“No I’m definitely not laughing at him. It’s just that when you asked me where I was headed I thought you were going to pour out your life story and it’s me that’s talking your ear off.”

“No child. When you get to be my age you thank God for letting you listen to other people’s stories.” At the mention of God Shane cringed visibly. The wise woman noticed it. “Shane I think what you need is a little help from the lord.” “With all do respect Ms. Anna”

“Please child, just call me Anna. I think I know enough about you to skip the formalities.”

“Anna, with all do respect the lord is the last thing I need right now. It’s like he’s taking out all his frustration on me.”

“Well honey your family is pretty bad, but that’s no reason for you to think God is taking out his frustration on you.”

At the mention of her family Shane seemed to just deflate. Shane hung her head and Anna thought she was tired, but when Shane lifted her head again there were tears streaming down her cheeks. Wordlessly the compassionate woman pulled the troubled younger woman into a hug. She’s just a kid Anne thought. Shane was in fact sixteen years old. She let loose a torrent of angry screams and sobs. She was letting out her anger and frustration and Anne was her lighthouse through the storm. The bus pulled up and Anne ushered Shane onto the bus handing the driver both of their tickets and keeping Shane’s head bent so the greasy driver would have nothing to sneer at. She found them a pair of seats near the back of the bus, but not too near to the bathroom which she had learned early into her bus riding career. By that time Shane had regained her composure and smiled at Anne gratefully. “Thank you so much.” Shane began, but was silenced by the wave of the woman’s hand. “Don’t start that mess.” Anna said with a smile. “Just tell me the rest.” Shane smiled and inhaled deeply. “The people I told you about aren’t my real parents. They’re my foster parents. When I was nine my Mother and Father were hit by a drunk driver. I guess no one in my family wanted me so I went into the foster care system. About a year ago I started getting letters from my Aunt. She seems like a really cool person. I can’t take living in that house so I’m headed to my Aunt’s house.”

Shane was tired from crying and talking and her eyelids grew heavy. Anne noticed this and motioned for Shane to lean against her and get comfortable. Shane was out like a light in thirty seconds tops. Anne smiled down at her and ran a hand through Shane’s short raven black hair. Shane slept for about two hours and when she woke up she noticed that Anne was not there. She looked back toward the bathroom to see if maybe Anne needed a bathroom break, but to her dismay, found the bathroom door open. Shane checked around her seat to see if Anne’s belongings were still on the bus, but all she found was an envelope with her name on it. She turned the letter over to open it and found a note from Anne asking Shane not to open it until she got to L.A. Shane reluctantly obeyed and turned over to go to sleep again. After another two hours the bus pulled into the L.A. bus depot. Shane gave a heavy sigh, flung her bag over her shoulder with the letter inside and headed off the bus. There was her Aunt waiting for her. She looked like an exact replica of Shane. And judging by her laid back manner she acted just like her too. She had to be no more than twenty nine. She gave Shane a half smile and grabbed her up into a bear hug. “Wow kiddo. You look good.” Laina said holding Shane away at arms length. The ride home was spent catching up on old times and telling stories of their many mishaps. When they got in the house Laina showed Shane her room and she started to unpack. After she put her clothes away and arranged her other belongings she got ready for bed and flung her bag across the room to get it out of the way. She noticed a letter had fallen out of the bag. It was the letter from Anne! She had totally forgotten about it. She thought about getting up and reading it, but she was so tired. She decided to read it in the morning and she turned over and quickly fell asleep.