“I don’t get it.”

“Just let me explain. I managed to get accepted into a little circle of girls, believe me when I say that if they don’t want you on their patch they’re more vicious then some of the gang leaders I’ve met. I was pretending to work the street to keep up appearances, and then I met someone. There was this girl no more than nineteen or twenty, been a street walker since she was fifteen, she was real friendly, just wanted someone to look after her really.”

“And you did?”

“Of course I did. I had this dingy flat that I rented for the time, I let her stay and I looked after her. I wouldn’t let her go back out on the streets. She always wanted to be a hair stylist so I paid for her to go to school. Lets just say that her pimp weren’t to happy that he lost his best girl. He came round, roughed her up a bit and me. He wanted money, lots of, as a type of compensation. I had some but no way did I have that kind of cash and I wasn’t letting the girl go back on the streets. So I made a deal with him.”

Dana knew that she wasn’t going to like what she was going to hear, but she had to ask.

“What was the deal?”

“We traded places. She got a life and I worked off the debt.”

“What? What about the police? Moving? Her parents?”

“If she had parents do you think she would have been in that situation in the first place? I tried the other two, trust me it didn’t work. He always found us and I always got a price, a deadline and a bloody nose. You were around last time I had a visit.”

“Jesus Fucking Christ! How can you let that happen to yourself?”

“I write to pay off as much as I can, if I’m a little short, I walk the street.”

“What about the girl? Is she still around? I hope she’s grateful.”

“She’s around. She pays as much as she can as well. I only have to walk occasionally. Believe me Shane’s worth it. She knows the truth; we’ve been together for a few years now.”

“Together as in..?”

“No, nothing like that. We love each other, but only as friends.”

“How many times does the guy come round?”

“He wants payment bout twice a year and comes round a few times before like I said. We always know round about when he’s on his way so that’s when we pull together and drag in as much as we can. The least time he’s around the better.”

“Does this Shane walk the streets to get the cash?”

“No and I’d kick her scrawny arse if I found out she had. I haven’t gone through this hell just to see her back at the bottom of the barrel.”

Dana just sat quietly not knowing what to do. She had wanted the truth and was slowly processing the amount that she had been given. She would never have guessed Alice’s story in a million years. It showed how much loyalty Alice had to her friend and how much she cared in the beginning to even contemplate such drastic actions. To constantly pay someone off no matter what, even to resort to hooking just to protect the life that she had managed to provide this girl with. There was no limit to how amazing Alice was, Dana didn’t have to like Alice’s situation, and she didn’t, but she did respect Alice for her strength and if she was honest, she felt herself fall in love with the strong, determined blonde. Alice sat nervously, looking at Dana mull things over in her head.

“Dana? Say something. Please.”

Dana didn’t need to say anything; she just reached up and kissed Alice softly. Alice was relieved and poured her heart and soul into kissing Dana back. Dana had already made up her mind; she was going to keep Alice in her life no matter what. She had no idea what kind of life she’d be getting mixed up with, but if the end result was waking up next to Alice every morning then she knew that it was all worth it.