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Day 3 - Part 12

-Do you think she�ll ever understand? Pie asked, resting her head on Peach�s shoulder in a cab.
-I don�t know. We did a shitty thing for her.
-We did. But we can�t take her with us.
-I know. From now on it�s just two of us.
-No more Backstreet Boys.
-No more Peach or Pie.
-No more lies.
-Oh yeah, Peach said. -Almost forgot. Hey, my name is May Stanley. Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you too. I�m Becky Jones.
-Becky?
-Yes. Becky.
-It�s going to take me time to get used to that, Peach admitted.
-I like your name, Pie said. -May. I love it. I love you.
-I love you too.

-You�ve seen Pie since that, right? I ask.
-True. Last year. Just once.
-What about Peach?
-Never since. Once I was sure I saw her in NY but it was just someone else...
She keeps walking and refuses to meet my eyes.
-So what did you do? You didn�t have any money and all your things were on their way to London.
-I did only thing I knew. I went to Backstreet Headquarters. They gave me a place to stay and also went to get my stuff from the airport.
-Weren�t you afraid?
-I was depressed and alone. All the time we got news from London telling clearly that Boys weren�t quite allright. Sure, AJ and Helen announced their engagement but rumors around Kevin and his strange behavior didn�t stop. That must have been why fans didn�t get anywhere near to them. Everyone said it would pass but I couldn�t look into a future. I just know I had to get to the Europe.
-Why? You weren�t even a big fan?
-It was all I could think of. It was my life. They were my life, my goal. Sad but true.

-Hey, I heard you were looking for cleaners, Cara said with a silent voice.
-What? man yelled back. -Don�t just quack there. What do you want?
-Do you have any open jobs on your boat?
Man looked up.
-First of all, it�s not a boat. It�s a ship. And second of all, you have to be eighteen years old to get a job. And that hair sucks too.
She said there for a while, just stunned.
-What? Oh fuck off already. Come back in five years or so.
She turned and went back to the street.

-That�s where I started my criminal career.
-You did?
-Yeah. I promised I�d get back on that later.
-You did? You�ve promised so much I�m starting to forget.
-Remember those tapes up in your room? Just hold on a little longer and you�ll be in a very warm in your bed watching those.
-Oh. Can I also order some hot chocolate from the room service?
-Sure. If you�re aware that they overcharge you heavily for extra whipped cream.
-I try to keep that in my mind.
-Good.
-So what was your first criminal action?
-Well, not the first but worst. After drugs straight into false ID...

Cara answered without a doubt to every question asked. Year of birth. Date of birth. Place of birth. Full name, last name first. Sex. Marital status. Information after information. And she knew all the false answers.
Fifteen minutes later she walked out holding a passport that didn�t belong to her. Passport that didn�t belong to anyone.

Next stop was hairdresser. She got her hair cut and dyed, back in black. When she left she still seemed young but in a deceiving way adult at the same time.

-Morning after I was officially hired to a ship sailing between New York City and Southampton, Southern England.
-Queen Elisabeth? Was it carrying passengers as well?
-Yes.
-So you were on the risk of being recognized.
-Not really. I developed a perfect English accent.
She gives me a sample making me laugh because she sounds like old, aristocratic English high society bitch.
-You thought it all.
-I guess I did.
-So how was it working on that boat?
-Ship, she corrects. -I hated it. Only thing I loved there was old grand piano in a salon no one ever used. I found out the reason later. It was just too valuable for common people because presidents used to dine there. But I was happy sneaking in every evening to play piano. I rehearsed every day at least for two hours.
-Wow! How did you have nerves for that?
-I didn�t have anything else to do. Luckily it was just few weeks.
-But when you got to Southampton...
-Boys were already in Milan. I spent few weeks in England, not really liking it. But London Headquarters is nice place. Not as great as in Orlando, but pretty close.
-Where are those places? How come we never run into those?
She looks at me.
-I don�t know if I should trust you this much. But it�s been changed since, so I guess it�s no harm telling. Ever been to London?
-Sure, many times.
-So you know all those schools over there? Like boarding schools?
-Yeah.
-London Headquarters used to be called Miss Murrill�s Educational School for Young Ladies.
-What? I bark. -Educational School?
She nods. -Still wonder why you don�t see those places? And it�s not even funniest cover there is.
-But you�re not gonna tell me what is funniest? I ask.
She smiles at me and I sigh. -I knew that. Just had to ask. So you went to Milan? Never been there, is it nice?
-I didn�t go either. I figured it out in London that it would be easiest to wait until they were coming back to England. Of course I was few weeks out from the tour but what we heard it wasn�t such a bad thing. They had really strict policy with fans.
-But you got back on tour, right?
-Eventually yeah.
She falls silent and I shiver. -Wouldn�t it be time for those tapes already?
-No, not just yet.

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