JC: Harry and the Lee Girls
Chapter 2
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

A loud dull thumping echoed off the walls spooking everyone. It 
sounded like a giant was approaching the building. Da Lee 
suspended from the chain-link fence could feel every thump 
through the cuts in her back as the fence vibrated against them. It 
hurt, but that was nothing compared to the pain of her other 
wounds. She swore that her cut breast was going to burst open 
from the swelling. 

One of the girls, terrified by the sight of Da Lee hanging at the 
front of the room and the noises surrounding the building, 
screamed, "It's coming to get us."

The guard at the door, jumpy from the noise, spun around and 
shouted, "Shut up!"

Da Lee, her head feeling light, cackled hysterically as she shouted, 
"It's coming to get them!"

The guard, his fear turning to anger, stomped over to the cage. 
Pulling a switchblade from his pocket, he pressed the button 
releasing the blade. He drew the blade over the skin of her buttocks 
poking out through the openings of the fence. The cuts were not 
deep, but stung. Da Lee laughed and shouted, "That's it. Every cut 
brings it closer!"

"Witch!" shouted the guard as he thrust the knife into her back.

The pain exploded in her back and her whole body went taut as she 
screamed out. Shao Lee looked over at her sister and begged, 
"Don't make them kill you."

The other girls were terrified. The thumping only sounded louder 
in the silence that followed Shao Lee's outburst. The guard walked 
over to the window and looked out over the alley. Hundreds of 
homeless, moving as one, lifted their right legs and then stomped 
on the ground. Three seconds later, they would lift their left legs 
and then stomp on the ground. Watching the homeless men 
marching in place outside the window sent chills down the spine of 
the guard. The volume of their stomps suggested thousands of 
them had surrounded the building. 

He moved back to the door and checked his pistol. One clip wasn't 
going to have any effect on that crowd outside. He wanted to get a 
weapon that was a little more substantial preferably one with 
bigger clips and a faster rate of fire. He stood in place debating 
what to do. Should he leave his post to get an automatic or stay 
there? 

Automatic gunfire from Wong's office caused everyone to jump, 
including Da Lee. Her movement ignited another wave of pain, 
causing her to scream. The women in the cage screamed in 
response. The guard spun around holding the gun in front of him, 
not knowing what to expect to emerge from the office. Outside the 
stomping ended to be replaced by a chant, "Har-ry! Har-ry!"

To the people inside the building, the chant meant nothing. They 
didn't know what a Har-ry was. The mob outside could have been 
chanting 'Blah Blah' and conveyed as much information. Wong 
came out of the office and pointed his gun at the guard. In an even 
voice, he said, "You can remain on my side or die."

The guard recognized that a coup had been attempted and failed. 
The fact that Wong was still walking around meant that Chin was 
dead. It did no good to align oneself with the dead. He bowed and 
said, "I have never left your side."

"Good."

The guard looked around nervously for a moment and then, with a 
gesture to the outside, asked, "Can I get a bigger gun?"

The question struck Da Lee as funny. Now was a perfect time to 
push Wong into killing her and putting an end to the torture. 
Laughing maniacally, Da Lee shouted, "Little men with little cocks 
want bigger guns."

Wong took careful aim and fired a single shot into her shoulder. 
The pain as her shoulder blew apart was excruciating. Her body 
sagged, no longer supported by the wire around her shoulder. She 
could hear muscles, tendons, and bones within her shoulder rip as a 
result of the changed stresses. Her scream echoed off the walls, cut 
short when she passed out.

Wong, tempted to go over and taste her blood, turned to the guard 
with a hard look on his face. He said, "Come with me."

Shao Lee watched the men leave the room. Deciding that she didn't 
care any more what happened to her, she stood up and ran over to 
her sister. Tears flowed down her cheeks in a constant stream as 
she reached her sister. She wanted to grab her sister and give her a 
comforting hug, but froze a step away terrified that any kind of 
touch would hurt her. When her sister regained consciousness, 
voice cracking from emotions, Shao Lee said, "I love you, Da. 
What can I do for you?"

