“What do I have to do to live here?”Candace asked.
“Go to school, get good grades, don't be an asshole or a druggie,” Pear said.“No men or boys in the house.Don't steal from others and be kind.You will have a list of chores to help out with and responsibilities.”
“And you?Am I expected to service you?”Candace asked to both Helen and Pear's shocked faces.
“I don't get down like that,” Pear said.“Cranberry, will you help her get settled in if you have the time?”
“No problem,” Helen said as Pear left the room.“Jesús child!I'm so sorry for everything you've been through.My friend is a good person.She will take care of you here.”
“That's what they said to me as well,” Candace muttered.“Then I found myself muff diving on a woman who could have been my grandmother.They kept me for women.Women!There are women out there who are much worse than the men.Three nasty years, lady.I got free by asking one of those ladies to take me for a nice dinner.She dressed me up like some demure sex doll and took me to a fancy place with white tablecloths.I went to the bathroom and climbed out the window.”
Helen sat on the bed.“How long have you been on the streets?”
“Three miserable weeks,” Candace said.“The cold is bad, and the hunger is worse; I thought shitting in a dark corner of an alley then wiping my ass with newspaper was my lowest point until today.The hunger took over, and I was willing to do anything for some food.”
“So, the grandmother type was your...pimp?”
“Swallowtail,” the girl said.“They called her Swallowtail.Deep voice, sounds like a man.Nasty woman.Mean.Horrible.Starves you then covered herself with food so we could eat it off her body.She would get so excited and well...just nasty.”
“You can stop talking,” Helen said.“The Swallowtail is here in Indianapolis?”
“No, around Detroit.I caught a bus to Indianapolis.I wanted to work my way to Florida.Year-round sun.A customer showed me a picture of her house.She wanted to buy me, but Swallowtail said I earned too much for her to let me go.”
She took a pause, then looked at Helen's pocket.She imagined the gun inside of it.
“If I tell you where they are, will you go shoot her too?”
“No, it doesn't work like that,” Helen said, “but if you tell me where they are, I just might.”
“They deserve to die with what they made us do,” Candace said with tears in her eyes.“Women doing that stuff to young girls.You wanna know the saddest part?Some of those girls, it was the closest thing to affection they knew and they ate it up.A few of the girls even had favorite customers because the women would always make them cum real hard then give them special treats.It was wrong.All of it was wrong.”
Helen opened her arms to the girl who, to her surprise, walked into the embrace.“Baby, Pear is a good person.She will take care of you.No harm will come to you on her watch.Now, let's get you a hot shower because you are ripe.”
The girl laughed and stepped away.Pear appeared at the door.Helen nodded her head.
“I have to roll and get some ice for my lip,” she said, asking Candace to pose so she could snap a photo for completion of the assignment.
“What happened to it, or should I ask,” Pear said, passing her an ice pack.
“Got backhanded by her trick,” Helen said.“Listen, if anything comes for any of you, call me and I will come with guns blazing.”
“I bet you will,” Pear said.“Good seeing you.”
“Good seeing you too, take care of each other; call me if you need me,” Helen said, making her way to the living room.The other two girls were watching her, and she gave them a nod.
Helen heard running feet as Candace came to the door to see Helen off.“You didn't tell me your name.”
“Cranberry.I am the protector of the defenseless and the women and children of the state of Indiana.My handle is The Cranberry.”
She hugged the girl once more, winked at Pear, and made her way to the SUV.Inside the vehicle, she pressed the ice pack to her lip.A scowl covered her face as she realized she now had to clean her weapon as well.
“That is going to put a damper on making that pie,” she said, but she had some important information.“The Chrysalis didn't only cater to men.Those bitches marketed to women as well.”
