At the tender age of five, a boy can be seen sitting in a chair. He swings his legs as he looks around with blank eyes. His mother is in a chair right across from him. She seems to be in her early twenties and is wearing something that nobody would think is appropriate for the current situation at hand. What is this situation? Court, this mother, and her child are in court. She wears a stained sweatsuit. Looking at his mother, he asks.

"Mom, why can't I go live with dad? He said he would pay for everything I would need for school?" The young boy asks his mother with pure eyes.

"Be quiet, boy I don't want you to call him dad or even mention him around me, and for a reason... it's because I love you so much, and I want you by my side." She pinches his cheeks while wrinkling her nose at him. Meanwhile, a short older woman wearing pink-rimmed glasses and a black cloak suit walks out into the open. Sitting down, she sighs and opens up a laptop, and pulls some papers out from a drawer.

"Miss.Johnson, correct?" The judge asks.

"Yes, that is correct, the judge" The mother looks at her son and then back at the judge, with what seems to be eyes full of compassion.

She pulls down her glasses and looks over them at her."This woman is a mess, but she said the father is not around, and I have heard nothing from him either." So she thinks as she starts to speak." So you want full custody, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am, I do," The woman smiles at the judge, her teeth a bright white, a stark contrast to her clothes that have many stains on them.

"Oh? and what do you do for a living? Can you properly raise a child?"

"Yes, I am competent to do so, I am a dancer at the club Dancing Stars, and I make good money there."

"You're a stripper, am I, right?" The judge asks with a smirk.

The woman rolls her eyes at the judge. "I prefer the term Exotic Dancer, but yes, I am."

Sighing, the judge looks at the little boy, unaware of what transpires. She looks over the files as she lets her eyes drift away from the boy.

"I don't have any other choices." She thinks as she looks up at the young woman and her son."Alright, I will give you complete custody, do not let me down and raise that child, right will you?"

Nodding her head, the young woman picks up the boy. "Yes, I can, he is my pride and joy, and I will never even let him out of my sight." So she said as she was all smiles. After some paperwork and some things were sorted through, the woman left with her child and brought him to a brand new mustang car.

"Mommy, where are we going now?" The boy asks with happy eyes.

"Mommy has to work, so we are going to the business that mommy works for." Then, smiling at her son, she focuses back on the road.

"Okay, mommy."

Soon the car speeded off. Along the ride, the boy was playing with one of his few toys when he heard a ringing, he looked up, and his mom pulled out her phone and pressed it to the side of her head. "Yes? Yup, I will be home tonight. Yes, the back door will be open. Just slip in." She hangs up the phone and looks back at her kid, that was looking at her. "It's nothing, honey, just a friend from work that will be coming over tonight."

"Okay," Says the boy as they pull into the club parking lot.

Holding her kid's hand, she pulls him straight into the club, where loud music is pumping. And takes him straight into the back of the club.

"Hiiii melissa," A woman greets the boys' mother.

"Hi, Shelly."

"I see you brought your little mouse with you." Shelly snorts at the young boy.

"Melissa grimaces at the boy holding her hand. "Yeah, I had no choice."

"Well, leave him back here. We have a lot of hours to put in after all."

"Your right. I will do, I'll move my ass. See you upfront." Shelly walks away and blows a couple of kisses to some men staring at her from across the club.

Shelly bends down and looks at the boy."DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING." She says with excessive punctuation.

"Okay, mommy, I already know not to." The boy winces.

"Don't talk back. You always manage to cause me trouble anyway." She huffed as she left the boy standing there with one of his toys. He walked himself over into a corner and played with his favorite toy, and it was a replica of a giant cannon that the boy imaged to be operating. Hours passed, and the boy had long since fallen asleep on a mound of fur coats.

After what seemed like an entire year to the boy, he was woken up by his mother that looked very angry.

"What did I say about touching stuff?" She said as she slapped his hand angrily.

"I was just tired, mommy."

"I don't care what you were. You need to listen to me, whatever I say no matter what, do you understand?"

"Yes, mommy, I'm sorry." Traces of tears started to form in his eyes, but he quickly rubbed them off. He already knew tears wouldn't help him with his angry mom.

The young woman picked the kid up and started walking out of the club with him.

"Yooo melissa, when can I come over next?" A rich-looking man wearing all Dior while wearing iced-out chains around his neck asks the boys' mother.

"Heyyy baby, not too long, maybe in a week?" The mom looks over at her kid and looks like she changed her mind about something." She says. "Actually, tomorrow would work."

The man nods and walks away, laughing with his friends. "She totally wants all of this." His friends chuckling, just walked right next to him and sat down in the VIP area.

The mom then walks out of the club with a smile plastered on her face. "Come on, brat, let's go." The young women beckons. They get in the car and start to drive off.

