posted on Sep, 24 2016 @ 11:10 PM
This was a Chinese restaurant and I had ordered General Tso's chicken, Mandarin beef, and two bowls of Swan La Ton or more commonly know in English as
hot and sour soup which also came with spring rolls. The Soup was the best in town for I had tried other places and none were this good.
About halfway through our food dishes she continued her story.
“I could not find my clothes but I did find these baggy jeans and this pullover. These Tennis shoes are several sizes to large but I needed to get
out of there before the rest of Rico's guys returned. I did manage to pull Sam's body to the back porch and push him off to fall to the bottom of the
cliff where the river runs. So I left with just these clothes and my sketch pad”.
“Why did you approach me Sofia”?
“Look around this part of town. You are the first person I have seen that does not look like a local cop and is dressed like someone who can afford
to buy a girl a meal”.
“Also, now that you know my life story may I ask what is your name”?
“My name is Ray Striker,” as I reached across the table to shake her hand.
“How old are you Ray”?
“I will be 33 in December, and you”?
“I just turned 22”.
“And still a virgin. Miracles do happen after all.”
“I was either working at the shop or was at the catholic school for girls and then Saint Ann's university all my life. Not much of an opportunity to
date or mess around. Besides, since I like to sketch, I was born with a good eye, which I suppose, also makes me rather picky with the looks of any
guys I meet”.
“There is much more to see about someone than just looks Sofi”
“That is true...... but most of the guys just want to hop in the bed with you, like wham bam and if you are lucky you might get a thank you before
the run and tell all their friends. Maybe being raised Catholic made me want to give myself to the right guy. Either way, I am what I am”.
We had almost finished our meal when Sofia jumped up and went to the little table at the entrance of the restaurant. When she returned she was
carrying what looked like her sketch pad.
“This is all I have left of my former life. I have been to afraid to go back to my house for clothes or anything. You want to have a look”?
She handed me her pad and as I thumbed through her drawings, I had to confess, she was better than any street artist I have ever seen no matter what
part of the world I traveled. She could have been an illustrator for any outfit I could think of, to include my own agency.
About ten pages in her sketch book I came across a face I could never forget. The shock must have been displayed on my face for she asked me,
“What”?
“Sofi who is this guy”?
“That is Rico's second in command. He is in charge of security and collections for this part of the world; if not other places too? He came to my
room several times checking on me and I think he was the one who told the guys to get me the pencils and pad. He is hansom in a a rugged sort of way
but his eyes are very hard Ray; he seemed to look right inside you, creepy”.
“Did you ever hear his name”?
“He said his name was Ray, also”!
“If your drawing is accurate, and I have no doubt it is, his name is Jason Strong”.
“Ray you are now scaring me. How do you know him”?
“He used to be a golden boy for a government agency we worked for. Jason went rogue..... many people were killed..... to include some friends of
mine. I have been looking for him for almost three years.... so I could cut his throat, after few other, not very nice things”.
“Not taking anything away from you Ray, but, he is always with some of Rico's guys..... They are very proud of the rifles and pistols they were
carrying every time he came to visit me. These guys are killers without remorse or conscience from what I have personally seen”.
“Sofi are you safe here for a couple of hours”?
“I don't think I am safe anyplace ! This town is crawling with cops who are on Rico's payroll. Between Rico and this guy you say is really named
Jason, they have people just about everyplace. I have been waiting on this block, across the street in that boarded up shop, for 2 days before I saw
you enter here. I thought I would risk coming, for I was about ready to faint from hunger”.
The sketch pad did it for me and I made a snap decision I hoped I would not regret.
“Sofia I have a car in the back parking lot. It is a Black Yukon with dark tented windows”.
I paused and looked outside through the small window above the restaurant’s door. “It is already dark outside; do you think you can make it to the
car as I stand by the corner of the building to provide you some cover and protection.... just in case someone you don't want to see shows up”?
She waited for the blink of an eye, smiled, and then said,” Miracles do happen even for me, when do we leave”?
I paid for the meal and as we rounded the corner of the building I used the Yukon's FOB and clicked the unlock button for the doors. The damn lights
flashed along with a chirp so Sofia darn sure had no problem finding the Yukon's position. I had told her to shuffle walk like a normal Bum to the car
and if assaulted try and keep the bad guy's back to me. I had not thought through exactly what I would do if there were more than one assailant but in
my mood I planned on winning either way...... this show was on the road.
Sofi made it to the car unmolested and by the way she was dressed there was not problem looking like a shuffling Bum. Once she was inside the car, I
waited a few moments to clear the area and then, I too headed for the Yukon. Once inside we headed outside of town to my safe house, which was not
much, but it was isolated without neighbors. Enroute I got Sofi to write down her shoe, jean, and dress sizes...She really did smell like something
mildewed and unpleasant so even with the air conditioning I keep both of the back windows cracked open to hopefully help in exhausting the smell.
We arrived at the house in about 25 minutes and after showing Sofi around I offered her a 6906 9mm S&W which had a 15 shot magazine. She had never
shot a pistol before but had watched several movies so she thought she was already a good shot ! Those kind of people scare me so I gave her a 10
minute safety briefing to include dry firing practice. I really tried to make sure she would at least not shoot her foot off while I went to buy her
some clothes.
It was already 20:30 hours and most of the malls and stores would be closed by 22:00 so I road the Yukon harder than usual to the closest Mall which
was thankfully on the East side of town.
Luckily, the store I was in had fully dressed manikins which helped me pick and chose a few outfits for Sofi to wear. She had a 23” waist, 33”
butt and needed a 34 “C” cup bra; she was 5'6” .
I purchased 3 pair of Jeans of different fit and design to go along with four pullover tops, 3 Bras, and 4 different type underwear.. I did see a
really cute dress so I went ahead and got that too. One pair of walking shoes and another shoe type (high heals) for the dress which were all given to
the girl who worked there and was helping me pick out clothes. While looking at some of the young girls around Sofia's age walking in the Mall I spied
a few wearing some rather classy colored tennis shoes so I bought her some white socks and a size 6.5 in those shoes too. I finished my shopping by
purchasing her a tooth brush and some body lotion.