"SOUTH PHILADELPHIA! 30TH STREET RAILWAY STATION!"

The conductor's loud voice jolted Kenzi from a fitful and restless sleep. She felt the train slow to a stop, then heard the hiss of escaping steam as the brakes were applied. South Philadelphia. Probably as good a place as any. Kenzi slowly straightened out her neck and stretched her legs. Every muscle was sore from being crammed in the tiny luggage compartment, but it was a free ride. 

A metallic clank came from a hatch adjacent to where Kenzi was hiding. The porters were getting ready to unload. That was Kenzi's cue to cut and run- again. As she'd now done about a dozen times, the young woman wiggled the sliding bolt until it popped open, grabbed her shoulder bag, and slipped out of the luggage compartment unnoticed.

The 30th Street Railway Station was a bustling, active place. Kenzi scanned her surroundings, looking past the crowds for restroom.  It had been a day since she'd gotten onto the train. Things needed to be taken care of. 

"Luggage ticket, Miss?"

A railway porter had appeared behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Oh...no, I... I don't have any luggage. Just...my purse here."

Kenzi patted the tattered looking shoulder bag that hung from her right arm. The porter looked like he was about to say something else, but Kenzi didn't give him a chance.  She darted off toward the inside of the station and quickly found a sign that pointed toward the ladies room. Once inside, she was relieved to find that she was the only one inside. Quickly, she shut herself into a stall and sat down; hugging her bag to her chest protectively.  A few minutes later, she emerged and caught a glimpse of herself in the large mirror hanging above the sink. Kenzi McNeil barely recognized the woman looking back at her. This woman looked exhausted, pale, and frighteningly thin. Her dirty blonde hair was longer than she remembered; and where did that hole in her sweater come from? 

An audible rumbling came from her stomach to remind her that she hadn't eaten anything in almost two days. Peeking into her bag, she saw only a few coins tucked away in the corner; not enough for even a morsel. Sighing, Kenzi stepped out of the bathroom and started searching for an easy mark. The rich ones were always the easiest to hit. They didn't take much care in hiding their cash; Kenzi guessed it was because they had so much of it. Just across the way, she saw an older man perched on a bench with a newspaper. A nice suit jacket was looped over the back of the bench beside him. "Perfect" Kenzi thought to herself. 

She casually walked down the corridor a few feet, trying to look as if she were going somewhere. Her mouth was dry and felt like sandpaper as she turned and started heading back toward the bench. With as few people around as she could manage, she let her shoulder bag slip from her arm to the floor.

"Oops."

No one had noticed. Kenzi dropped to her knees to pick up the bag- only she stayed there and stealthily crawled behind the bench. Watching for a few moments to make sure the old man was still interested in the paper, Kenzi looked around to map out her escape for when she'd snatched the wallet. Her head was pounding- probably from lack of food and the adrenaline- but this had to be done before anything could be taken care of. When she was sure the old man wasn't getting up, she reached up and carefully slipped her hand into the inner lining pocket of the coat. In the same moment, another man took a seat on the same bench, and spotted Kenzi as he sat. 

"Hey! What are you doing? Thief!"

Kenzi's eyes widened and she immediately took off, launching herself from the floor and sprinting down the marbled corridor with an old brown, leather wallet in her grip. 

"Thief! Stop her!"

Looking frantically to both sides, Kenzi felt a panic as she couldn't seem to see any nooks or crannies to hide in. The train station seemed to be just one long room- and that room was spinning. She stopped to catch her breath for a moment as she saw a man and two uniformed officers gaining on her. A hot flash ran over her, and her breath quickened. She looked up and saw a beautiful woman with dark hair a few feet away turn and look at her. It was the last thing Kenzi saw before the wallet slipped out of her hand and she passed out cold on the floor.

Bella watched the situation playing out and as the girl went down, clearly out of her mind with hunger, her motherly instincts got the better of her.  The Sicilian woman knelt down to 'check on' the girl.  Stealthily she pocketed the wallet and by the time the coppers got to them, Bella was already wearing her best-worried face.

