Contemporary YA

When homeless teenager Delilah Cruz realizes her bag – and consequently, all of her possessions – is missing, it sets off a series of events that impact every aspect of her life.

Delilah spends most of her days attempting to stay out of the clutches of the neighborhood pimp, Eli, and just trying to keep her head above water.  Losing the little she can call her own could mean having to rely on Eli for survival, which is something she’s sworn never to do.  Delilah has no idea that a simple intervention by a stranger could be her ticket out.

But leaving the streets isn’t as easy as it might look on the surface.  She feels pulled back to her old life when the new one gets difficult – learning the truth about her roots, trying to understand her feelings for a certain boy, and discovering how far a close friend has fallen.  Delilah questions if she’s meant for a normal life, after all.

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Sample:

My eyes were still swollen from sleep and hadn’t quite adjusted to the fluorescent lighting of New York City’s subway system yet, so my hands had to do the seeing.  They brushed along the concrete with rapid pace trying to feel for the bag, but I knew it was pointless.  It was gone forever.

Crap.  Six months living on the street taught me a lot of things and one of the most important was to keep a hand on my stuff at all times.  I slept on top of my bag for a reason, so how did this happen?

I blinked hard a few times and the room finally came alive.  People rushed passed me as if I wasn’t even there – the invisible Delilah.  They didn’t realize that my little piece of the world was completely crumbling before me.  My heart ached and my soul felt crushed.

I scrambled into a sitting position and looked around in a last ditch effort to spot the bag that I knew wasn’t there.  It had everything – my change of clothes, a little bit of food I’d been rationing, a few dollars that I’d been able to scrape together.  The only things I had now were the clothes on my back and the picture of my mom that I kept in my pocket.  I was lost.

It had been a long time since I allowed myself to cry.  Weakness would get you nowhere in this underground, but even still, a tear escaped and cascaded down my cheek.

“Delilah, Delilah.  What has you so upset, love?”

That whistling voice sent a shockwave of fear into my gut.

“Nothing is wrong, Eli.  I’m fine.”  I stuck my hands behind me and lifted myself off of the ground.

“Now, now, love.  I can see when something is wrong with my sweet Delilah.  Let Eli make it better.”  He reached up and brushed his thumb along my cheek, taking my tear with him.  I could still feel the rough callus on his finger long after he’d stopped touching me.

“I said I’m fine.”  I looked directly into his slate gray eyes in hopes that I put off a confident air.  His crow’s feet wrinkled as he smirked back at me.

“You’re lying.  Why are you lying to me?  You know how I feel about that.” He grabbed my arm much too tight.  His fingers would definitely leave their mark.

Eli reeked of danger.  I could taste it, feel it – all of my senses were on alert.  His body leaned into mine as his grip grew tighter.

“My bag,” I said in a hushed breath.  “My bag is gone.  That’s all.”  Our faces were so close that I could make out the nasty blackheads in the crease of his nose.  The garlic on his breath was enough to make my stomach heave.

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DELILAH WAKES is a work in progress ~ e-mail me if you would like the password to read the first chapter.