"Mom, I'm hungry. Can we stop at Mc.jondals?"

"No, we cannot. It's way too late for that. You can have some yogurt when we get home."

The boy looks back out the window, passing by the billboard and flashing lights. They eventually pull into a dark driveway that seems run down as hell. They get out, and the boy starts to walk to the house. The mom opens the door and shoos him inside.

"Alright, mommy, can I have some of that yogurt now? I'm starving." He asks in a sweet voice.

"I'm sorry, honey, that ride took way longer than I expected, so no dinner tonight, but I'll make you some fluffy pancakes when you wake up; how does that sound?"

The boy began to smile really big and ran into his mother's legs and hugged them. "Thank you, mommy. I love pancakes." His chubby cheeks resting against his mothers' legs.

" I know, baby, now go to bed." "Okayyy." the boy races up the stairs but doesn't go to bed right away; instead, he pulls out some paper and crayons.

He starts to draw on the paper making twists and coloring in certain parts. "I love you, mommy; you are the best. He labels his drawing of his mother and him holding hands. He then takes it downstairs and uses a magnet to place it by others that he drew just like it. Finally, he tips toes upstairs and closes the door so as not to wake up his mother since he knows she is exhausted from her job.

Twenty miles away from where the boy is sleeping, soft waves can be heard breaking upon the hull of a boat. some men sit around each other on some crates smoking cigarettes and laughing.

"Alright, Jimmy, how many little rats do we have to pick up tonight?" A big man asks.

"Four, boss, says a young man with a smirk."

"Good haul if I do say so myself." Says the Boss as he stands up. "Get the stuff. We have to head out."

The men look at their watches and scatter, and they pick up some low-dose tranquilizers and ropes. "Jimmy, grab the money we own the parents and haul ass."

"Yessir," the young man says as he picks up four briefcases filled with unmarked, untraceable money. They pack everything into a large van with most of the seats missing.

One hour after the men leave, knocking can be heard on an apartment door. Soft thudding and the sound of socks sliding on the floor can be heard as a young man opens the door.

"Yes?" He is quite skinny and looks sleep-deprived.

"We are here for pickup." The Boss says in a ruff voice.

The young man nods his head and allows the four men into his home. "It's down the hall to the left." So says the young man while he grabs a bottle of wine and shuts himself into his room.

The men then walk into the bedroom, where a small girl is resting without saying anything. Finally, the smallest of the men go right up to the bed and sting her neck with a needle.

The girl didn't wake up from the pain. It was too quick. One of the men picks her up, carries her out to the van, and lays her down inside; two other kids are also knocked out.

"Oi douche bag, your money is on the counter."

"It's fine. I believe the full amount is there." Says the young man from the other side of the door with a weak voice."

"Ight then boys, let's get out of here." So says the Boss of the gang. They get in the van and zoom off to their next target, a young boy, that lives with his mother.

Once again, knocking can be heard. A very young woman opens the door.

"He is upstairs, and please hurry. I can't wait to have him gone." The young woman bounces on the balls of her feet with a happy grin.

The men simply nod and put the briefcase next to the fridge on the floor.

"Come on, boys, this is our last stop, lets make this fast." The men rush upstairs, eager to get home. They open the kid's door. But unlike the other kids that were all asleep, this one was awake.

"Shit." Says the smallest of the men. He pulls out his needle and walks towards the kids.

"Are you my mommy's friend?" The boy asks with an innocent face.

"Ahem, yes, I am. I'm here to say hi and just give you a quick hug, okay?" A medium-sized man answers back.

The boy jumps up with a smile. "None of my mommy's friends have ever wanted to give me a hug before," he says with a big smile as he runs towards the small man and lands in his arms. The next thing he remembers is a slight sting and his vision going dark. After that, the men take the kid and put him in the van.

As the Boss is about to walk out the front door, he sees something that catches his eyes. "Did your son draw all of those?" He says as he points at the fridge covered in the drawing of a child holding his mother's hand.

"Sigh, yes, the kid is wayyy too clingy. That's part of the reason why I'm sooo happy to see him go."

The man shakes his head with a bit of sadness. Saying nothing, he pushes past the women. He gets in the van and starts to drive off.

"I feel bad for the kid we just picked up." Says the most medium-size man.

"Whys is that?" Says the Boss.

"Because she didn't even need the money at all, she could have given that kid a good life. Did you see that Mustang in her driveway?" He asks with a bit of venom in his voice.

"It's in the business. You'll get used to it, greenhorn." The Boss laughs.

The small man shakes his head and looks at the kids. "I'm doing this for my children," he says to himself as a way to reassure himself.

****

The van pulls up to a warehouse surrounded by trees and armed men three hours later.