Brianna Devereaux: The Mambo (Completed)

Finding Home

Brianna slept on a bus bench that first night but at five in the morning a homeless guy had woken her up. She started to freak and run. But he was a blind old man and had pushed a plate of pancakes and eggs in front of her, “It’s not much but it’ll fill ya,” he told her in a grumbly smoker’s voice. “You better move little lady. The cops come to check over here for runaways and junkies around this time.”

Doing as told, Brianna took off in the opposite way. She didn’t know where the man had gotten the plate of food from, but it was cold. And while her pride wanted her to throw it away and find something else, she knew she couldn’t afford that anymore.

So, she swallowed hard and gritted her teeth over the mushy pancakes and gritty eggs. After eating getting her fill, Brianna found out three things that day.

One, she couldn’t get a job at sixteen without a school schedule and her parents’ permission.

Two, she was flat broke with still nowhere to go.

And three, the home she’d just been living in, was under investigation. Not to mention David Rodman, her social worker of five minutes, was in the hospital with a concussion.

Which had her face all over the news as a runaway and possibly dangerous.

Brianna found that out when she walked into a coffee shop hoping to get a job. But since she had no I.D, no Social Security Card, and no proof address, Brianna was not even able to be a candidate.

Unnerved, Brianna found her spirit depleting and then turned to leave. Only to see her face on a flat screen and an older white woman already about to call it in. Turning hot in the face, Brianna lifted her hood and peeled out of there to which the woman tried to stop her.

But after running ten blocks, Brianna ducked in an alley and breathed out in fear. Mind racing, body hot, Brianna felt a migraine throbbing in her head again. Crying out, she held her head as tears strolled down her cheeks.

And then the pressure released, and Brianna slowly stood as she began to walk on auto-pilot. Unbeknownst to her, Brianna had been mumbling under her breath the entire time she did so. She looked crazy to the passing people as she left out of Queens and headed all the way to Manhattan of all places.

But she didn’t go to the busy interwoven streets full of life. No instead she went to the back streets of them, and she found what she needed.

On the banks of a river, a cathedral sat abandoned and neglected. Seemingly forgotten by the world, Brianna looked at the large building covered in vines. Lost in dirt, dust, and surrounded by trees the huge sanctum was now forgotten by the world. 

But the foundation of the church had been untouched. As Brianna walked up the steps, she looked around unsure of why she came here. The doors to the cathedral were double-locked and she had no key to get in. But after a glance around, Brianna found a door only covered by a piece of wood not nailed closed.

Unsure, Brianna hesitantly moved and jumped when a nail poked her hand. Looking at the drop of blood, Brianna rubbed it against her jeans. “Lord please don’t let me get shot by c***k heads.” She prayed before moving the wooden board from the door. The door took some prying, but it eventually opened.

Brianna luckily found a pole right at the door and held it firmly as she edged in.

Her door had taken her in through the kitchen entrance. Nothing was in there, just cabinets of rodents and bugs, a couple of dust filled pots. As she started through the place though, she got lost plenty of times.

The church was massive, with rooms on every hall and doors at every turn. Brianna kept her ears pilled but all she found were rats and dirt. Lots and lots of dirt and grim. Shuddering as her OCD protested being in such a place, Brianna told herself to push through.

Because if being dirty meant she’d be safe from pedos and drug fends, she’d have to sacrifice. Or find ways to come up with enough cash to clean almost fifty rooms. Walking slow through all of them, Brianna only found more empty, disregarded rooms.

She hadn’t had any high hopes for the place. Until she found the perfect place in it. Where they had service and mass, even with boards on the door, none had been on the windows.

And as light poured in from the stained-glass window, it washed down on Brianna beautifully. It was beautiful, the broken glass meshed together in a dark ombre purple for the background. A lighter purple making a beautiful bonsai tree.

But instead of leaves at four specific branches were jewels encrusted with a different color jewel. There was a white hue seemingly surrounding the tree making it appear surrounded by mist. And every branch seemed to have a jewels strung to fall from its other branches.  

On the stump of the tree was a sun, a crescent moon, and then right in a center a large red diamond.  Moving closer, Brianna felt the four jewels inside the diamonds were most important.

And it was the red jewel, that burned the brightest for her. As the sun seemed to align perfectly, it shined down and bathed the room in a red light. Looking around amazed, the young African- American woman finally felt safety nestle in her bones after months of hardship. Standing in a too large black hoodie, her dirty white tank top, and even dirtier blue jeans, seemed to become obsolete.

Brianna suddenly felt like she was nine years old, and holding her mama’s hand as they walked to a pew. Listening to the choir sing like true angels, the young girl’s heart filled with love and happiness.

Brianna slid a hand on a pew, feeling the wood, warmed from the sun made her feel grateful. She was alive, and for now, in this dirty abandoned place of hope, she was safe.