Chapter 7 - Alone

Robbin found herself in a small village far away from what used to be home. Tired, scared and hungry, she looked for a place to stay and food to eat. She hadn't slept properly in days and only survived on water from the river and wild fruits. As she walked through what seemed like a large farm, she tried her best not to draw attention to herself from the few workers scattered around. She seemed a little far from them.

She began heading towards the truck parked on a dirt road close to the farm. It was filled with baskets of farm produce. Relief washed over her as she began heading towards the truck, stopping suddenly as she heard the voices of a group of men who were standing awkwardly in front of the truck chatting. They were speaking a different language; she couldn't understand a word of what they were saying.

She looked around to see if someone was watching her. Luckily for her, there weren't many people around. Everyone was busy with work. She carefully watched as the men chatted and laughed, then quietly crawled into the back of the truck. Moving to the very end of the truck, she hid behind two large baskets piled with bananas. She picked a few and began hungrily devouring them, like an animal starved for days. She ate to her satisfaction a few minutes later, but dozed off due to tiredness and lack of sleep.

Robbin was startled by the movement of the truck. She must have slept for a while, she thought as she looked at the now darkening sky. What seemed like a few minutes of her taking a nap was in fact hours of lying in this cramped truck. She peered through some holes in the body of the truck. All she could see were rows and rows of trees. She picked up another fruit and began to eat it, getting lost in thought. She had lost everything. Where would she go? How would she survive without a family?

The truck arrived in a very busy city after what seemed like an hour or more; cars were blaring their horns, people were shouting, music was playing; it was such a cacophony of sounds that it pulled Robbin out of her thoughts and into the real world. It wasn't something new to her, but it felt different. She was alone.

The truck finally came to a halt at what seemed to be the back alley of a market. To avoid getting caught, Robbin made her way to the back of the truck. She tried to open the large doors to the truck but suddenly realized it was bolted shut from the outside. She watched in fear as one of the men walked up to the door and began opening the truck. In a split second, she came up with a plan.

Taking him by surprise, she jumped off the truck and onto the ground, narrowly missing him. She quickly picked herself up and began running, with no idea where she was headed, leaving behind angry voices yelling at her. She continued running until she was out of breath. Slowing down to catch her breath, she began to wonder what would become of her.

She was lost in a big city without food, water, or a place to sleep. She wanted to go back home. Tears began to flow down her face again. She had spent almost every day crying till she could no longer shed a tear, and when she thought she couldn't cry again, tears would flow freely like the cascading water of a fountain. She continued walking without a clue as to where she was headed. Her legs dragged on into the night, her mind lost and empty like a mindlessly hypnotized clone.

Robbin spent her days sleeping in unusual places; wherever she found refuge, it became her temporary home. She survived on food thrown out by people who didn't want it or food given to her by people who had pity on her.

Weeks turned into months, and soon it was a full year. She had lost track of time. Every day was a constant battle for survival. She was beginning to get the hang of surviving on the streets. It was a really dangerous way to live, but she had no choice. She slept in front of stalls, in public parks, in dark alleys, and in abandoned buildings. She was constantly scared of being attacked; she always slept with one eye open and a knife in her hand. She met other children who were living on the streets like her, but none of them was willing to help her. They all struggled for the little they could find, and sometimes the other kids would steal whatever she had. It was frustrating. She constantly missed her home and family. She missed her warm bed and her aunt's lovely cooking. On multiple occasions, she had gone after couples or individuals who looked like her uncle and aunt, calling after them only to realize they were truly gone and were never coming back to her.

Robbin sat at her usual spot at the end of a quiet street. It was slowly becoming her favorite spot. Safe? Well, relatively and hidden from passersby. Nobody could tell that she lived here, except the kind gentleman who came to give her some food and clothes almost every day. At first she was wary of him, but as time went by she learned to trust him. He was harmless. He was just a nice person who loved to help. People rarely came here because of how dark and spooky the place was, and she sometimes enjoyed scaring them even more.

