HOME AWAY FROM HOME

    Alice Montgomery stepped out of the rusty blue truck in front of the church and thanked the old man. He was nice. He picked her up a few hours back and bought her some McDonald's when he heard her stomach growling. Some of the other drivers weren't so nice but she knew how to handle herself. She was 14 years old but far from a child. She could defend yourself against perverts. It took her almost a week but she was finally here, Somerville.      A couple years ago she was on the library computer and looked up small town living on Google. She didn't want to read about these beautiful places that she would never get to see. She just wanted to check out the pictures. She wanted to save them in her mind so when she needed an escape she could use her imagination and just imagine what these beautiful places would be like. She would think about how the townspeople would have little fairs and carnivals. She would think about how everyone would come out and participate in town events all the while smiling and laughing with their families. A fat town mayor would step up to a podium placed in the middle of a beautiful gazebo and announce to the entire town some fantastic insignificant news that the entire town would find wonderful. They could all clap and congratulate each other.      She didn't need to read news articles about the places which would odds are just print something bad about them. She had enough bad in her life, she didn't need to be reading about it. What she needed was a place to go when the world around her just got too loud.      Alice Montgomery was the second daughter of the town junkie. She was the younger sister of a prostitute who was barely old enough to vote. It didn't matter that she didn't get into too much trouble herself. It didn't matter that she managed to get good grades, more or less. All that mattered was that she was going to end up like her sister and then eventually, like her mother. The whole town was convinced and treated her accordingly.      She needed those pictures. She needed those pictures when she got home from school and her mom was trashed out on the couch. She needed those pictures when her sister had 'friends' over and asked her to go do her homework in the backyard. Those pictures and her Imagination was all she had. She pictured herself standing in front of the Gazebo watching the fat old mayor climb the steps and patting his sweaty forehead with a napkin before addressing the small crowd. She pictured herself smiling and clapping with the crowd as he announced the news.      It was just her luck that when she was dropped off at the church it was Sunday morning when church was letting out. She had no idea it was Sunday. She also had no idea what time church let out, but from the small group of people coming out of the church she realized mass has just ended. Why else would a group of people be exiting a church at the same time.      They all saw her though they acted like they didn't. The whole town walked right by the 14 year old girl who had knots in her hair and wearing dirty clothes. She probably smelled too. They all saw her but they didn't know she would be emerging herself back into the community soon as Mr. and Mrs. Jensen's great grand-niece.      Antonio and Mary Ann Jensen were both in their 60s. They were the best thing to ever happen to her though at the time she didn't know it. She was sitting on the church steps for almost an hour wondering what to do now. It had taken her almost a week hitchhiking to get here and she puts so much forethought into how to get here that she really didn't think about what to do once you was here. She was a fourteen-year-old girl with nowhere to go, nothing to eat and no money in her pocket. That was when the Jensens' walked out of church talking to the priest.      Mary Ann saw her first then gestured to her husband and priest. That was the day they changed her life. It wasn't easy for them. She wasn't the most trusting person in the world but they finally convinced her to go home with them. Mostly because they offered a shower and some food. She only said yes because it was a chance to get clean.  Plus I would be able to check out their house and see if there was anything worth stealing. I might be able to pawn something and get a few bucks in her pocket to figure out her next move. She remembered thinking. It was summer so she figured at least she'd be able to sleep on the beach. When they got back to their small two bedroom home they offered her food and their guest bedroom for as long as she needed it.      The first time Antonio Jensen brought her clothes she looked at him suspiciously. Men did not buy clothes for girls unless they wanted something in return. Her sister taught her that. For days she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. She was waiting for Antonio to come into her room while Mary Ann was sleeping, but he never came. Every morning, she would wake up and look around for something that was off. She would walk down the stairs following the smell of breakfast that Marie Ann had made them. She would walk into the dining room to their smiling faces and food, real home-cooked food, sitting on the table. This was just like one of her daydreams except in her daydreams her mother's parents would come and rescue her from her life.      After a few weeks and a completely new wardrobe they convinced her to go back to school. While she was debating on trusting them, they were thinking up of a story to tell the town that would explain a teenager living with them full time. I finally had to ask why they were helping me and what they wanted in return. They both sat her down and told her that Marie Ann was not able to have any children. They said they had prayed for so long but that no matter what they did she was never able to carry a child to term. All they had ever wanted was children in their young married life and then grandchildren as they got older. They said that was the reason why they were helping her. They said she was their chance. At that moment, she realized, they were her chance as well. They could do this, together. That was when she decided to go back to school.      Antonio made up a long lost family member with only one living relative. He told her it was something that nobody would questions so she went with it. She didn't have any problems lying to complete strangers. She liked it here and she had every intention of staying. One Monday morning, the three of them walked into the school and with every confidence in the world told the lie and got her into classes. That was that.      It didn't take her long to start calling them mom and dad. She wanted them to be her parents. She wanted to have some biological link to these people that completely transformed her life. The sun rose and set on them and she did everything she could to be the perfect daughter for them. She studied hard. She never misbehaved at school or at home. She went with them every Sunday to church even though she was never very religious. Her mom even tried to tell her that God was the one that brought her to them. She just smiled back at the lovely woman. He didn't bring her to them, she thought. A single photo of the town square online, a lot of guts, a few pawned items and rides from questionable people brought her to them. She didn't want to argue with her mom though so she let it go.      When she turned 16, as a birthday present, her parents announced that they had official adopted her. Once again they both sat her time, which started to became their routine when they needed to tell her something, and told her that they tracked down her real mom. At first, her heart dropped. She thought they were giving her back. That they didn't want her anymore and she didn't understand why. She was good. She got really good grades at school. She wasn't dressing all provocative like some of the other girls did at school. She wasn't a virgin anymore, but they didn't know that. That had happened before she had ever arrived here. She never even had a boyfriend here. She was always home before curfew. Why didn't they want her?      When she started to silently cry they realized what was going through her head and quickly corrected it by telling her she wasn't going anywhere. They said that her biological mother had died of an overdose over a month ago. Her sister was over the age of 18 and since they had her down as a runaway the matter was close to the locals. That was when they handed over a folder filled with paperwork. They have gone through the proper channels and had officially adopted her. She was now legally Ally Jensen. It was the happiest day of her life. No more lying. No more waiting for the other shoe to drop. She was theirs and they were hers. That was when she started to cry for an entirely different reason.