Karen walks through the crowd, hugging herself to hold back the tears that once again threaten to escape from her beautiful eyes. This morning, while putting her change of clothes in her backpack, she discovered that she doesn't have a single penny. All her money ran out quickly, not even enough to buy a little bread, and her stomach starts to bother her more and more, and her legs tremble as she walks, being so weak. She feels famished and fears that at any moment she will collapse in the middle of the street. Her hopes of getting a decent job have been fading, and now her expectations have lowered, and she is looking for anything that will bring a plate of food to the table. She continues walking, holding on to the walls, until she finds a bar on the corner. In the window of the premises, there is a black board where, in careless and barely legible white letters, it reads that they are looking for employees.
⎯ Come on, be brave and ask what the job is about,⎯ she speaks in a low voice and encourages herself.
She looks at her reflection in the glass and, before opening the large black door, straightens her clothes a little. She sighs resignedly; she can't do much with her disheveled attire; then she takes courage and enters the bar. The place is illuminated by the sun that enters behind her, and she observes that it is a large and dark room, only illuminated by the red lamps located on each of the tables. The only thing really illuminated is the bar, which is covered by various LED signs and colored lamps that illuminate the bottles, glasses, and goblets. She closes the door, and everything seems to be in semi-darkness. She slowly approaches the bar and asks the man behind it who she should talk to about the job. The bartender only points to a table, and she clumsily approaches a robust and sinister-looking man who is next to a very beautiful, though somewhat older, woman.
⎯ Hello, sweetheart, what are you looking for in a place like this? ⎯ he asks, scanning her body and delighting in what his eyes see.
⎯ I need a job. I'll do anything for a plate of food.
⎯ Are you hungry? ⎯ the woman asks, and she only nods. ⎯ Come, sit down, I'll bring you something while you talk to my husband. Whether you get a job or not, you'll leave this place with a full stomach. ⎯ The woman stands up and disappears.
⎯ What can you do?
⎯ I can clean, wash clothes, serve tables, and what I don't know, I can learn.
⎯ What's your name and how old are you? And don't lie to me about your age, because I don't accept minors for any reason, and you look very young.
⎯ My name is Karen Jones, and I'm 24 years old. If you want, I'll show you my ID, I'm not lying to you.
The man looks at her for a moment, and something about her is familiar.
⎯ Are you Michel Jones's daughter? ⎯ he asks, astonished, and his voice softens.
⎯ Yes, sir, but my father died two years ago, and my mother married a bastard who little by little brought us to ruin, and I preferred to flee from that place before enduring one more of his insults.
⎯ I understand. Do you have any education?
⎯ No, when I left school, I enrolled in the faculty of medicine, but my father got sick, and I abandoned the classes to take care of him, and I couldn't resume them.
⎯ It's a pity, I'm sure Michel would have preferred you to pursue a career.
⎯ I know, someday I'll go back to studying,⎯ she daydreams.⎯ How do you know my father?
⎯ He was a childhood friend, however, as the years passed, we grew apart, although every time Michel came to the city, he visited me at the club.
⎯ I can't imagine my father in this place.
⎯ And I can't believe that his daughter is asking me for a job.
⎯ Will you give me a job?
⎯ For now, feed yourself well, I'll think about what you can do for me. ⎯ He orders when he sees his wife arriving with a tray with a plate of soup, a sandwich, and a glass of water. ⎯ Come, Paola, we need to talk. ⎯ They both go to the bar and start a conversation, the woman occasionally observing Karen with curiosity.
The young woman is so focused on finishing her sandwich that she doesn't pay attention to what is happening around her.
The couple, after talking for several minutes, returns to her side, the man sits in front of the young woman and cannot take his eyes off her, a touch of nostalgia and melancholy appears on his face as he sees an exact copy of his friend sitting in his bar. Paola, seeing that her husband is immersed in emotion and shocked to the bone upon learning that Michel has died, is the first to break the awkward silence that surrounds them.
⎯ Did you like the sandwich? ⎯ she speaks in a maternal tone.
⎯ Yes, ma'am, thank you very much, it was delicious and it's the first bite I've had in days.
⎯ That's not right, you must feed yourself, now take the soup.
⎯ I know, but the little money I had I spent on the bus ticket and the rest wasn't of much use.
Pietro listens attentively to what that little girl with freckles and big eyes says, and watches how she brings the spoon to her mouth and delights in the soup; then he intervenes.
⎯ Where are you staying?
⎯ At first in the bus terminal, but the police very kindly asked me to leave the place, and before ending up at the police station, I left. ⎯ she comments while shrugging, downplaying the importance. ⎯ Now I'm in a church.
⎯ Did a priest take you in?
⎯ No, I just wait for the mass to end to hide between the pews, and once the priest turns off all the lights, I sleep for a couple of hours. ⎯ she confesses with sorrow and lowers her gaze to the plate, then continues with her story. ⎯ Since I fled from home, everything has become complicated, my lack of education doesn't allow me to get a job, and not having anyone I know to talk to or ask for help in this big city has been terrible. ⎯ she dries a treacherous tear that she can no longer contain. ⎯ But I don't care, I prefer a thousand times to keep walking aimlessly, sleep in churches, and spend days without eating, before returning to that place that I once called home.
⎯ Don't worry, we will help you. ⎯ Paola says while taking her hand tenderly over the table.
For several minutes Karen vented, she was immersed in sorrow, pain, anguish, and despair. For two years she had not been able to see the world with good eyes and only wished that her bad luck would vanish once and for all and her good fortune would reappear again. She longed for the days when she was a happy young woman with her father.
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