There’s A Hole in Your Pocket

Sabrina woke up to screaming and pounding that left a dent on the wood counter top in the kitchen every morning. She shared a small room with her little brother Hector, who luckily was a light sleeper. Sabrina always thought he was faking “always in denial” Sabrina said under her breath walking past her brother’s bed to the door before opening it. The door exposed a small and run down apartment with a middle-aged woman behind the kitchen counter, crying while she rested her elbow on the dented counter with her forehead sitting in between her index finger and thumb. Her tears created a puddle on the counter, “where did Eddie go?” Sabrina asked with a slight hint of anger in her voice. “He stepped out for a bit” the woman responded, Sabrina raised her eyebrows sarcastically as she opened the fridge in search for something to eat, “nothing” Sabrina stated as she closed the fridge door slightly harder than average. “You know providing for your kids also includes feeding them” Sabrina said while mumbling a hateful sentence in Spanish under her breath as she walked back to her room, and the woman rolled her eyes while placing a cigarette in her mouth, lighting it as her hand shook. “Hey, I’m gonna go get us some breakfast, alright? I’ll be back soon” Sabrina said to her younger brother while climbing out of her bedroom window seeing as how her apartment only connects to another from the left side.

Sabrina walked down the sunny streets of L.A. while taking in the delightful smell of the palm trees, and observing the others around her. She noticed what kind of pants and jackets the people walking around her were wearing, this helped her determine who will be paying for Hector and her breakfast. One by one Sabrina would bump her shoulder into others to bring their attention to the run in and not on their wallets that she quickly obtained without them knowing. You could tell Sabrina did this a lot and she was good at it, she had her brother to motivate her into doing anything to make sure he was ok and taken care of. 

Sabrina slowly walked along the sidewalk, while counting the dollar bills in her hand that were owned by several different people less then 15 minutes ago, she looked up and spotted a middle-aged man with dark skin and a haircut that cost more than her entire outfit. She put her earnings in her back pocket while slowly making her way to the man talking to the street vender. She picked up speed the closer she got to the man and before she new it his wallet was in her hand and was inspecting the amount of cash he had when she came across a small picture of a beautiful young girl, but what she didn’t expect, crept up behind her “excuse me young lady” a stern voice said from behind her, Sabrina turned around with a greeting smile plastered across her face trying to hide the panic she was feeling. The man approached her after saying good bye to the vender, with one eye squinting trying to avoid the bright sun. He stood in front of her with his hands in his pocket. Before Sabrina could say hello the man asked “what’s it worth to you?” Sabrina, confused by his question, responded with “I’m sorry, what?” He immediately responded “my wallet” Sabrinas heart jumped but continued to put on a good show. “I...” Sabrina stuttered as the man interrupted “lets not do that ok, what’s your name?” He asked “what’s it worth to you” Sabrina responded causing the man and herself to smile. 

The man and Sabrina walked side by side down the side walk after the man bought her a pretzel from the vender. The man learned her name was Sabrina Cortez and Sabrina learned his name was Jackson Phillips. They both talked for a while after he got her the pretzel she was now half way finished with. “So...who's the girl?” Sabrina asked as she remembered the picture she discovered in his wallet, “what girl?” Jackson asked “the picture in your wallet, who’s the girl?” Jackson nodded his head in understanding and began to answer “oh, was my sister Trina.” “Was?” Sabrina asked in response “she died in a car accident two years ago, her boyfriend picked her up but no one knew he was drunk”. Sabrina slowly put the piece of pretzel towards her mouth in awe and sympathy “oh, I’m sorry.” Jackson responded by shrugging his shoulders as a sign of understanding, they continued down the sidewalk in silence for a couple seconds until Jackson broke the awkward silence with a question “so tell me more about this Eddie guy dating your mom?” With a touch of anger Sabrina answered with “no, see a mom provides and cares for her children, all mine cares about is if she has enough money to feed her addiction instead of her kids” Jackson slowly nodded his head in sympathy “and Eddie?” He asked “step dad who helps feed it, and causes puddles of tears to form next to the dents he puts in the counter. “I’m sorry I know it must be hard trying to take care of not only yourself but your brother too” Jackson stated with understanding. “Look sometimes I feel like I could have prevented what happened to my sister if I paid more attention, and I’m not going to make that same mistake twice, so you can find me here if you need anything” Jackson pulled his wallet from his pocket and grabbed a white card that showed a firemen’s crest on it and read Los Angeles Fire Department with an exact address next to it.

Sabrina walked in through her front door holding a small bag of apples from the market she stopped by after her encounter with Jackson. She placed the bag on the counter after noticing a small piece of paper resting on the cold wood. She read the note to her self, “Look I was never cut out to be a mom, I always told myself that I would figure it out but as you can see I never did. I’m sorry but I can’t handle the pressure from Eddie and the pressure of kids.” And that was it, she was gone, Sabrina held back tears because she didn’t want to give her mother the satisfaction, and hated the idea of adding to the puddle of tears that always seem to fall on this counter top. She took a deep breath while grabbing the bag of apples to give to Hector before telling Hector that his mother abandoned him. Like his mother, Hector had his own place for tears, the closet he and Sabrina shared. Sabrina sat on her bed with the bag dangling between her legs as her elbows rested on her knees. She couldn’t stand to see Hector so upset, Eddies appearance shortly after she shared the news with Hector didn’t help. She entered the kitchen and slammed the note on the counter in front of Eddie as he drank the only beverage left in the fridge, a beer. Eddie gave Sabrina a stern look as he picked up the note, he chugged the rest of what was in his glass, he then crumbled up the paper and slammed his fist that held the note on the counter adding to his collection of dents. Mad that Eddie had nothing to say, Sabrina remembered that Eddie kept loose bills in his pockets for his late night bar runs. Sabrina thought if he isn’t going to give her and Hector any sort of explanation he should at least pay for their dinner, plus it gave Sabrina a strange sort of satisfaction steeling from Eddie. Sabrina made an excuse to go behind Eddie and made use of her light quick hands to snatch Eddies afternoon plan right out of his pocket. Sabrina grabbed Hector on her way out of the apartment through her window.