"You should be ashamed of yourself!"  Bella scolded the men who were deep in LouisMezzo's pockets.  "Chasing a poor girl like this, you've scared her half to death!  She's starving!"

"SHE'S A THIEF!"  Her accuser shouted from behind the cops.

Bella scoffed.  "The only crime that's happened here is a false accusation!"

The cops looked uncomfortable.  They knew the Dragon of Race Street wasn't one to be trifled with but this was a very public place and lots of eyes were watching.  Bella decided to throw them a bone.

She scoffed, "Search the girl if you must... but then help me get her somewhere we can put some food and drink into her."

One of the officers realizing Bella had already taken care of things made a show of searching the girl and finding nothing he said, more to the watching onlookers than to Bella, "You're right, she's clean.  I'm sorry sir, you must be mistaken."

"I saw her with her hand in his pocket!"  He exclaimed.  

"Well, clearly she didn't take anything,"  Bella announced pulling the girl into her lap.  "So, unless touching a man is now a crime?" 

"Not one we're going to make an arrest over."  The cop said as he helped to lift the girl up and get her over to a bench.  Bella quickly bought a sandwich and a soda from one of the vendors in the station and came over to sit with the girl.  The officers then did what they were paid to do... made the accuser disappear and leave members of Race Street alone.

As the girl began to come to Bella pet her hair gently.  "Easy now... you took quite a spill.  I've got you something to eat and drink when you're ready but don't take it too fast.  I don't want you passing out again."

Kenzi's ears were ringing as she blinked a few times to clear the blur from her vision. Where the...oh, the train station. The wallet. Oh shit, the cops. She jerked herself upright, but groaned as her head still seemed to be pounding. That's when she heard the kind voice near. 

"Easy now... you took quite the spill." 

There was mention of eating, and something to drink, but that wasn't the most important thing on her mind.  She reached up and patted herself.

"My bag...where's my bag?"

Her voice was quiet, but alarmed; until she realized the bag was still securely over her shoulder and across her chest, and from what she could tell of the weight and bulk, the most important items were still in it. With this reassurance, Kenzi slowed down a bit and took the offered turkey sandwich. Somewhat shyly, the young woman finally got up the courage to look up at the source of the kind voice. There, she recognized the dark-haired woman she'd seen a little while ago. Before she raised the sandwich to her mouth, she gave a soft smile.

"Th- thank you, Miss..."

"Byrne."  She said softly.  "Bella Byrne."

She let the girl eat a few bites before she asked, "And what can I call you?  If we're to be friends I can't keep calling you girl." 

Bella smiled.  

"Don't worry, Kid, you're not in any danger from the likes of me.  My motives..."  Bella pulled out her wallet and showed a picture of her kids.  "... are purely maternal.  My daughter isn't much younger than you."

She put her wallet away.

"Call sharing your name a fair trade for the sandwich."

"Kenzi. I mean, my name is Makenzie, but no one calls me that.  They've always just called me Kenzi.  Or..'hey, you.'"

She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten more than stale crackers or a ten cent cup of coffee. The bread was the softest she'd ever eaten, and the turkey...well, that might have been the first she'd ever eaten. The crisp lettuce and sweet tomato just made everything even better, and it was hard for her not to gobble it down. She took a slow sip of the soda and smiled a little as she looked at the picture of Ms. Byrne's little girl.

"She's really pretty.  Looks like trouble."

Putting the sandwich on her lap, Kenzi wiped the crumbs from her lips and cleared her throat.

"Thank you for helping me. I did try to steal the guy's wallet.  I just...was hoping for some cash to get me something to eat and maybe a warm place to sleep for the night before I keep going."

She stopped before she said too much.  Though Kenzi was pretty sure this woman had nothing to do with Angelo Falucci, she couldn't afford to be loose in the lips.

"Oh I know." 

