Sagehen Mesa- Season 4, Episode 2 - Roaring Heights with Ronda
Dear Daddy,
Please don't worry about me, I'm okay. I'm not going to tell you where I am because I have some things I want to do. I plan on coming home someday, and hope you will forgive me for leaving.
I've got a job and a place to stay, and I'm getting enough to eat. I'm making some friends too.
All my love,
Ronda
*******
Hi there! It's me Ronda. I'm currently living in a big city - a first for me. Don't tell Dad, but things are a little tougher than I let on in my letter.
Everything is so different here. I like to think I was prepared when I left home, but I confess there are some things I didn't count on. For instance, the weather here is a lot colder than I expected, and things are a lot more expensive here. I thought I had saved up enough money from my bistro job to cover a least a month of lodging, but the money didn't even come close. It was a stroke of luck that I met Davinia and she took pity on me. We met in the library, and I mentioned I was looking for a place to stay, and she said, "Perfect! I've got room for you at my house, and I'd like some company."
It turns out Davinia's "house" is a storage container with no insulation.
I usually sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor of the container, and it's kind of cold, but at least I'm not sleeping in the snow, and the place has a door for protection.
Davinia clearly has some mental problems, but because of my experience with my mom, I'm not intimidated by her behavior.
Any port in a storm, as they say. I hope to get some money saved up and move into a better situation soon. There's no plumbing here, so I have to find public restrooms to use when I have to pee or clean up.
City people are so weird.
I found a job, but it's only part-time and a little cringy. I work at a supermarket as a "Promotional Associate," which means I spend a good deal of my work hours in a hotdog costume that smells of someone else's sweat and get paid a pittance to dance around like a fool in public.
I have to go to the gym to take a shower. I met a couple kids my age there.
I met this girl named Trish, who asked if I wanted to go see a movie with her sometime. I didn't have the heart to tell her I don't have money for that kind of thing.
I also met a boy named Cornelius who likes to run on treadmills while wearing flippers on his feet. Like I said. City folk are weird!
I met one other guy my age. He gave me a jump-scare. We were at the museum on free admission day, and I went around the corner to find him sitting on the floor in the dark, writing in a notebook.
His name's Paulo, and at first I thought he was a ghost, but it turns out he is a runaway like me. He said both his parents died, and he was put in a foster home where the guardians were mean and uncaring, only taking him on for the money they could get from the government. He said he's living in a homeless camp near a park with some other people. They don't all get along well, but they figure there's safety in numbers.
I told him I was looking for a homeless man named Carmen and wondered if he knew him.
"Oh yeah, I know Carmen. He's pretty cool. He doesn't pick fights like some of them. He let me pitch my tent next to his."
"Do you know where I can find him?" I asked.
"Well he's around here somewhere. The whole group of us came over here because admission is free today, and it's a good place to stay warm. I bet you'll run into him if you look around."
Sure enough, I did!
"Ronda! Is that you? What are you doing here? I told you to stay and finish school."
"Erm, I'm here on a school trip. We're visiting the museums and historical sites for a few days."
"Don't look at me like that! Oh, fine. I'm not here on a school trip. I'm here on my own adventure," I confessed. He can always tell when I'm fibbing.
"I hope you aren't sleeping out in the bad weather. It's not only dangerous because of people, but you could get frostbite!"
"I'm fine! I've got shelter," I assure him.
"Well, if anything changes, come look me up. I know a few places around town that are safe and warm."
I caught him up on all the news I new from Sagehen Mesa, . . .
and told him my sister Dara joined the police department.
He told me he was hoping to have a magician gig soon, and if I was still in town, he'd send me some complementary tickets.
He said a friend was coming over to meet him here, so we went outside to wait. While we were out there, I spotted Trish, the girl I met at the gym. I went over and started talking to her, and I guess Carmen must have met up with his friend and went back inside because I didn't see him the next time I turned round.
"I was thinking, . . . I noticed this place has a bed on display. A long time ago when I was a kid, I read a book called From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler about some kids who hung out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and hid at closing time. Then they had run of the place at night. I can try hiding out this evening and see if I can pull it off."
"That's a brilliant idea! You're one smart cookie!"
"Hey, Ronda, I've gotta scoot. My friend is here, and we've got a reservation downtown. It's our big once a week dining out experience. I'm glad we met up. Don't be a stranger!"
I was feeling pretty hungry too, so I went upstairs and bought a cookie from the snack bar.
The museum is about to close. I need to find a good hiding place!
********
"So who's that girl I just saw you hugging on? Should I be jealous?"
"She's just a kid I met in the last town I was in. You know you're the only girl for me, Angie."
********
I successfully slept at the museum! When I got back to the storage container the next morning, Davinia told me about her night. She said she had been seeing this man called Gumpo West-Marks. (Who names their kid Gumpo? City folk are weird!)
She met him at the lounge a few weeks back, and they really hit it off.
She was hoping he'd invite her over to his place for the night, but he said he had a full house. But last night he called and invited her to a feast party at his place. He told her the dress code was swimwear, so she assumed the guy had a pool, but apparently he didn't.
The only thing they had to feast on was a pie, but it was very tasty.
This made is wife and son angry with her.
His wife called her two-faced and told her to leave before she called the cops.
Davinia decided it was probably time to go.
That's all for now. I hope Carmen and I meet up soon! I'd like for us to move in together, but he didn't offer, and I want him to know I'm not a baby he has to take care of.
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