Tracy is back! One again she has returned.

Edited By Djkauf

No spoiler this time. Instead I ask that as you read this, you forget the Halloween one, for now. That was made as a look into her future. This is still back in the past, just a month before Disneyland. In fact this starts where the last one stopped, after her Tai chi class.

Tuesday evening March 1st 1983

While the car cruised through the night traffic, taking Maggie and Tracy back to Livermore, after a very exhausting Tai Chi class, Tracy could hear the song playing on the radio. It was an old one, Honey, by Bobby Goldsboro. She wasn’t really focused on the radio. nor did she have the energy or will to lean forward to change the channel to something a bit more modern. As they passed by the last Dublin off ramp, Tracy seemed to pick up on the words being sung.

“One day when I was not at home, while she was there and all alone, the Angels came. Now all I have are memories of Honey and I wake up nights and call her name. Now my life’s an empty stage....”

Tracy didn’t hear any more as she began to cry. Thoughts of losing Peter, or her father came rushing to her mind. She feared being alone. Sure, she had her mother, but something could happen. She feared that something would.

Maggie put a hand on hers, just for a moment. “It’s okay baby. It’s just a song. Let me change that.” Then she reached up and changed the channel.

She thought she would find a safe song on the country channel. But the sad sounds of a country guitar was there and before she could turn it, they heard George Jones cry out.

“He stopped loving her today. They placed a wreath upon his door.”

Maggie slapped the volume with one hand as Tracy began to bawl. Her first attempt just turned the volume up, not down. She quickly spun the knob and the song died off, but it was too late, Tracy was sobbing in the passenger seat.

Maggie checked the mirrors and she pulled off the road, turning on her hazards and putting the car into park. She leaned over and held her daughter, who was sobbing uncontrollably now.

“Tracy? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know!” She sobbed out, leaning into her mother’s chest and cried. “It’s just so sad! He loved her and she left! Both of them!”

Maggie wasn’t sure what she could do. So all she did was to sit there, holding her daughter, until the crying stopped, while traffic kept passing by. Minutes passed and still Tracy remained crying. Finally, after nearly twenty minutes, when the fits of tears stopped, she looked her daughter in the eyes. “Baby? Are you okay now?”

“Sorry, Mom.”

“Baby, don’t be. Every woman needs a good cry every now and then.” She thought back, her memories went to the night before, when her, and her children, plus Shelly and Frank were watching the last episode of M*A*S*H. As the show came to a close, Tracy had been crying, and she had cried several times during the episode. But even Maggie had shed a few tears during the episode. Frank had left the room a couple of times too. So it wasn’t just her daughter. And she knew that if she had heard those songs, during her time of the month, she would have been a wreck. But it couldn’t be Tracy’s time of the month. As far as she knew, she would never get one. Plus, by now, the shots would have worn off. At least that’s what she suspected.

Maggie knew that they should get moving again, in case someone with less than honorable intentions stopped to help them. With a soft sigh, she sat up in her seat and put the car into gear, then continued on to Shelly’s home.

~o~O~o~

The evening didn’t get better for the young girl, and her emotions got the best of her, while watching T.V. Not only did she cry during a show, but during commercials. Finally her mother sent her off to bed, sure that she just needed a little sleep.

After a few minutes and before she headed to bed herself, Maggie went back downstairs, after checking on the kids, where Shelly was sitting at. Maggie sat down on the love seat, and sighed.

“Is Tracy asleep?”

“Yeah.” Maggie said.

“That was a weird evening. I’ve never seen her cry at a cat food commercial before.” Shelly stated. “Not even when you were still in Oroville and she was all alone here.”

“The past few hours she has been emotionally off kilter. On the way home, she just fell to pieces at that song, Honey? The old sad one? Then the George Jones one from a couple years ago.” Maggie shook her head. “I just thought maybe she was lonely, but her crying over that cat food commercial tonight? Something is wrong. I just don’t know what.”

“Well, Maggie, with everything that has gone on in her life, just for the past three months....That poor kid has been through the wringer.” Shelly put a hand on Maggie’s knee. “Maybe with leaving her home of ten years, losing her friends, and not having her father around, not to mention that Molly woman and all the stuff from her, she could just be dealing with emotions that have welled up.”

