A blank expression overtook Miss Marion as she looked forward. To Eliza, she was simply an old woman who mentally checked out. But inside Miss Marion's mind, there was vivid excitement and engagement occurring. Inside the mind of the elderly, memories are far more appealing than the present.

One usually takes for granted their youth. The strength in one's body, the activities free for you to engage in. And most of all, the ability to be desired. Marion was surely desired, in her small Southern community men from all over would comment on her beauty.

Marion hadn't imagined things being any other way. In those days, not only was she beautiful, but she had wealth that could be traced back to cotton. Her sprawling home was a relic of antebellum, which had only occurred just a few decades earlier in 1848.

Because her family had such stakes in mining, maintaining such wealth after abolition was no issue. They had been the wealthiest family in the small town since its creation. On almost all businesses in town, you could see her family's name on display, Buchanan. And being part of that lineage meant that almost all town socials were organized by them.

One l summer night, all the doors to the ballroom stayed open to let air into the heated room. The young gentlemen and southern belles of the area hadn't a care in the world. In their large dresses, they did the complicated dances of the day. Marion decided that she had enough dancing and hopped off to the side. She watched for a moment as everyone enjoyed themselves. With all these people in her hone, she still somehow felt empty.

Walking off to the terrace of the ballroom, she passed people stealing heated kisses and touches amongst each other. With an exhale she rested her lace gloved forearms onto the wooden railing in front of her.

"A beverage?" A young man asked. Marion looked to him. His voice was sweet as ever, the dialect catching her attention immediately. His brown eyes somehow managed to sparkle under the lantern light. And his demeanor was captivating. Marion knew he was all she was looking for, all that she was missing.

Except, one thing.

"I'm fine, thank you." Marion answered the colored boy. He nodded and began to walk away, but she believed it was too soon. "Wait—"

He stopped in his tracks. Once again he stood before her confidently, a smile revealing the cutest dimple she'd ever seen.

"You wouldn't know where a girl could go to have fun, would you?" Marion asked.

"Fun?" He repeated. "Can't say that I do, Miss Buchanan."

"Call me Marion." She turned to him.

"I'm not sure if I'm permitted too." He said in a whisper.

"I insist." She leaned on arm on the railing beside her. "Now, tell me. Where do you go out to have a good time?"

He was now onto her game. He cleared his throat, straightening his back. "Well, I don't think anywhere I go for fun would be fitting for a belle like you."

"Try me." She persisted.

The black boy looked to the left and then to the right. Then a grin spread across his face. "Well, usually we meet by the dock."

"Miss Marion, Miss Marion." Eliza called out repeatedly, begging for the old lady's attention. Miss Marion was sitting there with a grin on her face, and her eyes sparkled blankly. She blinked as she looked to Eliza, who had just finished shrugging on her coat. "I've completed all that was on my list. Is there anything else you'd like me to get?"

"No, I don't think so. That'll be all, Eliza." Miss Marion told her. "You're dismissed."

And with that Eliza walked out of the old apartment, fatigued from a day of work. Meanwhile, not too far away the boys rode together in the car. Conner was behind the wheel, Bunny took the middle in the front seat, William was at the window and Jack in the back.

They still were putting their heads together to figure out exactly what happened with Ernie.

"What does the creep want with her?" Asked Connor. "The girl has nothing to do with this."

"He probably just wants a girl to violate." Bunny rose his eyebrows. Both Connor and Bunny continued on speaking amongst themselves about the situation, but then William interjected.

"It's because she's connected to me." William rose his voice. He slouched in his seat a bit. "He knows that she's the only thing I have. The only thing that matters right now."

"Maybe you need to stop seeing her, Will." Connor suggested. "If it's dangerous for her, the girl doesn't deserve that."

"You know, he's some slime that guy. Prowling on a helpless colored girl." Bunny huffed under his breath.

"A girl." William spoke.

"What?" Bunny asked.

"She's just a girl." William corrected. "And because of me she's in deep shit."

In the backseat, Jack thought back to the Peruvian girl he had his special night with. It made him question whether or not he would ever be able to have a partner. Would she be targeted if he took her as his girl? Would she accept being his girl in the first place?

Jack's thoughts taunted him enough to make him speak up. "Have girls with guys like us been attacked?"

There was a silence in the car for a moment. Connor rubber his chin with on hand and steered the car with the other.

"You know, kid. There's been unspeakable things done in this business." Bunny looked back at Connor. "It's hard to say."

"All I know is that if he touches her, he's gonna have a fucking problem." William mumbled under his breath. "That's for certain."

"Is this it?" Connor asked as they pulled up to a building.

"Seems like." Answered William. Connor car swerved the car into a cobblestone alley. All the men hopped out of the car and began heading inside.

That is, until gunshots were dispersed into the air. The men drew their guns, pointing it at the perpetrators. It seemed to be men from an opposing black gang. Once gunshots were fired back, the guys ran.

They all looked to each other. "Everybody alright?" William asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Connor answered.

Jack was shaken. "My gun wouldn't even shoot. Why wouldn't it shoot?"

"We gave you blanks. You think we'd really give you a gun that early on?" Asked William as he patted Jack's back. He hoped to console him, but hardly showed the tenderness one should when they've been shot at.

"Fucking niggers." Bunny spat on the ground. "Starting trouble for no reason."