it. The people had also told them about the rising instances of homelessness in their neighbourhood and a bit about how things ended up as bad as they were. It apparently started off as the place where workers who worked at a whiskey factory would stay after work. The whiskey factory was at the heart of the town known to be inhabited by some who were 'better off'. Apparently the workers from long ago had had nowhere to go after work so had started squatting in that area. They had left their homes to work at the factory to make money for their families so had had to improvise on how they would live in the area since they could not return home everyday. They lived far from there but were desperate to make money. That was why they had agreed to work for low wages at that factory. It just so happened that after they started squatting, their families eventually had to join them and people kept reproducing. Before they knew it the place had grown in population. The poor workers who had started squatting long ago had been mainly black and brown people with a few poor whites in the mix while those belonging to the 'better offs' section were mainly white and brown. Everyone around the area was poor none the less. The whiskey factory owner was a wealthy man who lived in London and employed poorer whites to manage it. Those people had been the ones to hire the poorer blacks, browns and whites who ended up squatting.

The history had been interesting to Jade but she could not help but wonder if anyone outside of the area knew that there were still people living there. Was there anything they could do other than deliver goods and build shelters? I'd asked that question to the counsel and they'd said it wasn't up to me what happened so . . . I don't know.