Bella reached into her pocket and casually slid the man's wallet into the girl's pocket smoothly, leaving her hand there a moment so the girl knew that she'd done it and with just how much ease she'd managed it.

"It wasn't a bad gambit.  You would have gotten away with it if you weren't so damn tired and underfed.  That's the danger of living life on the road like you're doing - I know, I did it for a short while in my youth."

Bella smiled and took her hand out of the girl's pocket.

"Go too long without food and then you don't have the strength to do the job.  Can't do the job, then you can't eat.  And the cycle goes on until your luck runs out. Luckily for you, you hit the jackpot meeting me Kenzi." 

She turned towards the girl a bit more. 

"How would you like to have a place to sleep and some food in your belly on the regular, just for doing the sort of shit I saw you try to do today?  I could teach you a few tricks I learned at your age... some stuff that might help you on your way if you ever decide to move on from Philly."

With a mouthful of turkey sandwich, Kenzi started her reply, a look of pure bliss on her face.

"God, that sounds really gre-"

Then she stopped. No, staying in one place is the worst idea in the world, you know that. You can't stick- you have to move. Kenzi looked up at the woman sitting beside her. She'd already wondered what made her act so kind to a drifter like Kenzi, but now knowing that she'd lived the same kind of life, it made more sense. 

With one half of the turkey sandwich gone, Kenzi carefully wrapped the remaining half and shoved it into her bag for later.

"I would really like that, honestly, but...I can't. It's a long story, and I don't want to bother you, you've already been so nice, but if I stay too long in one place...I mean, it's...it's just a bad idea."

Kenzi started to move to get up, but then paused, peering at the woman for a moment curiously.

"But...just for the hell of it...what kind of business do you run that you'd have a place for a lousy pick-pocket like me?"

"I don't run a business."  She said which a soft chuckle.  "I told you... I'm just a woman, taking care of a family."  She said a 'family' with emphasis that seemed to imply something more than the cute kids in the photo.

"In tough times, when things are their darkest, everyone needs family.  Choose the right one to have your back and you could live to be as old and rich as me, Kiddo.  Mess up, try to go it alone, and you might find yourself in over your head in dark waters before too long."

Bella stood up, smoothing out her skirt as she did. 

"Let me give you a tour of the city.  Let you see me in my element... meet some of my family.  Who knows, maybe you decide to share your burden with me and see if we can make heads or tails of it together.  If you're still not interested in hearing my job offer... we'll part ways.  No hard feelings and I wish you well right back here on this very same bench and you never have to see me again."

She offered her hand to Kenzi.  

"What do you have to lose?"

Giovanni was wondering around Philly on one of his days off when his Dad didn't need him around the HQ, which was great cause little Joey was starting to feel a little cooped up especially with all the paper work it felt like he was doing lately. He still didn't didn't know many people on the east coast let alone anyone his age so his trips out here always consisted of visiting Isabella-Luciano, he'd asked around to find out where she might be and knowing the family bond between the two they told Giovanni where he might find her. Eventually he turned a corner and saw her talking to a girl who couldn't be older than he was, who was she? Not sure if this was a business thing for his aunt he kept his distance but was in view so she she saw him in case there was danger of some sort.

With the bag clutched against her in one hand, and the half-finished soda in the other, Kenzi thought carefully about the proposal. One day couldn't hurt, could it? Angelo and his guys didn't see her get in the train in the first place, so they had to be days behind in trying to find her. Besides, maybe this woman could help her deal with the contents of her bag. 

After another moment of thoughtful silence, Kenzi nodded softly. 

"Ok, then. I'm sure it'll be ok. If you're sure you're not too busy."

The food and drink has helped immensely, and Kenzi was feeling much better, more so than she had when she had boarded the train in the first place. She pulled her fingers through her hair in an attempt to make it look less unruly, but it didn't do much good. Maybe once the packages were gone, she could buy herself a hairbrush. 

