Before I get to the good stuff (read: my question-answer session with the FBI), I want to write about how great I felt last night, my first night in my new house in Portland. The whole drive up yesterday, things felt right. Walking to the local grocery store, things felt right. Looking around, breathing in the perfect summer evening air, things felt right.
By golly, I do think I've found myself a home!
Now, on to the juicy details of Day #2 in PDX!
After a GREAT night's sleep in my new bed and a trip to good ol' Trader Joe's for some groceries, I set out on foot to make a big five-mile loop around my new hood. First stop: the public library for a new library card and a few books on local hiking. The next stop was a stroll along Alberta Street, full of restaurants that I can't wait to try (Indian, Ethiopian, sushi). Not long after I started south on Mississippi Avenue a teenage girl wearing an over-sized red t-shirt tucked into her under-sized short denim shorts asked if she could use my phone. I didn't see the harm in that so I handed over my ancient flip-phone (aka the dumb phone).
She made her first call standing right next to me, so I couldn't help but listen to her side of the conversation as she asked this person to come pick her up. She was obviously a little on the distressed side, hair a little messy and black eye make-up smudged. She handed my phone back to me, and then not two seconds later asked if I was in a hurry because she wanted to call a second number. This time it was her boyfriend, which I deduced by her use of the word "babe" (and which she later told me), and she was asking him if he was still going to talk to her--"like, in life."
It was by this point that I was a little worried for her--she was definitely stressed out. My first reaction was to ask her if she was okay, to which she hesitantly replied "Yes. I'm just paranoid." I offered to wait with her and she was happy to say yes to that. She wanted to sit inside somewhere because it was so hot outside, but the closest thing we could find were some tables and chairs just off the sidewalk by a group of food carts. We took a seat and I tried my very introverted-best to make small talk (while trying to dig a little, too): "So, what's your name? How old are you? (Sixteen) Are you in school? (No. I was going to beauty school but I stopped because I have a two-year old daughter. She's mixed.) Are you paranoid about something specific that happened, or is it just a stressful day today?" (Both).
She spent the previous night in a Motel 6 with her boyfriend, but they got in a fight and she went to another friend's place, who dropped her off near a detention center, but then she ended up over where I met her, usually she does herself up "professionally" but this morning she woke up and didn't feel like it so she didn't have her usual make-up on... I couldn't keep her story straight, but what I did see was a teenage girl who was going down a path that could end up badly.
Anyways...
We were chatting when suddenly, out of nowhere, a man and woman in decked-out FBI vests walked right up to her and handcuffed her. Right before they reached her she stood up calmly, turned to me and said "I have to go now." And that was that. The woman took her around the corner and she was gone. The male FBI officer implied he wanted to ask me some questions so I waited until he returned with his notepad. He took my name, number, address, and my short story about what I knew about her from my brief interaction with her. He informed me that she's a runway that they've been looking for for about two days, has a warrant on her and they believe she's involved in Portland's sex-trafficking scene.
Surprisingly, something about all of this was not the least bit shocking. Maybe that's why I stayed with her that whole time and didn't want to leave her--I knew something was off (that, and the life of the unemployed isn't as rushed as the employed so I had nowhere else to be). Needless to say, it was a bittersweet ending: sad to see such a sweet girl involved in potentially harmful endeavors, admittedly glad to see her being taken into the hands of people who maybe--hopefully--help her out of it.
To think, I was this close to going to get my car and drive her home...
"Welcome to Portland!" says the world... I can't wait to see what Day #3 has in store!
By golly, I do think I've found myself a home!
Now, on to the juicy details of Day #2 in PDX!
After a GREAT night's sleep in my new bed and a trip to good ol' Trader Joe's for some groceries, I set out on foot to make a big five-mile loop around my new hood. First stop: the public library for a new library card and a few books on local hiking. The next stop was a stroll along Alberta Street, full of restaurants that I can't wait to try (Indian, Ethiopian, sushi). Not long after I started south on Mississippi Avenue a teenage girl wearing an over-sized red t-shirt tucked into her under-sized short denim shorts asked if she could use my phone. I didn't see the harm in that so I handed over my ancient flip-phone (aka the dumb phone).
She made her first call standing right next to me, so I couldn't help but listen to her side of the conversation as she asked this person to come pick her up. She was obviously a little on the distressed side, hair a little messy and black eye make-up smudged. She handed my phone back to me, and then not two seconds later asked if I was in a hurry because she wanted to call a second number. This time it was her boyfriend, which I deduced by her use of the word "babe" (and which she later told me), and she was asking him if he was still going to talk to her--"like, in life."
It was by this point that I was a little worried for her--she was definitely stressed out. My first reaction was to ask her if she was okay, to which she hesitantly replied "Yes. I'm just paranoid." I offered to wait with her and she was happy to say yes to that. She wanted to sit inside somewhere because it was so hot outside, but the closest thing we could find were some tables and chairs just off the sidewalk by a group of food carts. We took a seat and I tried my very introverted-best to make small talk (while trying to dig a little, too): "So, what's your name? How old are you? (Sixteen) Are you in school? (No. I was going to beauty school but I stopped because I have a two-year old daughter. She's mixed.) Are you paranoid about something specific that happened, or is it just a stressful day today?" (Both).
She spent the previous night in a Motel 6 with her boyfriend, but they got in a fight and she went to another friend's place, who dropped her off near a detention center, but then she ended up over where I met her, usually she does herself up "professionally" but this morning she woke up and didn't feel like it so she didn't have her usual make-up on... I couldn't keep her story straight, but what I did see was a teenage girl who was going down a path that could end up badly.
Anyways...
We were chatting when suddenly, out of nowhere, a man and woman in decked-out FBI vests walked right up to her and handcuffed her. Right before they reached her she stood up calmly, turned to me and said "I have to go now." And that was that. The woman took her around the corner and she was gone. The male FBI officer implied he wanted to ask me some questions so I waited until he returned with his notepad. He took my name, number, address, and my short story about what I knew about her from my brief interaction with her. He informed me that she's a runway that they've been looking for for about two days, has a warrant on her and they believe she's involved in Portland's sex-trafficking scene.
Surprisingly, something about all of this was not the least bit shocking. Maybe that's why I stayed with her that whole time and didn't want to leave her--I knew something was off (that, and the life of the unemployed isn't as rushed as the employed so I had nowhere else to be). Needless to say, it was a bittersweet ending: sad to see such a sweet girl involved in potentially harmful endeavors, admittedly glad to see her being taken into the hands of people who maybe--hopefully--help her out of it.
To think, I was this close to going to get my car and drive her home...
"Welcome to Portland!" says the world... I can't wait to see what Day #3 has in store!
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