The Mansion Prison

Chapter 1

14 year old Ariel has been awake for 3 days when she finally makes it back to her old neighborhood. Exhausted she stands in front of her old apartment building with a new family living in it. She wants to give up but she is still afraid the bad men will find her. She forces herself to walk to the bus stop. Using the few dollars she scrounged up she takes a bus to her Mother's best friends hair Salon. Amy takes a double look when she enters and asks questioningly, "Ariel?" Ariel nods and says, "Amy where is my Mom living now please?" Amy just sighs and says, "Use the shower Ariel. You look disgusting. I will let Diana know you are here." Ariel showers and puts on some clothes she stole a few days before but has been waiting to bathe before wearing. They are a bit big on her and not new but at least they are clean.

To her relief when she goes back into the salon Amy is waiting with keys in hand. Ariel had been afraid she would just get an address. Amy is not as bad as her Mother except when she is drunk. This hair salon is her pride and joy and no way Amy would jeopardize it by being drunk or high during work hours. Amy probably is afraid Ariel will hang around so she wants to ditch her with her Mom. There are no customers there anyway and another woman is there reading a magazine. Ariel waits while Amy gives instructions to the woman for when a Mrs. Spencer arrives for a cut and dye.

She politely answers Amy's questions but vaguely as they drive to her Mom's new apartment. To Ariel's relief Diana is not living with a man. Her Mom's boyfriends tend to have poor characters and be inappropriate toward Diana's young daughter. The second bedroom is being used as storage so Ariel immediately begins sorting it out. She knows throwing the storage into another room will enrage Diana so she instead carefully organizes it and stacks it up by the wall. There is a full size bed under the mess. She removes the dirty bedding on it and finds the washer and dryer. When she comes out of the laundry area Amy is just leaving.

So far all Ariel has said was "Hi Mom." Now that her friend is gone Diana follows Ariel into the bedroom and watches her clean. Diana finally snaps, "So you are gone for nearly a year and you just wonder in and make yourself at home? I have a life Ariel and you can not just come and go as you please." Ariel takes a deep breath and politely says, "I am sorry Mom. Can I stay with you in your apartment." Her Mom looks suspicious of her tone. She is used to Ariel being angry and sarcastic. She finally says, "Are you being sarcastic Ariel? If you are you can leave." Ariel calmly replies, "Mom if you kick me out I will have to inform my Father and he will stop sending you child support." Her Mother smirks and says, "Do you really think your Father will take you in Ariel? He will just return you to me like he did like last time."

Taking another deep breath and forcing herself to remain calm Ariel replies without emotion, "No Mom I do not expect him to take me in. I expect him to stop giving you money if I inform him I am no longer living with you. I am sure you have been getting money from him since I left. Now you were not even using this room so I am not in your way. You have never taken care of me so I do not expect you to start now. I just need a place to stay so I can go back to school." Diana stared at her suspiciously for a moment before agreeing. Diana then changed clothes and leaves her alone in the apartment without saying where she is going.

After finishing cleaning and making the bed Ariel searches the kitchen and finds pretty much nothing except booze. Ignoring the alcohol she poured herself Orange Juice and contemplates her situation. She needs to get a job and enroll in school. It is already October so she will now be in HS. Unless they make her repeat the 8th grade that she did not finished before running away. Still Ariel is smart so she figures she can test into the 9th grade. Getting a job at 14 will be harder but at least she has a roof over her head and a shower here. Things are better for her than a week ago. Way better than when she was kidnapped 5 days ago. She just has to avoid her Mom and not fight with her when she sees her.