The Sebana Heir

Chapter 7

The loud beeping cars, chatters and movements of people on the sidewalk and an angry voice; Ria was suddenly awakened by the noise of the busy city that bright, sunny morning.

"Hey, wake up, kid," she looked up to see a police officer, shaking her awake by the shoulders, "You can't sleep here. Come on, get up."

"Uh-sorry," Ria replied in a small voice. She sat up straight and gave a yawn before scraping out the sand in her eyes. The police officer had walked on to write out more parking tickets that morning and Ria was left on the bench seeing the different people that passed her by. Norton was even bigger than she thought it was. She clearly saw the massive buildings around her, she heard the busy street she smelt the aroma of morning coffee. She realized that she was sitting right outside a coffee shop, and the smell of fresh coffee made her stomach growl. She looked in at the different cakes and cookies on the counter that began to water her mouth. But what was she to do? How could a penniless girl survive in big empire state city like Norton?
Ria took out her phone to see the time; it was precisely a quarter past nine. She turned back to the road, thinking about what she had to do that morning. Maybe she could find some street friends to tag along with, or find some easy day job to earn some money instead of picking pockets. She was still in deep thought when a tall man exited the coffee shop and rushed past her in a long black coat. Ria realized he had dropped something shiny on the ground but walked on.

"Yea, yea I know about the lawsuit. Look, I'm on my way to high court right now, with the final evidence that's gonna pin Fletcher to the wall for good...." the man talked on the cellphone as he made his way to his big, shiny red car. Ria looked down at the golden pocket watch that had surprisingly fallen from his coat. After she had gone to pick it up, she realized her luck! It was real gold and a beautiful piece like that would sell well at a jewelry store nearby. She opened it and saw something that changed her mind immediately. She saw a small old picture from the eighties of a man inside and on the side was carved in cursive, 'family is forever'. Ria knew the watch must be a family gift. It was her incredible luck, but something inside her told her otherwise. So, she knew what she had to do. She looked around and saw the man getting into his car.

"Sir? Hey! Sir!" Ria called out, as she raced after him. Ria came up when he was just about to get in, and took him by the arm, "Mister!" The man turned around to find a street girl, handing him something. "You dropped this." Ria turned away when the man took it, he was stunned. He was ultimately grateful but then wondered why the girl would return something like that, that could be worth more than a hundred dollar bill. He called Ria back to try and thank her.

"Hey," he said, holding up the empty cheque, "Why'd you give this back to me? You could've pawned it for a good price?" Ria nodded, but the man thought he had never had anything like a wallet or cellphone, lost or stolen from him that was never returned.

"It's your dad's, right?" Ria replied.

"It is," the man nodded, "You'd look like a pretty young thief, but, you're not. Do you usually sleep on that bench over there?" Ria looked at the bench she had been and shook her head. The man felt quite sorry for her and decided to reach into his wallet and take out a 100 dollar bill to hand to her. Ria looked at him for a moment before taking it, "Here. They got some good burettos in that cafe down the street. Thanks for returning this." Ria nodded as she slowly took the money from the man and watched him drive away. Then she turned around with the note in her hand, and decided to consider his advice.

••••

Norton was busy that day. Ria had a lot to see on the streets from trams, double deck buses, sports cars, trucks and numerous cars just passing by. People were swarming around her, moving here and there, going about their business for the day. Giant billboards and LED screens against the buildings. Soon she came to a train station and decided to rest for a while. On the other side of the road she saw a short homeless guy who had been sitting on the side walk in ragged clothes and a cloth bag. Ria thought he was just another poor fellow until she saw him bumping into strangers and with his quick fingers, he was picking their pockets.
It made Ria think of Matt, and Matt made her think of Cat and Hailee; and Leo. She wondered if they were okay, she wondered if they were moved to a different foster home; now that Georgina was going to be on the run for having a dead foster child in her apartment.