December 26, 1984, after Christmas, London.
"It's 2 pounds and 34 pence in total, and you are charged 3 pounds for 66 pence, right, Kate?" The thin young man in the supermarket uniform handed the change to the short-haired girl wrapped in thick clothes in front of him, showing his teeth at the same time When he smiled, although his face was covered with freckles, he still looked quite cute.
"Thank you, Willie." The short-haired girl took the change and shrugged, picked up the paper bag and walked towards the exit.
"Christmas... Oh, it should be a Happy New Year, Kate." The middle-aged woman who cleaned the house smiled and greeted the girl, as did several employees who came in and out of the city gate. It could be seen that she came here often and her popularity was not bad. .
After pushing out the door, a gust of cold air came towards her. Kate involuntarily shrank her neck and put on her hat and pulled it down. Her hair was cut short and her dress was very masculine. tomboy.
Great, I've got another 66p, but I'm still close to £100, maybe I can borrow it from my father first? The little girl crooked her mouth and thought, although she is not beautiful, she is quite cute, but her height over 11 years old makes this cuteness a bit weaker.
Well, that's it, it's only £8 left to make it back soon. Kate made up her mind after walking two streets, which made her pace a lot lighter. When she came to a T-junction, the little girl couldn't help but stop, looked at the familiar food store across the street, hesitated and walked over.
"Hey, Uncle Claude, can you give me a hot drink?" Kate said with a smile, leaning her head against the takeout window.
"It's you again, little guy, don't you want to smoke fish cakes today?" The fat middle-aged man who heard the request to start busy had a bright forehead and a kind smile on his face, just like a bald Shande without glasses Colonel.
"I don't need it today, a cup of hot drink is enough." Even so, the little girl couldn't help swallowing secretly, in order not to let the smell of the food tempt her, so as not to let the pocket money she had saved so easily disappear under impulse. She turned her head to one side with great perseverance, and she was stunned.
Sitting on a bench at the corner of the street is a little girl who looks no more than 4 years old. Her golden brown curly long hair hangs down softly on a red down jacket. Her delicate facial features make her very cute, like a Barbie doll walking out of the store.
But the strange thing is that she always stares at everyone who may approach on the street with a cold and fierce look, even if one of her legs is crossed on the bench, the hand on her ankle clearly tells others that her feet She was swollen, but the aura of keeping strangers away from her body was still undiminished. There were a lot of snowflakes on her body, and she had obviously been sitting for a while.
"Hi, Kate, your hot drink, this time it's apple juice." The fat Claude pushed the cup out of the takeaway mouth.
"Ah? Oh, thank you." Kate, who came back, hurriedly paid the bill and took the cup, looked at the little girl over there, and couldn't help but asked, "Uncle Claude, you know who is sitting over there. Whose child is that?"
"Which one?" Claude looked through the glass window. "It's that girl? I don't know. She was sitting there a few hours ago. Salit asked when she was patrolling. It was said that her mother asked her to Wait for her here."
"Is that so?" Kate took a sip of the steaming apple juice and looked at the little girl again. After thinking about it, she felt that something was wrong. Since she was waiting for her mother, how could she have waited for hours without waiting? Is her mother...
Kate felt like she thought too much, but after thinking about it, she still walked over, no matter what, a 3- or 4-year-old girl should not appear on the street without the company of adults.
"Hey, how are you?" Kate tried to make her tone softer. The closer she got, the more attractive this little girl was. Her beautiful and lovely appearance made people unable to think of adjectives for a while. What I want to say is that it is a Barbie doll made of exquisite porcelain. Even though she maintains an indifferent expression and fierce eyes all the time, it still has a very special attraction in combination with her pale face.
"I don't mean anything, I just want to ask if you need help..." Kate was interrupted by a cold tone before she could finish her sentence: "Help? It's a good excuse, but can you use other, many bastards? It's all said."
Although the soft and immature accent was very pleasant, the sarcastic tone made Kate swallow the following words. She never thought that such a beautiful and lovely little girl would say such a thing, took a deep breath and calmed down. , she rolled her eyes and turned away: "nasty little brat, neither polite nor educated!"
But after walking dozens of feet she couldn't help but stop again, maybe... that kid wasn't that bad? Maybe she just felt abandoned? Maybe she's just scared? Kate felt a little weird. In fact, if the person who said that to her was a child of the same age, she would have slapped her in the past. She doesn't have such a good temper. Little guy... just because she's 3 or 4
Well, it looks like it does, after all it's not a good thing to let a 3 or 4 year old roam the streets.
Kate, who thought so, finally made up her mind, but when she turned her body, she couldn't help frowning. A dry, thin, slightly hunchbacked old man was standing in front of the bench and gesturing his hands towards the little girl. Knowing what he's talking about, he can only hear a few words vaguely, and even though he has a smile on his face, no matter how you look at it, it's a bit obscene.
Kate knew this guy, the "old alcoholic" Rockaway on Clydley Street, the old guy who lived on government handouts, who was doing nothing around the streets all day, and heard from his parents that he liked nothing but drinks in the taverns After a few drinks - as you can tell from his nickname and big rosacea - he's still a good guy in general, but it doesn't look right to her now, especially when she sees the little girl waving her little arms viciously When she wanted to push away his outstretched hand and looked like she was going to bite at any moment, she felt compelled to protect the little girl.