"Water. I'd like water," replied her sister. She was covered in a thin 
sheen sweat induced by pain. She couldn't believe how much pain 
she felt. Every time she thought it was as bad as it could get, he 
had inflicted another wound that raised the pain level even higher. 

Shao Lee ran over to the water bucket and returned with a cup of 
water. She held it up to her sister's lips. Despite her care in tipping 
the cup, more of the water ran down the girl's chin than in her 
mouth.  It was a fortunate clumsiness since if she had been given 
too much water, she would have thrown up. As it was, her 
immediate thirst was sated and Shao Lee felt better having helped 
her sister. 

Da Lee's head slumped forward as she lost consciousness again. 
Her mind was protecting itself from the unrelenting pain, trying to 
keep a handle on her sanity despite the assaults against it. Shao Lee 
ran her hand along the leg of her sister wishing that she could heal 
her or at least take some of her pain. She slumped to the ground in 
front of her sister, crying in frustration. 

The sound of chanting in the street continued. Shao Lee turned to 
the other girls and asked, "What are they saying outside?

The girls looked around, wondering if any of them knew enough 
English to know what was being said. Finally, one of the girls said, 
"It sounds like Ree Hair. I have no idea what that is."

The girls discussed what it could possibly mean. One of the girls 
recognized the word hair. Another suggested that Ree might be 
red. Of course, red hair was a strange thing to chant. Their 
discussion was interrupted by a male voice coming from the door. 
In perfect Cantonese, he said, "They are saying my name. I am 
Harry and I am at your service."

As one, all of the girls turned to stare at the man at the door. The 
elderly man wore a green robe with a bloodstain across the chest 
and leaned against a shepherd's staff. Having their attention he 
nodded at them with a friendly smile. Standing beside Harry was 
an oriental man in a red robe. Harry turned to him and said, 
"Jimmy, take care of the bad guys please."

The little oriental man nodded and slipped to the front of the 
building. Harry looked around and then called out through the 
door, "I need someone that can pick a lock."

After a few minutes, a man shuffled into the room. He looked over 
at all of the nearly naked girls in the cage and lowered his head as 
though the sight hurt. Shao Lee was terrified by his filthy 
appearance. His dirty skin looked like alligator hide; his hair was 
long and greasy; his teeth were rotten; and his fingernails were 
black. Rubbing his finger along the bottom of his nose, he shuffled 
over to the door avoiding looking at any of the girls. The smell of 
the man was enough to wake Da Lee, assaulting her noise like 
ammonia salts.

It took the man ten seconds to open the door to the cage. Turning 
to the girls but looking away from them, he sniffled and said, "I'm 
not one of the bad guys. Don't look at me like that."

Harry translated his words to the girls and watched the expressions 
of disbelief on their faces. Smiling, he turned to the man and said, 
"Thanks Jeff."

The man nodded at Harry before he turned and shuffled out of the 
room keeping his head down. Harry walked over to the cage and 
stepped inside. Looking around, he said, "You girls might want to 
put on some of those shirts you've sewed. A lot of men are outside 
and I'm sure you would like to be covered a little."

His words jolted the girls out of their trace. The idea that they 
could wear the clothes that they had worked so hard to make was 
shocking. Moving in slow motion, the girls picked out shirts and 
dressed while watching Harry the entire time. Harry walked over 
to Da Lee and touched the side of her face. She looked at him 
thinking she must be dead. She had seen him get killed in the alley. 
In a soft voice, he said, "A healer is coming. I don't want to move 
you until she gets here."

"I saw you get shot."

"I'm sorry. I had wanted to help you in the alley, but you saw what 
happened. I had to wait until after I was healed," replied Harry. He 
stood with his head cocked as though trying to hear something. 
After a minute, a smile came to his face as he said, "Good. Jimmy 
Lee has been victorious."

