Cracks

Chapter 19 City of closed doors

Slowly the girl found her own rhythm in life. She learned the route from her mother's apartment to Vincent's house and she could find her way to the carshop from there.

Her mother didn't seem to care much what she did with her time or where she was, as long as Ray brought her back in the evening after his shift had ended.

The carshop became her home and the boys and men that worked there were the family that raised her.

If anyone ever found it strange to see a six year old wander the streets alone, the girl was unaware of it, but no one ever stopped her.

Every now and then, the same woman visited her mother's house. She walked around, looked in and behind cabinets, checked the trash, and spoke with her mother. Then she checked on Alyssa herself before leaving again.

The girl wasn't sure why the woman was there. She didn't like it much. In the past, whenever the woman had come, Alyssa had to go live somewhere else. She didn't want to go somewhere else. She wanted to stay here, close to Ray.

Her mother didn't seem to like the woman much either. The woman made her nervous, and whenever she had left, Alyssa was forgotten or shooed away.

Sometimes, her mother brought her to Vincent's house. Vincent didn't like it when she was there, but as long as she stayed in Ray's room, he didn't get angry with her.

Other people visited Vincent's house too. Alyssa sometimes watched through the crack in the door. Those people looked a lot like the people that used to visit her mother's house. That was when the man still lived there too. He didn't live there now and Alyssa was glad about it. There wasn't so much noise now.

Today she was sitting in Marco's office in the carshop with Darren. He was trying to teach her how to pick a lock. Now she knew what the strange tweezers and needles were for that Ray kept in his room.

It was difficult, but it was also fun.

"Thirty seconds," Darren pressed his stopwatch, "two seconds faster than last time, kiddo, but you have a long way to go. Do you practice at home?"

The girl shook her head. "I don' have no tweezers at home. Mommy has one, but it's too big."

"Tweezers?" Darren chuckled, "this ain't no tweezer, little one. These are lock picks."

Alyssa pouted. "They look like tweezers. And I ain't little."

Darren laughed again. "Well, not as little as you were before. But you should really practice at home. I'll get you your own set of lock picks, yeah? How about it? When you're good enough, you can join me and your brother on an adventure."

"Trying to corrupt the kid, Darren?" Marco leaned in the doorway, wiping his hands on a greasy cloth. He smirked at them. "I wonder what Ray will have to say about that."

Daren snorted. "He left her with me while he went on a job. He'll thank me for this later. I'm teaching her practical stuff."

Marco scoffed. "Go do it somewhere else. I need my office."

Darren turned to Alyssa. "You heard the man, kid, let's go."

Alyssa slid from the chair and followed Darren out of the office. "When's Ray comin' back?" she asked.

"He'll be back when he finished his job," Darren answered, "don't worry, he won't forget about you."

"But I'm hungry," Alyssa whined.