Today was one of the hard days for her; her food got stolen again after hours of digging through a restaurant's trash, the kind gentleman didn't show up, and as if life was mocking her, it slowly began to drizzle. She sighed in frustration and anger and thought, "Why do I have to suffer so much?" With that thought came a heavy downpour. Nature was truly trying to mock her. She tried to hide in the little shelter she called home, but the flimsy boxes of old rags and nylons were no match for the heavy downpour. She sat still, shivering from the cold. She prayed the rain would stop and she'd find a warm place to shelter her from this cold night.

An hour later, it was already night. The downpour continued, accompanied by bright flashes of lightning and loud thunderclap.

"At least the view of the sky from here is nice," Robbin said, trying to cheer herself up a little.

Suddenly, she felt a presence around her, and a figure was illuminated by a lightning bolt. She was startled by his presence but relaxed when an umbrella was held over her head. With raindrops no longer touching her, she looked up to see the familiar bearded face of the nice gentleman, whose name she knew as Paul, holding an umbrella over her head, smiling. She smiled back in gratitude.

He said, in his usual deep but soft voice, "Come with me or you'll catch a cold."

Without much thought and without a word, she got to her feet. She did need a place to hide from the rain, and this kind man was an answer to her silent prayers.

As they walked down the street, she was glad it was this gentleman who always brought her food and called her sweet names. It would have been horrifying if a drunk, creepy stranger had found her on a night like this.

They arrived at his house, it had a small grey fence with a grey gate. He opened the gate and ushered her in. It was a small, grey bungalow, which lacked flowers or anything fancy. The exterior was bare and unaesthetically pleasing. They walked up a few concrete steps to the main door, which was grey.

Robbin looked around as he tried to open the door. "What is with this man and grey?" she wondered.

The interior of the house was painted black and white. The windows were covered with thick black curtains. The living room was neatly arranged, too neat for a man who lived alone. Robbin thought that he probably had a girlfriend. There was a small book shelf in the left corner of the room. He set the umbrella by the door while she stood awkwardly, watching him.

He looked up at her, smiled, and said, "Make yourself at home."

Her face dropped at the statement, but he failed to notice. He turned his back towards her and took his wet slippers off.

He said, "I'll go get you a towel and a change of clothes."

With that, he left her standing in the living room. He returned a few minutes later with a multicolored towel, a pair of black jeans, and a black-striped top.

He stretched them out to her, "These are kind of old; they belonged to one of my girlfriends, but you can have them."

Taking the clothes from him, she stared at them with uncertainty, then mumbled a small and almost inaudible "thank you."

He nodded. Excusing himself, he exited the living room.

She was a bit apprehensive, but she was also cold. She began to take her wet clothes off. She shivered as a small gust of wind hit her naked body. She quickly dried off her body with the towel, but unknown to her, Paul was silently watching. Hidden by the darkness, careful not to make a sound, his eyes took in her beautiful body, every curve, the hair on her skin that looked relaxed due to the rain. She seemed to glow under the dim light, and she looked more beautiful than when he first saw her. His throat suddenly felt dry as he took in the beauty of her naked body. He didn't want her to put her clothes on, and he waited a few minutes before stepping out into the living room. Robbin gasped at his sudden appearance, trying frantically to cover her half-naked body with her top.

He said a quick "sorry," hanging his head down, pretending to be ashamed of walking in on her but also trying to hide the smile that played on his lips. He walked into the kitchen and emerged with a bottle of soda and a package of chocolate cookie sandwiches. He set them down before Robbin, who was now fully dressed and seated. Taking her damp clothes off the floor, he exited the room, returning a few minutes later wearing only a pair of loose shorts and a T-shirt.

Robbin wondered at his choice of clothing despite the pouring rain, which was now beginning to ease up. He sat a little too close to her, which made her uncomfortable. She instinctively scooted away from him slightly. He reached for the pack of chocolate cookie sandwiches and handed her some, which she accepted appreciatively. Then he started pushing for a conversation, asking her questions about herself.

"You've known and interacted with me for a year, but I still don't understand why a beautiful young lady like you is homeless. You seem smart and intelligent. You ought to be treated like a princess. Tell me, Robbin, what happened?"

She smiled a little, staring right at him for the first time that night, then lowered her head and absentmindedly started at the floor. He continued speaking, but she paid little attention to him until he touched her a little, bringing her attention back to his face. She never actually paid much attention to his features. She hated staring too long at people, but due to their proximity on the sofa, she could see his full black beard, which connected with his moustache and was almost covering his whole face. One could barely see his big lips when they moved. His eyes were weird and droopy, giving him an almost sleepy look as they stared at her in a strange and rather unsettling manner.