Da Lee hung on the fence confused and in pain. Harry turned to the 
other girls in the room and, after clapping his hands to make sure 
that he had their attention, said, "In a minute, Jimmy Lee will 
return. Please follow him to the bus so that he can take you to a 
place of safety."

Shao Lee moved across the room and put herself between Da Lee 
and Harry in a pathetic attempt to shield her sister. Harry turned 
and looked down at her. After studying her for a minute, he looked 
at Da Lee. Smiling, he said, "I get it now. You are sisters."

"I know you are not here to help us," stated Shao Lee. If he had 
been there to help, he would have gotten her sister down and to a 
doctor. 

"Patience, little sister. Some things must wait until the proper 
time."

Jimmy Lee came out of the office with a smile on his face. 
Speaking Cantonese so that the others in the room could 
understand him, he said, "You were right, Harry. They are Triad. 
I've got them tied up in the front office. It's safe for Kelly to come 
in."

Harry replied, "Jimmy. Take the girls to the bus, now. Explain to 
them what is going to happen to them. Be gentle, they are very 
frightened. I'll take care of these two."

Jimmy Lee winked and said, "No problem, Harry."

Shao Lee asked, "Who are you?"

"I thought I introduced myself earlier. I am Harry and my partner 
is Jimmy Lee. We came to rescue you," answered Harry. 

A woman wearing a green robe entered the room even as Jimmy 
started to lead the girls out of the building. The homeless had 
created a path through which the girls could walk. The path led 
from the back door to the door of a large bus parked at the mouth 
of the alley. The girls followed Jimmy, crowding together in fear 
of the mass of ugly men that surrounded them. It was difficult for 
the girls to tell if the men were threatening them or protecting 
them.

The woman walked into the cage and looked at the girl hung on the 
fence. Kelly examined at her for a moment, taking in each and 
every injury. A shiver went through her body as she saw the cut 
through the girl's nipple. Taking a deep breath, she said, "We shall 
have to take her down. She's hurt, but I don't see any injuries that 
will kill her." 

After translating what Kelly had said, Harry turned to Shao Lee. 
With a very serious look on his face, he said, "Go to the door. Pick 
three men that you can trust to help us with your sister. Point to 
them and say Harry."

Shaking, crying, and afraid, Da Lee said, "Please do it Shao. I want 
down."

The idea of picking three of those ugly men scared Shao Lee, but 
for her sister she would do it. At the back door, fifty homeless men 
remained waiting should Harry need some help. The man that had 
unlocked the cell door was one of the men waiting around in the 
alley. She pointed to him and said, "Harry."

Jeff looked up with a cringe and saw that a very naked young girl 
was pointing at him. He pointed to himself and looked at her with a 
question of his face. She nodded and said, "Harry."

Hands shaking, Jeff stood up and walked towards the door with a 
wary step. He stopped a distance away from her and avoided 
looking at her. He didn't want to get too close to her. Bad things 
happened to him when he got too close to girls. Jeff didn't do well 
with people. The exception was Harry and he'd walked through fire 
for Harry. 

The Druid knew that Jeff was terrified of girls. When he was a 
little boy, his mother had caught him playing doctor with the little 
girl form next door. She had whipped him to within an inch of his 
life with a length of barbwire and locked him in the closet for a 
week. When she later caught him looking at the neighbor girl in a 
manner that she didn't approve, she had taken more direct action to 
make sure that he never touched a little girl again. The damage had 
been significant and his cock never worked after that.

"Harry," said Shao Lee as she pointed at another man. This one 
had little tufts of hair amidst large bald patches on his head. She 
wondered how it had happened, but her question was answered 
when he nervously reached up and pulled on his hair. 

The man looked around and, twitching nervously, moved over to 
join Jeff. His hand came up to pull on his hair as he said, "People 
call me Twitch."

"Jeff," replied the other man still trying to avoid looking at Shao 
Lee. He actually knew of Twitch, but they hadn't ever talked. Jeff 
didn't talk with people except to ask for work.

