Page 31 of Savage
“For someone who’d just lost everything, he sure as shit looked a little too fucking happy to me,” Dar argued.
Calvin’s eyes watered. “What do we do then, huh, Dar?”
“Fuck if I know, but this shit isn’t right. Why do we have to be homeless again?” Dar shouted.
Calvin tossed up his arms. “Blaming the world isn’t going to put food in our stomach or provide a bed for us.”
“Who else is there to blame? Me, you, Sayge?”
“Well, if you kept a job,” Calvin shouted.
“Oh, so it is my fucking fault? How do you figure that shit, Cal, huh?”
Dar rushed toward Calvin, and I moved between the both of them. “Stop.”
“Move, Sayge,” Dar growled.
I shook my head. “We don’t fight each other. It’s us against the world, remember?”
Calvin’s mouth dipped, and he glanced away.
“Except the world keeps winning,” Dar said.
My chest felt heavy. He wasn’t wrong.How could I ask them to keep moving forward?How many times could a person realistically be kicked down and still have the will to stand back up? Dar walked away and resumed punching the wall in the alley we were basically camping out in. I was unable to stop him, not when I had no answers.
“How much money do we have?” I asked.
Cal sank back down to the ground. “A hundred dollars.”
“Fuck,” Dar growled, kicking the wall now. He would ruin his hands and feet at the rate he was going.
“Dar, stop,” I tried, but he wasn’t listening to me.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Can I have twenty?”
Calvin pulled out the remaining money and passed it over.
“I’m going to get us food. You two—” my voice broke off.What could I tell them to do?We were lost, drowning in the abyss of hopelessness. I turned from them and headed out the alley. I reached the corner store and slipped in behind a family. I could probably steal a few more items we’d need.
I grabbed some food, held some, and put others in my baggy pockets. I continued to walk around leisurely. The key was never to get caught and not to look suspicious. Fortunately, there were at least five other people with me.
Once I had an arm full of stuff, I made my way to the counter. I placed my haul down.
“Is this all?”
“Ye—” There was a burner phone on the wall behind him. “How much for the phone?”
The cashier glanced over his shoulder, his greasy black hair falling on his face. He couldn’t be more than seventeen. I could easily flirt with him and get some of this stuff free. Still, it felt off just thinking about it.
“Thirty, and the unlimited text and call is another twenty.”
I chewed on my lip as I stood there. Only one person came to mind. Deep green eyes, a grave voice, hot hands, rich tan skin, and pitch black hair.
Elio.
“I’ll take it,” I said.
The cashier reached for the other stuff, and I shook my head. “I don’t want that stuff anymore. Just the phone and minutes.”