She gulped and looked around the room instead of at him as she finally replied to his incessant questioning in a quiet voice, "My family is dead and I have nobody." I have no where to go. "

Feigning concern, he asked as he moved even closer to her, "How do you survive on the streets?"

"Living on the streets hasn't been easy. I've had to struggle to survive. Some days are bearable, others are horrible. I sometimes go without food or shelter. I've tried looking for jobs, but no one is willing to give a tattered-looking 16-year-old a job."

He sighed, "I work with a media company, I may be able to help. " He stated and with that Robbin was so elated and excited that she grabbed him in a hug while repeating the words "Thank you."

A few seconds later, she tried to pull herself out of his grasp, but he wouldn't let her go. Alarmed, she began to struggle. Instead, he tightened his grip around her, whispering in her ear, "Stop struggling, you'll enjoy this."

Not knowing what that meant, she became even more frightened. He took a hold of both her hands, confident in his strength. He was obviously stronger than a feeble 16-year-old. He was going to love this, she began trashing around as he flipped her over, her face buried in the soft cushions, muffling her cries and screams. Grasping her body, he put his full weight on her, limiting her air supply. With one hand, he tried to take her top off as she struggled against his grip. He realized how difficult it would be to take her top off, he roughly flipped her over to face him. He stared at her with an animalistic hunger then began kissing her violently, still straddling her, his weight pinning her to the sofa as he sucked on both her lips like a salivary vacuum. Tears ran down her cheeks as she suddenly stopped struggling, feeling helpless. Seeing this, he slowly let go of her hands and immediately began struggling with her top, pulling and tugging. The material seemed too difficult for him to rip apart. He pulled his lips away from hers and aggressively pulled the top over her head. Taking a short, wicked glance at her naked body, he resumed his attacks on her lips. Slowly lifting his weight off her, he began taking her jeans off, and she suddenly resumed her struggle, but he was having none of it. Pinning her again, this time with a knee to her stomach, he succeeded in taking all her clothes off, leaving her bare before him. He gasped at her body.

Flipping her over again like a sack of potatoes, he said "You should put this body to good use instead of staying hungry and starving to death on the streets, you'll make a lot of money. I know guys who are willing to pay a lot for you."

She began to scream and violently struggle as his venomous words spilled out of his mouth. He stretched her hands backwards and smacked her.

Robbin began struggling and screaming yet again. She tried to free herself, curving her body the best way she could in such a position, hopping to get some leverage, but he violently smacked her and said, "Stop struggling, you're making this so hard, Where do you think you're going?"

She instead continued to struggle and tried to claw at him with all her might, but he was unfazed and instead found her struggles amusing.

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard from his bedroom, which startled him. He quickly got up while instructing her not to go anywhere, foolishly expecting her to stay in place like a loyal dog or a test subject under a spell.

As soon as he left the room, Robbin stood up, remembering something, she picked up her jeans, searching their pockets until her fingers found the object she so desperately needed.

The knife she always kept close to her brought a sense of hope as she drew it out. Hearing his footsteps return, she quickly sat back on the sofa.

He walked back into the living room and smiled as his eyes landed on Robbin, who was still seated. "Good girl, now where were we?" He said as he approached her like a predator stalking its prey.

Robbin calmly clutched the knife as he got closer. He pulled the jeans from her grasp and began horribly kissing her again. His eyes were closed, saliva dripping from his disgusting mouth onto his beard. Slowly, she picked up her knife and, with the lightning strike of a cobra, she stabbed him in the neck, piercing his carotid artery. Warm blood trooped in spurts from his artery, like a faulty faucet all over his body and hers also, as she immediately retrieved the knife. His hand quickly shot up to his neck to stop the bleeding. Shock and rage clouded his face as he tried to pull himself to his feet. Multiple profanities flew from his mouth as he looked at her with rage. "You filthy piece of street trash," he cussed out at her, still clutching his neck tightly with one hand, which was now covered in blood. He turned to walk away but suddenly fell to the ground.