“I guess.” Maggie said, shaking her head. “But what if it’s more? I mean the hormones should have run their course by now. But what if there is some kind of problem with her having them?”

“Maybe you should call that doctor and get an appointment? See if he could run a test or two?”

“May be a good idea.”

“Oh yeah, before I forget, I have something going on tomorrow. I totally forgot it, with Tracy’s crying. But I can’t watch her tomorrow or Thursday.” Shelly paused for just a moment and added. “I already tried Persephone and Lynn, they are both working tomorrow. So is Karen. Lilian is out of town and Jaio and Lok are busy too.”

“Crud....” Maggie leaned back in the seat. “I work in the morning.”

“Call Beth. Maybe you can get out of work? Or maybe work something out? I know her mother lives upstairs from the bakery....”

“Hey....I wonder.....”

~o~O~o~

Wednesday March 2nd 1983

The dream was a nice one, something Tracy didn’t seem to get a lot of lately. This one was a nice quiet walk, just her and Peter. There were birds in the trees, singing, flowers blooming by her feet. And as she was walking along the sunlit path, hand in hand with Peter.

As his lips began to touch hers, something began to wake her up. A shaking sensation, one that rattled her until the dream was lost and she was peeking through the mop of dirty blonde hair.

“Tracy, I need you up and in the shower in five minutes.” Maggie said as she shook her daughter.

“What?” A sleepy Tracy asked.

“Your Aunt has something important she forgot about to do today. She can’t take you with her. So there will be no one here. I called Beth and got the approval to take you to the deli. She offered that after you do your schoolwork, you can help them make something for the deli.”

“Okay.” Tracy said. It was the first time in weeks that she had slept in, and Maggie watched as she rolled over, covering her bare shoulder. “See you later.”

Maggie chuckled, and then sighed. Then she began shaking her daughter again. “Sweetie, get up, please. I know you’re tired, but we need to get going. You need to be moving here really soon.” This caused Tracy to open her eyes again.

“Okay. Bye.” Tracy curled up and shut her eyes again.

Maggie shook her head as tapped her daughter on the shoulder. “Come on baby. I need you up. We’re spending the morning with Beth and her mother.” With her other hand, she began shaking her daughter.

The constant shaking and tapping were keeping her from her sleep. Her dream was now lost for good. Tracy’s temper snapped and she rolled over, glaring at her mother. “Okay! I’m awake! I wanna sleep!”

“Okay, you may be tired, but don’t you dare snap at me like that.” Maggie said, pointing a finger at her youngest child’s face. “Now you better remember that, but for now, get dressed. Beth is waiting to see you.”

“Beth who?” Tracy asked as she moved and rubbed at her eyes. She was tired and confused now, but still a bit angry from being woken up so early. At this point, Vance was watching them.

“Beth from the bakery. Beth Paulson. And her mother.”

“Mrs. Paulson and her Mom?” Tracy asked as she lay there. “Why are they coming here?”

“Sit up and I’ll tell you.”

Tracy sat up and Maggie sat on the edge of her bed. “Your Aunt has something important to tend to and she may be gone today and tomorrow. Beth won’t come here, but we’re going to the deli. You need to come with me and we can hang out with Beth today, until around one or two in the afternoon. It’s too early to call Persephone or Karen. So I’m taking you with me. Not to mention, Karen works today."

Tracy thought about it. Hanging out in the house alone could be fun. But a part of her thought that being in a restaurant all day could be even better. “Okay.” She said.

“Get up and get in the shower. Your Aunt and Uncle are gone already. So get going.” Maggie said as she got up. “Vance will need a shower too, so save him some hot water.”

“Okay Mom.” Tracy got up and she headed to the bathroom. Now that she was awake, a trip to the bathroom was becoming a pressing matter.

~o~O~o~

As Tracy stood in the shower, her hair clean and now she was just letting the water run down her back and relax her muscles. Her workout at Lok’s studio had been a good one the night before and she felt a little tense now that she was awake. Yet as she stood there, she began to think again, and the thought of her father just staying in Oroville crossed her mind. The thoughts of everything over the past few months came rushing back and she started to think that maybe she ran him off. She shut the water off and stepped out, grabbing at a towel hanging by the tub.