Shao Lee looked over the rest of the men there. A few wouldn't 
meet her eye and a few looked at her with too much interest, but 
most just waited to be called upon. She spotted one man that was 
tall and rail-thin. She pointed at him and said, "Harry."

The tall man went over to join the other two men she had picked. 
She gestured for them to come with her and went back to her 
sister's side. Harry was surprised by her choice of men. Jeff, 
Twitch, and Too-Tall made an very interesting group. He called 
over to the men in a commanding voice. "I need some help getting 
this girl down from here."

Looking away from the two girls, Jeff replied, "I can't touch a little 
girl. Bad things happen to me when I even look at them."

Kelly looked over at Harry with a question in her eyes. Her 
maternal instinct didn't like it when men talked that way about a 
child. Harry whispered, "I'll explain later."

Frustrated by the delay, Shao Lee said, "I picked three men. Get 
my sister down now!"

Harry said, "Too-Tall. Come here so that you can hold her. Jeff 
and Twitch, I want you to start removing the wire holding her up." 

Without saying a word, the tall man came over to where Harry was 
standing. Even though the girl was tied so that her feet were three 
feet off the ground, her head only came to his shoulder. In a way, 
he was the perfect man for the job. It took Jeff and Twitch a long 
time to remove the wires. Anytime Da Less made any kind of 
noise suggestive of pain, both of the men backed off afraid that 
they were hurting her. 

When the last wire was removed, Too-Tall carried her away from 
the wall. He followed Kelly to where she told him to put her down. 
With a gentleness that came from a spirit that was as large as he 
was tall, Too-Tall laid the girl on the ground. Steeping away, he 
looked down at Da Lee with tears in his eyes. He looked up, 
finding Shao Lee staring at him wondering why this man was 
crying over her sister. She was the only one in this world that cared 
about her sister.

Kelly lied down on the ground next to Da Lee and caressed her 
face. The oriental girl looked at her in confusion, not knowing 
what was happening. Harry knelt down next to Da Lee and said, 
"This is Kelly. She is a healer. Two hours ago, I was in a hospital 
with a bullet next to my heart. She cured me and she will cure 
you."

"How?"

"She will kiss it and make it better," answered Harry with a 
reassuring smile. He stood and stepped back pulling Shao Lee with 
him. In English, he said, "Go ahead Kelly."

He watched as Kelly started touching the girl with soft tender 
strokes. With gentle kisses on her forehead, the girl relaxed as 
though a powerful painkiller had just been administered 
intravenously. Harry looked down at Shao Lee. The girl was 
watching her sister, frowning as the woman started kissing her in 
ways that women should not kiss women. He bent down so that his 
mouth was next to her ear and said, "You are hurt, too."

Shao Lee, looking at him with a funny expression on her face, said, 
"I don't think she will kiss my hurt. Even I wouldn't kiss my hurt if 
it was possible."

Having seen the evidence of her anal rape, Harry couldn't help but 
laugh a little. Winking at her, he said, "Have no fear, little sister. 
You shall be healed as well."

In anguish, Jeff cried out, "Oh, God! Please spare me. I didn't 
mean to look. I don't want to die."

Harry hit his head, realizing that he had allowed Jeff to stay in the 
room too long. The poor guy was probably convinced that God 
was going to strike him down in a bolt of lightening for looking at 
Kelly making love to Da Lee. In a voice far sharper than he 
intended, Harry ordered, "Jeff. Open that other door."

The command snapped Jeff out of his emotional crisis. Keeping his 
head down, he shuffled to the other end of the cage. He was having 
difficulty picking the lock since his hands were trembling. While 
Jeff was busy with that, Harry whispered to Shao Lee, "I have to 
go help him now. In many ways, he has been hurt worse than your 
sister."

Frowning, Shao Lee said, "I don't see any blood."

"The worst wounds do not bleed," replied Harry knowing that one 
day she would suffer from wounds just as bad as Jeff's wounds. He 
said, "I'll explain to you later, but I must help him."

