I'm saved by Charlotte Everly. She let me spend the night at her house in the living room. Yesterday was a mix of emotions for me. I found out that my family never visited me in prison because they were scared of me. I couldn't go back home. Charlotte takes me out for lunch, which I am very thankful for. We got to know each other and she seems like a great person. Then, this random girl suddenly recognizes me and tells Charlotte the truth about me. I don't know which one felt worse, my family kicking me out, or losing Charlotte.
I didn't lose her though, she came back to me and gave me another chance. She told me everyone deserves a second chance and it's not too late to change. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone changes. She makes me want to smile. This is the most love I've ever felt from someone in a long time.
Yesterday when she ran up to me, she told me "Don't go"
"Why?" I slowly turned to her with a tear drop from my eyes "Don't you know that I'm Vick Cross? The man who brutally killed dozens of people just to get ahold of one person! The man who manipulated multiple little boys and girls to let them get taken by a bunch of old men!!!" I shouted. I was very angry with myself and I began punching myself in the face repeatedly.
"Nate, stop!!" Charlotte hugs me tightly "Vick" she finally calls my real name "I know what you did was terrible," she says. "It is, so why come back?" I ask. It took her a few seconds to form a sentence "Everyone deserves a second chance. You're not the same person you were before, and I want to help you find a way to make things right. I know you can do better than before. I know you can, Vick" she says.
I've never felt this way before. I've never felt so loved or so warm. Charlotte's arms wrap tightly around my body, bringing me hope I thought was gone. For the first time in decades, I feel like someone understands me. Her kindness makes me believe that maybe I can still change and find a way to make things right.
TRAUMA OF '89
VOLUME 1, CHAPTER 5, NEIGHBORHOOD TABLE
In the house, Charlotte and I sit at the dining table as her mother distracts Carson in the living room. "I was forced into crime," I said "A gang and their leader, Haney, forced me into luring boys and girls from a school in Houston to the side of a van, where they jumped out of the vehicle and grabbed the victim"
"That's sickening" Charlotte reveals a disgusted and worrying face. "Sometimes, they would force me to even come home with the boy or girl, where they'd break into their house and kill the victim's entire family, kidnapping only the kids" I continued "I was forced to help murder dozens of families"
"Why did you do it? Why didn't you just run away, Vick? You had a choice, didn't you!? Why didn't you go to the police!? God, this makes me sick!" Charlotte shouts. I know she's disappointed in me.
"Before I was forced into helping the gang, I was a victim. I didn't get lured by the gang or anything, but I was here in Austin minding my own business walking home from school until suddenly a van pulled up next to me. I was grabbed and taken in the van where they stripped me and touched me" I tell her "When they took me to their warehouse, they began hurting me; beating me. I was being used as a toy"
Charlotte covers her mouth "That's horrible"
"I know. I was only eighteen, not a minor, but it didn't matter because no one deserves to go through that" I formed a fist "Haney then showed me a picture of my little sister and threatened to kill my entire family and kidnap her. Of course, I screamed and cried for them to stop, but they won't of course. So I thought about offering to help them in their crimes by luring boys and girls with my looks because I was handsome. They took the offer, but they said if I called the police or tried to escape, they wouldn't hesitate to take my little sister away and kill me"
I stop talking as the house goes quiet. I look in the living room to find the mother and Carson gone. "I'm so sorry that this happened to you," Charlotte says "No one deserves to go through something like that"
"Yeah," I replied "It was a traumatizing experience. That basically fucked up my entire life"
"I'm so sorry you had to endure such pain. But, you're safe now, and things will get better. The both of us will figure this out together, and I believe things will be okay" She stands up from the chair and walks around the table to me. She crouches down and hugs me tightly again. Her arms wrap around me. Oh my God, it feels so good. I hope this change will last forever. I hope she will stand by my side forever and erase my past trauma.
That's all that went down yesterday. Right now, I'm sitting upright on the couch with the blanket covering my legs. I had a comfortable place to sleep last night. If I hadn't met Charlotte, I'd most likely be on the streets. I open my wallet and count my money. Fifty-two dollars. Maybe there are cheap hotels nearby. But, no, I have Charlotte now. I don't deserve what she's giving me, though. She's so sweet and so kind, even when I'm a criminal. She forgave me and believed in me that I could change.
