Eric and I enjoyed a few drinks in a new bar my boss in NYC had just opened and decided to take in the night air. He was from Sweden, and my current girlfriend was Swedish, so he volunteered to brief me on the customs in Sweden when a man and a woman were interested in each other. It was good because I was way off the mark in interpreting my girl's behavior, and I was flirting with disaster. That isn't the story, though.
As soon as our feet hit the sidewalk, we spied several young men kicking a young girl who was lying in the gutter. We didn't know why she was there or being treated that way, but we went into action. We beat the "boys" away, lifted her, and looked at her carefully. She was bruised and dirty and had spots of blood on her face and shirt. She no doubt fit the typical runaway from home girl, probably from a suburb within commuting distance. We took her to my apartment, washed her up, got some clean clothes from a friend, and asked her about herself. She volunteered almost nothing. Eric and I assumed she was well underage and needed to get her to a safe house. My gay friend Joanne gave us the address of a woman who took in young runaway girls off Sixted Avenew.
When we arrived, it was late, about one o'clock in the morning. The apartment was above a store that was closed, as expected. We rang the doorbell several times and then heard voices from above us. We saw several girls with their heads out the window and an older woman who spoke to us. We explained the situation, so she came down, opened the door, and took the girls in.
Wow, we felt so good about doing such an apparent good deed. We went to an all-night restaurant on Sixt Ave and had a breakfast feast.
I don't know how much time passed, but once more, after the gig I had was done, Eric and I went up to the bar and talked about our girlfriends. We went out for a walk, and low and behold, the same girl was on the street again. We took her to my pad, rewashed her, and got clean clothes from a friend, but this time, we handed her over to the generous friend who was so quick to offer clean clothes.
We never saw her after that.
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