There were many things Joanna Thompson noticed about her new neighbourhood compared with the cramped, dirty and often dangerous surrounds of downtown Sim City and that was how open and green everything was in Willow Creek and, another thing, how polite the local children were. Back in the slums, the children would either retreat into the protection of doorways or the shadows and if some felt brave, or cocky enough to speak to you it was generally with a threat or insult. As Joanna took a morning run around Foundry Cove a little girl said a cheerful "hello" to her before stopping to talk with a friend of hers. That was another thing she noticed: A white kid and a black kid talking nicely to each other. Wouldn't have happened back in the slum.
She had jogged down to the river and had began her turn towards home when she noticed the mailman putting something in her letterbox. Instinctively she ran back as fast as she could because back in the slums mail in a street box wouldn't last long before someone grabbed it in the hope it contained a cheque or something else of value. Opening up the mailbox, she saw a couple of official looking letters inside.
Her heart beat quicker as she was hoping one of them was a response to her application for a student scholarship. She had barely qualified for one; helping people from a poor background get funding for college education, but had filled in all the requisite forms and lied about her previous employment just to get a shot at going to college. She had a bit of her late uncle's inheritance left, but most of that had gone into buying the house.
She went inside and opened up the first letter. Yes, it was a letter informing her that she had, indeed, qualified for a scholarship. Not a big one, but enough of one to take the edge off the college fees. That was a relief and it allowed her to focus on the courses she had applied for.
The second letter was from a local health club offering a free trial workout session. Well, that might come in handy...
Joanna was always one for fitness. Even in her previous job she had to remain fit and fast in order to evade the most brutal of clients...or pimps. Learning how to pack a punch and run away fast was key to surviving on the streets. Now she could keep fit without that kind of worry anymore and a free session at the gym? Well, perks of moving up in the world. The streets were now fast receding into the memory.
When Joanna entered the gym she was impressed with all the equipment on offer, the spaciousness but above all...just how clean the locker room area was compared with the only other gym she'd ever been in which was at the Spice Quarter YWCA. She slung her bag with all her everyday clothes in a locker, inserted a dime into the lock, hoping it wouldn't be prised open by some opportunistic thief, and made her way downstairs to start a work out.
There was one treadmill free; one of those fancy ones where it was powered and you could adjust the speed. She recognised the blonde chick from over the road from where she lived but apart from that there was only one other person there: A super muscly man who was barking encouragement towards the neighbour.
Joanna got on the remaining treadmill, turned the dial to a moderate speed and pushed the button to get it going. As she was getting up to speed the muscly man spoke to her.
"Pick your feet up and remember to breathe steadily....set the machine to one faster" he said.
Joanna shot him a quizzical and suspicious look.
"Oh, I'm Movers n' Shaker's personal trainer, Clinton. I advise people on fitness" he said by way of explanation.
"That explains things" replied Joanna.
She continued with her run until the wall clock reached to 30 minutes past the hour and she decided she'd done enough. She brushed her sweaty forehead with her sleeve and noticed that Clinton was approaching her.
"You'll find a water cooler just over there and there's another one upstairs in the lounge area." he said, being helpful but looking her up and down at the same time. "Complementary towels are on that shelf over there but most members prefer to bring their own. So, I don't believe we've seen you in here before."
"You haven't" she replied, coolly. "I got a ticket for a free workout session in the post" she pulled the ticket out of her training top pocket.
"I hope you like what you see" he said, leaning against a treadmill. "Treadmills, weights, calisthenics...we're well set up here. Soon we'll be getting a climbing wall...powered; first city in the state to get powered climbing walls." Clinton sounded overly proud at this.
"I see you have punching bags as well" said Joanna, noticing people having a spar with them.
"Not much escapes your attention..." replied Clinton. "And of course there's the social benefits of being a member of a gym" he said, checking out a curvaceous blonde woman who had just come downstairs from getting changed into her exercise leotard. She saw him and gave him a cute wave and smile, he waved back. "Yeah....the social benefits. So can I interest you in signing up for membership today?"
"I'll think about it. As for the social side, I see a couple of people I know over there..." she said.