Little time was spent in the bathroom, drying off. Instead she quickly patted herself down, then headed for her shared room. She was hopeful that Vance would get up soon and get in the shower.

As Tracy walked past her mother, who could see something was bothering her youngest kid. The tear stained cheeks were a big tip off.

“Tracy, are you okay?”

“I don’t know.” Tracy replied, wiping at her cheeks and sniffling as she headed for her room. Vance passed her in the hall. “You think Dad will stay away? Because of me? Because of all of what I caused?”

Maggie smiled, warmly, and put a hand on Tracy’s shoulders. “No baby. He’s moving down at the end of the week. He called just the other day, remember? After the MASH finale? You two talked for half an hour.”

“Yeah. But will he still....” The tears were in her eyes and Maggie began to think back on how her daughter had been emotional the past two nights. Not all the time, but for the last show of MASH and then a sweet commercial. Something was up. And the mother part of Maggie was worried. From the breakdown in the car to her crying over the T.V. Something was wrong. She knew Tracy was still having a hard time, with nightmares of Bruce, Clark and even Molly. She was impressed that Tracy kept moving forward. But as she thought about it, there were other things. Little things that had almost passed her attention. She decided to put it out of her mind for now. She had to get to work, or she could lose the job just after getting it. She did make a mental note to call Doctor Addams, just to get an appointment.

“Well, get dressed. It may rain and it will be a high around the sixties, so you may wanna dress in pants.”

“Do I hafta?”

“Beth said she wants to do some cooking with you. Her and her mother. So you may want pants. But you’ll also need to bring your backpack and homework."

“Homework too?!?”

“Just some reading. Your Aunt told me what she was going to have you do today. So just History and English. That’s all.” Maggie said and this seemed to calm her daughter down. “And bring a book, in case you get done early.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy came down the steps, backpack over her shoulder, purse over the other one. She stopped to look at the clock long enough to realize it was almost seven. She figured she had been woken up at six, or so.

They headed to the door, almost right away, as Vance was finishing up his breakfast. His shower was fast, almost a fast step through the water, due to a lack of hot water. His ride was on its way. He was going to get a ride with the Millers to the school. He was a bit jealous that she was getting the whole day to spend at a restaurant, but he knew he had no choice.

The ride to the bakery was quick and uneventful. Just a matter of minutes was all it took to get from where they were staying to the downtown area. Maggie found a parking spot in a pay-by-the-day lot, near the bakery. They parked, got out and Tracy walked with Maggie to the main entrance.

Tracy was surprised at how empty the stores looked along the main road. “When does everything open?”

“Not for a couple of hours. If you want, we can go check the stores when I’m off of work.”

“Sure. We’ve never been down here that much.” Tracy said with a nod as they walked to the front door of the bakery. Tracy followed her mother to the bakery and as she stepped in.

As they went in, Maggie steered her to the bakery, where Beth was standing on the customer side of the counter. Maggie gave her a sheepish grin. “Sorry I’m late, Beth.”

“Nonsense. You called and I totally understand. Besides, you’re just learning, so we can keep you here an extra hour to make up for lost time.”

“Thank you.”

“Go and get back there. Douglas is back there with Mom. We will be having you learn the register over here today.”

“Okay.” Maggie said. She turned and hugged Tracy. “Be good.” She said, before kissing her daughter's cheek, which made Tracy blush from embarrassment. It would have been fine, but there were customers in the bakery.

Beth put a hand on Tracy’s shoulder. “Sweetie, you want a doughnut, or something to eat? We have some fresh from the oven.”

“I didn’t get breakfast, but can I have a cinnamon roll? I got some money on me.”

“Consider this one on the house. Okay?” Beth asked in reply. Tracy looked to her mother, who nodded, so Tracy nodded to Beth.

“Please?”

“We’ll get you a spot in the deli in a moment. I’d suggest the booth closest to the counter. That way people can’t see you from the sidewalk. They see you and they’ll try the door all morning, thinking we’re open early.”