"Chrissy! Who told you to run around!" A loud roar came, which startled both the big and the small on the side of the bench, and then Kate came over angrily, He lowered his body and stared at the little girl: "Are you trying to cause me trouble?! Mom is over the street. If you don't go back with me immediately, you won't be better off if I die!"
After saying these words in a row, she snorted heavily and straightened her body, wrapped her paper bag with her hands on her hips and looked at the little girl, she had to give me an explanation, but the little girl seemed to be stunned, and it took a long time for her to stop. Baba said: "I... I'm hungry... "
"God!" Kate covered her forehead, looked at the food store not far away, and said angrily, "So you came to Uncle Claude? Well, I know his smoked fish cakes. Delicious, but…”
Speaking of which, she seemed to realize that there were other people beside her, so she couldn't help frowning and looking at Rockaway: "Who are you?"
The old man came back and shook his head, muttered a few words, then turned to leave, and Kate still pretended to be inexplicable and continued to ask, "What's the matter? Chris, who is he?"
It wasn't until Rockaway's back became small that Kate was relieved, and then she also noticed that the little guy beside her was also relieved, which made her laugh softly. The uneducated child with her face hanging on her face was as frightened as she had guessed.
The little girl who heard the peculiar taste in her laughter stared and couldn't help but wanted to speak, but her stomach made an inappropriate "gu" sound, and a delicate little face suddenly stepped down, This made Kate laugh even louder.
"Slow down, no one is robbing you." Kate said teasingly, and then handed the cup in front of her. "This is a hot drink. I don't know which flavor you like, so I asked for orange juice."
The little girl whose mouth was covered with bits of food scraps turned a deaf ear to her words. Even with her bulging cheeks, she still took a big bite of the smoked fish cake. She only opened the lid and sipped the heat until she put the last bit in her mouth. Orange juice here.
Seeing her gobbling up, Kate's pain was relieved by the money she had saved, and she drank the apple juice that was not warm in her hand: "How was my performance just now? My father is an actor, and I am with you. He learned a lot of acting skills."
The little girl glanced at her, put the drinking cup on the bench, then took out a tissue from her clothes bag and carefully wiped her mouth and fingers, then collected the used things and put them in the cup He covered the stick again and raised his head: "What are you going to do next? Call the police? Or ask for my phone number, and ask them to take me away? If it's the former, I'll knock you out as soon as possible. , and run away with all your money; if it's the second, I'm sure I won't cooperate. So if you want to help me, lend me some money - I forgot, it sucks - and stay address, and I will repay it to you 10 times in the future."
Kate endured very hard, although the little girl's tone was not as prickly and serious as before, but she still had to laugh: "You will knock me out? This is too surprising, do you know judo or karate ?"
"I know Chinese Kung Fu," the little girl's tone was still serious, but she turned her head and thought about it before saying, "Okay, it may be difficult for me to have a ankle sprain now, so if you call the police, I'll tell him You molested me!"
"Sex... molest you?" Kate was stunned and blushed at the same time. Although she was only 11 years old, although she knew what this sentence meant, she was still hazy, but this kind of words came from the mouth of a child who was only 3 or 4 years old. Come out and say it, it's just so confusing.
"An 11-year-old girl sexually molested a 3- or 4-year-old girl? Did you get water in your head, Barbie?!" Kate roared, gritted her teeth.
However, the little girl jumped up as if she had been stung by something: "Don't call me Barbie!"
She completely forgot that her feet were not yet healed, but as soon as she stepped on the ground, she lost her balance and fell down, grinning. Fortunately, Kate supported her immediately, but the little girl didn't seem to appreciate it, and slammed into it. Open Kate's hand: "I hate when people call me Barbie! How much do I look like Barbie! You call it so smoothly, that means you like Barbie? Oh, this is amazing, I can actually Meet someone who loves Barbie dolls…”
Speaking of which, the little girl lost her voice for a moment, then opened her mouth wide and stared at Kate in a daze, before sticking out her tongue and licking her lips: "Are you... a woman?"
Kate, who had been frowning when she heard it, suddenly coughed violently and stopped after a while. She didn't know whether to laugh or look at the little girl strangely: "Do you think I'm a boy?"
"Isn't it...?" the little girl asked weakly, shrinking her neck.
"Listen, you little brat, you don't like people calling you Barbie, but I don't like either—" Kate said every word clearly, and in the end was almost black-faced and gritted her teeth, "No. Love that someone treats me like a man!"
The little girl leaned back, closed her eyes for a few seconds and opened them again, her bright emerald green eyes became much calmer, she nodded solemnly: "Okay, this is my mistake, I Here is a very sincere apology, thank you for your help, I will make up for you when I have a chance, goodbye."
As she said that, she turned around and limped to the distance. The feeling of punching in the air calmed down Kate, who was about to get angry. Thinking about what she said before, it could basically be inferred that this little girl came from the house privately. Running out, it's really bad, maybe I should call the police to force her back, but she won't give in so easily, listen to what she said before, but... well, maybe...