Jackson slept on the provided bed at his precinct and was abruptly awaken by a familiar face that he would see around the precinct. “What?” Jackson said sitting up while rubbing his eyes, “there are two kids here for you” the man said with confusion and curiosity. Jackson made his way towards the destination the man gave him, confused and tired. The confusion was replaced with worry as he recognized the teen hispanic girl standing in front of him to be Sabrina, “Hey, what’s going on?” Jackson asked “we were wondering if we could hang out with you for a little bit?” Sabrina asked standing behind Hector with both her hands resting on his shoulders, “sure” Jackson said with a timid smile following his response. 

Hector and Sabrina loved visiting Jackson that it became a habit, they would visit before and after school. They became well known with Jacksons friends at the precinct and felt comfortable for the first time in a long time, of course having to go home and see Eddie made that feeling disappear until they got to visit Jackson again. Sabrina invited Jackson and the rest of his friends, that she got to know so well over the last few months, over for dinner during one of her visits to the fire department. She wanted to do something kind for them because they have been so kind to her and her brother, but like the pockets of the victims she stole from, there was a hole in Sabrina’s dinner plans, Eddie. Sabrina figured that if she had the dinner late on a weekend, Eddie would be too busy with women at the bar who are too drunk to say no. Sabrina knew she needed to make a store run for dinner, but like every night had no way to pay for the things she needed to make the tacos she would put together for Hectors Birthday. So before Eddie dragged himself to the bar and fully expecting him to drink himself to the point of being numb, all she needed was Eddie’s credit card. Sabrina forced herself to create small talk to distract Eddie from the wallet that was in his back pocket, now it wasn’t the small talk Sabrina hated it was the fact that she was talking to Eddie at all, but it worked well, the small talk and the fact Eddie had four beers already. Sabrina quickly said goodbye to Hector and left before Eddie noticed that his credit card was missing from his wallet. 

She gathered everything she needed for dinner and a couple extra snacks for her and Hector for later. She hitched the very next bus back home and got started on dinner. Sabrina gave Hector a couple of small jobs so he felt like he helped prepare dinner for their guests. As time passed, the hours started ticking down getting closer to the time Sabrina gave Jackson and the guys to arrive for dinner. Sabrina then jumped at the sound of the door knob twisting but her heart fell soon after, realizing it was Eddie and not her intended guests. He stumbled in like he was wearing prescription glasses, he used the counter top for balance “your home” Sabrina said with disgust in her voice. Eddie gave a stern look in response to her tone, but didn’t take his eyes off her and then as if a switch in his mind was flipped, he became angry and aggressive. “You, it was you” Eddie yelled as he viciously threw his index finger towards Sabrina, “what?” Sabrina said with fear in her eyes and voice as she began to backup towards Hector, and making sure he was safely behind her. Eddie then threw himself towards Sabrina swinging his hand across his body and smacking her across the cheek, causing her body to shift in the direction of his hand. Hector in anger swung his hands towards Eddie hitting his body once or twice, before Eddie threw Hector across the room towards the kitchen. Sabrina gained her surroundings just in time to see Eddie throw Hector and run to his aid, but Eddie stopped her by her neck slamming her back to the wall behind her. She could feel her body throbbing from the impact and the tears running down her face, but not from the pain but for breaking the promise she made to herself that she would never give her mother or Eddie the satisfaction of getting under her skin. For a split second Sabrina thought the last thing see would ever hear was Hector’s cries and Eddie’s screams. She and Eddie then flinched at the two loud knocks coming from the front door, and without a second thought Sabrina knew it was Jackson and began to yell “Jackson, hel...” and was cut off by Eddies grip around her neck tightening, she heard Jackson from outside yell “Sabrina?!” In that moment the door flew open with Jackson behind Eddie before he could react, he grabbed Eddies hand that was around her neck and preyed it off, followed by a fist to Eddie’s left cheek causing him to stumble backwards. With no hesitation, one of Jacksons friends ran to Hectors aid and another to Sabrinas, as she stumbled towards the door from Eddie’s hand being ripped off her neck. As Sabrina called the police, Jackson wrapped Eddies left arm behind his back leaving him defenseless, he then remembered the things Sabrina told him, that Eddie would slam his fists on the counter top to scare them so he decided to return the favor. Jackson slammed Eddies face down on the counter top with him looking directly at the multiple dents he inflicted, keeping him there and tightening the position of his arm on his back every time he struggled until the police arrived.

The sounds of Sirens echoed through Sabrinas ears, she threw the door open waving the policemen to her position. As the cuffs wrapped around Eddies wrists, Sabrina watched him being escorted out of the apartment and her life, as she hugged Hector and slowly stroked his hair in a comforting way. “Go wash up, okay?” Sabrina instructed Hector. Jackson walked over towards Sabrina after Eddie was escorted out of the apartment. Sabrina made eye contact with tears in her eyes, “are you oka...” he was interrupted as Sabrina threw herself into a comforting and relieving hug, Jackson wrapped his arms around her and set his chin gently on the top of her head, trying to make her feel secure and safe. Sabrina knew that Jackson would make sure she would never have to steel to provide for her and her brother but that she and her brother would be provided for and would feel what it is like to have a place to call home.