“What about customers?” Tracy asked.

“Sweetie, there won’t be customers in there until about ten thirty. Then we start to have the lunch crowd trickling in. You have the deli to yourself for about three hours. Well, you and Mark. We’ll get you something else to eat, too. So you’re not just eating sugar for breakfast.”

“Okay.” Tracy meekly replied. Now that she was here, and there were a few adults in the place, all going for coffee and doughnuts and other things, she felt very much out of place and on the spot.

“Be right back.” Beth went to where the bakers were and she started moving to the back, while Tracy waited and watched her mother being trained on the register.

Beth came from the back of the bakery with a plate, a tray and a small pint of orange juice. “This way, sweetie.”

Beth sent her through the employee area and Tracy went into the darkened deli. It felt weird to be in there with only a handful of lights on and no customers.

Tracy took one of the booths near the counter of the darkened deli and she spread out her work in front of her. A the light above her was on and she kept her back to the main window.

As she took a bite, then started to read, Beth’s grandmother stepped out of the back office.

“So, what are we working on?” Mama Leone asked as she slid into the seat across from her.

“History.” Tracy replied. “I’m reading about gangsters and that Al Capone guy.”

“Ah, I remember those days....I was young and we lived on the west side of Chicago.” Beth’s grandmother said with a nod of her head. “A bad time. But it had its moments. Good music, lots of excitement.....” The old lady looked over the work. “Now do you need any help with this, or are you just reading things today?”

“I’m just reading. But Aunt Shelly will be working on it more tomorrow.”

“Well then. I’ll let you read and I can get back to the bakery.” Beth’s Grandmother said.

Tracy looked to her book, then at the old woman. “You don’t have to.”

The old lady smiled and shook her head. “Sweetie. I know you’re bored. But I have a job to do here. But I’ll be back in a little while. I promise. Besides, Mark is due in soon, too.”

Tracy sighed and nodded her head, just slightly. “Okay.” She said. Her voice was soft and with that the older lady turned to head for the bakery. She was gone before she could see the tears forming in Tracy’s eyes.

Tracy didn’t like this at all anymore. Not being at the Deli, but being alone. It was like everyone kept leaving her. She couldn’t help the feelings of loneliness and the tears kept falling. She leaned against the wall and started to crying. She sat there, leaning against the wall, softly crying and wishing that Sage could have been with her for the day, or Rachel and Brooke. She just wanted someone with her, just for a few minutes.

After about ten minutes of crying, she got up from her seat, grabbed her purse and found her way to the bathroom. She just needed a moment to collect herself and get the tears off her face. Crying for no reason was stupid and she didn’t want to look like a baby in front of any adults who would have come in there. What she didn't know was that for the past few minutes, Beth's Grandmother had seen her, between trips to the walk in cooler.

~o~O~o~

About two hours later, Tracy was done with her cinnamon roll, and the breakfast sandwich she had been given. Her history was history, but she was willing to put the rest of her work off, until later. Yet she didn't want to lose the fun of night time, so she did her writing assignment, just to get it done. After that her day was free. She hoped that Beth and Beth’s mother would be headed that way soon, so she could get into the fun part of her day.

Mark patted her shoulder. “Hey kiddo. You doing good today?”

“Yeah.” She said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Well, I’m gonna be right there.” He pointed to a window on the wall. “So if you wanna talk, I can hear ya through that.”

As she worked on her writing, a woman came in from the back of the deli, having used the employee’s entrance in the bakery. Her hair was disheveled from the late morning mist that was happening outside. Tracy looked up as she passed and the woman looked at her. She was near her mid twenties, or so Tracy through, but as she looked to Tracy, she got a look on her face that was either a sour look, or confused.

“Hey Eva. You ready for today? Looks like nice soup weather.” Mark said from his spot at the stove in the back. It was quiet enough that Tracy could hear them in the deli.

Yeah, its cold, but whose little girl is that?” Eva asked, looking back at the booth again.

“That’s Tracy, Maggie’s daughter.”

“Who’s Maggie?” the woman asked again.

“The new lady, she’s going to be doing odd shifts, while looking for work. You met her a week or so ago.”

