July holiday came around, Alessa and Lucy were living comfortably. Alessa had passed her GED and applied for grant money to attend community college. After months of working with the homeless on the streets and in shelters, Alessa knew she wanted to go into counseling. She was good at it, especially when it involved teens and children. She related to what they were going through and encouraged them individually to be strong and resilient. Her work with each of them was limited, though, since she was only a volunteer.
On July 4th, Alessa took Lucy to Penn’s Landing to watch the fireworks on the waterfront. There were thousands of people there. Most were drunk by the time they arrived, at 7 p.m., but Alessa kept Lucy clear of those who were openly too drunk to be near. Alessa was no stranger to drunks and drug addicts. She wasn’t afraid for herself. She only wanted to protect Lucy. She knew there was evil in the world and that also included the world in which Lucy lived. She found a spot where a family was standing and planted Lucy and herself next to them. She figured staying close to a family would keep them safe from all the rowdy partygoers.
Lucy and Alessa stood on Columbus Boulevard and enjoyed the beautiful fireworks display. Both girls were exhilarated and hopeful, as they watched the burst of color against the night sky. The show ended after ten that night, and Alessa decided it would be best for them to take a cab back to the hostel instead of riding the bus. The crowd thinned out, and Alessa noticed those who remained were still partying and having a good time. She saw a pay phone in the strip mall across the street and took Lucy by the hand to lead her there.
As they were crossing Columbus Boulevard, they noticed a young man sitting up the road, barely in sight. From what Alessa could see, he was doubled over and rocking back and forth. With Lucy at her side, Alessa walked past the strip mall and over to the young man sitting under an overpass. The street was dark. As she approached, Alessa called out to him.
“Are you okay?” she asked anxiously.
“No, I need help!” the young man cried out.
Used to the streets and to people who called them their home, Alessa hurried over to him and bent down to look in his face. Within seconds, three other young men had surrounded them. Seeing them up close, she knew that these were not homeless men. She knew at once that she had made a huge mistake.
One man seized Lucy. Another twisted Alessa’s arm behind her back as the young man on the curb jumped up, a smirk on his face. They were all drunk, and the stench of alcohol seeped from their breaths. Alessa could feel the adrenaline pumping through her body as she frantically tried to think of a way to get Lucy out of there.
The young man holding the child said, “I don’t know what you guys think, but this was almost too easy.”
Alessa’s heart fluttered in her chest. With more aggression in her voice than she intended to display, she said, “Seriously, you need to let my kid go right now if you know what’s good for ya. Here’s what we’re gonna do. You’re gonna let her go, and I’m gonna stay with all of you. You don’t need to take a crying kid, ’cause that’s all she’s going to do—cry and scream. Me, on the other hand, I’ll have you crying and screaming in minutes.”
The young men eyed her with curiosity. “Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do for us?” one of them asked.
With more courage than she had, Alessa filled her lungs with air. “Whatever I need to do to make you feel better than you ever have. But you need to let my kid go first.”
She looked at Lucy, who was crying, her face stricken with pure terror.
Alessa looked at Lucy intently, keeping all fear out of her voice. “Sweetheart, I want you to go back to that restaurant we passed, the Ruby Buffet. Buy yourself a soda and wait there until I come and get you.”
The child nodded.
Alessa turned to the man holding on to her arm. “You need to give her a couple of dollars for a soda. Otherwise, someone will think something is wrong.”
The man handed Lucy three dollars, then he looked Alessa in the eyes. “This better be worth it,” he warned, “and if your kid tells anyone we’re here, we’ll slit your throat!”
Alessa looked at Lucy calmly and said in a steady voice, “I want you to go have a soda. Drink it slowly, don’t tell anyone that I’m here, and don’t leave there until I come to get you. Do you understand me?”
The child was crying, but she nodded vigorously and ran off toward the strip mall.
The four men led Alessa deep into the underpass. They all wanted her to have sex with them, but she flat-out refused. “No, I don’t think so. Who do you think you are, preying on people?”
The leader of the pack motioned to his buddies, who each grabbed one of Alessa’s arms and held her down.
“Get off me!”
One man holding her pulled out a knife and sliced her thigh. She flinched backward from the burning pain. The ring leader yanked Alessa’s head up by her hair and slammed it back into the ground.
“You don’t run the show here. I do,” he growled. “You’re a real killjoy! How are we supposed to have any fun with you moving all over the place and yelling? If I want that, I’ll go get that kid of yours.”
He noticed Alessa’s eyes widen with fear and knew, at that moment, that he was in complete control. Disgusted with the entire scene and annoyed with the fight Alessa gave them, he pounded his fists into her body and her face. The other men joined in by kicking her legs, sides, head, and arms. Alessa drifted in and out of consciousness. She was being beaten so badly that her body had gone numb. She had stopped feeling anything. And after a while, she could barely hear or understand what they were yelling at her with each blow they delivered. Before losing consciousness, Alessa believed she would die. They would beat her to death, and she asked God to keep Lucy safe.
It was eleven thirty at night when the waitress at the Ruby Buffet asked Lucy if she was there by herself. “We’re getting ready to close, honey,” she told her. “Is there someone you can call?”
She took the child over to the phone and dialed Ebby’s number. When the night manager came on the line, Lucy told her who she was and said she needed to talk to Ebby. It was an emergency. The night manager, like the rest of the shelter staff, knew about Alessa and Lucy from the many stories Ebby had shared with them. He took the phone number of the restaurant and promised to have Ebby call right back.
A few minutes later, the phone rang, and the waitress picked it up. “Yeah, she’s here,” she said to Ebby. “The kid is all by herself, and we need to close. Here, you can talk to her,” she said, handing the receiver to Lucy.
Lucy broke down and sobbed as soon as she heard Ebby’s voice.
Trying to conceal her panic, Ebby paused. “Where’s Alessa?” she asked a moment later.
“With some men down the road. They wanted me to stay, too, but Alessa made them give me three dollars to come to the restaurant and have a soda,” Lucy answered, disclosing the information with obvious reluctance, as Alessa’s instructions played in her mind.
Ebby asked the child to describe her exact location and promised to be with her in less than thirty minutes. Then she asked for the waitress to be put back on the phone.
“Hello?” the woman said.
Ebby concocted a story about Lucy being her granddaughter and how she had been separated from her mother during the fireworks. “I know you’re trying to close, but can you stay with her until I get there?” she asked.
The waitress looked at the child, who was plagued with fear. She had also overheard her saying that her mom was with some guys down the street.
“Yeah, sure,” she assured Ebby before hanging up the phone.
The waitress walked over to the counter, poured Lucy another soda, and sat down in a booth with her arm around the small child to wait for her ride to come.