As she tipped back the bottle to finish her soda, she spotted a young man a few feet away watching them. Instinctively, she turned away and looked down to the floor, praying that the man didn't work for Angelo or any of his contacts. 

Bella put an arm around Kenzi and began making her way through the Rail station noticing Giovanni_Ferrari watching at a distance.  She smiled and gave her nephew a wink waiting until they were near him to speak.

"Joey, good to see you hon."  She looked to her companion.

"This is my new friend Kenzi.  I was just about to give her a little tour of our operations in Philly and see if I couldn't bring her around to considering a business proposition of mine."  She chuckled.  "Are you in the city just for today?"

Giovanni happily hugged his aunt and greeted her before his tough guy exterior faltered at the site of Kenzi, it was rare for him to spend anytime around people his own age let alone girls, he offered a handshake and shyly mumbled a greeting. 

"Probably for the weekend tired of being stuck in the HQ, I wanna go out and do things plus I'm saving up for this motorcycle I saw! They're still really new but I want one and I'm not sure how mom and dad will take it so I figure I'd earn most of what I need for it on my own time so they can't stop me from buying it. Would it be okay if I tagged along?"

A measure of relief became evident on the girl's face, and she extended her own hand and smiled a little more. 

"Hi. I'm Kenzi. Nice to meet you."

For a moment  she seemed to get lost looking over the crowd. Her better sense told her that Angelo couldn't be near, but her paranoia wouldn't let her be. She looked at every face, twice, and hugged her bag closer to her as she pulled her tattered sweater closer around her as Mrs. Byrne spoke to her nephew.

Bella looked at Kenzi and she could tell the kid wasn't feeling to secure.  While having Joey along might help her have someone her own age to connect to, Bella wasn't sure the kid could handle any more strangers joining their fun.

"Tell you what, why don't you meet me at the Treble Club tonight for dinner?  If Kenzi is feeling up to joining us, and she hasn't gone on her way, you can chit chat with her a bit more then - what do you say?  My treat?" She smiled warmly.  "It'll give me another excuse to get some time away from the baby and frankly my sanity could use more time with adults instead of the little people who fill my days."

She looked to Kenzi "My car and guys are waiting outside, it's just this way."  She looked back to Giovanni_Ferrari  "I'll see you tonight, okay?"  She gave her nephew a reassuring wink and then escorted Kenzi to the car.

Bella's car wasn't just some random jalopy, it was a top of the line roadster customized to Bella's specifications.  If she'd been forced to get behind the wheel she could make this thing do shit that would leave people's minds utterly blown.  It was a well-known fact that while the Wolf was one of the country's most feared marksmen, Bella remained one of it's most well-regarded get-a-way drivers.  Kenzi, of course, wouldn't know this but Bella couldn't put one foot in her car without secretly longing to take it out and open up the engine and put her baby to the test.

Two men waited.  One a midwestern hulk of a gentleman.  A hayseed with golden hair and a head that was just a little large and features that seemed slightly ... off?  It was the sort of look that indicated a simple mind, but his body was in perfect condition.  He was the sort of beast that people might suppose could rip a man's head clean off or crush them like a vice.  

The second man stood out in the nearly all caucasian neighborhood.  The bald Jamaican was lither but cut an impressive silhouette in his custom three-piece suit that likely cost more than most people made in a year.  The big guy held open the door while the Jamaican got into the driver's seat.  

Bella barely looked at either as she slid with all the grace of water across glass into the back seat and waited for Kenzi to join her.  "Come on, I promise they don't bite... they're on my payroll.  The driver is Linval.  The man holding your door is Neil, though most guys on the streets call him Nails.  I'll tell you the story of why one day if you stick around."  

Bella patted the seat beside her and as Kenzi got inside, she told Linval.  "We're giving her the tour.  Let's pass by the reconstruction of the pier before heading to visit friends.  Yes?"

“Uh yeh Aunt Bella sounds good, um Kenzie I hope you can make it out later tonight......”  The young man hugged Bella goodbye and bowed respectfully to Kenzi but shyly and ran off too see what kind of trouble he could get into in the city of brotherly love.