"Wait," Kate suddenly took her little arm, "how about coming to my house if you want?"
"To your house?" The little girl's surprise was not fake.
"Yes, go to my house, since you and Zi ran out and refused to go back, and do you have any money..."
"That was a mistake, I didn't plan to run away from home today, things weren't ready..."
"Okay, but anyway, it's very dangerous for a little girl like you to be outside alone, I don't know how you got here, but you need to understand that children under 7 years old must be led by their parents to go to school. Street, if you continue to wander around casually, even if the police don't ask you to question, you will be in a lot of trouble!" Kate said very seriously, "My house is nearby, I promise that neither my parents nor I will ask you. What, and then we'll talk about something else when you think about it, how about that?"
"You promise?" The little girl looked at her without blinking.
"Swear to God, I promise!" Kate raised her right hand.
"Okay, then I'm bothering you." The little girl bowed slightly and suddenly became polite.
"By the way, what's your name?"
"You've called me by my name before."
"Chrissy?"
"Yes, how about you?"
"Kate, Kate Beckinsale."
Kate didn't know if it was the right decision to bring this little girl home. Although the contact time was not very often, she always felt that she was very strange, from being rude and uncultured at the beginning, to gobbling it in the middle, and then saying naively. Silly talk and a maturity that doesn't match his age at the end, yet at dinner there's a different elegance.
Yes, very elegant, with a light smile on her face, and answered her parents' questions politely and without leakage, as if she had been specially trained in this area, which makes people wonder what her family does. The most surprising thing is that she occasionally interjects a word or two on the topic of adults. Judging by the expressions of her parents, she seems to be right, but when she asks again, she has a blank look, and she can't see it at all. It is not known whether she made a mistake or deliberately concealed it. In short, after getting along for one night, Kate felt that her head seemed to be insufficient. Well, although she is very smart, she is only 11 years old anyway.
Forget it, just like what Dad said, take her photo and go to the police station secretly tomorrow to ask if there is any relevant tracing notice, it is impossible to let such a small child run around. Kate walked out of the bathroom with this thought in mind, and then froze for a moment. The light in the bedroom was very dim. The little girl named Chris was sitting on the head of the bed in her old pajamas, hugging her knees, and hiding her head in the shadows. I can't see the expression clearly, but there is a feeling that makes people want to hold it in my arms and pity.
Kate pursed her lips and sat down beside her: "Why, I'm homesick, Barbie?"
As soon as she opened her mouth, she knew it was going to be bad, but the other party raised his head angrily: "I don't have it, fake man!"
Kate, who wanted to apologize, suddenly got angry, especially the cold eyes that seemed to say "you are who you are", which made her a little crazy, but the other party was so small and unable to move, she had to be vicious. Said: "Maybe the reason why you ran away from home is that your parents often dress you up as a Barbie doll. You can't resist as a toy. It's really pitiful."
"Shut up, my parents never treated me like that!" Chris frowned.
"Then why did you run away from home? Then why don't you like people calling you Barbie?" Kate shrugged.
"That's because I..."
"Because of you what?"
But there was no answer for a long time, and Kate, who noticed something was wrong, raised her head and found that Chris was blank, as if something had been pulled from her body.
"Chris, Chris? Are you okay?" Kate, who was startled, patted her face quickly.
Chris looked at her blankly, her eyes seemed to lose focus, and the next second she took a quick breath, gulps as if she wanted to suck all the air out.
"What happened? Don't scare me, okay?!" Kate held her shoulders with some exclamation.
"Give me a pen and paper!"
"what?"
"Pen and paper! Give me pen and paper! Whatever pen or paper."
With a little panic, Kate shoved a notebook and a pencil into Chrissy's hand. The little girl didn't say anything. She opened the notebook and started drawing quickly. They are all tables and stools in the room. Although there are some things that are wrong, they are still very similar in general - but the more messy you go to the back, the more messy you get. The daze turned into a solemn, and it became extremely sad. When drawing a circle, he bit his lip, and tears seemed to flow out of his eyes at any time.
"Stop! Chrissy, stop!" Kate, who was watching all this anxiously, called out immediately, and finally waved her hand to open the notebook, and then hugged the little girl into her arms.
"Okay, it's alright, it'll be alright, understand, I'm here, it'll be alright." Kate stroked her back and kept comforting.
At first, the little girl struggled a few times, but gradually calmed down with Kate's comfort, and finally hugged her tightly.
"Okay, let's go to bed, you won't be sad when you fall asleep." Kate comforted in a low voice, then turned off the light and put the little girl on the bed. Kate knew she must be crying, but she knew from the time she bit her lip and wouldn't make a sound, she definitely didn't want anyone to know, so Kate turned off the light before putting her down.
Incredible little devil. Kate sighed in a low voice, covered her with the quilt and lay down beside her. At this time, Chris's voice sounded faintly: "Kate, I'm going back tomorrow, can I still come to your house in the future?"
Kate was stunned for a while, then laughed: "Of course, welcome at any time."
"Thank you, my name is Angela, Angela Mason."