The young Coliandris were well on their way back to the convent and making record time, when Jordan stopped and lifted Jason off her back.

“Okay, bub,” she announced, setting him down on his feet. “Time to give these shoulders a break.”

Jason obediently stood in place as Jordan stretched her back to the far left and then to the far right, hoping to hear a good, satisfying ‘crack’.

She didn’t unfortunately, but what she did hear got her attention all the same.

Above them, the subway zipped into the station, causing a few droplets of water to sprinkle down on them underneath the black metal parapets. While her brother tried in vain to catch the droplets in his little hands, she squinted upward.

Watching the subway rest surely on its tracks, Jordan felt the edges of her lips crawl upward, and a light bulb flicker in her brain.

“Hey, Jay.”

Her brother turned to her with wide, expectant eyes.

She briskly bent down to her brother’s eye-level. “You remember how we’re going back to the convent for lunch?”

He nodded. “Uh-huh.”

“Well…” Jordan slowly led him by the hand in the opposite direction. “I was thinking…Going back to St. Luke’s would be kinda boring today.”

“Boring?” he repeated uncertainly.

“Yeah like….” Jordan feigned a mighty yawn and stretched her arms. “Like that. Boring.”

As it became clear to him, Jason nodded his understanding. “Why’s it boring?” he asked softly.

Jordan’s eyes danced as she bent down to dig through her tote-bag. “St. Luke’s is boring because...” She grinned to Jason. “We can go see Chris instead.”

Jason’s eyes lit up and his mouth dropped open, as if a sparkling Christmas tree had just been placed in front of his eyes. “Chris?! We’re going to go see Chris?!”

She salvaged two small metal objects the size of dimes from the bottom of her bag. “That’s what our tokens say.”

Jason tossed up his fist in the air. “Yeeeeess!” he exclaimed, drawling it out.

“Take my hand, bub.” The toddler thrust it out, and Jordan took hold.

When they reached the top of the station, Jordan entered in the tokens, and they were granted passage onto the platform. As they stood there, waiting on the gray cement for the next subway, Jordan found the nearest payphone and slid two quarters into the slot.

The phone rang twice before a male voice answered.

“Hey,” she greeted merrily, grinning ear to ear. “It’s me. Jason and I escaped from our cages this morning. We were thinking a little excursion to the city was in order…” She laughed at his response. “I know! I’m just chock full of good ideas today…. Okay…. Okay, we’ll meet you upstairs. Yep. Uh-huh, we’ll be there in less than an hour.” She beamed, twirling the metal cord in between her fingers. “Can’t wait… Love you, too. Okay… bye.”

She replaced the phone back on its receiver, and overlooking the station, took in a deep breath of sooty air. Still not over the excitement, the three-year-old by her side hooted and hollered, absolutely ebullient about his surprise day-trip into New York City.

Though Jordan kept her expression toned down to a simple smile, she herself was just as excited.

* * * * *

As always, the subway came as scheduled, and after a short ride that included Jordan hushing her brother and Jason asking questions about every building they passed, they reached the inner-structure of the city.

When they exited the subway, Jordan gave Jason strict orders to hold tight to her hand, and slowly, the two moved between the heavy masses of New Yorkers and through the grid of streets that led them to Chris’ apartment.

Jason pointed upward the minute his building came into view. “It’s his house,” he informed her.

“I know,” Jordan said with a special grin to her brother. After waiting for traffic to pass, the two crossed the street, and Jordan used her key to open the backdoor.

The apartment building that Chris lived in was less than a mile from Broadway. Most people who lived in the city tried for a brownstone, or at least a dwelling of reputable ownership. But Chris liked to live on the edge…literally. He lived above a liquor store in a small one-room apartment with few furnishings, no air conditioning, and a temperamental landlord to boot.

A person would think living in such a place would mean a virtual lack of neighbors, but anyone who thought that needed to have a serious source check. The building had a hallway that led to three other apartments, all of them even smaller than Chris’ own. Jordan never asked who lived there, and Chris never told her. But from what he had implied, privacy was an unspoken agreement.

