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Chapter 25

The next day, in the afternoon, Alice packed her car and said goodbye to her home for the last four years. Then headed to the address her mother had given her. As she drove to the streets she saw kids playing on the street and men in corners, she was sure they were up to no good. They all stared at her as she drove by.

When she arrived at the destination she saw the lawyer's car parked in the front of a small house. Paint was chipping, shutters were falling. She got out and walked to the house. "Hello?" She asked and a big black dog jumped from the balcony and started barking at her, scaring her. A guy grabbed the dog by his collar and pulled him back.

"What do you want?" He asked her.

"I'm sorry, I'm looking for my parents, they gave me this address." She said looking around.

"You must be the judge's daughter. Pretty little thing." He said rubbing his chin. "House in the back." He said pointing.

"Thank you." She said as she hurried to the back. An even smaller house in worse conditions was in the back. "Hello?" She called knocking on the door's frame.

"Alice! You're here." Lewis said, appearing on the door's frame. "Come in, your parents are in the room in the back." She walked through the house, it could use some sweeping, she saw some bugs crawling around. "This is the bathroom." Lewis said, pointing to a door. "And this is your room." She opened the door. The room was the size of her closet at the house. There was a small bed and a dresser. Nothing else could fit there. "And this is your parents room."

She opened the door and saw her mother sitting in the bed crying. "Mom, what's going on? Why are we moving to this dump?"

"Do you want to tell her?" Julia said to Carl.

"What did you do now?"

"Our assets have been frozen, they took the house and we have no money. The maid's brother owns this and they're letting us stay here until we get back on our feet." Carl said putting his hand on Julia's shoulder.

"Why? You only slept with a few prostitutes, why would they freeze our assets?"

"I am being sued. I was paying those women with money that didn't belong to me."

"What?" Alice walked to him and started hitting him on the chest. "How could you do this to us? Are you still in the forgiving mood, mom?"

"We are a family, Alice. We need to stay together." Julia said, getting up and composing herself.

"What about Grandma and Grandpa? Why can they take us in?"

"They want nothing to do with us. Even if I left your father they wouldn't take us in."

"And all your so-called friends?"

"They have all given their backs to us. We are all we have. Your uncle got you your old job back as a receptionist at the newspaper, you start tomorrow. Be grateful." Julia said, walking away.

"Alice, sweetheart, I need you to take your stuff out of the car." Lewis said. "We need to take the car."

"You're taking my car? How am I supposed to move around?" Alice asked her father.

"There's a bus stop two blocks from here. We are all going to have to learn to adjust." Carl said. "I'll go help you." He said as they walked to the car.

They emptied the car and placed all the boxes in Alice's room. Lewis took her car keys and left. She locked herself in the room and called Mike. "Hi." He said. His voice lifted her spirits.

"Hello. You won't believe the day I've had."

"Tell me."

"So I came to the new house. It's a dump, falling apart. Bugs crawling through the walls."

"Why would you move to a place like that?"

"That's what I asked. Apparently we are broke. Our assets are frozen, we lost the house, the cars, everything. All because my father paid the prostitutes with money that wasn't his, so he's been sued."

"I am so sorry. I hate that I am so far away."

"My uncle got me a job at the newspaper again. At least I have that to look forward to."

"How are you going to get there without a car?"

"There's a bus stop two blocks from here."

"I don't want you walking the streets by yourself. This is madness. I feel impotent not being able to help you. I should just forget all this and fly back."

"No, you need to be with your mother right now. She needs you. You'll be here soon enough. I will be careful. I promise. I got to go and try to get some sleep. Have to get there early to catch the bus."

"Alright, sleep tight. I'll be thinking of you."

That night she barely slept. Every little noise woke her up. Between gunshots, car's backfiring and her mother's crying she could barely close her eyes.