"Is that all you have?" She scares me from behind "Woah! You scared me!" I shout. She chuckles. I didn't laugh, but I wanted to. "The world really hasn't been kind to you, huh?" She sighed. "I mean, why wouldn't it," I say. She places her hands on my shoulders "Oh!" She let us go "I got a mail last week about a restaurant!" She walks over to the kitchen counter "They said they're hiring! Maybe this can be the first step in getting you back to your civilian life!"
She handed me the paper as I read the name of the restaurant "The Neighborhood Table" I read "I've never heard of this restaurant before. "That's because it's a new business, a family-owned restaurant. I'm sure they'll take you in, even with a difficult past" Charlotte says. "Okay" I read the mail one more time until "Okay, let's do it"
"Okay, but before we head over there, I have to use the bathroom" Charlotte leaves. I turn around to see Carson appear while rubbing his eyes. Charlotte told me he was nine years old.
"Do you know how to make a robot?" He asked me. "Not really, why?" I replied. I'm a bit confused as to why he's asking me such a question. It's ridiculous and it makes me almost want to laugh. "I wanna build one" he replied. "Why?" I asked. He finishes his eye-rubbing session and shrugs "I don't know"
I'm not sure how to act now. Maybe I should just go along with it "Well, okay, I'll help you build one, only if you buy the parts"
"Sounds good" Carson smiles. I've never actually talked to a kid in thirty years, this is crazy. I expected them to act like a brat.
THE NEXT DAY
"Okay, here's your new job!" Charlotte drops me off in front of "The Neighborhood Table". "Wait, is today the interview?" I ask. "No, I told you, all we had to do is apply online and send your interview video" Charlotte chuckles.
Oh God, why is everything online? It's so confusing. "Put this on" she hands me a nurse mask. "Oh yeah, I forgot there's a virus" I take it, step out of the car, and slowly walk towards the restaurant. The car suddenly honks as I jump. Charlotte gives me a smile with a thumbs up. I sighed and opened the door to the restaurant "Welcome in!!" A girl's voice was heard. I head to the counter "My name is Vick Cross and I applied online for a job here" I say.
"Hold on, let me get my dad," She said. I sighed and couldn't believe that she didn't recognize the name. I look at the restaurant's interior design. There are square tables scattered around with four chairs. A plant in a pot around the restaurant for design. Ceiling- "Hey, Vick Cross!" He said in an accent.
"Yeah, I applied online" I reply. "Okay, okay, you eighteen?" He asks. What? Do I not look forty? I mean I guess it's considered rude to assume someone's age, but eighteen?? "Yeah, I'm forty-nine?" I say with a questioning tone of confusion. "Okay, yeah! You good! Come on, let's go!" He points at the kitchen with a smile. I walk with him to the kitchen as he introduces himself "I'm Fernando Lopez, we started this restaurant a few weeks ago, haha"
He seems like a friendly person. I was always told that managers were always rude. Maybe it's because it's a new century or maybe it's a family-owned restaurant. "I'd love to talk to you more, but we need to get to work, can you help me with dishes? Yeah? Okay"
He talks weirdly, I thought. But it's unique. He leaves me with the dishes. I look around the kitchen to get used to my surroundings. It's not that cramped in here, it's like a McDonald's kitchen. Speaking of McDonald's, what the heck happened to the colors in their building? It's all gray. I continue looking around the kitchen, spotting two girls and two boys. Oh God, I'm getting nervous. I turn back to the sink and turn on the water. I picked up a dirty dish and began scrubbing it with a sponge.
Later in the evening, I get picked up by Charlotte "How was work?"
"It was… interesting" I reply "It was tiring, but I got the work done. Uhm, the manager was nice and very interesting" I say. "Good, good" Charlotte smiled. The conversation continues until I notice a black car behind us. It's been following us for quite a while. "Hey, do you think the car behind us is following us?"
"Why?" Charlotte asks. "We turned three times," I answered "Turn one more time," I said. At the intersection, she turns right. We both check the mirrors as the same car turns with us. "Maybe you're just paranoid?" she laughs nervously. "I don't know," I say "I'm a bit of an overthinker, so let's stop the car at the McDonald's down this street"
We enter the McDonald's parking lot and park the car in a parking spot in the parking lot. The car passes McDonald's as we both sigh "I think you were just overthinking" Charlotte says. "Yeah, but you thought they were following us too, right?" I asked. "Yeah," she responds. We backed up and drove out of the parking lot. I look around the streets for the same black car. "Clear," I said. We drove out of the parking lot and onto the streets.