She saw Action working out with weights and the blonde chick who lived opposite but whose name escaped her. As Clinton's attention was split between the curvaceous blonde and giving Action some encouragement, Joanna had the opportunity to say hello to him.
"You a regular here, Action?" she asked.
"I practically live here" he replied. "Haven't seen you for a while...are you keeping your nose clean?"
"Suspicious as ever, Action. Yeah, I'm staying out of trouble...thank you. Been concentrating on my college applications."
"So you're serious about this, are you? So what are you going to study? Have you worked that one out yet?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna study psychology" she replied with some pride in her voice. Action still seemed sceptical about her moving into a smart new home and going to college. All those years in the Marines and the Police Force had left him cynical.
"Psychology? I didn't figure that would be the one you'd go for". The cynical part of his mind drew a parallel between analysing patients lying on a couch to the kinds of things she used to do with clients whilst on a couch...Stop it, Action, he thought. You can't condemn the girl just because she was a hooker.
"I'll let you know how I get on." she said, smiling at him in a way that would put him in his place for daring to question her intentions. She nodded thanks to Clinton as well and went upstairs to use the showers and get changed into her everyday clothes.
She had just finished tugging her thigh length boots as far as they could go up her legs when her neighbour entered the locker room looking flushed and out of breath. If only she could remember her name: It was something to do with nature or the country...
"Oh hello neighbour!" said the neighbour, suddenly becoming bouncy and enthusiastic on seeing Joanna. "Is this your first time here?"
"Yep. It's not too bad. That Clinton guy is trying to give me the hard sell to join"
"Oh him...he's always like that. But this place is good and most of us from around here are members. You should join; Libs and I, Action and Jeremy and Barbara are all regulars. Julia pops in occasionally. And there's lots of other really groovy people here as well so it's a good way of making friends."
Was it 'Meadow', 'Cloud' or 'Autumn'? Joanna tried to remember the name of this very enthusiastic and friendly girl. She could imagine Disney animals frolicking around this chick, such was her bubbliness.
"That's an incentive, for sure. I only really know Action...I'm sorry, but I've forgotten your name" said Joanna.
"It's Summer. I live with Liberty and Travis"
"Of course, Summer. Yeah, and Julia's the doctor and Barbara owns a shop with her boyfriend?"
"Yep, that's us! Say, you should come over for coffee some time...we're a nice little community and it'd be great to bring you in to it."
Joanna nodded but the thought of being in this quaint, white picket suburban neighbourhood with a 'community' filled her with a mixture of dread and awe. This was a world far removed from all her life experiences so far. People like Summer might take it for granted but friendly neighbourhoods, clean gyms and....trees and grass and flowers seemed like Sitcom Land, not her reality.
"Yeah, I'd be up for that. I'm kinda busy right now with college applications and stuff but, sure, let's make a date for coffee" she said, after a short pause.
"Looking forward to it!" exclaimed Summer. As Joanna made her way out of the locker room she paused and turned back to look at Summer...she was giggling and looking at her left hand, twirling it around in front of her face before shutting her eyes and smiling with a blissful look on her face. "Straight outta Disney", Joanna thought.
Her next port of call was the library next door. She had applied to study psychology to both city universities: University of Britechester and Foxbury Academy and now she wanted to learn more about both places and also a bit about psychology as well. Why she had chosen that to study was a mystery to Action but also something that came from her gut instead of her head. She wanted to know what made people tick, about personality and identity. It was an interest she had long harboured but it was always pushed to the back of her mind as life...and the nature of her work...always got in the way. No longer: She was now following a desire of the heart.
When Joanna stepped into the library a thought occurred to her: She had never been in a library in her life before. She had an idea from movies and TV shows about what you did in one...mainly stay silent but she had a guess that the books were in sections and she just had to walk up and down the shelves until she found the section she was looking for. There was a librarian present, but he looked nerdy and preoccupied and she didn't want to look like she needed help so walking up and down the aisles, looking carefully in each section it would be.