Shao Lee watched Harry go over to Jeff, curious about his 
insistence on helping the man. She wished that she understood 
what people were saying. For all she knew, they were talking about 
how to hurt her sister again. The thought made her look back at her 
sister. Da Lee was breathing heavily as a passion that she had 
never experienced washed over her at the hands of the strange 
woman kissing her. 

Shao Lee didn't like what the woman was doing to her sister. Kelly 
was flicking her tongue on the breast of her patient. On the verge 
of interrupting them, Shao Lee froze when she saw that the cut 
across the breast was gone. Not just healed, but actually gone.  Da 
Lee started to thrash around on the floor when Kelly moved down 
between her legs. When Kelly slid her tongue through the girl's 
sex, Shao Lee watched in amazement as her sister used both hands 
to pull Kelly closer to her. 

Behind Jeff, Harry stopped and watched the man work on the lock. 
Tears were running down Jeff's face, as he was sure that his life 
was over. He nearly jumped out of his shoes when Harry said, 
"There are people that are weak. There are people who are a little 
stronger. It is the job of the strong to protect the weak. The Gods 
and Goddesses demand that of us."

Not looking at the Druid, Jeff said, "They are going to kill me for 
looking."

"No," replied Harry. He put a hand on the man's shoulder and said, 
"They will reward you for helping them. You are one of the strong 
and you helped the weak. That is a good thing, Jeff."

"I shouldn't have looked," replied Jeff. It had been a peek, nothing 
more. Still, in his mind it was enough.

"Jeff, look at me."

Jeff turned slowly, afraid of what he would see. His eyes met 
Harry's and found gentleness in them. Harry said, "Jeff. I asked her 
to pick three protectors for her and her sister. She chose you, 
Twitch, and Too-tall because she could see the good in all three of 
you. She picked you because she could see strength that would 
never hurt her."

"I. I'd never hurt a girl," said Jeff stumbling over the words. 

Harry, allowing the anger to come through, said, "There are some 
people that enjoy hurting girls like that. The man that shot me 
raped the little one and tortured the bigger one."

A look of horror crossed Jeff's face as he thought about it. He 
knew they had been hurt, but had tried to deny that anyone had 
intentionally hurt them. "That man must be stopped."

"They were stopped because you helped us, Jeff," said Harry. His 
voice had returned to the reassuring tone that he had used earlier.

"I. I did good?"

Yes, Jeff. You did good," said Harry.

"I'm not in trouble," asked Jeff looking around as though he 
expected a blow any moment. 

"You are not in trouble."

Jeff visibly relaxed. The lock sprung open under his fingertips. He 
smiled and said, "The door is open now."

"Good."

Jeff stood there running his fingers through his greasy hair thinking 
about what Harry had said. Licking his lips, he said, "I'm glad I did 
good."

"Would you like to do some more good?"

"I. I don't know. Yeah. I. I do want to do good."

"Those two need protectors. They don't know any English. They 
don't know how to live here in America," said Harry watching Jeff 
very closely.

"Will I? Will I have to be around them?" asked Jeff.

"Yes," answered Harry seeing the despair on his face. He pointed 
over to where Twitch and Too-Tall were standing. In a quiet voice, 
he said, "You don't have to decide now. Go tell Twitch and Too-
Tall that the girls need protectors. Talk to them."

Harry returned to stand beside Shao Lee. She jumped when she 
realized that he had stepped beside her. Harry asked, "How is your 
sister healing?"

"She is completely healed," said Shao Lee in an awed voice. This 
had been the most amazing thing she had ever seen. 

"That is good. You have not told me your name or the name of 
your sister," said Harry.

"I am Shao Lee. My sister is Da Lee," answered the girl.

Harry chuckled at the names and said, "Your parents had a sense of 
humor."

"They were very funny people," answered Da Lee.

"Little Lee for the younger daughter and Big Lee for the older one. 
That is very good," said Harry. "In English, Shao is sometimes 
pronounced, lil'."

"Lil?" repeated Shao Lee finding the word strange sounding.