Jordan smiled and knocked on the door opposite her boyfriend’s.

That is, except for Tina.

In deference to her knocking, a thirty-year-old woman with bleached blonde hair creaked open the door, held back by a chain. “Who the hell is…” But then her bark went short. “Jordan!” she exclaimed.

Jordan gracefully presented herself. “Tina baby!”

Tina had lived in the building for as long as Jordan could remember… which in reality was only a month. But upon meeting, the two had immediately clicked, and for Jordan, that kind of instant kinship was rare. Since then, they had shared many a conversation, both deep and inconsequential. Jordan smiled, genuinely glad to see her. She was the nicest hooker Jordan had ever met.

The chain-lock was pulled back, and the woman gladly opened wide the door. She looked Jordan up and down with the adoration of a grandmother. “Well, look who’s back,” she said, crossing her arms. Grabbing a cigarette from off her dresser, she struck a match and lit it. “Where you been, kid?”

Jordan sighed. “Struck in Catholic-land.”

Tina cackled. It sounded like sheet metal being fed into a cement mixer. “What have I told you, kid. Watch what you say about that place. It saved your little tush and then some.”

“Hi, Tina!” Jason blurted out, waving.

Tina’s face broke out in a grin. “Hey, munchkin. Keeping big sis out of trouble?”

“Nope,” he said lightly.

Tina laughed generously. “Why I am not surprised?”

Still bursting with excitement from the subway ride, Jason took to running up and down the hallway to release his pent-up energy.

Jordan moved to stop him. “Jason,” she hissed. “Behave.”

Tina chuckled. “Aw, leave him be. He’s fine.” She took in a breath and let out a smooth stream of smoke. “You’re still going to that school, right?”

Jordan nodded. “Every weekday. Eight to three.”

Tina’s smile was a window to her approval. “That’s my girl. Stay in those classes,” she said, waggling a finger that held her cigarette. “I tell you. I wish I had.”

A silence dropped between them, and Jordan felt her cheeks blush as they stood there. Somehow, when Tina said things like that, she found herself unable to think of an appropriate reply. After all, when it came to past regrets…. What was there to say?

Tina must have noticed it because she quickly changed the subject.

“So aside from school, what’ve you been up to? Since the last time I saw you.”

Grinning at the opportunity, Jordan lowed her voice. “I saw him again,” she confided.

“Who?” she asked. Realization dawned on her, and she pointed with her cigarette. “Oh. That Danny fellow.” Tina, though sometimes strung out, had been graced with a terribly good memory. “Seems every time you come over here, you’ve had something to say about him.”

Jordan let out a sweet sigh. “Yeah…He came to pick me up last night.” But aversion quickly replaced her smile. “After I got stranded in Fairton.”

Tina double-blinked. “Fairton?” she repeated. “Dirt-hole Fairton?”

Jordan opened her arms. “That’s what I said.”

Tina squinted. “Chris left you in Fairton?”

“No, no,” Jordan cleared up. “I work for some other guy. Centers around the Bronx.”

Tina took in a thoughtful breath. “Well…if I were you, I’d be careful,” she advised her. “You were lucky. This Danny guy might not be around to get you out of there next time.”

Despite the conversation, Jordan still had a small smile. “Yeah, I know…”

Watching her, Tina grinned Cheshire-cat style. “You like him, don’t you?”

The blush in Jordan’s cheeks answered for her, and before she could defend herself, Tina proudly lit up another cigarette. “I knew it,” she declared. “I could tell by the look on your face.”

Jordan tried to frown, but it didn’t work. “If you’re implying what I think you’re implying, you have nothing to worry about,” she informed her in an exacting tone. “I am happily involved with the gentleman across the hall.”

Tina leaned forward to whisper. “Is he cute?”

Jordan swooned. “Like you wouldn’t believe.”

Tina let off a loud, appreciative laugh.

But another voice brought their laughter to a halt. “Who’s cute?”

Blinking, Jordan turned around.

She had become so involved in the conversation that she hadn’t heard the door open.

Chris Grierson stood not a yard away, watching the two from his doorway.