Prologue
A loud thump brought Olivia straight off her bed. Peering into the gloom, she held her breath and waited to see if it repeated. A few moments passed, and she heard it again. Only this time it was followed by glass shattering and a string of curses. Quickly, she rolled off the ratty little mattress, crawled the few feet to a second one and tugged the covers down.
"Jayden," she hissed to her ten-year-old little brother. "Wake up."
He bolted upright, eyes wide and full of fear. Olivia hated to scare him, but she had to get him to safety as soon as possible. "Come on," she whispered and crawled to the closet. He picked up a tattered backpack and a fist full of crayons beside his makeshift bed. "We don't have time for that," she groaned.
"Nadine! Get your ass in gear!"
A shout rose from the alley outside and made Olivia cringe. No, no, no. They were both here. Turning her attention to her brother, she saw him stuffing the crayons into his bag. The tremors in his body made him drop more than he retrieved. "Jayden, please," she begged, as she motioned for him to hurry.
Olivia barely bit back a scream as a menacing shadow filled the doorway. Grabbing Jayden, she pushed him behind her, spilling his precious crayons in the process. She stammered, "H...h...hi, Momma. I didn't know you were coming home early."
Nadine Parker lurched into the room, the smell of alcohol, weed, and sex clinging to her like a thick, noxious cloak. Her curly, light brown hair hung down to her shoulders in limp clumps around her head. With her wide hazel eyes and pixie face, she had been striking in her youth. Now, a lifetime hooked on various drugs and bad choices made her look much older than her thirty years. Thin and gaunt, the skin under her thick makeup was sallow and wrinkled. Where there were once lush curves, hard angles now rose from bones no longer padded with toned muscle. Tonight she was wearing a tight, low-cut red sweater at least two sizes too small over a black lace bra. The black imitation leather skirt barely covered her thighs and had a split on one side held together with an oversized safety pin. She wore no hose and the red four inch high heels were scuffed and worn. Wobbling into the room, she snarled. "Where's it at?"
Olivia swallowed and pointed to a small overturned bucket serving as a table. "It's right there."
Using the dingy wall as a crutch, Nadine shuffled to the corner. Leaning over, she barely managed to stay upright as she rifled through the once neat stack of items, scattering them over the floor. Finding the object of her search, she turned around and glared. "How much is left," she slurred.
"Most of it. I only used enough to get some food. We were hungry."
"I told you not to use it at all. If you're hungry, get your skinny ass out on the street and make your own money. You're fifteen; that's the same age I was when I started to work. Plenty of men would pay to get a piece." She waved the government subsidy card in the air. "This is mine." Nadine leaned heavily against the wall and shook her head. "I needa fix," she mumbled.
Olivia relaxed slightly. Momma's rant seemed to be forgotten as quickly as it had hit. It looked as if they would get out of tonight unscathed. Thank God!
"Nadine! Get your worthless ass out here. I ain't got all day!"
Sly's shout sounded from the next room. A little whimper slipped through Olivia's lips. Momma's hate always centered on Jayden, but the pimp who was now standing in what passed for a living room always rested his attention solely on Olivia. For now, Momma kept her safe from him, but she didn't know how much longer it would last. Due to Jayden's condition, they received generous government subsidies, but he couldn't be left alone. Momma needed Jayden's money, and Jayden needed his sister. Olivia was no fool. She knew one day the scales of her value would tip the other way. She just hoped by then she had enough money saved to take her brother and leave.
"I'm coming," Nadine mumbled. Olivia held her breath as Momma got closer to the door. Just a tiny bit more. Once Momma stepped into the hallway, her two children would be forgotten. Olivia preferred to stay under her radar. It was safer for Jayden that way.
She froze as the sound of crayons snapping under Momma's stilettos filled the air. With a cry of anguish, Jayden bolted past Olivia and fell to his knees, pulling and tugging the precious items.
"What the hell are you whining about, retard? Just a buncha colors. Stupid idiot." Nadine lifted her foot and kicked at him. Olivia saw the blow coming. She grabbed Jayden by the back of his faded tee-shirt and yanked him away just in time. The foot swished by his head, and the momentum almost knocked Momma over. She scowled at her daughter for interfering again.
"You all the time taking up for him. Why you do it? He's just a stupid retard." Momma fumbled with the little purse dangling from her shoulder and pulled out a bent cigarette. Thrusting it into her lips smeared with bright red lipstick, she managed to get it lit. Taking a drag, she blew out the smoke and pointed to him with it. "Ish your Daddy's fault. Left me when I needed him. Now I gotta take care of you." She took a draw on the cigarette and dropped ashes on the floor. "You ruined my life, you little shit. Everything was alright until you came along. Now, look at me."