Eva huffed out a breath, like this new turn of events directly affected her. She recalled Maggie from the week earlier, but she wasn’t aware they had become a daycare. “Okay, then why is her kid here? Too cheap for a sitter, so we get the privilege? And why isn’t she at school” Her tone quickly turned bitter.

“Well, Tracy is home schooled, but the lady who does the homeschooling had something big going on, today and tomorrow. Maggie had no one else to call because they are new to town. So Tracy will be here till about noon, or one this afternoon, then someone can get her, or Maggie takes off early.”

“What about cops and stuff? Like truant officers?” The attitude kept seeping through her speech and in her body language. Tracy did her best to ignore the woman, but with little noise in the place, it was difficult.

“Well, if a truant officer shows, Maggie said she has the paperwork handy and we can move Tracy to an office when we open up this side. But for now, the office is in use, while Mom works on payroll.”

“So we have to babysit some snot nosed little brat, while her mother tries to prove she is not a total drain on society?”

“HEY!” Tracy yelled. “Leave my mom alone!” ,

“Go.” Mark commanded as he pointed to a back hall and he followed Eva. He looked to Tracy and gave her a nod of his head. “Keep on with your writing, Tracy. I’ll talk to her.”

She waited a moment, then she nodded, still fuming that someone had insulted her mother. She looked back to her papers, but as she sat there, tears began to form. As far as she knew, she had never seen the woman before, and here she was, already judging them. It was Molly all over again.

Mark went to the hall, just past his stove and he stopped near Eva, who now looked like she was ready to cry. “Okay, first of all, we open in half an hour, so lose the bitchy attitude. Secondly, we can take care of cops when they show up. Third, Maggie has moved here just because of issues in their old town. Not that it matters to you, but there were people who were trying to rape and murder that sweet little girl out there, and her mother.”

“What?” Eva said, not sounding like she believed it.

“Someone was trying to get back at Tracy because she got someone arrested for attacking her and her grandmother on their old property. Tracy was hospitalized for a week and another week after that when someone tripped her and tore out her stitches. Then someone was calling and threatening to rape Tracy, rape and murder Maggie, murder Tracy’s dad and brother, while Tracy was forced to watch, then he was going to rape Tracy again and then kill her. So they are not a drain on society. That person was who threatened them was spreading rumors and Tracy was attacked twice, by church ladies, who believed the stories. The most recent attack was in a courthouse and she gave Tracy that black eye. Maggie is a good mother, who moved to a new town to protect her children from a growing mob as self-righteous assholes. So remember that. Hell, according to Maggie, Tracy was almost raped in that attack back in December, the one that put her in the hospital. She is a good kid and Maggie is proving to be a good worker.”

“What’s going on?” Beth asked. “We heard Tracy screaming from the bakery.”

“I’m working on that now.” Marc said. It was silent for a moment and they could hear the sounds of Tracy sobbing again.

“Well, Maggie is looking in on Tracy. You two got her in tears. So I want to know what you said to her.”

“I’ll handle this, but this is what happened.” And Mark quickly told her the story. Before Beth could speak, he turned to Eva.

“Now what crawled up your ass and died?” Mark asked. “Tell me or I send your ass home for a month with no pay.” When she was silent for a moment, Beth spoke, going with the good cop treatment.

“Eva, is something happened, we may be able to help. Even if it’s someone to talk to. So please, what is wrong?”

“Robert....” She said, in a quiet tone, but from Tracy’s seat, she heard them, but only barely through her tears. They weren’t too far down the hallway. Her Mother was in the booth with her, her arm around her crying daughter. Both of them were watching the new girl. Tracy tired to reign in her tears, just to hear what had happened. The girl continued. “He dumped me....Over the phone....”

"That horse's ass did what?!?" Beth exclaimed. "And over the phone? What an asshole." Maggie's expression hardened too.

“Oh...I understand now.” Mark said with a nod of his head. His gruff attitude slowly cooled.

“And he picked the worst week in the month too.” Eva grumbled. “Cramps and now this grief. Plus I gotta move back home now....”

“Yikes. I don’t need to know any more.” Mark said.