Eventually she emerged with a small stack of books about each university and a guide to campus life in general. She had also found a beginner's guide to psychology and decided to get that one as well. Sitting down at the desks she worked out that Britechester was more traditional, longer established but had an excellent academic reputation with chances of joining fraternities and sororities and making business contacts for life. Foxbury, by contrast, was newer, less formal and had an excellent reputation in science and engineering. The guide to campus life featured lots of photos of preppy types with Brylcreemed hair for the guys and massive beehive hairdos for the girls. The front of the book said it had been published in 1961 and Joanna had vague memories of her teenage self squeezing into a figure hugging dress that came just below her knees and the massive amount of hairspray her guardian used to spray on her hair right before a local dance...'61: The time of Camelot in the White House, Bay of Pigs, the Madison and Chubby Checker. Joanna looked away from the book and stared at the bookshelf lined walls opposite her. 1961 was also the first year she had fallen into prostitution...16 years old, her big brother already in a gang, Action had gone off to join the Marines and she was all alone: Her guardian mysteriously fell from her apartment window...the police never did find out why it happened.
Snap out of it, girl! She thought, looking at the book again. This is year zero for you, girl. The last 5 years didn't happen. The photos in the book made everyone look white but there was a chapter on how the modern colleges were now helping more and more Negro students attain degrees and all the help programmes that were available.
Hours had passed since she entered the library and she hadn't even opened the psychology book yet. Going back on her plan to be 100% self sufficient she did relent and ask the librarian about how to borrow a book. He was helpful but was nervous whilst talking with her: Joanna, with her scant psychological knowledge, had guessed he wasn't used to talking to young women...especially ones who wore very short miniskirts, fishnets and thigh boots. His awkwardness did make her smile though as he just about maintained his professionalism and composure whilst dealing with her.
She left with her library book in her bag and now it was heading into early evening. She had noticed a bar 3 doors down from the library so she decided to check that out. The Blue Velvet, the sign said and it looked half decent: Not too snooty and elitist, not shabby or a complete dive either.
The music was loud and pulsing and some people were dancing wildly beneath the wall mounted speakers. Joanna made her way past them and the scattered tables and chairs, through an arched opening and into the bar area at the back. There was just one other guy sitting at the bar all by himself and he was closely watching the barmaid make some elaborate cocktail that involved spinning the bottles around in a showy way. Joanna sat on a barstool and watched the theatrics.
The barmaid shook, jiggled and spun the bottles and then poured measures of booze into a cocktail shaker. After stirring it she poured the drink out into glass, popped a miniature umbrella into it and handed it over to the man sitting at the bar.
"Thank you" he said in heavily accented English. Looking at him, Joanna noticed that he was from East Asia and around 40 years of age. As he said thank you to the barmaid, he nodded respectfully at her.
"And what can I get you?" said the barmaid to Joanna.
"I'll have....what he's having" she said, jerking her thumb at the Asian man.
"You got it" said the barmaid and she went into her cocktail making performance again.
"You make a good choice. I recommend" said the Asian man, who had turned to look at Joanna.
"I look forward to drinking it...I'm kinda new here so I didn't know what this place specialises in. Thanks for the tip"
"I am also new here. I am originally from Taiwan but work has brought me here"
"I'm originally from San Myshuno and getting away from there has brought me here"
"Not a good part of town?"
"Definitely not! I'd avoid the lower East side of there if I were you."
"Then I thank you for your tip. We are now even" he said with a warm smile.
"And here's to new surroundings...cheers" she said, raising her glass to his and clinking them. The man, who said his name was Riu, smiled and laughed. Joanna had had very little contact with the Chinese, Japanese and other people from that part of the world. Sure, there had been clients from those parts...but they tended to prefer the more expensive, high class escorts on the whole and her ex-John wouldn't elevate her to those levels. Ugh, drink to forget girl! She thought to herself.
She had a couple of those exotic cocktails and by the time she had nearly finished her second one the place was beginning to fill up with more customers. One of them was her next door neighbour...the doctor...Judith? June? Something like that anyway.
"Hello Joanna" said the doctor whose name began with J. Probably.
"Hey neighbour..." said Joanna with a little laugh. 'hey neighbour'...talk about a phrase she had never uttered before. "I'm sorry, I'm bad with names..."
