Maggie had two weeks before she began working at Double Visions. In the meantime, she spent her days and evenings meeting men at the “apartment.” The hours between four and seven o’clock in the evening were quiet, and she spent much of that time with Seth at the library. Just as she thought, Seth was a smart boy who only needed someone to teach him. In a few short weeks, he’d already shown his capacity to learn new things.
“Aggie, do you remember what your mom and dad look like?” Seth asked her one day.
“Sort of. I mean, I do remember, but it was a long time ago. Why?” she asked.
“’Cause I can’t remember my mom and dad at all. Do you think they loved me?” he asked.
“Are you kidding? Who wouldn’t love you?” Maggie grew serious. “I’m certain they loved you, and they still love you.”
“Then hows come they never look for me?” he wondered aloud.
“We don’t know they haven’t looked for you. In fact, I’m sure they did. But you were too little when John William stole you from them. You don’t remember where you lived. A while ago, I looked to see if I could figure out where your parents live. But I couldn’t find them anywhere around here,” she told him.
“Maybe they moved,” Seth offered.
“You might be right. But maybe you weren’t born around here. We don’t know what your last name is, and that makes it really hard to find them,” Maggie said softly, pulling him closer to her.
“Do you think if we ever find them, they’ll want me to go back and live with them?” he asked.
“Of course. You’re their son,” she stated, believing she was telling Seth what he wanted to hear.
“Well, I hope they never find me then. I don’t want to leave you and Juju and go live with them. I don’t even know them. You won’t let them take me away, will you?” he begged.
“Seth. Even if your mom and dad were to find you, we’ll always be family,” she said, trying to reassure him.
“If your mom and dad find you, will you go live with them?” Seth asked.
“I haven’t thought about them finding me in a long time, Seth. I mean, I don’t know what I’d do. I’ll be eighteen years old soon. I’m almost an adult.” Maggie gave it serious thought for a moment. “You know what? Maybe I would go live with them if I knew Rock wouldn’t do anything to hurt us,” she said.
“What would happen to me, then?” he asked, fear creeping into his voice.
“You’d come with me, of course!” she said sincerely.
“But what about Juju? Would she come with us too?” he asked, wringing his fingers together and looking over at Juju to see if she was worried too.
“Sure. We’d all go together,” Maggie pledged.
Maggie didn’t want Seth to worry. The bullies at school were enough for him to handle.
“Hey, how are the kids at school treating you?” Maggie asked, realizing that he hadn’t mentioned them lately.
“They haven’t been bothering me as much since Joey punched one of them in the nose,” Seth said, giggling.
Maggie laughed with him. Hearing how Joey had stuck up for Seth gave Maggie some comfort. At least he had one person on his side at school. Maggie worried about him all the time. She was intimately aware of the trauma Seth had lived through with John William and all the strange men. He’d been broken as a small child, before he had even developed a mind of his own.
“Good ol’ Joey. She doesn’t take crap from anyone,” Juju piped up.
Seth, Maggie, and Juju met Joey every day before school started, just as Maggie had promised her. In the beginning, Joey had an easier time with Thelma then Seth ever had, but as time went on, Thelma became more abusive toward her. Joey simply dismissed the verbal assaults, but some mornings she had fresh bruises on her arms or face.
Once, when Joey had a black eye, Maggie pulled her aside.
“What happened? Did Thelma do this to you?” she asked.
“Yep. She’s a crazy bitch,” Joey announced casually.
“I’m sorry, Joey,” Maggie had offered, feeling personally responsible for the child’s living situation.
“It’s OK. One of the girls that I used to live with, in the place where you got me from…she used to beat me up all the time. Then, one of the older girls taught me how to fight when everyone else was asleep. So the next time that girl hit me, I kicked the shit out of her. And, like I told ya before, it’s better than those old men havin’ sex with me. I’ll take a couple of slaps and punches if it means I ain’t doin’ that no more,” Joey had explained.
“Aggie?” Seth whispered softly, interrupting Maggie’s thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“I think someday I’m gonna marry Joey,” he said with a mischievous smile.
“Seriously, dude, this is the shit you think about?” Juju teased.
“What Juju means is that you’re ten years old. We think you have plenty of time to figure that out,” Maggie explained, shooting Juju a scolding look.
“OK,” he giggled, “but I’m tellin’ ya, someday she’s gonna marry me.”
Maggie hoped that one day they’d all be happy. Maybe they’d each get married and have children of their own in a place where drugs and sex didn’t dominate. She had high hopes for all of them and believed the day would come when they could say good-bye to the mean streets of Kensington.