Surviving

Chapter 1 “It won’t work you know,” Kelly whispered. Terry c****d his head, looking at his brother. Kel was slender and five-ten, a definite contrast to Terry’s six-one, lean but muscular build. “Yes it will, Kel, if we’re careful,” he replied, keeping his voice low. “He’ll come looking for us and if he finds us things will be worse than ever. Especially for you.” Terry nodded, touching the bruises on his arm. They were the result of his father brutally holding it while he whipped Terry with his belt. “Then we’ll have to make sure that doesn’t happen.” He slung his pack over one shoulder, wincing when it hit his back. Opening the door barely an inch, Terry peered through the crack. The upstairs hallway was empty. He could hear drunken snores coming from his parents’ room and prayed they’d override any sounds he and Kelly might make as they went downstairs. Beckoning for Kel to follow, he moved swiftly to the stairs, carefully avoiding the two squeaky ones. He barely breathed until they were safely in the kitchen. Without turning on the light, using what came in through the window, Terry opened the cupboards. He took out canned goods, handing some to Kel, putting the rest in his backpack. Then he inched open one of the drawers to get a can opener and two sets of silverware. “Okay, let’s hit it,” Terry whispered, unlocking the backdoor. Kel went out first, his expression a mixture of hope and fear as he looked over his shoulder at his brother. Terry followed and started to close the door when something stopped it. Their mother stood there, resignation on her face. Without a word she thrust a small packet at him. He took it without checking what it was and started to say something but she pulled the door shut and he heard it lock. “What did she…?” Kel started to ask before Terry pointed to the back gate. They walked swiftly out of the yard and down the alley. Terry didn’t look at what their mother had given him until they were on the sidewalk. It was a large wad of bills, mainly ones and fives, wrapped in a note that said, “Terry, I knew that someday it would get to be too much for both of you. Take care of Kelly.” “That’s it?” Kel said when Terry read him the note. “No love you? No keep in touch?” “I think we’re lucky she did this.” Terry refrained from adding “the b***h” as much as he knew that sentiment was warranted. Their mother always sided with their father, whether he was drunk or sober. The man could do no wrong in her eyes. When he beat Terry for some perceived infraction, or when Terry stepped in to protect his brother, she would leave the room and sometimes the house, while it happened. “Okay, let’s get moving before she regrets this and tries to wake the bastard to let him know we’re gone.” They traveled rapidly through the streets of the town, staying in the shadows as much as possible. When they saw a lone patrol car turn a corner, they scuttled behind a bush in someone’s yard until it passed. Finally they reached the safety of the trees at the edge of town. Kel looked down the long stretch of highway ahead of them, saying with a slight smile, “Maybe we should have taken the car?” Terry chuckled. “Yeah, that would have worked. Then he’d have sent the cops after us and…” He moved his pack to his other shoulder, grimacing when he felt something damp on the back of his shirt. “What’s wrong,” Kel asked with concern. When Terry shook his head, Kel stepped behind him. “s**t, Ter, you’re bleeding.” “It’ll stop. It always does.” “That is no answer.” Kel looked up at his older brother. “We should have run a long time ago.” “I know, but we had to wait until you were sixteen. You know that. At least now you can claim you’re emancipated and I’m your guardian, if anyone asks.” He smiled dryly. “We can’t prove it, but hopefully no one will want us to.” Kel crossed his fingers then told his brother he wanted to look at his back. Reluctantly, Terry put down his pack and removed his shirt. Kel whistled softly. “It’s worse than I thought. Damn it, Ter.” He opened his own pack and a moment later was using a Handi Wipe on the bleeding laceration. “Hold still. I have some gauze and tape,” he said a moment later. “You packed a first aid kit?” “Well…yeah. You never know.” Soon Kel had his brother bandaged and Terry put his shirt on again. Then they started walking, never looking back at the town that had been their home since they were born. * * * * Kel and Terry reached the next town over from theirs in the early hours of the morning. As there were people there who knew their father and might recognize them, they decided to go straight to the bus station before the townspeople were awake. They planned on taking the first bus that would get them as far away as possible on the little money they had with them. Terry had counted what their mother had given them, surprised to find it was just over a hundred dollars. He and Kel had managed to save a bit over seventy-five dollars between them. That, they decided, they would hang on to and just spend the hundred. “I guess we were being naïve, thinking we could afford the bus,” Terry said a while later when they were outside of the town again. “The cash we have wouldn’t even cover one of us going anywhere far enough away to feel