Laura/Jennifer's Past Part 4

Now this is from Jennifer's point of view.  I probably won't ever go into the details of her family's death, cause that's a bit gruesome.  Anyway, this keeps becoming less like a story and more like me just listing how stuff happened.  Oh well.  There are plenty of awkward sentences in there.  Feel free to point them out.  

                As soon as Jennifer laid eyes on Laura, she knew that she would be useful.  It was obvious that she held little trust in the establishment, so she would be unlikely to confide in those that could spoil Jennifer’s plans.  Jennifer decided to test her, so she used the oldest trick in the book; the fake handshake.  Laura easily fell for it.  It was now apparent that she was more than gullible enough for Jennifer’s purposes. 

                Instead of enlisting her right away, Jennifer decided to scope out the orphanage and learn as much as she could about Laura.  Going to the orphanage had not been in her plans, but she would have to make the best of it.  It certainly made getting food and shelter more convenient than before.  It was hard for a girl her age to live on the streets, but she had managed.  The day she got sent to the orphanage she had been hanging out near a local deli when she was picked up by some police officers that had been snooping around.  It had been nearing midnight when they saw her.  They pulled over and asked her why a little girl like her wasn’t at home.  Before they could even get close to her she ducked into a nearby alley and started running.  The policemen, in the mood for some excitement, got out of their cruiser and gave chase on foot.  Jennifer might be fast, but she wasn’t fast enough to outrun two inner city officers. 

                One of the officers grabbed her by the back of her shirt and picked her up.  Fear coursed through Jennifer as memories of her previous encounters with police flooded her mind.  “We asked you a question you little brat,” the officer holding her up snarled. 

                The other continued, panting heavily, “where’s your house?  We’ll give you a lift home.” 

                Jennifer knew if she revealed that she was living on the streets that she would be done for.  She tightened her lips and began struggling violently.  The second officer grabbed both of her arms in one of his meaty hands.  “Ya know what?” the second officer drawled, “I think I’ve seen this one around before.  She’s the one Sherman caught hiding out in that abandoned lot last month.” 

                “Ah, I think you may be right,” the first agreed.  “Welp, we’d better take her to the station.  They’ll find a nice place for her.” 

                The two officers dragged her down to the police station and then all the way to one of the many broken down city orphanages.  Jennifer looked up at the faded brick face of the small, dirty orphanage.  An angry, heavyset woman met them at the door.  The officer finally released his tight grip on her upper arm, and Jennifer sprang away from him, rubbing her arm.  The woman led her with a firm grip on her shoulder into the bowels of the building.  She was taken upstairs to her new room, where she met Laura. 

                The day Laura attempted to follow her, she had been planning to visit the place where she had been taught how to navigate the streets.  It was a small building in the bad part of town, frequented by those that put little stock in the law.  It was mostly used for underground poker games.  Drugs and whores and shady transactions were also a common sight.  Jennifer had stumbled upon this place by total accident.  She had been wandering the streets, searching for a good alley to spend the night.  It was a particularly cold night, and when it began to rain, Jennifer knew she had to find some sort of shelter.  She ducked under the overhang that loomed over the door of that very building.  In the morning when the door was opened, she was found, passed out on the doorstep.  Not knowing what else to do, they dragged her inside and left her lying there. 

                When she came to it was well into the night and the poker game was in full swing.  Curious, she wandered over to the table.  None of the people paid her any mind.  Eventually a scantily dressed woman brought her a small piece of bread, which she gratefully took and began to nibble on.  She remained in the building for weeks, always managing to get some sort of scraps out of the poker players or their whores who took pity on her.  Each night she watched the poker games.  Soon she had a thorough understanding of the game and they began to let her sit at the table in order to watch better. 

                One night she shyly asked one of the players if she could join in.  Everybody at the table laughed, but the man she had asked gave her one chip to play with.  With that single chip, she held her own.  Soon they began to realize that she had some basic skills at the game.  At the end of the game, they even allowed her to cash in her chips, thinking it amusing that such a small child could make money at poker.  This soon became a habit of hers.  Each night, she made more money.  She kept it in a large pouch under her shirt.  She could now afford her own food and never had to worry about going hungry.  She became a sort of mascot for the criminals that gathered in that building. 

                The man who had given her that original poker chip took a liking to her.  He taught her everything she needed to know to survive on the streets.  He even showed her how to properly shoot a gun, just in case she ever needed to defend herself.  She turned out to be quite a good shot. 

                Even after she was placed in the orphanage and forced to go to school, she continued to come back to play poker.  She hid her earnings inside her mattress.  Each year for her birthday, those at the poker table thought it was funny to get her some sort of present.  They usually bought her knives, so eventually she amassed a large collection.  These she also began stashing in her mattress. 

                Eventually she had enough savings to purchase a small handgun.  This she kept in her pillowcase.  She continued to maintain good grades to keep from suspicion.