a stranger's hand (clutched in mine)

It's pleasantly warm outside but Lauren's shivering. Her hands tremble as she stares at the business card in front of her, her heart pounding wildly. The pay phone she's clutching with her other hand is pretty nasty looking and the box is heavily rusted, but she can still hear the dial tone as she holds the receiver near her face.

The thing is, Lauren has nowhere to go. Dinah, her best friend, would take Lauren into her house in a heartbeat, but Dinah's already taking care of so many of her siblings and Lauren can't add to her friend's stress like that. Zayn's taking care of his sickly mom and little sisters and he has no space for Lauren to crash, even just for a few nights.

Still, as Lauren slides a few quarters into the pay phone and starts dialing the number in her hand, she wonders if this is the right decision. It's ringing then and Lauren has to blink back tears. She really doesn't have it in her to have a breakdown right now.

"Hello?"

Lauren nearly drops the receiver. Her heart is lodged up in her throat and she has to clear it before she says, "Hello, Mr. Cabello?"

"Yes, Mr. Cabello speaking. May I ask who this is?"

"Um," Lauren's head is spinning and she's still really not sure if she's making the right decision, but, "It's Lauren... the one from juvie? You gave me your card and told me to call you if I ever needed your help?"

Mr. Cabello doesn't sound annoyed or upset in the slightest, which Lauren thinks is a good sign. "Lauren, yes! What can I help you with? Are you in some kind of trouble again?"

"I..." Lauren swallows thickly and closes her eyes as her emotions threaten to overwhelm her for a moment. "My mom kicked me out of the house."

-

"Enough is enough, Lauren."

"I'm sorry, Mom," Lauren says.

Her mother shakes her head, knocking back the drink in her hand and gesturing to the door. "I'm tired of this. I want you out."

The words hang between them for a few moments. "What?" Lauren finally manages. "Where would I go?"

"I don't care right now, take your things and leave," her mother says, not even looking Lauren in the eye (which is the worst part of this whole thing, Lauren thinks).

"Yeah, you heard your mother, get out."

Lauren glares at the man on the sofa, anger starting to bubble up in her. "You don't even fucking live here, asshole," she spits.

The man rises off the couch and towers over Lauren but Lauren doesn't back down. His sneer is ugly when he says, "You can't mouth off to me, show me some respect."

"Respect?" Lauren snorts. "I should respect some nasty, drunken freeloader who abandoned his own kids?"

Lauren expected the blow, but she still feels an odd sense of triumph at riling the man up as she crashes into the wall with a throbbing pain in her face.

"Jason!" her mother cries. "Stop, stop it! Lauren," she pleads, "just please go."

Jason gets another blow in that splits Lauren's lip badly before Lauren's mother grabs his arm. Jason relents and grabs Lauren's arm with bruising force, dragging her to her room and tossing to the floor.

Lauren's knees ache with how hard she hits the ground, and she scowls fiercely back at Jason. She snatches a backpack off the floor and tosses the nearest clothes into it.