TOMORROW
It's day two. I get dropped off by Charlotte as she wishes me good luck. As I enter the restaurant I am greeted with "Vick!! Hahahah!!" Fernando exclaims. "Oh, hi" I greeted back while walking in the kitchen "I got your new uniform! Here see!" He points at the counter with folded clothes placed down.
"Thank you so much," I said. "Of course! And you, Ella, here's yours!" he points at another folded clothes. I turn to find a woman standing next to me. I didn't even see her walk in. What? She thanks Fernando and grabs her clothes. I do the same and head to the bathroom to change.
Later, they put me on taking customer's orders with Ella. Me and I are in the same situation. We're both new, so we don't have anyone to talk to here. I take a look at her; she looks familiar. Like I've seen her from somewhere. She looked back at me "May I help you?" she asked. "Oh, no, sorry" I responded "You just look familiar. Have we met somewhere?" I ask her. She turns her full body towards me and looks at me from top to bottom "Nope" she answered. I swear I've seen her before. As I turn back to face the cash register, she comments "Gonna be a long day"
"Yeah, I know" I responded "What are you gonna do after work?" I asked. "Go home, take care of my kids, then go to my next job" she answered. Next job? Meaning she has two jobs? "You have two jobs?" I ask. "Yeah," She answers "Ever since covid spread here in Austin, it's been real hell for me. My husband recently passed away due to the virus, which left me having to take care of the kids on my own and pay for the house on my own. So I'm basically in a lot of debt after my husband's passing, and having two jobs is the only way I can survive and support my family"
Right there, I felt really bad for her. I know how it feels to lose a loved one and lose everything because I lost myself a long time ago. I even lost my family a few days ago. We're both fighting to survive in a world that seems stacked against us. It's strange but seeing someone else going through their own pain makes me feel less alone. Maybe, just maybe, we could help each other go through this dark period together. "I'm sorry for your loss, Ella. You didn't have to tell me that" I said.
"It's okay. I can't hide this feeling forever" she replied "This whole world is so cruel and full of shit" she said with a laugh. I agree with her. I've been feeling that way about the world for decades now. I wish we could do something to make the world a better place. Stricter laws? Death penalty for all crimes? I don't know, but I wish we could restart somehow. "What about you? What brings you to work here?" she asked. "I just…" I don't wanna tell her about my past. I'm going to have to, though. "I was forced into crime when I was eighteen. A group of gangs kidnapped me and made me help them in their operations" I said. She feels trustworthy to know my past.
"Really?" she asked "That's so… awful," she said. I continued "Yeah. I got caught a few weeks later and was thrown into prison. And now here I am"
"That's so awful compared to mine" she comments. "No," I said "Don't compare our pain. We've both been through hell, just in different ways. What matters is that we're still standing and trying to find a way to heal ourselves"
"Thank you" was all I heard. Suddenly, the door opens. We both get ready to take in orders.
A trio of men walks into the restaurant. The front man comes up to me. I'm kind of disturbed. Who are these men? What do they want? "May I take your order?" I asked. The three just stared at me "Do you know them?" Ella asked. "No" I answered. "Are you Vick?" The man spoke. His deep voice gave me shivers. "Yeah, why?" I asked. Suddenly, the man takes out a note with a writing in it. He places it down on the counter as the trio walks out of the restaurant.
"What does it say?" Ella asked. I pick up the note and read the following "Meet us at Pfluger Bridge at 8:00 P.M or we'll meet Charlotte instead" I gasp as my tears fall. Meet Charlotte? Who are they? What do they want? Am I being threatened... again? How did they know my name? What will happen if I go there? What will happen if I don't?
I turn to the back to find Charlotte's address written down. "Ch- Charlotte's in danger!!" I shouted. "Charlotte? Who is that!? What did the note say!?" Ella shouts. She snatches the note from me and quickly reads it. She turned to me, but I was long gone. I bust through the restaurant doors as I rush back to Charlotte's house. I have to find her, I have to make sure she's okay.
I breathed heavily as I ran through the sidewalk. Everyone stares at me weirdly, but I need to get to Charlotte immediately. "Charlotte!! Charlotte!!!" I cried out.
TO BE CONTINUED....