when Alessa wasn’t in school, she would be painting and fixing the place up in a mad rush to get it ready for the people it was meant for. Remo and Lucy fell in line like two soldiers, as Alessa barked orders at them. The three of them had a great time working on this project together.
Ebby came to see the house and was proud of them all. In a quiet moment, she sat with Alessa in her new apartment. “You have really made a good life for yourself. You should be proud. You’ve accomplished so much already. No matter how hard your life has been—and it has been really hard—you never let self-pity keep you down. You’re someone most people would envy.”
Alessa laughed. “Oh no, you wouldn’t envy me if you saw some of the guys I had to screw.”
Ebby wrinkled her nose, as if she had smelled rotten food. “When are you going to stop being so sassy?” she inquired mockingly.
Alessa put her arm around her. “Never,” she said, smiling. “It’s in my DNA. You should know that by now. It might do you some good if you showed a little sass every now and then.”
As the two women settled back, they shared great energy. They had a close relationship filled with contentment. Alessa had loved all the friends she had made along the way, including Rhonda and Tasha, but her relationship with Ebby was different. This was one woman who had given her the sense of inner peace she needed to motivate her into being a better person. It was the same with Remo and Lucy. They continued to nourish Alessa’s spirit, which enabled her to achieve more than she had ever imagined.
When the house was ready to be occupied, Alessa made a list of the homeless teenagers she thought they should invite in first. It was a harrowing task because there were so many who needed help to get off the streets. When she showed Remo and Lucy the list, they agreed with all but a few. Lucy was adamant about including one eighteen-year-old girl they knew, who had been beaten so brutally and regularly by her parents since she was a small child that her arms and legs were permanently scarred. The girl had related how her father would make her get under the shower so she would be wet before he beat her with his belt. The scars from her wounds would serve as an eternal reminder of the hell she’d escaped. Alessa gave in because Lucy’s reasoning was compelling. She knew she would have to take some other poor soul off the list to give this teen a place. It was a bittersweet process.
The decision to help a selected few, while others remained on the streets, was hard. Alessa convinced herself that it was better to help some than none, but it didn’t make the process any easier. Remo chose not to intervene, as Alessa and Lucy prepared the list. He knew many but didn’t know all their stories or what had driven them to homelessness. Alessa knew everything there was to know about each girl. They opened up to her, and she was the one they often went to, when they needed to cry or scream or laugh about their lives.
Alessa was relentless in her pursuit to make a difference in the hell she had escaped.
One night, as Alessa and Remo were cleaning the dinner dishes, he kissed her gently on the cheek.
“I think you’re brave. I don’t know how you can keep going back to your past, listening to all the stories that are similar to your own. I would’ve tucked those memories into the far recesses of my mind and never let them surface,” Remo admitted.
Alessa took his hand. “I know what it is to be invisible. Now I have an opportunity to make people who are like me be seen.”
That was the key to Alessa’s impact on them. When they were with her, they were seen. For some, that was the difference between hope and hopelessness.
Once the list of residents was settled, the three set out to talk with each of the girls they had chosen. Meeting them, one by one, they explained what they were offering: the right to live in their row home for free, but on the condition they worked or went to school. Those who worked could keep their earnings, as long as they could prove that they were saving at least fifty percent of what they earned. They took the whole weekend to talk to the thirty-six teenagers who would be the first residents. The girls all accepted the terms, which didn’t surprise Alessa, since she had picked those with the most passionate desire to make a better life for themselves and, for some, their children.
On Sunday night, the three were eating dinner and talking excitedly about the upcoming week.
“O my God!” Alessa erupted.
Startled, Remo and Lucy stopped eating and looked at her.
“It came to me,” Alessa said. “We need a name for our new home. We can call it the Outside Inn.”
Lucy immediately sprang up from her chair. “I love that name, Alessa,” she said enthusiastically. “Remo, can we get a sign to put on the house?”
“You bet we can,” he replied. Then he turned to Alessa. “It’s the perfect name. God, I love you so much.”
Lucy joined in. “Me too. I love you, too.”
Alessa was happy as she finished her dinner. She couldn’t have thought of a better way to end the weekend.
Remo had a sign made of wood he hung over the threshold of the porch. It read, “Outside Inn.”
***
Over the next week, each of the selected teenagers and children arrived, some with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. Remo beamed. He realized how lucky he was to be a part of this moment, and Alessa was fulfilled as she watched her dream become reality.
At the end of the first week, Ebby came over to meet the new residents. They all greeted her with smiles. Alessa had told them so much about her that by the time she arrived to meet them, it was as if they had known Ebby for a long time. And they trusted her because Alessa did. Alessa was blind to how powerful her influence was on them.
Meanwhile, Ebby had worked with her contacts all over the city to furnish the apartments with used furniture. She even contacted a friend in the hotel business who got beds and linens. None of the furniture was new or represented the latest in designs, but it was functional and made each apartment feel homey and lived in. Alessa and Remo had persuaded local grocers and store owners at the Italian Market in South Philadelphia to donate day-old food normally thrown away. This provided all six apartments with food in their refrigerators. Each group of six residents had the responsibility of cooking their own meals and cleaning their apartment. The whole house worked together to keep an eye on the children.
At ten that evening, Ebby and Alessa walked up to the top-floor apartment of the Outside Inn. Remo and Lucy were on the sofa watching a sitcom.
Remo looked up. “Long day. We’re beat.”
“It was long, but worth every minute,” Alessa concluded.
Ebby stepped into the room and went over to Lucy to give her hugs and kisses. The child was always happy to see her.
“Hey Ebby, come into my bedroom,” Lucy sang. “Alessa bought me a goldfish. This is the first time in my whole life that I have a pet.”
Ebby laughed. “Yes, a goldfish is certainly worth waiting a whole lifetime for, even though for you, it’s ten years. Hardly an old lady yet! Let’s go see your new pet. Have you given it a name?”
Lucy proudly announced, “Yeah, I named her Ebster.”
Ebby put her arm around her. “You named your first pet after me?”
In a very serious voice, Lucy explained, “Well, you’re the one who helped Alessa and me. And now we are helping other kids.”
Ebby hugged her. “Well, thanks, Lucy. I’m honored.”
In the living room, Remo looked at Alessa with concern.
“What’s wrong?” Alessa asked.
Remo hesitated, feeling embarrassed and a little selfish. “Nothing is wrong,” he said. “I guess I’m a little worried at the thought of not being able to spend enough time together. I mean, I didn’t think about all these other people living with us.”
Alessa slid across the sofa and sat on his lap. “Listen,” she said, “they’re all getting settled. In the next few days, they will get into their groove and our life will be back to normal.”
Remo eyed her up. “Really?”
Alessa kissed the tip of his nose. “I promise.”
