Chapter Text
A grungy, tiny girl with stringy brown hair peered around the corner at the little redhead who lived in the house where her dad was working. The redhead reminded her of the stray mama dog she’d found wandering the street one night. Her clothes hung off her – cheeks gaunt, face sad. The tiny girl approached the redhead.
“Here,” she said softly as she held out a thornless yellow rose. “It’s pretty, like you.” The redhead pushed the rose away with a frown. “Why are you so sad?”
The redhead laughed sarcastically. “You’d be sad too if your parents ignored you for your entire life.”
The first girl shoved the rose back at her. “Then, at least let me be your friend. I’m Beca. My dad is the new gardener here. You’re Chloe, right?”
The redhead nodded but still did not take the rose. She’d been abandoned so often. Her parents neglected her, the ones she was supposed to love her the most. “Why should I be your friend?” Chloe looked away. “You’ll leave eventually. Just like everyone else, and I’ll be alone again.”
“You don’t know that,” said Beca as she crawled into the sandbox next to the redhead. “I’m a good friend. Promise!” She tucked the rose behind Chloe’s ear. Beca noticed how much skinnier Chloe looked up close. She looked down at her own belly. Beca knew she was dirty from helping her dad in the gardens and that her clothes were threadbare, but she’d never missed a meal.
Chloe smiled shyly as the two girls sat in the sandbox. “You look happier with a smile,” Beca told Chloe. “I really want to be your friend, Chloe.” Chloe wouldn’t commit to anything, only saying she’d consider it.
“Beca Renee, there you are,” a man’s voice startled the two little girls. “It’s time to go.”
The brunette looked at Chloe, whose smile had faded as quickly as it had appeared. “I’ll be here next week, Chloe. You’ll see.”
Chloe weakly raised a hand and waved bye to her. “Thank you for the flower, Beca.”
“Daddy, Chloe didn’t seem very happy.” Beca was incredibly insightful at her young age. “I hope the rose cheers her up.”
“I’m sure it will, her father said, ruffling her hair. “This was our last job for today. We need to get you home and cleaned up.”
That night at dinner, Beca began to ask questions about Chloe again. “Daddy, do Chloe’s parents love her?” She held her bowl of stew with her hands, warming them as she sipped on the liquid.
“I’m sure they do, baby. Why do you ask?”
“Chloe said they ignored her. And she seemed so sad.”
“Well, she can’t be sad with you as her friend. I’m glad you came with me today.” Beca’s father had noticed the little girl when he’d worked at the Beale’s before. He hadn’t missed the girl’s thinness and the forlorn nature of her expression.
“She was skinny, too, Daddy. Maybe she’s sad because she doesn’t get enough to eat.” Beca took another huge bite of her hamburger patty, the juice dripping down the side of her chin.
“Not so fast there, killer,” Beca’s father laughed as he reached over and wiped the grease from his daughter’s face. “Chew your food, Beca.”
Beca bounced up and down in her dad’s work truck seat the following week. Today, he was working at the Beale’s, and she’d get to see the redhead. Chloe would see that Beca was a good friend since she’d come back like she promised.
Her dad had gotten a tulip from his first job that day that she was going to give Chloe. The moment he parked on the curb in front of the house, Beca threw off her seatbelt. She opened the door and raced to find Chloe with the tulip clutched in her tiny hand.
“Beca,” her dad called after her. “Hold up.” When his daughter returned to the truck, he handed her a sack. “I thought you two might like some snacks.” Beca thought her dad was weird since they’d just eaten sandwiches for lunch. She didn’t need a snack.
She ran back, grabbed the paper bag from her dad, and took off to the backyard. Chloe was there, in her sandbox, lying on her stomach. Beca sped up and came to a halt at the edge of the sandbox. “Hi,” she said breathlessly.
Chloe looked up with her sorrowful eyes. “Oh, it’s you.”
Beca held out the tulip to her new friend. “I told you I’d be back. I brought you another flower.” Chloe sat up, brushing the sand off the front of her jumper.
“Thank you,” she said softly, bringing the flower to her nose.
Beca crawled into the sandbox and sat down, putting the bag in front of them. Chloe eyed the bag with curiosity.
“What’s in there,” she asked?
“Oh, my dad brought us snacks.” A brief look of hope flashed across the redhead’s face. Beca pushed the bag towards her friend. “Go ahead.” Chloe tentatively opened the sack and peered inside. She sat back, her mouth watering.
“Aren’t you going to eat something,” Chloe asked quietly? She was afraid Beca was going to hear her belly grumbling as it begged for food.
“I just had a sammich for lunch. Bologna and cheese. With a bag of Cheetos.” She showed Chloe her orange fingers. She rubbed her stomach and announced, “I’m stuffed.”
Chloe looked inside again and pulled out a banana. She struggled to pull the stem down. Beca giggled and took the banana and turned it over. “You have to open it from the monkey end.” She easily peeled the banana from the other end for her friend and handed it back. Chloe took the banana and wolfed it down.
