The Street Rat and The Lost Boys

Chapter 4

*Disclaimer - The characters in this story belong to Orson Scott Card who authored the book "The Lost Boys" and Joel Schumacher who directed "The Lost Boys" Movie. I only own the storyline to The Street Rat and the original characters. *

Chapter 4

The sun was shining bright in the sky and the boardwalk was packed with tourist. Those who were begging for spare change were able to make a nice profit on the tourists who visited the boardwalk. Maya and Susan had been able to pull almost $100 in change before having to move on as a cop was watching them. The best thing about Santa Carla cops were that they did not interfere in the street rats lives unless there was trouble.

Maya tapped on Susan's arm and pointed at the phone booth. The two girls moved into the booth and put the money into the slot. Susan raised the phone to her ear bouncing up and down as she listened to the phone ring. She sucked in a deep breath as she heard her mother's voice.

"Hello?" The voice sounded exhausted. "Hello? Is anyone there?

Susan sniffed as a tear ran down her face.

"Susan? Baby, is that you?" The woman's voice rang out. "James, I think it's Susan."

The woman called out to her daughter. "Honey, where are you? Please baby. Come home. We have been so worried about you. We are not angry. We just want you to come home."

A man's voice was in the background asking for the phone.

"Susan honey. It is James. Please tell me where you are. I will get you. We love you. You have two younger brothers who want to meet their big sister and need her in their lives. I know we had a rocky start at the beginning, but I am begging you. Please come home."

Susan started crying and pushed the phone into Maya's hands before running out of the phone booth.

Maya sighed before raising the phone to her ear.

"Sir, she is not ready to come home yet but I can promise that she is ok. I will try and convince her to come home but if she is forced to, she may run again. I will try and get her to call again."

Maya hung up the phone and walked out of the booth looking for the girl. She spotted Susan sitting on the stairs leading to the beach watching a family playing in the sand. Maya sat beside her and observed the family.

Susan took a breath before saying, "I want to go home but what if they are lying? What if they are only saying that stuff because they feel they must."

Maya sighed "Have they ever hurt you physically? Have they deprived you of food, water, or shelter?"

Susan looked at Maya. "No"

Maya turned toward Susan "My father was a good man when my mother was alive. He loved me and treated me like a little princess. When my mom died, something snapped in my father. He became a completely different person. The people on that phone sound nothing like my father. Many kids on the street would love to be able to go home to loving parents and not have to live this life. You have seen what we go through every day. The chances of not having a meal or of someone taking advantage of them was a risk. Kids like me do not have the choice to go back. What was in our past was horrible and we would rather take our chances out here. You have a choice."

Susan wiped the tears on her face away. "But what if it has not changed?"

Maya rose from the steps and looked down at the younger girl "The only way you will know is to find out for yourself. You have two people who care about you and just want you safe at home. Decide kid before it is too late. Stay here too long and you will never be able to walk away from Santa Carla."

Maya walked up the steps and started walking away. She knew Susan would catch up to her when she was ready. Susan turned to stare at the family in the sand. She missed home but she was afraid to take that step of going home.

"What do we have here boys? A little mouse all alone?"

Susan jerked her head toward the voice and saw a group of Surf Nazis walking toward her. She turned and ran up to the boardwalk to find Maya.

Maya was leaning against the wall by the Ice Cream stand waiting for her. "Come on kid. Let us get an Ice Cream before we head back. It looks like the tourist groups are starting to thin out. Plus, it looks like the Surf Nazis are out hunting. Better warn the others."

Susan nodded her head. The Nazis are getting more vicious with their attacks.

Maya and Susan warned the others about what was going on, so their group took the afternoon to relax in their home away from the boardwalk. The group consisted of eight kids in their group. Besides Maya and Susan there was also Kyle (17), Matthew (16), Tara (17), Christian (15), Jamie (14) and Mike (15). This group had formed out of desperation and together had survived. The group had taken refuge in an old tire warehouse that has been closed for longer than they had been born.

"Let's go check out that old lighthouse?" Kyle said.

Maya raised an eyebrow "Why? It is old and decrepit. You may end up hurting yourself just trying to get in there."

Kyle scoffed "Well it's not like we can go to the boardwalk this afternoon."

Kyle rose and glanced around at the others. "Who's with me?"

Matthew, Tara, Christian, Jamie, and Mike got up from their beds.

Kyle raised an eyebrow at Maya and Susan. "You two coming or what?"

Maya rolled her eyes "Go without me. I am not about to walk all that way to check out an old building."

Kyle scoffed at her before turning to Susan "What about you kid? Want to go on an adventure?"

Susan shook her head no. She did not feel comfortable around the older teen.

Kyle frowned "Whatever losers. We will be back later."

The six teens turned and left the building as Maya rolled her eyes at Kyle's attitude. The others may have not caught on to what Kyle was doing but Maya had witnessed him observing the Surf Nazis too many times to thing that something was not going on.

"Maya" Susan called out.

Maya turned to the younger girl and observed her biting her lip. Susan raised her eyes up to Maya's and said, "I want to go home."

Maya smiled and rose from her bed. She walked over, leaned down and pulled the girl into a hug. "Ok. Try and sleep a little. The Surf Nazis should be more calm once the boardwalk gets busy tonight. I will take you to the police station and they can get you home."

Susan smiled and laid down on her bed. Maya pulled her blankets up to Susan's chin and gave her a kiss on the head. She crawled into her bed and closed her eyes. It was going to be a long night tonight.