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“I sure have,” Bobby said as he pulled out a comb and ran it over his bald, shiny head as if he was a model. The group broke out into laughter. Gloria and Bobby were two of the oldest residents at the shelter, always bickering but somehow inseparable.
Farther Brown smiled at Ava. “They really love you here. We are blessed that God sent you our way. ”
“It makes me happy to help, so I guess I’m the blessed one. But I’m also worried about Maria. I really, well…”
“I know, Ava,” Pastor Brown cut in and glanced at her as they walked. “I just want you to know that whatever happens is her choice. You just can’t save them all.”
Ava spotted Maria sitting quietly on a worn mattress, her legs folded up. She seemed shrunken, broken once more. Her skin was pale and the bruises on her face and arms were back again. Ava took in a deep breath.
“I can try,” she said to Father Brown as she strode up to Maria. She was as determined as ever to start her work with Maria from scratch, and to finally save her.
How can a body ache like this from exhaustion?
Ava’s eyes felt as heavy as stones when she finally left the shelter that evening. As she did during most of the drives back home, she thought about her father. He loved his work as a gardener, which was great, but he also was notorious for neglecting his doctor’s advice about taking things easy, and that worried her.
Hot summer air brought pearls of sweat onto her forehead. Her AC was busted, so she rolled down the windows. Luckily there was little traffic, so she was able to get back to the Radcliff estate without getting stuck for hours in traffic jams.
As usual, she parked outside the main gate and honked three times, the signal for her father to come out.
First five minutes passed, then ten… she wanted to honk again but she knew how much Lucy Radcliff hated when she did that and she didn’t want to get her father in trouble.
“Come on Dad...”
The car rattled steadily as she drove it a few feet closer to the golden gate in the hope he would see her, the engine spluttering as always. It wasn’t her intention to block the way, but as always in her life when things should not go wrong, they did. With an abrupt loud roar, the car stalled and died on her. She desperately turned the key, but nothing happened. The engine was as silent as the night. She stepped out to see if she could find her father. He might be able to bring another round of life into that old thing.
“Dad!” she shouted over into the garden’s direction. Nothing.
“He’s probably in the back,” she guessed as she walked up to the security system and dialed the staff. Nobody answered, so she hit the button again. BEEP BEEP.
“WHY IS NOBODY ANSWERING?” The voice of Lucy Radcliff suddenly fumed through the speaker phone.
Ava leaned closer into the camera.
“It’s Ava. Is my—”
“Ava who? If you are here for my son,I advise you to turn around and save yourself the heartache…”
Ava’s eyes and mouth opened wide, but no words came out. Her father had worked for the Radcliff’s his whole life. Ava had been raised on the estate. How did this woman not know who she was?
She was about to explain that she was here for her father when Lucy Radcliff already hung up on her.
“…Unbelievable…” Ava mumbled to herself as her brows drew together tightly. She wasn’t a judgmental person, but she really couldn’t stand the Radcliffs. Well, if Lucy Radcliff thought shecould make her wait here for hours, she was wrong.
Ava stomped to the gate and grabbed it high above her head with both hands. She then placed her foot onto one of the horizontal metal posts and pulled herself up. It didn’t take her long to climb to the top, literally hanging over the tip of the gate. At that point, out of nowhere, the darn thing started to open.
“AH!” she cried out as she tightened her grip to prevent a fall. The gate slowly opened wide, pushing her into the branches of the oak tree next to the gate’s brick wall. She didn’t even get the chance to see the sleek Porsche roll up. All she heard was that all too familiar voice of the very man she disliked more than all the other Radcliffs combined, which was saying something.
“Whose car is blocking my driveway?” Benjamin Radcliff yelled as he brought his hundred-thousand-dollar car to a stop. A long blast of his car horn pierced through the summer air, startling her so badly, she almost fell off the gate again.
“I’M COMING!” Ava snapped from out of the tree. She tried to climb down when she felt one of the branches pulling at her hair.
“Ava? Is that you?” Ben shouted over.
“Yes, just give me a moment. My hair is stuck.”
“What the hell are you doing up there?”
She ignored him and untangled her hair. When she had finally freed herself, a handful of hair missing, she didn’t bother climbing down all the way and jumped the final half.