“Mark!” Beth snapped. “Be nice. She’s having a tough day.”

“I found out that the snake has been sleeping with my best friend, saying I told him it was fine. He even slept with my sister.”

“That jerk.” Beth said with a growl in her voice.

“Look, Beth, you help Eva, I got to get the lunch stuff ready.” Mark stated, not wishing to be a part of the womanly problems.

~o~O~o~

Once she was presentable again, Eva came into the main area, while Maggie was still out there. She went straight for the booth that Tracy was in.

“I’m sorry about earlier.” Eva said as she slipped into the seat opposite Tracy. “I kinda get extra bitchy once a month.....Well, you know how that goes, or you will.....” She trailed off and shook her head. “And today just hadn’t been the best. I didn’t have the best morning and it’s just getting worse and I should have never yelled at you or said what I said about your Mom. I’m really sorry.” She looked to Maggie. “To both of you, really. I was just being....well, a bitch.”

Tracy looked up and she could see tears in the woman’s eyes. She wasn’t sure, but she had been feeling like crying a lot too, so something made her want to listen. “What’s wrong?”

“Its nothing.” Eva said, shaking her head.

“You got mad at someone?” She had heard the conversation Eva and Mark had and she knew she shouldn’t say she heard, but as a kid, the vocal filter wasn’t quite working. “You said someone made you mad....”

“Yeah. It’s not important.”

“But you’re mad, doesn’t that make it important to you?” Tracy said. “I talk to my therapist about things that bug me. Maybe you could find someone to talk to for your problems.”

It was times like that that Maggie was proud of her daughter. Thinking of others and their problems too. She hugged Tracy a bit harder. “Tracy is right. Sitting on problems can cause you to feel even worse.” Maggie stated. “And while we’ve only known each other for just a week or so, I’d hate to see this eat at you.”

Eva thought about it for a moment, then she sighed and decided to tell them her story.

“I’m in a bad mood because I got dumped, for not sleeping with my boyfriend, but he was slee....” She trailed off as she realized that she was about to say sleeping with and decided to change it. “He was seeing someone else, my best friend. And my sister.” Eva said. “So when you get older, just remember that sometimes love can hurt.”

“I have a friend I like, but he is in another town now.” Tracy said with a nod. “It hurt to leave him there.”

“Trust me. I think I can understand. I’m from the midwest. We moved here when I was in High school. I left everyone back there....”

“I’m sorry.” Tracy said.

Eva reached across the table and took Tracy’s hands. “Sweetie. It’s not your fault, so don’t take the blame, okay.”

“Okay.” Tracy said with a small nod.

“Thank you for listening, but I better get to work now.”

Tracy started to move and her mother got the clue, so Maggie got out of the seat, while Tracy slid out. She hopped onto the seat and leaned over, hugging Eva. “I hope you feel better.”

Maggie smiled and put a hand on hers. “I do too. I know how love can hurt. All too well.”

~o~O~o~

As Maggie and Beth headed back to the bakery, Beth stopped her in the back hall, when she was sure that Tracy couldn't hear her. "Maggie, is something wrong with your daughter?"

"Why do you ask?" Maggie asked her.

"Well, one comment from Eva and she was sobbing into your shoulder. Earlier, Grandma swear she saw Tracy crying at the booth, but nothing was going on around her."

"I don't know, but could I call her doctors?" MAggie asked, then she added. "See, the last couple of nights, Tracy has been all over the emotional board. We watched MASH and she cried for that..."

"So did I."

"But did you cry for cat food commercials too?" Maggie asked her boss.

"Um....no." Beth said with a shake of her head.

"Then last night, she was sobbing in the car, over old sad songs." Maggie stated, again, with a shake of her head, as though this would help her thing. "I want to call her doctor and make sure all is well."

"Use the office phone. We'll get you started in here, when we're done with the bakery. Just join me there."

"I will. And thank you Beth."

~o~O~o~

It was getting closer to ten and Tracy had totally given up on her school work. It was still with her, just now it was forgotten. Instead she was reading one of her books.

Beth came over and patted Tracy’s shoulder. “I am headed to the back kitchen. Want to join me and we can look over that recipe?”