Cautiously, Kenzi walked past the two mammoth looking men and eased into the car. It was like nothing she'd ever seen. At least, not up close. Her experience with cars was mostly the back of trucks. This was far more comfortable. 

The two men got into the front and the car pulled away from the train station. They rode in silence for a while, not unusual to Kenzi. No one really talked to the girls in Angelo's operation anyway. They weren't allowed to speak for that matter  Instead, the young woman looked at the sights from the window. Such scenery compared to the inside of a luggage compartment. 

Something about the woman's presence was both calming and alarming to Kenzi. She'd never been around a rich woman, or a kind woman- and especially not both. Kenzi felt something very confusing that made her palms sweat and her heart race. With no other idea what to do, the girl suddenly blurted out. 

"There is a man after me. Well, I ran away from him. He's...my boss, I guess? He owns me. I've always worked for him, as long as I can remember. His name is Angelo, and me and some other girls were his...um...well, we carried his packages for him. Drugs. As long as we didn't get caught, we had a place to sleep. But...he beat us. All of us, even the little ones. He used some of us. I was on a job for him and saw an opportunity to run, so I did. So I know he's going to try to find me, because I've still got his packages."

She reached into her bag, hands shaking, and pulled out one of three kilos of cocaine wrapped in paper. She looked at Bella, her eyes welling up. 

​​​​​​"I thought, if I could get far away, I could sell it and start over. I thought I could get a job and have a real life. But I have to get away from him. I know what he does when he catches runners."

Secrets were safety, and knowledge was power. Kenzi had just broken a big rule of survival and spilled her secret and given this woman plenty of power. That's what her head said, but not her heart. Still, all Kenzi could do was hope that Mrs. Byrne wouldn't use that knowledge for profit.

​​​​​

Bella could feel Linval and Neil resisting the urge to look into the backseat.  Her first instinct was to tell Linval to go home.  She'd tell Gavin every bit of this poor girl's story and then set the Wolf to hunting down this monster who'd hurt young women.  She'd set them all free and that would be that; but that wasn't that.  Gavin was trying to retire.  Could she really keep sending him off after every monster she crossed paths with and still call that retirement?

She winced. 

No. 

It would have to be someone else.  

"Change of plans Linval," She said pushing the kilo back into her backpack so it would not be seen by anyone outside the car.  "Take us to the lofts."

"Yes, Ma'am."

She looked at Kenzi. 

"I'm going to say this to you once.  Once is all anyone should EVER have to be told this, so listen closely." 

She reached out and touched the girl's chin lightly to make sure she looked into Bella's doe eyes.

"Men and women may scar your body.  They might break your heart or burden your mind.  They can tie you up, they can cage you, they can beat you and leave you dying in a gutter or send you to the bottom of a lake with cement shoes, but NO ONE will ever own you unless you allow it."

She stared into the girl's eyes for a long moment.

"Today, and every day after, you belong to you and even if you go to the devil himself - you go a free woman.  Do you understand me?"  Bella let her hand fall away worried how the girl might feel about forced contact.  She'd seen girls who had been 'owned' before and every time it sickened her to no end.  She had working girls in Philly, of course, but she'd NEVER force them into the life or make them stay.  That sickened her in the extreme and this monster who kept Kenzi was going to pay dearly for what he'd done.

"We're not taking you on a tour of the city.  I'm taking you to meet a man with a gun, a man who is going to help you make sure you never again have to sleep with an eye open - and to help those other girls out of the life too."

The car pulled up in front of the Sewing Factory Loft Apartments and Bella took Kenzi inside.  Straight to the elevators and then up to the floor that had the apartment of Aurelio.  

Standing outside, she knocked and waited for the young gangster to open the door.

If there was a single man in all of Philly that could do this it was the son of William Bowden.  And since the boy wanted to earn his keep... it was time to give him his first very real and dangerous job.  She prayed he was up for it.

