Fitting in

Chapter Three

A year later 15 year old Frankie was angrily yelling at a man searching through paperwork in a metal file cabinet. He pointed a gun at her saying, "Get out of here now kid. I told ya I will pay later. I don't got time for this shit right now." Frankie shook her head No yelling, "I'm not going anywhere. You promised me a thousand if I got you in this building and I did. Give me my money and I'll split." Another man was in the room, ignoring them and looking through different papers frantically. The first man put the gun in the back of his dark colored jeans and said, "Forget it. I don't  got a thousand on me so I will pay you tomorrow." Frankie was angry. She believed him that he did not have the money on him. He had tricked her and she was livid. Carlos had warned her about trusting Al but she felt like Carlos was was babying her. He gave her money for doing practically nothing nowadays. Getting a thousand would have meant she could pay her rent without Carlos just practically giving it to her. It had not always been that way. She had known Carlos since she was 7 and he had always paid well but he use to expect a lot more. Since he rescued her from the brothel last year that had changed. Now he got her an apartment and found lame excuses to pay her money. She wanted to be independent. She knows she should have insisted on getting at least $500 upfront but Al had told her he did not trust her not to just run off with the money. Now he and his friend were inside the office but was not paying her. She knew unless she got the money now she was never going to get paid.

Frankie moved again so she was in his way, pulled out her phone and threatened him with, "How about I just call the Cops and tell them you are in here Al?" Al laughed at her saying, "You do and you be in trouble too Frankie. You let me in ya know." Without warning he backhanded her hard across the face knocking her backward out of his way. Frankie felt her nose begin to bleed and could feel her right eye begin to swell up. She jumped up and got into his way again arguing, "I'm just a kid and will get sent to juvie. You guys will be the ones in big trouble unless you pay up. I'm calling 911 right now." Al stood upright with a snarl and swung again. This time Frankie was ready and kept moving as he chased her around the room while trying to punch buttons on her phone. He finally gave up and said, "OK. Don't call. Let me see how much I got." He pulled out a wad of money, threw it at her and returned to the file he was looking in. Frankie quickly counted and said, "There is only $623 her Al. You owe me $377 more." Al shrugged and answered, "All I got Frankie. I will pay you rest tomorrow." Frankie hesitated. She knew he would never pay her later even if she could find him. She should never have trusted him. She also believed him he had no more money on him tho.

She went over to the other man and said, "You got to pay me the rest Johnson. He'll pay you back or you can beat the shit outta him." The man kept looking through papers and calmly said, "Not my problem. You made deal with him. Not me." Frankie argued, "Then I call 911 and we all go down." Johnson moved suddenly trying to grab her phone but she was ready and moved out of reach punching 9. Johnson glared at her and angrily threatened her. Frankie stood her ground saying, "I need three hundred and seventy seven more or I am calling 911." She ran to the door but now red faced Johnson angrily yelled, "Wait!" He pulled out a wallet and said, "$211 bucks is all I got kid. Take it and get outta my face. I ever see you ever again then I'll kill you. You just lucky I don't want no dead bodies left in here." He angrily threw the bills on the floor and returned to the drawers he had been searching. Frankie ran and grabbed the assortment of small bills on the floor. She quickly counted them as she ran out the door. It was $211 which gave her $834. Not what she was promised but close enough. As she ran out the office door counting she saw a uniformed Cop flat against the wall by the door. He motioned her to be quiet with empty hand and pointed to the stairs door with his gun.

Frankie considered warning the men inside but then decided they deserved it. She quietly pulled door closed and cut diagonally to the stair door. Another cop was waiting on the stairs and he cuffed her hands behind her back and took her to the back of a police car. He took her money and phone away before locking her in the back. By the time they questioned her she had decided to cooperate. They had clearly heard the whole conversation anyway. When asked for her name she answered, "Francesca Blackstone." He left her alone in the back seat again and she thought about her Mother.

She was pretty sure her Mother was sent to Prison but she might be out by now. Just thinking about Jaycee caused her anger to rise. Perhaps she should have lied about her name? She thought about it and decided it did not matter. She could run away again. Plus she was stronger now than when she ran away at age 11. She would calmly go with her Mother and then beat the crap out of her. Her Mother always had huge guys around tho. Guys that always beat the crap out of Jaycee anyway. All her Mother really cared about was blow. Really any drugs but she liked cocaine the best. Frankie decided not to worry about it. She would deal with Jaycee if she had to.

Frankie wondered if Carlos would look for her? She had no way to contact him and let him know where she was. He had lots of street contacts but not Juvie contacts. If only she had listened to him. If only she had not been so stubborn. Why had she resented Carlos making it easy to earn money? She knew rescuing her from the bar last year had cost him. She knew why he wanted her to stay out of trouble. She just hated Carlos looking at her like she was a little kid. She did not exactly want him for a boyfriend either. Not now but maybe later tho. Carlos was really good looking. Dark skin, toned strong body and really smart.

Frankie remembered when she first met Carlos. He had been a 17 year old gang banger. She had been hiding behind a dumpster when she heard some guys from a different gang talking about killing him the next Saturday. She had no intention of getting involved and went home the next day. There was no food there and it was summer so no school lunches either. Her Mother had had a guy named Miguel living with them. About 6 months earlier Frankie had started telling Miguel things she heard. He repaid her information by giving her food and being nice to her. Her Mother got jealous and kicked him out. She got a new boyfriend Tyrone. He beat up Miguel real bad. Miguel was in the hospital for a while and now he avoided her. Last time she tried to say hi he totally ignored her. Tyrone was mean and Frankie did her best to stay out of sight. He never had food in the house and seemed to eat somewhere else. Jaycee never cared much about eating anyway and when she did eat it was not at home. There was plenty of drugs and booze in the house but Frankie was determined not to be like her Mother.

There had been a scary Party the night she ran away and overheard about the killing of Carlos. The Party was over now but Jaycee and Tyrone had not returned since she came home. Frankie lived in a one bedroom apartment but did not dare go into her Mother's bedroom. She did not even dare use the couch or chair with Tyrone here. It had been better when Manuel lived here but Tyrone was best avoided. Frankie was hungry. Even if she heard something Tyrone wanted to know Frankie would be too scared to tell him. He had thrown her across the room a couple of times and once she hit the wall and was unconscious for a while. She was not sure for how long. Probably not long but she was not taking any chances.

She could go in her Mom's room and find drugs. If Jaycee caught her selling them tho who knows what she would do to Frankie. It was Friday now and Frankie left the apartment and was wondering the streets looking for food. She ate at a few dumpsters but that sucked. Not only was it gross but there were big Rats. She knew a few things about people but none of them were either willing to pay her or she could not find them. Carlos was last on her list and she was now desperately hungry. In another day he would most likely be jumped and be dead. These thought went through Frankie's head as she stared at the pool bar she knew Carlos was in with his friends.