Page 30 of Savage
“He got us a tv. Don’t think too hard about it,” I said.
Calvin nodded, but his smile had dimmed. I couldn’t really think it was bad, not when it had felt so good and right to be with Elio. It might have been one night, but I knew what I felt.
“What the fuck is that?” Dar shouted.
Sirens could be heard in the distance. As we looked up where he was pointing, there was nothing but black smoke going up to the sky. It was in our place’s direction. We looked at each other before we set off at a dead run toward our apartment.
We took back alleys and shortcuts that we’d learned a long time ago.
“It better not be,” Dar growled far ahead of us. He turned, and I pushed myself to go faster. My lungs burned as I hit the corner and turned.
I ran right into Dar, and we stumbled. “Shit, why did you st—”
“No!” Calvin came up behind us with both hands in his hair. The place we’d called home, that had everything we owned, was up in flames.
My heart pounded as another fire truck rushed by, sirens blaring. It was midsummer. Getting the fire under control was the priority, but with the dry heat in Arizona, the likelihood of anything from the old building making it out was slim to none.
We stood there. The air grew thick
“Mr. Thomas,” Calvin shouted.
Our landlord ran toward his car. He tossed something in the back, and his sweaty face turned to stare at us. Something wasn’t right, but Calvin was already jogging toward him.
“Hey, what happened?” Calvin asked.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” he said as he moved away from us.
“What do you mean you don’t care?” Dar growled. “Where are we supposed to go?”
The panic in Dar’s voice was prevalent. I felt it deep in my bones.What were we going to do now?I glanced at the burning building as the firemen tried to settle the raging fire.
“I suggest you find another place. We are all out of luck here,” Mr. Thomas said. He slammed the car door and drove off at a breakneck speed.
“We need to get away from here,” I said as the smoke was thickening by the second.
Calvin nodded and started moving, his feet dragging as he walked away from the one place we’d called our own for a while now. My chest felt heavy as we slipped through the alleyways.
Dar was right behind me. We’d just been happy moments ago. Gone were our smiles. In their place, nothing but despair. We stopped, and I stared at the brick wall of some building. The stiff night air was making matters worse.
Calvin sank to the ground, head in his hands, and I was at a loss. Everything we had was in that studio. Dare punched the wall, his knuckles splitting on the bricks.
“Fuck.” Punch. “Fuck.” Punch. “Fuck!” Punch, punch, punch.
I took in a shallow breath, trying to think. Still, it was always Cal who planned. And he was in no condition to do it now.
“Why the fuck can’t we catch a break?” Dar shouted.
I didn’t have an answer for him.
“We get ahead by three steps and get shoved back ten. How in the fuck is that fair?”
I shook my head. It wasn’t.
“I can go ask the landlord if he knows of any other places.”
Dar laughed. It was void of humor. “What the fuck? Cal, wake up. He basically said oh, well, and dipped out on everyone there.”
Calvin shook his head, standing back up. “No, he’d just lost his home too, and—”