"Julia"
"Oh, yeah, Julia. Will you join me in a drink? I'm paying" said Joanna.
"Oh, that's nice. Your drink looks interesting, I'll have one of those" replied Julia.
"You got it. Hey, barkeep! Gimme another two of these excellent...fruit punches or whatever they are for me and my friend here."
"Let's sit at a table, we can talk a little easier over there" said Julia. Joanna nodded and they made their way back inside the main dance and bar area and weaved their way through the tables. Along the way Julia waved to someone she knew. Joanna was more uncertain on her feet...2 and a half fruit punches and 4" high heels were not a good combination when it came to walking around tables and chairs and her vision was getting affected by the drinks as well. But she made it to a table Julia selected and just about managed to flop on the seat.
"So is this the local hang out?" asked Joanna.
"Yes. All of us on Foundry Cove visit here in the evenings if we've not got other things going on. I play piano here once a week as well. It's a side line of mine; piano playing. Just tip jar kind of stuff but I like playing and it helps with the bills. I'm quite junior at the hospital so I don't get much in take home pay. Now I don't know what you do for a living..."
Joanna took a deep breath before answering. "I'm between careers right now." she said, diplomatically. "I hated by old job and now I've applied to go to college. To study psychology"
"Hey, that's great! So we're both kind of in the healing business! Here's to you!" said Julia, raising her glass in a toast.
"Thanks. Say, I've got absolutely no experience in college life or anything like that. Can you give me some tips?" said Joanna.
Julia took a big sip of her drink. "Do you know, this is really good...yes, tips. OK, my number one tip is study, study, study. Don't get distracted by fraternity or sorority events. Go easy on the drinking, avoid the agitators and troublemakers and focus on getting that degree with high honours. There's so much to distract you on campus, believe me! Best to put as much of it out of your mind as you can."
That's the kind of response she expected from Julia. Another straight arrow, like Summer and the couple at the end of the road. If only they knew about her past...but hanging out with straight arrows is probably what she needed right now, she thought. Yeah, she was going to study hard but she also knew how to handle agitators and troublemakers.
The evening wore on and Julia went over to see her friend on the other side of the dance floor to talk and then be convinced to join in a dance with this blonde haired guy who seemed to be the boyfriend of Julia's friend. Julia waved to Joanna and invited her to join in but Joanna was not in a fit state to dance...she had drunk so much she could just about walk home. "I'm a little worse for wear..." she said to Julia on the way out. "See you soon and thank for the advice...and drinks..." she slurred.
The next morning was a blur. Joanna had forgotten how she had got home and in bed but she woke up in her underwear with all her clothing strewn around the room. That day was a complete write off...
...the day after that, she had washed and dried her clothes, put them back on and took a walk outside to clear her head and enjoy another blue sky, green grass moment in Foundry Cove. The tree at the end of the road dwarfed all other vegetation and had exotic, coloured fungi covering the middle section of its trunk. Joanna wondered why this tree was so different to every other one here.
From a distance she saw the mailman on his round. Hopefully she had a response from either Britechester U. or Foxbury. Her heart started to beat faster when the mailman had paused in front of her house and started to rifle through his mail bag. She began to run back to the house and, sure enough, he had put a letter into her mailbox.
Quick as a flash she took out the letter and ran inside to open it. She found a butter knife and used that to slice the envelope open, took out the letter and gave it a flick with her hand to open it right up.
It was from the University of Britechester and it was offering a place on their Bachelor of Arts, Psychology course. There was also a list of semester dates and a separate document detailing campus administration and a form to fill out should she wish campus accommodation as well as details of tuition fees and that her community scholarship fund will cover half the costs of the degree.
She was in...there was no point waiting for Foxbury to get back to her: She knew enough about life to seize the first decent opportunity to come along. Britechester, with all its history, high expectations and snooty reputation was the place she'd be going to and if anyone tried to look down on her, then they'd better look out. Never look back, girl, she thought. No more life on the streets.
The enormity of this letter and what it represented suddenly got to her. All that tough exterior, that instinct for survival and the weight of her past suddenly rose off of her shoulders. She was free and the thought of that made her burst into tears.
