Page 83 of Maxim
“Because some of them have men who won’t stop trying to contact them. We find it’s more helpful to cut them off from the people who want to hurt them. It’s for their own good, and also why we take phones and other devices from them when they enter the shelter.”
“And if they want to get in touch with family and friends?”
“They can write a letter or postcard.”
“Do you monitor written correspondence too?”
“It’s not a prison, so no.” Jenny smiles, but some of her previous warmth has vanished.
Somehow, I’m not convinced.
James takes a few more photos, obviously inspired by the late afternoon light shining through the tall, somewhat grubby, windows.
We finish the tour back in the kitchen-dining room, which is now a lot busier as more women get involved with the food preparation.
“I’m afraid not many would agree to talk to you, but Beata is willing, and also Lena.”
“Thank you.” I try smiling at her but the longer I’m here, the more something feels off about her. I can’t pinpoint what, exactly, but it’s as if the face she shows is just a mask. “I have some questions for you too, if that’s OK?”
“Sure. Let me introduce you to Lena and Beata, and then we can talk. Ask them to find me when you’re done.”
We head back outside and I take a seat at a table in the shade. Lena and Beata join me a few minutes later.
Their story is what I expected. Both of them were in abusive relationships. Lena was raised by a drug-addicted mother and fell in with her partner at 16. She’s now 21 and managed to get away two months ago.
“The shelter saved me,” she says. I note how her nails are chewed down to the quick and she has visible track marks on her skinny arms. She sees me looking and pulls her sleeve down. “I’m clean now.” There’s a defensive edge to the statement and I smile reassuringly.
“I’m not judging you, either of you.” James has moved back to take some shots of the garden so I lean forward. “I was in a bad relationship. I’m lucky someone helped me.”
“My boyfriend tried to pimp me out,” Beata admits in a low voice. She looks away. “He was a real asshole. I managed to run away before he handed me over to the man he’d sold me off to for the price of a packet of pills.”
Jesus. Rick was bad but not that bad.
Beata flicks her blond hair over her shoulder and looks sideways at James. She’s a pretty girl. Around my age. I can see she’s checking James out but he’s oblivious, too busy messing with the settings on his camera. The guy’s such a nerd at times.
“Fuckboy,” I murmur behind my hand, gesturing discreetly at James.
Beata snorts with laughter and James looks up with a frown, obviously wondering if we’re talking about him. Which we are, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“What are your plans once you leave here?” I ask them both.
Lena perks up. “Grace says she’ll find us jobs away from here, somewhere we won’t be found. She said I can go back to school if I like. There are grants I can apply for.” She beams with excitement. “I want to study childcare.”
Beata nods. “Yeah, I’m happy to leave this place. The city, I mean, not the shelter,” she clarifies. “Everyone’s been amazing here. We even got a visit from the mayor the other day!”
My skin breaks out in goosebumps. “Oh really?”
“He chatted to a few of us, asked us how we were finding the shelter, and whether we were happy here.”
Beata beams but Lena looks less happy.
“I thought he was a bit creepy,” she admits. “He reminded me of my mom’s boyfriend. All smiles on the surface and something nasty underneath.”
Lena’s assessment of the mayor is spot on. He is a creep. Worse than a creep if I’m correct in my suspicions. It worries me that the mayor has been here. While his foundation is funding the shelter, it’s surprising that he’s found the time in his busy schedule for a visit. Especially if it’s not part of a PR exercise.
“He was OK with me,” Beata says dismissively. “He liked my hair, he said.” She twirls a few pale strands around her fingers and half-smiles dreamily. “Suggested I could be a model.”
Lena rolls her eyes, making it clear she thinks the mayor is full of shit, but says nothing else about his visit.