Gil Grissom sat at a table at the French Palace concentrating on his beer. His friend was having a bachelor party. The men whooped and called at the girls on the stage. They watched the women dance around poles and play with the ties to their tops, teasing the men.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Boys and girls wanna hear a true story?
Saturday night was at this real wild party
They had the liquor overflowin' the cup, about
5 or 6 strippers tryin to work for a buck
and I-took one girl outside wit me, her name
was Loni, she went to Junior High wit me,
I said, Why you up in there dancin for cash?,
I guess a whole lots changed since I seen you last
She said...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gil went out beside the building for a cigarette when he noticed one of the women from the stage was out there smoking a cigarette as well. She was wearing a trenchcoat and her high heels. She took a drag from her cigarette. She looked up when she heard the door open.

"Hi." she said when he came out and lit up.

"Hey."

"Having a good time with your buddies?"

"Yep..." He extended his hand to her. "I'm Gil." She shook his hand.

"Catherine."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

What would you do if your son was at home
crying all alone on the bedroom floor, cuz he's hungry
and thee only way to feed him is ta sleep wit a man
for a little bit of money, and his daddy's gone
somewhere smokin' rock now, in and out of lock down,
I aint gotta job now, so for you this is just a good time
but for me this is what I call life

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They got to talking and Grissom learned a little bit about her life. He learned she had just had a baby girl and was married recently. Her husband was working under the table at a pizza place about twice a week and wasn't making any money. He learned her husband wasn't reliable and was very into drugs and drinking.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Girl you aint thee only one wit a baby,
that's no excuse to be livin all crazy
then she looked me right square in the eye
and said everyday I wake up hopin' to die,
she said- nigga I know about pain cuz,
me and my What Would You Do ran away, so my daddy
couldn't rape us, before I was a teenager
I done been through more shit, you can't even relate ta!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Well, why can't you get a regular job then?" Gil asked.

"I need this job. The tips pay good, and I'm trying to support my daughter and husband while paying for school."

"You're in school?"

"Night school."

"What's your major?"

"Forensic science."

"Small world."

"What?"

"I'm a crime scene investigator."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Think you could put in a good word for me? I'm gonna be graduating next semester and I need to start training in a lab."

"I think I could do that." They smiled at each other and Catherine went inside to return to her job as Grissom returned to his table.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

What would you do if your son was at home
crying all alone on the bedroom floor, cuz he's hungry
and thee only way to feed him is ta sleep wit a man
for a little bit of money, and his daddy's gone
somewhere smokin' rock now, in and out of lock down,
I aint gotta job now, so for you this is just a good time
but for me this is what I call life

Then she said, What would you do?
Get up on my feet and let go of every excuse
What would you do?
Cuz I wouldn't want my baby, to go through what I went through
What would you do?
Get up on my feet, stop makin tired excuses
What would you do?
Girl I know if my mother can do it, baby you can do it

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Grissom listened to the radio in his car and heard the song on a radio station. It certainly wasn't his taste in music, but it got his attention. He heard the lyrics and began to remember that night years ago. The song really did remind him of Catherine and her once- upon-a-time life. He thought of her life now. She had a good home, a good job, made good money and supported her daughter. She had her in a good school and she got out of her bad marriage. She was supervisor of the swing shift and did a pretty damned good job at it. He got out of his car and walked into the lab. He passed Catherine in the hallway.

"Hi Cath." he said to the woman who was walking down the hallway reading a case file. When she heard her name she looked up.

"Oh, Hi Gil." She smiled and went back to her case file and continued on her way. He stopped and looked after her and smiled, proud of what she had made of herself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

What would you do if your son was at home
crying all alone on the bedroom floor, cuz he's hungry
and thee only way to feed him is ta sleep wit a man
for a little bit of money, and his daddy's gone
somewhere smokin' rock now, in and out of lock down,
I aint gotta job now, so for you this is just a good time
but for me this is what I call life

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The End