safe.” “So we hitchhike,” Kel replied. “We have to be visible to do that and by now Dad has to know we’re gone. So we’ll hike-hike. At least until we’re well away from here.” “We better figure out where we’re going.” Terry chuckled. “Yeah, that would help. Somewhere large enough that we’ll just be two more people among thousands.” “We need a map,” Kel stated. “I bet they’ve got them at that gas station.” He pointed down the road. “We didn’t really plan all this out too well, did we?” “Nope,” Terry agreed as they headed to the gas station. A few minutes later they had a map spread out on a picnic table behind the station. “Denver, Chicago, Kansas City, or St Louis? Okay, not KC. Not with Mom’s family there. With our luck we’d run into one of them.” “Chicago’s too…big.” “That’s what we’re looking for.” Kel nodded. “But it’s too…I don’t know. Dangerous from what I’ve seen on the news?” “Then Denver or St Louis?” “Denver has mountains.” Terry grinned. “St Louis has the Arch.” “A lot of good that’ll do us. We could hide in the mountains if…” Kel’s mouth tightened angrily. “If he does try to find us.” “And he might, just to show us who’s the boss. Damned bastard!” “Then Denver it is?” “Yeah.” Terry folded the map after checking to see what road they needed to get out of town heading west. “Once we get to I70 we can think about hitching a ride. I’m sure there’s rest stops or truck stops.” Four hours later they were on the outskirts of a small city—and exhausted since they hadn’t slept—or even eaten—since leaving home the previous evening. There was a creek ahead of them, surrounded by trees and they decided they could camp rough beside it. “We have,” Terry said, taking a couple of cans from his backpack, “pork and beans or stew.” “I have—” Kel checked his pack, “—ravioli and spaghetti. I opt for spaghetti.” He tossed the can to Terry to open and they took turns eating from it after Terry pointed out he’d forgotten bowls or plates. Then they stretched out under some bushes by the creek, making certain they couldn’t be seen unless someone came close to them. “This would be more fun if there were stars,” Kel said with a yawn. Terry chuckled. “In the afternoon? I don’t think that happens.” “Yeah, but…” “Go to sleep, nut.” Terry realized Kel already had and soon he was as well. * * * * Three days later, they were standing at a truck stop on the edge of Aurora, Colorado. They thanked the driver of the semi, both for giving them a lift and telling them how to find the local bus that would take them into Denver proper. “Food?” Terry said, looking at the diner connected to the truck stop. “Hell yes!” Kel agreed. They’d eaten real food, not out of a can, just once. That was after the trucker had picked them up and then stopped at a truck stop for his own dinner. Once inside, the first thing they did was spend a few minutes in the washroom cleaning up as much as possible. Terry’s hair, coppery-blond and—according to his father—too long, was snarled and it took him a while to comb it out. Kel’s reddish-brown hair was short enough he had no problem taming it. Then they found an empty booth, shed their backpacks, and sat. Seconds later it seemed, a cheery young waitress came over, asking if they’d like coffee as she handed them menus. Her gaze was locked on Terry, causing Kel to grin as he replied, “I’d like a soda, please.” “Coffee for me,” Terry told her, picking up the menu. “Just passing through?” she asked, her attention fully focused on Terry again. He nodded in the affirmative. “On our way to Oregon.” “Oh. Well, okay.” She left to get their drinks, not looking quite so cheerful. “Another heart broken,” Kel said, grinning at his brother. “Uh-huh. Better that than having her start prying into where we were staying here and what have you. That’s the last thing we need.” “I know. Still it’s funny, all things considered.” Terry shot his brother a cautionary look then went back to perusing the menu. “The cheapest things are plain burgers or grilled cheeses,” he said pointedly. “So we get one of each and share.” They did, eating in silence. Terry looked up every time the diner door opened, even though he knew it was very unlikely his father would be entering. After all, he has no idea which direction we even headed, I hope. Quietly Kel said what Terry had been thinking, adding, “And we don’t even know if he’ll be looking for us, or just think he’s well rid of us.” “Yeah. But, I’m not counting on the latter.” “I know.” Kel sighed. “Me neither. So what do we do, now that we’re here? We don’t have enough money to even stay at a motel, do we?” “Not hardly. I guess we go into Denver, like downtown, and—” he shrugged, “—talk to people. You know. The ones who live on the streets or maybe there’s shelters or…hell, Kel, I don’t know. We’ll figure it out.” “Planning is us,” Kel replied with a weak smile. “More like getting away from the bastard is us. Finally. Before he ended up killing one of us in a drunken rage.” “Killing you,” Kel said quietly. “Because you always stepped in before he took his anger out on me.” “That’s what big brothers do.” “Yeah, if they’re good ones. Like you.” “Enough. Let’s finish up and get moving before it gets dark. I’d rather be downtown while there’s still some daylight.”