The basement was the man's true home.

A large desk in the shape of a semi-circle held five computers, and other pieces of technological equipment Ashley had no name for. Beyond the stairs, she saw a second room. The door was open: she peeked in to see a fully furnished bedroom. She bumped into a doorknob behind her.

"That's to the bathroom," Richie Rich said. "Now," he settled in a chair in front of his computers, "before I start, I have to know how old."

"I'm--,"

Juniper cut Ashley off. "Sixteen."

Richie didn't give his opinion on the answer. He click-clacked away on his computer.

About a minute later, he waved Ashley to come closer. "I need to get a headshot."

Richie pointed for her to stand in front of a small camera.

"Smile."

Ashley did not smile.

Richie snapped the picture anyway.

When Ashley walked to where Juniper stood, he asked for her name. Getting help from strangers went against her tiny gut feelings.

"Can't you just make one up?"

Richie tilted his head. "I can, but you might forget it and mess things up for yourself."

She decided to let go and follow directions without question. The two strangers were helping her without asking questions, and so far they didn't want anything in return. Ashley hoped later they weren't expecting something she couldn't give.

"Ashley Delia Heard."

"Thanks, Ashley." Click, clack. Clickety, click, click, clack.

Juniper and Ashley stood near the stairs for five minutes before Richie remembered they were there.

"You two can sit over there." He nodded at the couch across the room. "This is gonna take a bit to print out."

Settled on the couch, Ashley took the time to ask Juniper, "Who is this guy?"

Juniper laughed. "I was waiting for that. You must've figured out he's not my pimp."

Ashley coughed. She hoped the noise would deter Juniper from noticing the red creeping into her cheeks.

"No, it's okay. I know what I am, but I wasn't always." She spoke lightly, as though she were referring to a medical condition and not her career choice. "I met Christopher in college. He's my only friend these days."

"College?" Ashley was shocked. "Did you graduate?"

"Uh-huh."

For the space of two breaths, Ashley couldn't think of what to ask. Then, "What...did you study?"

"Theology."

Ashley had heard of the word, but she could have been confusing the meaning with anthropology. "What is... the-ology?"

"It's the study of religion."

"Were you gonna be a nun?"

Juniper seemed more amused by that than anything. "Maybe. I'm not sure what I thought I could do with my degree. Most of my life, I've been lost." She looked at Ashley hard, and she was afraid she had done something wrong. "I'm still lost, but at least I get my bills paid."

"All done!" Christopher announced.

The interruption from the very adult conversation came as a gift to Ashley. Her new friend talked about life as if she understood it, and Ashley did not understand. She didn't understand why her grandparents' hired help had murdered them. She didn't understand why bad men had come into her house, killing her father and abducting his girlfriend. She didn't understand why she kept meeting mean people, and she didn't know how Juniper (a non-mean person) fit into it all.

Ashley wandered back to Christopher's workstation. From underneath his desk, he pulled out a tray of new leather wallets.

"Pick one."

She grabbed a pink zebra one.

"Hey! That's my favorite ." A smile showed off Christopher's dimples.

Ashley could imagine what sort of a friend he was to Juniper.

He handed her a set of papers and a warm rectangular piece of plastic. A driver's license, freshly printed. Her birthday was off by four years, but if the plastic card said she was sixteen, then she was sixteen.

"You can check in with that ID without a parent," Juniper told her. "But you might still need a parent to call in and confirm. That I can do."

"My mom died when I was born."

"They won't know that," Juniper said.

Ashley blinked. Christopher looked uncomfortable. He mumbled words resembling "I'm sorry", while Juniper stood waiting for a reply. Another roar in Ashley's ears came and went, and then Juniper's face changed, like someone had just whispered an answer to her.

"Nevermind."

Ashley crossed her arms over her middle. She wanted to cry, cry and not stop, but she didn't want the strangers to see it. The embarrassment of nearly crying made her want to cry all the more.

"I'll call in for you," Christopher said.

She choked down her tears. Slowly, she nodded.

~*~