Chasing Pavement ~The Write Awards Honorable Mention~

Chapter 1: The Streets

                                                                          Chapter 1: The Streets

     By the time I was fourteen I had been to twenty-three orphanages, forty-two foster families, thirty-eight states, and even out of the country twice (once I walked over into Canada, and another time I snuck on a cruise ship, but the found me immediately and sent me back on a lifeboat with a member of the crew). That, surprisingly, was considered pretty well traveled for a street kid. And even after all of that, people still continued to treat you like an idiot.

                “God damn it Sadie, get your head out of the clouds,” Kevin snapped. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and focused on him. I was sitting on a crate out in the alley that led to The Basement. Griffin kicked us out so he could be alone with Cal, discussing “business matters”. Griffin got like that sometimes, but he was still okay.

                “Stop bitching Kevin, I wasn’t missing much,” I defended myself casually.

                “I was talking to you.”

                “As I said, I wasn’t missing much,” I repeated with a smirk on my face. Kevin and I were the only two in the group who were the same age, besides Angel and Sharkie who were twins, and we butted heads like no tomorrow. Even though we would both take a bullet for each other, we were stubborn mules who loved to make each other’s lives a living hell.

                “Just wait until Griffin hears about the attitude you’re copping-” Kevin started.

                “We both know between you and me, Griffin likes me better and would yell at you to shut up and leave me alone,” I countered. It was true. Griffin was Kevin’s brother and two years older than both of us. They ran away from their abusive father when Griffin was nine and Kevin was seven. Only a couple of months after that, they ran into me on the streets, on my first night of being a runaway. They took me under their wing, and we’ve been together ever since. Griffin and I shared a special bond, similar to the one Kevin and I shared, except we were actually caring towards each other. He probably thought of me as a sister, but I thought of him as something more.

                Kevin muttered something about the things he could do to my sorry ass and then said, “Okay, I’m going to repeat myself one last time. You listening?”

                I nodded.

                “Good. Griff wants you to take a quit scout. He thinks the cops have been hanging around here more than usual and that they are starting to get suspicious,” Kevin explained.

                “Griff is just being paranoid as usual.”

                “No.” Kevin shook his head. “Sharkie, Puck and I have seen them too. We’ve been here for too long and need to move locations, but we’ve been making the best money here. That’s why Griff wants you to scout, to see if they are actually keeping an eye on us, because if they are we need to move.”

                I nodded and got up from the crate I was sitting on. “I’m on it,” I said as I turned to go for a quick look out stroll.

                “Sadie.” Kevin grabbed my wrist and pulled me close. “Be careful, okay? We need you, and we can’t lose you again to some cop. Be safe.”

                I smiled and nodded, staring into his blue eyes. He looked a lot like Griffin facial features wise. They were practically the same height, Kevin only two inches shorter, the same built and shared the blue eyes, but Griffin had long curly blond locks and Kevin kept his brown hair cut short. After a breath, Kevin let go. “Run like the wind,” he said, and I smiled.