Fatal Attraction

Chapter One

I've never really hit rock bottom before; but I guess you don't really think about what rock bottom is until you've been there. Here I am at 9 o'clock in the morning on a Sunday, dressed in my Sunday best - a white t-shirt and sweatpants - walking up to the front door of a homeless shelter. I carried in my arms two duffel bags, a Walmart grocery bag full of women's health and Hygiene products and a trash bag full of shoes. I don't have much but it was more than what most had. I have one person to thank for that. I stepped up to the door, trying to open it before I realized there was a doorbell along with an intercom. It didn't take long thankfully because the elevator music had begun to annoy me.

"Can I help you?" A woman's voice rang out through the intercom. The way her voice came out of the intercom sort of reminded me of a robot.

Have you ever been at such a low that all you wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for three days? Then of course you realize you haven't had a proper shower in a month, haven't brushed your teeth or changed clothes in somewhere else other than a transit station bathroom or a 24 hour gas station since the last time I had stopped and bathed at a truck stop. You don't really have much to do except ask for spare change in your free time, which just so happened to be all the time. I didn't choose this life; I chose the drugs, the partying and the sleeping around though nobody told me how dark, lonely and depressing it could be.

"I'm here for orientation?" My voice cracked. The morning is hot; too hot for September in Minnesota. I looked around the courtyard - staring at the Flagpole that stood proudly in the middle of the large cul de sac - patiently awaiting a response.

I had friends and I had family but they either didn't care or were too busy with their own lives to help me out. No, for some of them I messed up too many times to count. I'm not saying that life wouldn't be easier if I had been handed everything I got; I had that and I still screwed up and lost it all. I guess I can't say I have nobody, that would be unfair to Eleanor. She gave me shelter, food and water when no one else did, would or could. If it wasn't for Lenny, I wouldn't be standing here at a homeless shelter, waiting to get assigned a bed and maybe have some food in my stomach in the next hour or so.

"Oh perfect. Your name is?" The robotic lady voice asked.

"Sophia." I gulped. I felt the panic rise in my throat; I knew this is going to be the moment that changed my life. After today, I would work everyday to make it count, no day will go to waste. "My- My name is Sophia Novak."

I truly didn't believe how many people this establishment currently housed until I saw it for myself. One hundred residents, fifty men and women. That's not including the Office and Counseling areas that held a maximum of thirty people during the day and about fifteen throughout the night. The building itself didn't look big from the outside but it is spacious and roomy enough on the inside; it was comfortable and had a feeling of a home away from home.

"Welcome Sophia. Come on in!"

"You seem like a sweet girl. I think you will be just fine here." Amanda smiled. When I first stepped into the large building, she was the first person I had met. Right away I noticed a few things about her that instantly made me feel comfortable in a town so far away from home.

Her smile was comforting in a way that reminded me of my Aunt Tracy,a tragic accident happened when I was just a girl.

"Did you have any other questions for me?" Amanda straightened out her papers before clipping them nicely in my records folder. "I know this is kind of a lot to take in but if you do need anything I'll be here until dinner tonight."

"Thank you." My voice cracked. Clearing my throat, I caught a whiff of myself and I didn't exactly smell like roses if you know what I mean. "Do we need to sign up for showers or can we take one whenever?"