Read When Love Finds a Home for Free Online

first few weeks on
the street, she tried to find work and had occasionally found an odd job, but
as her appearance and clothes began to deteriorate so did the employment
opportunities. At first, she had refused to steal. When the odd jobs
disappeared, she had gotten so desperate that she stood on a corner of a busy
Austin street and begged. It was the most humiliating experience of her life,
and she swore she'd die before she did it again. She still drew the line at
physically hurting anyone, but if a woman was careless enough to leave her
purse open, she wasn't above lifting a wallet. Tourists were the easiest marks.
Most of them were ridiculously careless with their money or shopping bags.
Recently, however, times had been tougher than normal. The cold weather was
keeping people at home.
    After the dizziness passed,
Rona sat up.
    "Feeling better?"
Tammy asked.
    Rona nodded.
    The girls were wandering
around the room. "What do you think about this woman?" Tammy asked in
a low voice. "Do you think we can trust her not to call the
authorities?"
    "She seems okay, but in
case there's trouble and the cops show up,
I'll do something to cause a ruckus. You grab the girls and try to make your
way back downtown. You'll have to be careful, because people in these
neighborhoods will notice you fast."
    Tammy agreed.
    "If you see Malcolm, let
him know where you're staying and I'll catch up to you eventually." She
stood up. "Let's check this place out."
    Together the little band of
four slowly walked around the room, careful not to touch anything. She wondered
what Anna's real motive was. No one opened their home to strangers. Her resolve
wavered. Maybe it would be better to leave now. Even one night within these
walls would make returning to the streets harder. She hadn't forgotten those
first few days on the street—the gnawing hunger, the humiliation and discomfort
of never being able to bathe properly and the constant fear of not finding
food, dodging the sporadic police raids, fear of going to sleep and never
waking up, or worse, waking up and finding that the nightmare was real.
    They stepped into a spacious
bathroom that was also completely white—the walls, tiled floor, rugs and
linens.
    "Isn't it
beautiful?" Tammy whispered.
    "It doesn't do much for
me," Rona said, shivering at the coldness of the room. "Why don't you
take this room?"
    "Mama, can we take a
bath?" Karla asked.
    Tammy looked at Rona, who
shrugged and said, "She said to make ourselves at home." She suddenly
remembered the clothes Anna had mentioned. "I'll be right back."
    At the end of the hallway, she
found the closet. There, exactly as Anna had described it, was a cardboard box
with the word bitch spelled out in large black letters.
    Rona grinned as she dug
through the clothing and wondered what the story was behind it. Inside she
found several T-shirts, a few sweatshirts, a bright yellow sweater and two
pairs of sweatpants. She pulled out the black sweatpants, a couple of the
T-shirts and a faded red Texas Tech sweatshirt. At the bottom of the carton,
she found a pair of thick wool socks and added them to her small stack. She
returned the remaining items to the box and carried it down the hall to Tammy
before leaving to explore the other two doorways. The room next to Tammy's
bedroom was much smaller. There was a bed and dresser. The back wall was
stacked high with brown moving boxes. Across the hallway, she found another
bedroom very different from the white mausoleum. She flipped on the overhead
light. This room was much smaller and held a hodgepodge of mismatched
furniture. Several gold-framed, brightly colored Fiesta posters softened the
white walls. This room was awash with vibrant colors and the fragrant scent of
lavender. Everywhere she looked, there was color, from the pink and blue floral
comforter to the rich cobalt blue carpet. The faint fresh smell of furniture
polish teased her nostrils as she approached the bed. The rich tones of the
maple headboard