Surviving

Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3

The bus took them to an area that was a mix of small businesses, warehouses and—Terry saw when he looked down a side street—older brick homes. For a moment he thought they were heading to one of the houses when they turned a corner. Then Rudy led the way down an alley. He stopped halfway, kneeling by a small glassless window covered on the inside by a battered piece of plywood. Terry couldn’t see what Rudy did, but a moment later the plywood seemed to be hanging by one corner, giving them room to crawl through. Snap went in first, followed by the others. Rudy came in last, putting the plywood back in place.

They were in a basement, Terry thought. Although you couldn’t prove it by me, as dark as it is. That changed seconds later when Rudy turned on a flashlight. Snap had one too, and with both lights going, Terry saw it was a basement, or at least one room of it. On the far side was a slightly open door. Terry and Kel trailed after the others into another room, and then a third one off to one side.

“Classy digs,” Kel said with a laugh.

Josie grinned while going to light a pair of candles, set in what looked like empty tuna cans, sitting on a wooden crate. “Our home is our castle or something like that.”

Snap lit two more candles on a battered table on the other side of the room before switching off his flashlight. While he did that, Rudy closed the door and much to Terry’s surprise, got a two-by-four from under the worn sofa that sat in the middle of the room. He put it into obviously homemade brackets—one on each side of the door—to keep the door from being opened from the outside.

“To keep out the cops?” Kel asked worriedly.

“More like anyone else who might be looking for a place to crash,” Rudy replied.

There was a blanket hanging from a rope stretched across the rear of the room. Josie disappeared behind it, coming back a minute later minus her backpack. When Terry looked at her in question she said, “Snap and my bedroom, so to speak. Rudy uses the sofa.”

“You two can have that corner,” Rudy said, pointing to a pile of blankets. “Not much of a mattress but better than nothing.”

“And to add to the mod-cons,” Snap said, chuckling, “we even have a pantry.” He opened the door of a cupboard above the table. It held a small variety of canned goods, dry cereals and snacks, as well as several rolls of paper towels and a couple of rolls of toilet paper.

“Where’s the bathroom?” Kel asked.

“Ah yes, that would be a good thing to know.” Snap took the bar off the door and picked up the flashlight Rudy had set on an orange crate nearby.

Terry and Kel followed him back to the window they’d used to enter the building. When they were in the alley, Snap led the way to the end, pointing to Porta Pottys at a construction site across the street. “There you go.”

“Geesh. I guess it’s better than behind a dumpster,” Kel muttered.

“Much,” Snap agreed as they returned to the building.

When they were back in the room, Kelly discovered that Rudy and Josie had fixed supper. Rudy showed him how they used Sterno and a large tin can to make a stove that they set a pot on to heat their food.

“Where do you get the Sterno, and the food?” Kel asked.

Josie shrugged. “Some we buy if we make enough spanging. The rest…well, I think you can figure that out.”

“Shoplifting.”

“Got it in one,” Snap replied. “A necessary evil if we don’t want to go the ‘sell our bodies’ route. Or sell drugs for that matter.”

Kel looked at Terry, shaking his head. “I guess we have a lot to learn.”

“Not to worry, we’ll teach you,” Rudy told him. “Now, let’s eat before it gets cold.” He took a mismatched set of bowls from the cupboard, putting them on the table along with spoons, dishing out the stew they’d heated.

“Better than how we were eating it,” Terry commented. “Speaking of which…” He went over to his pack that he’d put down by the pile of blankets. Digging through it, he took out the last two cans he’d brought from home. Then he got the one in Kel’s pack and gave them to Rudy, saying, “To add to the stock.”

Rudy thanked him, put them in the cupboard, and then everyone found a place to sit and began to eat. Terry felt uncomfortable when he realized that Rudy seemed to be studying him. Finally he asked with a small smile, “Do I have something on my face?”

“Nope. Sorry. I’m just trying to figure you out. You took a big chance, coming here. You probably hitched at least part way, which isn’t safe. You hooked up with us even though you don’t know ace-deuce about us. If you dad’s looking for you he’s probably filed a missing person’s report on you—both of you actually—so if a cop stops you, you’re up s**t creek.”

“Kel might be, but he runs fast,” Terry replied with a small grin. “If anyone asks, other than cops, we’re claiming he’s an emancipated minor. I’m old enough I shouldn’t have any problems.”

“Still,” Rudy pointed out, “you should do something to change your appearances. Kel can let his hair grow out which’ll help. You…hmm…”

“Yes?”

“How would you feel about dying your hair? That copper color is great, but it stands out.”

“I suppose I could. But how, and where? I don’t think I’d want to do that in the Porta Potty.”

“Damn, no. There’s plenty of gas stations around with one-person washrooms we could use.” Rudy tapped his chin. “Black would be a big change.”

“Let me think about it. Okay?”

“Yeah. Sure. For now let’s get some sleep. I have the feeling you need it. Both of you.”