Runaways Box Set

Chapter 4

Chapter 4Kel quickly got the hang of spanging. Of looking as if he’d was so down and out that even a nickel would make him happy. He, Snap, and Josie found a spot close to the bus station but far enough away from it that the security guards couldn’t hassle them. The only problem was, where they’d picked was by one of the restaurants that had an outdoor patio. The smell of food made Kel’s stomach growl.

It must have been doing it loudly enough that Josie heard it because she looked at him with a grin before saying, “Snap, we’d better get this poor boy fed before he passes out.”

“No, no, I’m fine,” Kel protested.

Josie apparently disagreed. She made the guys give her the cash they’d collected, counted it, and proclaimed that they were going to the closest burger place to eat.

Ten minutes later they were sitting on one of the planters in front of a plaza, with a bag of burgers and cups of water. The burgers were passed around and soon Kel began to feel much better, although a bit guilty. “I thought we were supposed to pool the money for stuff for the squat,” he said.

“Yeah, and?” Josie replied. “We still have some left and we’ll make more.” She patted his shoulder. “You have that woebegone look that makes the ladies feel sorry for you and give you their change.”

“Or mutter that we’ll just spend it on drugs,” Kel retorted. “I heard some of them. They think that’s why we’re out here.”

“Yeah,” Snap said. “And some of the kids we’ve seen are doing just that. Hell, I’ve seen guys from the high schools out on the mall, dressed like they think we do, in their oldest, grungiest jeans and shirts. Trouble is, they’re sporting fancy, name-brand shoes and have good haircuts. And they’re clean. But people they bug don’t see that and so we lose out and they hit up their dealers with money they’ve spanged, buying weed or X or what have you.”

“X?”

“Yeah. Ecstasy. It’s a club drug. X, MDMA, GHB. K. Some get you high and some of them, like K and GHB are date-rape drugs. Hell, don’t get me started. I’m off that now. So’s Josie. If I gotta beg for cash I’d rather spend it on food and decent secondhand clothes when we get enough collected to hit up a near-new shop.” Snap shot a hard look at Kel. “Anybody offers you any of that junk, you tell them to f**k off.”

“Though not literally,” Josie put in. “You do that you’re likely to end up on your ass with a sore jaw or gut.”

“I get the picture,” Kel said with a small smile.

Josie leaned back on her hands, looking at him. “You and Snap, you got something in common. You were both physically abused.”

“I wasn’t. Not much,” Kel replied. “We told you that. It was Ter who got beat by the bastard.” He sighed deeply. “I just got to clean him up afterwards if he was cut by Dad’s belt, especially the buckle.” After a moment he asked quietly, “What about you? Why did you run? Or do I want to know?”

She smiled dryly. “Probably not. It’s the typical story I guess. Stepfather who thought he’d found the perfect victim. I was twelve when it started. I tried to tell Mom. She didn’t believe me so I ran.”

“Damn, you’ve been on the streets for…what? Four years now? How did you…? No, never mind. I don’t think I want to know.”

“She didn’t sell herself, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Snap told him. “I ran into her soon afterwards. We hit it off. I took her under my wing. Yeah, for a while we were selling and using drugs, but we finally got that it wasn’t a good thing and quit. Saw one too many of the guys we knew die or end up in jail.”

“Or get into the heavy stuff, like Tommy,” Josie said, shivering. “He finally OD-ed but by then we were clean. It could have been us, if we hadn’t straightened up.”

Snap chuckled, then apologized when Kel asked him what was so funny. “I was reminded of something Rudy used to say. That if he’d been into drugs, saying he’d straightened up would be a bit of a…umm…misnomer?”

“Why?”

“You haven’t picked up on it? He’s gay.”

“Now how would I figure that out?”

Snap shrugged. “Well since your brother is…”

“Damn. You think I got some special sense that lets me know when someone else is, just because he is?”

Josie laughed. “It’s called gaydar and he’s right, Snap. Why would he have it? He’s straight. I mean you are, aren’t you, Kel?”

“Yeah.” Kel smiled to himself, remembering Rudy warning him off Josie. “Definitely that. But not looking right now. I got other things to worry about, like, umm, us getting back to what we were doing to make up for you making me eat.”

“Not like we didn’t eat too, but yeah, I guess it’s time to get to it again.”

* * * *

“It’s definitely sort of different,” Kel said to Terry when he and the others met up again at the end of the mall later that afternoon.

“But not enough to fool anyone?” Terry wanted to know, running his fingers through his now brown hair.

“Oh, it would if they didn’t know you.”

“That’s what we’re going for,” Rudy said. “It helps hide him if your dad sends someone looking for you. They’d be working from pictures and his description of both of you. Just do not let the cops get their hands on you.”

Terry snorted. “Not planning on it.”

“Ter,” Rudy said sternly, “given how we earn money there’s always a chance the cops will hassle you—or worse if they’re in a bad mood. Count yourself lucky they didn’t do that today.”

“Yeah, I guess I knew that. I saw a couple of them give us more than one dirty look before they moved on.”

“Exactly. So play it cool if they stop and say something. Do the ‘yes, sir…no, sir’ thing and leave it at that. You talk back, chances are they’ll run you off and then keep an eye open for you to make sure you don’t come back.”

Snap nodded, adding, “Not that they’ll remember you, given how many of us are around on the mall and other places. But it pays to be safe.”

“Where else can we do this?” Kel asked.

“Along eighteenth or East Colfax, although Colfax has a lot of dealers hanging around,” Josie replied. “There’s also parts of Colorado Boulevard that are sort of safe.”

“But not as good for making any money,” Snap said.

“True. Downtown is the best for that,” Josie agreed.

“Then we’re not going to get rich,” Kel said with a small grin.

Rudy chuckled. “Nope, but at least we make enough to go shopping. And we need to do that with two more mouths to feed.”

“Rudy, can I talk to you for a moment?” Terry asked. When Rudy nodded, they moved a few feet away from the others. “I can put in some cash, like I did for the dye.”

Rudy shook his head. “Keep it. You might need it.”

Smiling wryly, Terry said, “Meaning the three of you might decide having us around much longer isn’t such a good idea.”

“Nope. Meaning you never know what can happen where you’ll need more than what we make in a day. You get sick, that costs. Your pack gets boosted, you’ll need new clothes. So hang on to it.”

“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll give you twenty because, damn it, we need food and candles probably. What’s left we’ll keep for emergencies, like you said.”

Smiling slightly, Rudy told him, “You keep doing this there won’t be anything left.”

“My choice. Right?” Terry knelt with his back to Rudy. Taking the money from his sock, he peeled off two tens and put the rest back. Getting up, he handed the bills to Rudy. “So where do we shop?”

“At the grocery store not too far from where we’re living.”

“Then, unless you want to stay down here a while longer, let’s get moving.”

Rudy laughed. “Getting bossy on me?”

“No. Just practical. The sooner we shop, the sooner we can eat something that doesn’t cost everything we made today for just one meal.”

“You’re getting the hang of things and fast.”

Terry shrugged. “Just seems smarter. Oh, and put peanut butter, jelly, and bread on the list. They’re all staples. Well, not the bread so much but…”

“Got it. Okay, we’ll grab the others and head for the store.”