HOPE(6)

“Damon Wright.”

Penny remembered he’d told the gang members who he was. His name had scared them. She’d never known men to react like that.

He pushed her onto the sofa, grabbing her bag and throwing it to the floor. “Take a seat, Penny. You and I are going to have a little talk.”

Damon took a seat next to her on the sofa.

She moved along the sofa taking a seat at the farthest end. Penny had noticed his bruised knuckles, and she knew he was older than she.

He kept staring at her with a strange look on his face. Then he pulled a plastic carton out of his jacket. “Here, drink this.”

She glanced at the murky substance. The plastic carton didn’t surprise her. Plastic was one of the few materials that hadn’t degraded over time.

“What is it?”

“A drink that you’d better not know what went in it.”

Penny sipped the liquid and tried not to choke on the foul taste. What the hell was it?

“It tastes like shit, but it is better than trying to drink the water here.”

She rubbed her chin when a few drops fell down.

“What are you doing here, Penny?” he asked.

Shrugging her shoulders, she didn’t look at him.

He caught her face with a finger under her chin. She tried to fight his hold.

“Don’t even think about fighting me, Penny. Killing you would be no hardship and save me a shit-load of worry. Look at me.”

Biting her lip, she turned to look at him.

“I know you’re a runaway, and I need to know if some men will be looking for you. Are you from Don’s territory? What trouble are you in?”

The questions were too much, and the tears began to leak out of her eyes. She’d kept her tears at bay for so long she couldn’t stop the ones that started to fall.

“I’m sorry,” she said, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Don’t be sorry.”

Then he did something she’d never thought a man was capable of. He leaned over and pulled her in close. His arms circled her, not sexually, but to offer her comfort.

The tears fell thick and hard. She couldn’t stop herself. It was like a dam had opened inside her. She was away from her family, and in her own way, she was safe. He stroked her hair, tugging the long strands off her face.

She cried until it hurt her head and her stomach.

“Shh,” he said.

He rocked her in his arms. The comfort meant the world to her. She never wanted to leave his arms, and in that moment Penny knew he would always protect her. She didn’t know how she knew it, only that she did.

After several minutes passed, she climbed out of his lap. She needed to tell him something. Not all of it but enough to keep him at bay.

“I’m from Ben Grimes’s area,” she said.

“He’s a nasty piece of work.”

“You’ve heard of him.”

“I work for Don Michaels. I know all the area leaders.”

She nodded her head feeling like a fool.

“Did you petition Don to move here?” he asked.

Penny shook her head. “I have to petition?”

“When you move from one area to another you have to. Those are the rules.”

“They still have rules? I didn’t know. I thought the rules were gone with everything else.”

“You’ll need to see Don. He could throw you back into your area.”

She shook her head. There was no way she could go back there.

“I know you’re a runaway, Penny. Who are you exactly?” he asked.

“I’m a no-one,” she said. She’d been told she was no-one for enough time. A woman was a no-one. They were only good to serve a man in the bedroom and in the kitchen.

She’d heard her papa tell her mother so many times she’d lost count. He’d tried to tell her how her world was going to be all the time. She’d gotten out of there before he had chance to finally send her off.

“Will your family come looking for you?” he asked.

“I don’t think so.”

Damon rubbed his eyes. She stared at his knuckles feeling the colour leave her as she looked.

He caught her looking. “You better get used to it, Penny. Life in the city is nothing like being part of a family. While you’re part of a family, you’re working on the farm, but here, nothing comes easy. You need to find a place for yourself, and a girl like you will be useful to fuck. There is nothing else out here for you.”

“I’m happy to do anything I can, but I’m not going to sleep with anyone.”

“We’ll see.” He kept staring at her. She ran her fingers through her hair to try to occupy her crazy thoughts.

“Do you have any idea what kind of world you’ve entered?”