Sabrina
“He went in this direction,” I told Annie, pointing. We were standing at the edge of the parking lot of Black Satin, just feet away from the blood stains from that horrid encounter. I couldn’t stop imagining Butch sitting on the ground, holding his stomach.
I would never forget it.
It was the next day, and Butch was still in the hospital, recovering. I hoped he’d be released today. In the meantime, I was trying to help Annie find her brother.
We hoped that if it was just the two of us, we’d appear less threatening to him. He was clearly skittish.
Annie set off down the road, and I followed, my eyes scanning our surroundings. I wasn’t sure what we were looking for, but I hoped we’d find Lance. Annie was desperate to find him and bring him home with her. She wanted to know he was safe.
There was a warehouse across the street, but it appeared to have been sitting unused for a long time. It was boarded up, so I assumed he couldn’t be in there. There were trees lining the road beyond the warehouse, and there was a graffitied overpass ahead. Annie picked up speed as she headed in that direction, a determined look on her face. I picked up my pace to keep up.
As we got closer, I saw three tents set up on the white rock that covered the ground. They all looked old and threadbare. There was a barrel set up that had thin tendrils of smoke drifting upward and an empty shopping cart.
This had to be a homeless camp.
Annie moved even faster, arriving at the first tent and opening it. She poked her head inside, but drew back just seconds later.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing?” a man’s gruff voice called out from within.
Annie grimaced. “I’m so sorry. I’m looking for my brother.”
“Get outta here!”
Annie scrambled away from the tent and went to the next one. This time, she was a little more careful when she approached.
“Hello?” she called out, giving the tent a shake. “Is anyone in there?”
When there was no answer, she opened it and looked inside.
“Empty,” she said.
“Third time’s the charm,” I said, following her to the third tent. This one was the most damaged of the three, with a hole on the top and ripping along one seam.
“Lance? Are you in there?” Annie asked, shaking the tent gently.
There was a groan from within.
“Lance? If that’s you, answer me!”
The tent shuddered as there was movement from the occupant, then the flap was unzipped. Lance peeked out, looking frightened. I could see blood stains on his shirt from the night before. Hopefully, he didn’t even realize he’d killed a man. It was self-defense, but it was impossible to know how his fragile mind would handle it.
“Lance, do you remember who I am?” Annie asked, kneeling on the ground in front of the tent. I could practically feel the relief coming off her in waves. She still had a lot of work ahead with Lance, but at least she had finally found him.
“Annie?” Lance asked, leaning forward to look closer.
Annie let out a strangled sound that sounded like a combination of a laugh and a sob. “Yeah, I’m Annie. I’m your sister, and I’ve missed you so much.”
At the sight of the tears streaming down his sister’s face, Lance seemed to decide that she wasn’t a threat to him. Leaning his upper body out of the tent, he wrapped his thin arms around her.
There was more crying, and I was starting to feel like a third wheel. They were reconnecting and, despite the sadness of the situation, it made me wish that I had siblings. I placed a hand on my belly, something that I found myself doing all the time, even though I wasn’t showing. I was obsessed with just knowing my baby was in there. Butch and I hadn’t discussed it yet, but I hoped that he wanted a bunch of kids like me.
When they pulled away, there was a smile on Lance’s face that made him look years younger, despite the scruffy beard. He looked happy and relieved. I knew that Annie had said that he turned to the streets because he didn’t want to take his schizophrenia medication, but it must have been so hard for him to live with the voices in his head, unable to distinguish between what was real and wasn’t.
“You were gone, long gone for so long. I thought they got you and took you away. Did they?”
Lance was holding each side of Annie’s face as he talked, and she looked sad, but not surprised.
