girls came across several boarded-up properties in a rundown West Philly neighborhood. As dusk fell, Alessa picked the house that had the greatest number of boards still covering the windows. The front of the house was covered with vines, tangled together to create a barrier, and the steps to the porch were blocked by overgrown holly bushes. The paint on the porch had flaked, and the white stucco was covered with grime and graffiti. On the small lawn lay a ripped mattress, with a hole burned into the center. A sheet of plywood hung in place of the front door to deter intruders. The girls walked around to the back of the property and entered through the back door, where the plywood had been pulled down and was leaned up against the doorway to prevent the cold air from blowing through. Alessa pulled the plywood over, allowing Lucy to slip in, and quickly followed her.
They found themselves in a kitchen. The wall cabinets had been stripped of their doors, and a rusted sink stood in one corner. As Alessa and Lucy picked their way carefully through the debris on the floor, they noticed that the walls, once plaster, were stripped down to expose the wood support structure. When they reached the living area, they heard voices floating down from upstairs. But before they could approach the staircase and go up to investigate, the girls’ attention was drawn to several homeless people scattered on the cold floor. Most were covered with blankets so you could barely tell there was anyone underneath. The two kept walking until they reached the foot of the stairs. Lucy hesitated, clinging to Alessa’s side, as a man stumbled down the stairs, drinking a quart of beer.
“Get outta the way, will ya?” was all he said, pushing past them.
The girls climbed to the second floor. Upstairs, there were more people, most of them partying. Alessa pretended she belonged there. They looked into each bedroom, trying to find an empty one. They were let down, but not surprised, to find none. Finally, they settled on the bedroom with the least number of people inside and walked in. The other homeless teens in the room, along with the twenty-somethings, sized them up shrewdly. Alessa quickly moved Lucy into a corner of the room and told her to sit down.
Alessa sat shielding the child and buried their measly belongings in her lap. It was cold in the house, but within its walls, they were protected from the harsh wind. Lucy was asleep in minutes, but Alessa was too on edge to relax. No one had uttered a word to them since they arrived. She sensed they were not welcome.
About half an hour later, a young Black woman approached Alessa. “What are you doing here with that kid?” she barked. “This here is our room, and you’re sleeping in our spot.”
Surprised by the intensity of the attack, Alessa said, “Listen, my kid needs to sleep. Let us stay here tonight, and tomorrow, we’ll find another spot that doesn’t belong to you, okay?”
She wanted to let Lucy sleep, but the other girl took exception to her response and snarled, “I told you, bitch, move your fat ass outta my spot! This ain’t your damn house! You just got here. So take your shit and your brat there and move your ass before you get hurt!”
Unwilling to further endanger Lucy and herself, Alessa rose to her feet, snatched up her duffel bag with one hand, and cradled Lucy in her other arm. She led her over to the opposite corner and made her lie down again. Alessa looked around the room, waiting for someone else to object. But no one seemed to notice them, except for the young woman who had already threatened her.
Alessa caught catnaps throughout the night, too wary of her new surroundings to let down her guard.
In the morning, it was Lucy who woke up first. Her stirrings startled Alessa awake, and instinctively, she checked to see if the child was all right.
Lucy was smiling at her. “Good morning,” she said brightly. “I’m hungry.”
Alessa stretched. “Me too. Let’s go out and get something to eat.”
She looked over at the young woman who’d given her a hard time the night before. Now she lay in the opposite corner, clinging to her shopping bags filled with her belongings. The morning light left Alessa with no illusions about the sordidness of her surroundings. There was trash everywhere. Graffiti was scrawled across the walls. In the bedroom where they’d slept, remnants of old wallpaper—red, with gold velvet flowers—recalled a grander, long-forgotten past.
The girls went downstairs, only to find more people scattered everywhere. Some homeless slept huddled in small groups. Two people, obviously suffering from various degrees of mental illness, moved clumsily, talking incessantly to themselves. Alessa prayed that one of the smaller groups would accept her and Lucy into their fold.
Stepping out of the house, she told Lucy they would have to find food, as they had when they lived under the bridge. She explained that if they brought food in, they would, perhaps, be allowed to join one of the small groups they had seen as they left the house. Lucy approved of the idea and promised Alessa she would put on her best little “poor girl” face, the way Sara had taught her, to make people feel sorry for her and give her food and money. The two girls worked the streets for nearly six hours. When they were done, they had enough food to fill a grocery bag.
By the time they returned to the house peppered with squatters, it was early evening, and a party was in full swing. Alessa and Lucy went straight up to the spot where they had slept the night before. The young Black woman was there now. There was a guy with her, and they were drinking beer.
The moment the Black girl saw them walk in, she yelled, “There’s the bitches I was telling you about. Got some damn nerve, thinkin’ they gonna come in here and try to take over my spot.”
Alessa walked over to the young woman. “I’m sorry about last night. We didn’t know that was your spot. I promise we won’t do that again. I’m Alessa, and this is Lucy.”
The Black girl scowled at them.
Alessa persisted. “What are your names?”
The guy spoke up first. “I’m Rob, and this is Crystal.”
Crystal spun on Rob and glared at him. “Don’t be telling people my name, you loser! I can speak for myself!”
Alessa stepped closer. “Well, nice to meet you,” she said pleasantly. “Lucy and I are going to sleep over in that corner. Is that okay?”
“This ain’t no place for a kid!” Crystal said. “We party up in here. Maybe you should find somewhere else to stay.”
Lucy spoke up. “I’m not afraid,” she said bravely. “Alessa and me have been on the streets for a long time. We know how to take care of each other.”
Crystal dismissed them with a wave of her hand and looked away, but a smile trembled at the corners of her mouth at the child’s tenacity.