“Wow, you must be hungry,” Beca observed. Chloe nodded with her cheeks stuffed full of the last of the banana. Beca dug into the bag and pulled out a sandwich in a baggie. “Why don’t you have a sandwich? My dad makes the best sandwiches. This one’s peanut butter.”
Chloe pulled half of the sandwich out of the bag and nibbled on it, more slowly this time. She couldn't remember when she'd last eaten more than a bowl of cold porridge. After she had finished eating, she zipped the baggie back closed.
“Are you full" Beca asked? Chloe nodded. Beca dumped the snacks onto the sand. “Well, there’s some trail mix, apple slices, and granola bars if you want more.” She put everything back in along with the rest of Chloe’s sandwich.
“I’m glad you came back, Beca.” Chloe was afraid. Two times was much more luck than she had in quite some time.
“I told you I would.” Beca’s voice was bright. “I make a really good friend.”
When Beca’s father came to get her, the brunette stood and brushed off the sand. “I’ll be back next week, Chloe. I promise.”
Chloe pushed the snack bag towards her. “Don’t forget your food,” she said wistfully thinking about the food Beca was about to take with her.
Beca’s dad smiled warmly at the little girl. “You keep it, Chloe. See you next week.”
“Chloe was really hungry, Daddy. She ate her banana faster than I do after I’ve been playing in the park.”
“Whoa, that’s pretty fast,” he chuckled. “Did she eat anything else?” He prodded, trying to not raise the suspicions of his daughter. Beca told him that her friend had some of the trail mix and a yogurt tube. “Well, I hope she enjoyed it.”
“Oh, she did, Daddy. I think we need to take her more food next week.” Beca’s face suddenly became solemn. “Daddy, why is Chloe so hungry? Don’t her parents love her?”
“Of course, they do, Beca. All parents love their children.” Her dad winced when he said that, but he wasn’t ready for his little girl to know the world wasn’t all good just yet.
“Then why is she so sad and hungry! She’s really skinny, Daddy,” Beca announced.
Beca’s father put his hand on top of her daughter’s. “You just keep being her friend, Beca. That’s what she needs.”
Each week, Beca would go with her father to the Beale’s. She always took Chloe a flower and a bag of food. As time passed, Chloe relaxed a little bit more, trusting that Beca would show up each week with her father and a sack of food for her hungry belly. Maybe Beca was different than everyone else. Maybe Beca would be the person who wouldn’t leave her. Maybe.
One week, she heard the gardener’s truck pull into the driveway. She felt her heart leap a little as she waited for Beca to come running around the corner with a flower in her grubby hand and a bag of snacks. Chloe’s stomach was growling, and she was looking forward to the sandwich that was always in the bag.
When she heard the lawnmower start up, Chloe got confused. Where was Beca? Beca was always there. She promised. The redhead got up and walked to the front of the house, following the sound of the mower.
Chloe saw Beca’s dad but no Beca. Pain shot through her chest as her heart plummeted to her feet. She went running back to the sandbox. She’d kicked the awesome castle she’d built, and sand flew everywhere. Chloe had been so excited to show Beca her creation. She shuffled her feet all around her sandbox until all traces of the castle were gone while tears streamed down her face.
Then her stomach rumbled again. She doubled over and realized that no Beca also meant no food. She knew Beca didn’t want to be her friend. Chloe shouldn’t have trusted Beca. Everyone in her life always left her. Her parents acted like she doesn’t exist, and the one person she trusted in her life had failed her.
Chloe didn’t hear the other car drive up. She didn’t see the two people in ill-fitting suits knock on her front door. Or her parents let them into the house. She did see Beca’s dad come around the side of the house, dangling a sandwich baggie in his hand. He squatted down in front of her and offered the sandwich. “I thought you might want this.” His eyes were kind, so unlike her own father’s.
She took the sandwich and threw it. “I don’t want a sandwich. I want Beca.” She crossed her arms and stuck her lip out. He retrieved the sandwich, sat down in front of the little girl, and offered it to her again.
“She wanted to be here today, Chloe.” Beca’s dad nervously glanced at the house. “It’s… complicated. But I promise you, she really wanted to come.”
The little girl started crying again. “She promised she’d be here. She left me here all alone. I’m always lonely. Even my parents don’t love me.”
About that time, the back door of the house opened, and one of the strangers in ill-fitting suits came out. She came over to where Chloe and Beca’s dad were sitting. “Chloe, this is Mrs. Martinez. She’s going to help you.”
The woman’s eyes were kind and her voice soothing. “Chloe, I’m going to take you to the doctor and then to a safe place. Would you let me do that?”
Chloe looked up at Beca’s dad, who pulled her in protectively. For once in her life, she felt safe. Beca’s dad was safe. He brushed her hair with his large hand and stood up. He picked her up and held her in his strong arms. “We’re going upstairs and pack you a bag, Chloe. Then you’re going to go with Mrs. Martinez, okay?” Chloe threw her arms around his neck and squeezed tight. And when he hugged her back, she knew things were going to be okay.
“When will I get to see Beca?” Chloe asked in a timid voice.
“Soon, Chloe, very soon.”