Chase stepped off the bus and quietly looked around. He was back. not home, but this place was like a home to him. He waited for the bus to pull away. The woman he had travelled with had her doubts about leaving him alone, but the boy assured her he knew how to get home.
But rather than head anywhere near that hovel, he had taken the bus in the opposite direction, to one of his old haunts. Chase walked along the familiar street, smiling. His heart skipped, and his feet were anxious. Without a second thought, he dropped his skateboard and pushed off.
The familiar sounds, sights, and smells he rushed past relaxed the boy. For a fleeting moment, he felt invincible and free. A little old Asian woman carrying a box into a shop lit his heart up.
Chase stopped outside the shop. He should at least buy some things for the gang. The boy dipped in his pockets, checking his cash, and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill. He stepped into the shop with a wide smile.
The boy walked up to the counter and slapped the bill down hard. The old woman looked over her shoulder with a stern glare.
"Trouble!" She exclaimed.
Her eyes darted to the bill under his fingers, then she squinted at Chase. The woman, resting her elbow on the counter, leaned closer to the boy, watching him hard. The boy, used to the old woman's tricks, leaned closer. The woman snatched the bill from Chase and held it up to the light, scrutinising it before she nodded at him. The boy left the counter and walked around the aisles.
"I no see you long time."
"Yeah, I went north."
"More trouble?!" The woman asked excitedly.
"No." The boy chuckled.
"Good you back. You only one that pay."
"Sorry." The boy apologised as he placed several items on the counter.
The woman checked the items over and rubbed her fingers together, then showed the boy five. Chase raised one finger, and the two squared each other again.
"Come back tomorrow." The woman said giving in.
"Thanks!"
The boy tied the bag of groceries around his hand and set off again on his skateboard. Nothing had changed since he was away. The couple running the spice mart were arguing at the store front; the trash still overflowed at the intersection opposite the library; and the gutter along the road to the housing project still smelled awful.
Chase walked up to a half-finished building. Memories that felt like a lifetime ago flooded him.
"Aooo Aooo Aooo!" The boy shouted at the building.
Chase waited. An eternity passed before he got a responding call. The boy hurried up the stairs, climbing floor after floor, until he got to the fourth floor. Down the hall on the left to the third door. His heart and mind were there before him. How would they react when they saw him? The boy swallowed and opened the door.
Bright lights greeted Chase. The boy held up his hand to bar the lights; a second later, the bag he had tied to his hand was cut loose.
"Shred!"
"Hey guys."
No sooner had the words left his mouth that Chase's bag and board were torn from him.
"Been months, where you been?"
"North."
The lights switched off then, and the boy got to look around the room at the faces. A familiar older boy was towering over him. The boy took Chase's hat and put it on, then inspected his jacket.
"North hmm. Looks like you did well up there."
Chase regarded the older boy carefully, stealing glances at the others in the room. They didn't trust him. The little girl who had called him first was the only one smiling at him.
"Got lucky."
"I bet."
Seconds later, several hands were holding him while others threw punches and kicks at him. Chase tried to make sense of his predicament while also trying to defend himself.
"What's the first rule of survival?" The older boy shouted over the sound of his blows.
"Don't snitch!" Chase answered.
Now Chase was more confused. The other children stopped beating him and held him up for the older boy, Skull. Skull kept punching Chase, demanding he confess to snitching, which the boy kept denying.
"First you disappear, then Big G and half the blocks get taken out. That looks like snitching to me."
"I swear!" Chase shouted, a spray of blood leaving his lips.
Skull stepped back, and the children let go of Chase. Chase pulled the neck of his shirt up and pressed it between his lips.
"Why would I snitch and come back?" He asked between gasps.
"I don't know! But everyone knows you hated Big G." Skull shouted.
Silence engulfed the room, with Chase and Skull staring at each other. The sound of a little girl's muffled cries slowly filled the room. The girl's cries gave way to whimpers of 'Shred'.
"Togo's looking for you." Skull said, looking away.
Chase's eyes widened in fear. "Skull, he'll kill me." He crawled forward, grabbing hold of the older boy's jeans. "Please!"
"Better you than all of us!" Skull pulled his feet free from Chase's hold. "Do you want Boots to end up like Crystal?"
Chase looked at the little girl, still whimpering with her hands stretched out, trying to grab him.
"All I did was take some money and run north." Chase said as two others tied his feet. "I was only waiting for him to cool off before coming back."
The children stripped Chase of his shoes, jacket, and shirt, turning everything inside out and rummaging through his bag. The two boys tying his hands, took the ring, and pulled his pants down to his ankles. Everything of value he had was thrown into a pile.
"Who the fuck did you rob?" Skull asked, picking up the ring and turning it over in his fingers.
"A woman gave me that."
The other children looked at Chase in disbelief. They couldn't believe people would just give away jewellery. The children shared the snacks Chase had brought and sat down around the pile, watching him intently. Boots climbed into Chase's lap and smiled up at him, offering a spoonful of pudding.
"What happened when you went north?" Skull asked.
Chase spent the night telling his friends about his travels, leaving out details that made him weak and embellishing his fights. The children watched him with awe and interrogated him about the things he saw and the food he ate. Nothing could compare to the pride he felt when their eyes bulged after he told them he spoke with a mafia boss.
ns 15.158.61.54da2
