Hunger

Rory: Behind the Scenes

While Austin recovers in the hospital, Seth, Pixie and I are busy talking to the cops, who are working to round up those involved in the sex trafficking ring that stretches from Colorado to Mexico. Ray threw out a ton of names in exchange for a lighter sentence, but he'll still be looking at serious jail time. I'm pissed that the cops made a deal with someone so despicable, but on the other hand, it did give them the leads they need to track down Diego, the cartel in charge of the whole operation.

Now there's nothing to do but wait for the trial, which is scheduled for this spring, during which Seth, Austin, and Pixie will all testify. Some of the other victims who have been rescued are stepping forward as witnesses too.

Austin is getting better, slowly but surely. It's mid-February, and he's starting to get nervous about his eighteenth birthday and finding a job, a place to live, furniture, clothing and all the other things we'll need to survive on our own.

"I don't have anything," he says anxiously nearly every time I come to visit him.

"Once you get out of here, you can look for a job," I say.

Austin sighs. "Who's going to hire a high school dropout who can barely read and write?"

"Then go back to school."

"If I go back to school, I can't work full time. It's a catch-twenty-two. If I work, I can't get a diploma. If I get a diploma, I can't work," he says tiredly.

That gives me an idea. Needless to say, with the police chase, Ray's live arrest, and the busting of the sex-trafficking ring, Austin and Pixie's story has become locally known. After a few phone calls from strangers asking if they could help, I decided to set up an online fundraiser account to see if anyone was willing to donate after hearing their story. I asked the local news stations to play the information, but I definitely didn't anticipate it going viral, so I was shocked when donations started pouring in from all over the country.

I haven't told Austin or Pixie about the account. My original goal was to raise five-thousand dollars to help us get started with living on our own, but within a week, donations have quadrupled to almost twenty grand. On top of the cash, people have been dropping off clothing and furniture to the news stations that ran the story. Keeping Austin in the dark about it has been hard, but I make sure he stays off the news channels if he turns on the TV in his room, and I've told his nurses and doctors not to say a word. Pixie is much easier to hide it from because she's back in Texas with Blanca now.

Pixie's birthday is coming up, and after the unexpected success of the online fundraiser, I decided to press my luck one more time. Just to see what would happen I got in touch with Disney, hoping they would send her a few toys or something.

"She's literally your biggest fan," I told the representative over the phone. "She's seen every princess movie about a thousand times, not to mention all the Tinkerbell ones too. After everything that's happened to her, she's still just a kid who loves Frozen and wants a happy ending for herself. She still sees the good in the world."

They had already heard the story on the news, and I was completely floored when they donated an entire week-long paid vacation to Disneyworld for Pixie's sixth birthday, which is in May. That's the day I'm going to surprise Austin with the news about the donations and trip.

I can barely keep a straight face when I visit Austin now and listen to him worry about the future.

"Just trust me, everything will be okay," I tell him, fighting back a smile.

Austin narrows his eyes at me from his hospital bed. They moved him out of ICU awhile ago, and he's able to stand up and walk around on his own now, which has made him more restless than ever.