Olivia's eyes narrowed. She hated for people to bully her baby brother. It wasn't his fault Momma was high on meth for most of her pregnancy with him. It's not his fault he was born six weeks early and so addicted to drugs he spent the first four months of his life in a NICU. Olivia remembered Jayden's father. It was some of the best months of her life. She thought Momma must have felt that way too because when he left, everything changed for the worse. Sometimes, Olivia felt he must have broken Momma's heart, and that fueled her insane hatred for Jayden. She'd even named her son after his father, Jay Denison as if to keep the fire of her anger stoked just by calling his name.
"What's taking so damn long? You got the card or not?" Sly appeared behind Momma.
Slapping the cigarette into her mouth, she lifted the card over her shoulder. "Got it right here, baby."
Plucking it from her fingers, Sly grinned. "Good. Now let's go. Roach ain't gonna be around for much longer tonight. I need to get this swapped."
Twirling around, she looked her pimp in the face. "Roach can't keep it. It takes a long time to get a replacement," she whined. "You hafta tell him to give it back."
The sound of the backhand slap was loud as Nadine's head snapped to the side and the cigarette smacked into the wall by Olivia's head in a shower of sparks. Olivia quickly stomped the embers before they could catch fire. The apartment may not be much, but it was better than the alternative. Living on the streets wasn't something she wanted to experience again anytime soon. She shuddered. Especially not in the neighborhoods that Momma frequented for her "job."
Her movement caught Sly's attention, and he grinned broadly. He shoved Nadine out of the way and strutted into the room. Olivia drew back against the wall, keeping Jayden behind her. "Well, well, well. Little Miss O-liv-i-a." He drew out her name into four distinct syllables. It sent tendrils of disgust up her spine. Jayden sensed her unease and clung to her back with a whimper of fear.
"She's lookin' good, Nadine. Real good. When are you gonna let me take her for a test drive?"
Momma stared at her daughter with a half snarl on her bloody lip. Jealousy burned in her watery eyes, and she growled. "You ain't. She's too young, and I need her to watch the feeb." Changing her tactics, she leaned against the man and ran her fingers up his chest. "You don't want her, Sly baby. You got a real woman right here," she purred. "Livy doesn't know anything about how to please a man. I know what you like. I'll make you feel real good."
He glanced at Olivia again, licking his lips lewdly. "I'll teach her everything she needs to know. My, but she looks sweet enough to lick like a candy cane."
Olivia's revulsion grew, and she turned away. Sly laughed loudly. "Don't worry, O-liv-i-a; I'll get my taste soon. Your Mama is getting behind on her payments. Soon, she won't have a choice." His heated gaze stayed on her a moment longer then spun around to address Nadine. "I gotta get to Roach. I better find you at work when I get there." He stalked out of the room with Momma following. Holding her breath, Olivia waited. The sound of a door slamming signaled that they were alone again.
"Livy, I'm thirsty."
The fearful whisper made her heart lurch. Reaching out, she smoothed down Jayden's tousled light brown curls and cupped his face. "I'll get you something to drink. Go back to bed."
Jayden was developmentally challenged because of the drugs coursing through his system while in-vitro. Though physically ten-years-old, mentally he was only five. Once, when Momma went into court ordered rehab, they lived with their great-aunt Natalie. For the first time in a long time, they had some normalcy in their young lives. Jayden was able to attend a school for special children, and the dedicated care had done wonders for him. In a warm and caring atmosphere, Jayden had bloomed. He discovered a love and a talent for art. Give him pencils, crayons or markers, and he could fill a page with beautiful renditions of things in his world. Unfortunately, when Nadine left rehab, she collected her children and disappeared into the underbelly of San Diego's slums. Even then, Jayden's talent flourished. Olivia's favorite was a graceful butterfly sitting on top of a broken bottle in their apartment complex yard. It amazed her how his adolescent fingers could bring forth such beauty and elegance with only a few strokes of colored pencils. The creature looked almost alive and ready to flutter away. Olivia had placed it on the refrigerator with a couple of pieces of tape so she could see it all the time. That had been a mistake. Apparently, Jay Denison also had a flair for art and seeing his son's drawing enraged Nadine. While Olivia was babysitting a neighbor's child for extra money, Nadine destroyed the drawing and took her anger out on her son. When Olivia got home, Jayden was a bloody mess on the floor, crying and rocking while Momma sat calmly at the table smoking and drinking. His blood was still visible on Momma's clothing. Olivia got him cleaned up, fed him the last of the toaster pastries and sent him to bed. Now the beloved picture was taped together and hidden along with her meager earnings for one day when she could finally take Jayden away from here. Livy figured it out long ago; Momma didn't want her children, but she didn't want anyone else to have them either. They were possessions to her. Toys that she jealously kept close to her as a belligerent five-year-old. It didn't hurt that they represented government money as well.
Fetching Jayden's water, she got him tucked into bed, picked up his crayons and hid them in his backpack. She kissed his cheek, and whispered, "I love you, Jaybug. I'm going to protect you, no matter what. Go to sleep and tomorrow we'll go to the park so you can draw more."
"Livy, I'm scared."
She forced a calm smile. "I know. I'm scared too, but as long as we are together, nobody can ever hurt us."