"You need English names. May I suggest Lilly and Dolly Lee for 
you and your sister?"

A smile, the first real smile of the day, appeared with the 
brightness of a sunrise. She said, "I like that name. Lilly Lee. What 
does Dolly mean?"

"Like a doll," answered Harry.

"She will like that. At least I think she will like that," said Lilly. 
She repeated the names, "Lilly. Dolly."

Kelly came over with Da Lee in tow. The elder sister grabbed her 
little sister and hugged her tightly. Tears came over both girls as 
they came to the slow realization that their life in hell was coming 
to an end. Kelly, shaken by what she had seen, waited for the girls 
to part. As she waited, Harry said, "Kelly, the younger sister was 
anally raped."

"I saw that," replied Kelly. If she had been able to get her hands on 
the man that had done that to those two girls, she would had 
destroyed him. Who was she kidding? A grin flashed across her 
face at the thought of allowing Betsy to deal with the man. Betsy 
was like Ling when it came to righting some wrong. Much to Ed's 
displeasure, both of them tended to err on the side of excessive 
damage. She sighed and said, "I will take care of it."

"Thank you," said Harry.

"There's no need to thank me," said Kelly looking at the two 
sisters. They were so happy to be able to hold each other. She 
looked at Harry and said, "I like happy endings as much as 
anyone."

"It isn't over yet," said Harry. He gestured to the three men at the 
front of the room and said, "They deserve a happy ending too."

Recalling the words of the man that had been screaming about 
having looked, Kelly asked, "What's the story with greasy hair?"

"His mother caught him playing doctor with the girl next door 
when he was nine. She whipped him for hours and then locked him 
in a closet. She caught him looking at the little girl a couple of 
weeks later. The little girl had lifted her dress and showed her 
panties to him. His mother decided that he was a pervert. She 
nailed him to the floor though his testicles. I don't know how he 
survived it, but that wasn't the worst of it. She carved little pieces 
out of his cock with an Exacto-knife."

The look of horror on Kelly's face echoed the horror with which he 
had first heard the story. He continued, "His father found him 
sitting in a pool of blood. He was almost dead and spent a month in 
the hospital as doctors tried to perform microsurgery to save as 
much function as possible. There weren't enough painkillers to 
ease the pain that Jeff felt."

Kelly shook her head as she looked over at the three men. Not 
really wanting to know, she asked, "What happened afterwards?"

"His mother was sent to prison. They day they released her, Jeff 
left home. Of course, by that time he was a drug addict and had a 
drinking problem. There were just too many females around him 
and he had to shut them out. He can't get anywhere near a girl 
because he believes that horrible things will happen to him if he 
looks at her. He runs from women because they make horrible 
things happen to him." Harry watched Jeff talking to the other two 
men. He could see that they were all shaken up by the news that 
they had been chosen to be protectors for the two girls.

Kelly could understand how Jeff could believe that. She asked, 
"What about the other two?"

"Twitch was driving his family home from celebrating his birthday 
at a restaurant. A drunk driver hit them and he was the only one 
that survived. He snapped. He doesn't want to care about anyone, 
but he has a soft heart that cares about everyone. The conflict is 
tearing him apart. He pulls on himself as a physical release for his 
internal conflict." Harry wasn't sure that Twitch was actually up to 
being a protector for the girls. 

"Rough."

"Too-tall is the healthiest of the three. When he was younger, he 
tended to be bully and got into a lot of fights. Being big, he usually 
won. Then one day, he bit off his tongue in a bar fight. He was 
drunk and passed out without seeking medical attention. When he 
woke in the morning it was too late. He quite drinking, but the 
damage had been done. I don't know when he moved onto the 
streets, but he's always taken care of everyone else."

"How do you know that?" asked Kelly.

"I ran into someone that knew the whole story. She told it to me 
and then gave me a hundred dollars to get him some warm 
clothes."

It sounded like a very generous gift. She asked, "Who told you the 
story?"