Sometimes, there is a moment in life when a person can tell that their life will never be the same. For Kenzi, that moment was when she heard Bella Byrne say that she no longer belonged to Angelo. If anyone else had stopped her on the street and said that to her, Kenzi would have just laughed. This day, however, Kenzi felt like she could believe Mrs. Byrne. Besides, she'd seen the drugs and hadn't taken them from her. Either she was so rich she didn't need it, or she truly cared what happened to the wandering girl from the railway station. 

With the tour now off, Kenzi felt a rush of adrenaline at the thought of someone taking Angelo on. He really was a monster; but he was all she ever knew. Could this really work? Mrs. Byrne doesn't have any idea what she's going up against; but she didn't seem to care. For that, Kenzi was beginning to find herself mesmerized by Bella Byrne. 

Shortly after, Kenzi found herself at the door of an apartment standing beside Bella. "A man with a gun" was supposedly there and could help. Kenzi's stomach was turning somersaults. She took a deep breath and slowly blew it out, then gave Bella a weak smile. 

Between his meetings with Isabella Byrne and his work with the Race Street Company in general, Aurelio had been finding himself busier and busier with each passing day. There were drugs to move, deals to make, and he was learning some of the rougher sides of the business in the midst of it all. At this rate, he was going to become a jack of all trades which meant not another quiet moment so long as he lived. But that was what he'd asked for and he was damn well going to deliver.

But today he'd found a break in the hustle to settle in and think over all the things he was learning, both professionally and in his pursuits that drew him to this town in the first place. A half-empty takeout box and an assortment of beer bottles sat on the coffee table of the apartment he'd been renting, which was slowly growing more unruly and reflective of the young bachelor that spent most of his time on the go. Two of the bottles were already emptied and the third was well on its journey to join its brothers when a knock sounded at the door and the man let out a muffled grunt of frustration.

"It's always something," He thought to himself. "Was it another drug runner who'd screwed up a route? Or was there a shipment he'd forgotten today?" At least he knew the Durdens were out of town again after a little frustration found its way to him.

He sat down his food and drink and made his way to the door, dressed casually in slacks and a plain white shirt that made him look like nothing so much as the average kid just making his start and not the mafioso that he'd worked his whole youth to become.

He half opened the door expecting a runner and for a moment the sight of the half-starved girl standing on the other side reinforced that assumption. He nodded to her as he opened the door the rest of the way, his mouth opening, about to ask what the hell was going on. The words died on his lips as Isabella Byrne herself came into view standing alongside her. His eyebrows wrenched for the briefest moment in confusion at the pair standing before him before his expression once again became neutral and he inclined his head in respect.

"Donna Isabella, cosa ti porta a casa mia oggi? Posso chiederti chi è questo tuo giovane amico?"

Out of the corner of his eye he gave a closer look to the young woman alongside the Don. If she was coming to visit with Isabella, she was certainly more than an everyday runner. Though she looked like she'd seen rough times, there was a sort of nervous anxiety in her stance that he recognized from his own youth. He'd also never be caught claiming she was hard on the eyes.

Bella was all seriousness until the Italian hit her ears.  It was correct but the inflections were a touch off, but the effort out of someone who didn't have the background was impressive as fuck.  She had no idea Aurelio spoke Italian!

"Tu parli italiano. Impressionante."  She found a smile tugging the corner of her lip.  "Ho un lavoro per te, Aurelio."

She waited for the young man to welcome them inside and then after the door closed behind them she spoke in English once more.  "This is Kenzi."  She let that name sink in.  She watched his face seeing if it had the desired effect.  "She's my newest associate and she needs help, the sort of help you can provide."

Bella went to find a clean spot to sit.

"Before I put this on you, I need you to be honest with me.  I will only ever ask you this once. I will not dwell on the why any more than the moment it takes me to file away your answer.  It will not adversely affect your rise in Don Mezzo's ranks... but... have you killed a man before and are you willing to do it again if it's asked of you?"