She was about to get up and go ask her mom, when Maggie walked into the deli. “It’s okay, Tracy, I called Modine and she said you could show them.”Maggie handed her daughter a couple of pieces of paper.. “Here are the recipes.”

“Sure!” Tracy quickly shut her books and pushed them into a bag. She took it and followed Beth to the back kitchen, stopping by the office long enough to put her books inside..

“Now, do you want to help me make these?” Beth asked. “We’re going to use the oven back here, but if anyone asks, we were upstairs, okay? And after a test batch, I made more down here.”

“Why?”

“Because if someone heard a minor was working our oven while we’re open, we could get in trouble. It’s a labor law thing.”

“A labor law?”

“Child labor. You’re too young to be working in a restaurant. So we’re doing this upstairs, got it? Or we, your mother and you could get in trouble.”

“But why aren't we up there?” Tracy asked.

“More space here and the oven down here is better.” Beth stated.

Tracy shrugged. Either way she didn't mind. It wasn't school work and this could be fun. "Okay."

As they were boiling the noodles, Tracy was mixing the ingredients for the chewy bars.

“Can I give one to Eva, as a taste test?” Tracy asked. "Please?"

“Sure, Tracy. You can do that.”

Tracy put one of the chewy bars on a napkin and she headed for the counter area

“Eva, you wanna try this? It’s a bar my grandmother used to make for big family get togethers.”

Eva nodded, took the bar, bit off a small piece, then another. “Oh my God, this is good.” The chocolate was good, and very much needed. She finished the bar and looked to Tracy. “You did that?”

“Grandma’s recipe, but I made it.”

“Well, Tracy, that was a wonderful snack. I loved it.” Eva said with a big smile, which made Tracy smile.

“Eva, we’re going to put these up for sale at the counter.” Beth’s mother said. “I want you to try these salad ideas too.” She brought out a small bowl and handed it to Eva.

After she was done, Eva nodded, while chewing, then she pointed at the first bowl. “I loved the chicken one. Ham was good, but I am a chicken fan.” She looked from Tracy to her boss. “Are these another one of Tracy’s recipes?”

“Well, her grandmother’s, but we've gotten the okay to make them here. We’re only making half bowls today, to see if they catch on, but we have a listing of all the ingredients for you.”

~o~O~o~

It was a little past eleven and her mother was now working in the deli, working the counter with Eva. She was also running back and forth, from the walk-in refrigerator to the counter. Tracy was sitting in the same booth again. She had wanted to stay at the counter, but Beth had told her to stay in the booth, unless they got too busy.

She hadn’t picked her own salad for lunch. This time she went with a soup and sandwich combo, and a side of chips. They even let her pay for her own meal, which made it taste a bit better, or so she thought. Her attention was on her food and a magazine that had articles on some of the more popular bands. She was so engrossed in a story about Pat Benatar, that she didn't notice the cops come in.

Her mother was also in the fridge, getting more lettuce, so she was unaware of their arrival too. The only one who was there and seen them, was Eva.

The two cops headed for the counter, but when they saw her, they stopped heading for the counter, gestured to Tracy, and headed her way. Eva saw this and turned to get Mark’s attention. The two cops were a man and woman team. He was a white male and the woman was short, but latino.

“Excuse me young lady.” The male cop said as he stopped at Tracy’s table. “Shouldn't you be in school right now? And do you have a guardian or parent with you?”

“I’m Home schooled. But my Mom is in the bakery.” At least Tracy thought she was there. She wasn't sure where her mother kept wondering off too.

“The bakery is closed now.” The male cop replied, arching an eyebrow. “And why are you just sitting out here? And if you’re home schooled, Shouldn't you be home, doing schoolwork?”

Tracy started to get nervous. She couldn't see her mother, and now cops were questioning her. Once again, fear started to well up in her. She thought about what could happen. Jail. A work camp somewhere. And the little girl began to shake.

Ha! A cliff hanger! Sorry to do that, but this chapter was growing out of control and needed to be stopped. So now, what will become of Tracy? Tune in next time and no, it shouldn't be a year from now.