Harry looked over at Too-Tall as he answered, "His sister."

"Oh." Kelly wondered how Harry managed to deal with so many 
fragile and broken people while remaining happy. She had seen 
first-hand how the homeless men and women whom he had helped 
would have sacrificed themselves to avenge him. Few people could 
inspire such loyalty in others, but Harry managed it without much 
difficulty. 

It was time to deal with the younger girl. Kelly took Lilly to the 
back area and healed the wounds that had been inflicted by the 
rape. It didn't require much effort on her part. Five minutes of 
rubbing the young girl between her legs had generated an orgasm. 
The physical wounds healed, but Kelly knew there would be 
deeper wounds that wouldn't heal for years.

While Kelly was busy with getting both girls cleaned and dressed, 
Harry went over to the three men at the front of the room. It took 
him ten minutes to explain what was necessary for them to do if 
they agreed to serve as protectors. Too-Tall listened without any 
sign of reaction to what Harry said, but he was the first to agree 
with a simple direct nod of his head. After a lot of soul searching, 
Jeff and Twitch both agreed to serve as protectors for the two girls. 

Once the men had agreed to serve as protectors for the girls, Harry 
went in the back room where the girls were waiting with Kelly. He 
asked, "Kelly, could you take the trio out front to get washed, 
shaved, and dressed in a manner befitting their new role in life?"

Frowning, Kelly said, "It's nearly eleven. Where am I going to get 
any of that stuff done at this hour?"

Happy Harry laughed at the question. With a smile and a wink, he 
answered, "You have some resources that others don't. I'm sure 
you can make things happen regardless of what time it is."

She knew he was right. As Kelly went to the front room while 
muttering to herself, Harry turned to the two girls. He asked, "How 
are you feeling, Dolly and Lilly?"

Dolly grinned and answered, "I feel better than I have in years."

"I'm so happy to know that my sister isn't going to die," answered 
Lilly as tears threatened to mar her freshly washed face. 

Harry sat down on one of the cots and gestured for the other two to 
do the same. They sat on the same cot, holding hands as if to say 
that nothing was ever going to separate them again. Looking over 
at Lilly, he said, "You picked some interesting men, Lilly. They 
have agreed to protect you as you settle into a new life here in 
America."

"Pardon?"

Harry spent the next half-hour explaining what he had done on 
their behalf. He told them about the pasts of the men that Lilly had 
chosen. The girls understood how hurt the men had been in the 
past and how they would have to be a little gentle with them at 
times. The girls listened to Harry with open mouths at the horrors 
that had been heaped upon Jeff. Tears welled up in their eyes when 
he told them about how Twitch had lost his family. Lilly 
remembered how the gentle giant had taken care of her sister. 

Harry returned to the front room and stood next to the open door. 
He didn't need to look to know who would be there. He called out 
the door to the last of the homeless men standing there. "Blackie, 
you can tell the police that they can come in, now."

A few minutes later, a dozen policemen entered the building. Harry 
smiled at them and pointed to the front office. "The prisoners are in 
there. You are to hold them for Jimmy Lee."

The police Sargent said, "I know. He's the one from Immigration 
that hauled away all those girls in the bus. He gave us very explicit 
instructions about what we were to do with the creeps. No 
statements to be taken, no questions to be asked of them, and no 
charges until he shows up in the morning."

Harry smiled and asked, "Do you know where to find me?"

"I don't know where to find you, but I know how to find you. I 
follow the happy homeless," replied the cop shaking his head. He 
had watched homeless gather around this building last night. When 
a hundred of them had turned to face the police and told them that 
they were not to pass until the problem was solved, he realized that 
even the biggest loser in the world still had things that they were 
willing to die to protect. 

"Yeah, you can always do that," replied Harry as he left the 
building with the two girls beside him. The sound of a bottle 
rolling down the alley caught his attention. He was alive because 
the man that had been drinking out of the bottle had carried him to 
the hospital. Without looking, Harry said, "Goodnight Blackie. 
Thanks for everything."



