Orphans of the night

Chapter 1

Orphans of the night

I held out my rusty tin as strangers walked past, looking down on me like the insignificant insect I was. I relied on the genorosity of strangers to survive. I smiled gratefully as a man dropped a $5 bill in my empty tin can.

"Oh shit" I muttered to myself as I noticed the time on his watch. I grabbed my stuff and threw my coat on running to where I needed to be.

"Hey guys" I panted as I got to our alley "Blossom, we were getting worried. You know the rules" Drake scolded me "I know I know, I'm sorry" I apologised. Drake was kinda the unofficial official leader.

We're like a family here but we're also hiding from the police, that's why we go by street names. We didn't actually do anything wrong, but we ran away from our old orphanage before we were relocated to a different one across the country after ours was shut down. Sure it would be nice having running water, food and a bed to sleep in but we all look out for each other here. The rule is if your late at the end of the day you have to fend for yourself that night, in terms of food. Which means if you didn't get enough money to feed yourself that day your out of luck. Drake made that rule mostly because he wants us all here safe at the end of the day. If one of us doesn't return, There's nothing we could do that wouldn't put the rest of the group at risk.

"Okay everyone, how much did you get" Drake said tipping out his earnings as we sat in a circle "I got $20 for polishing 4 peoples shoes" Carla said taking cash out from her sock. Carla was 5 years younger then me and the baby of the group "good job" I encouraged patting her back.

"I got.." I counted my money up "17.50" I announced. All together we came up with a little over $50 for the day "this is really good. We can afford dinner and get Snips his asthma pump" Drake smiled proudly collecting the money.
"Alright I'll run to the pharmacy, your in charge of dinner tonight" Drake said tossing me the money jar. I groaned. I hated being on dinner duty.

I wondered the streets with the remaining money wondering what to get that would feed everyone. I picked up a packet of pasta then realised we didn't have enough clean water to cook it in. I'd have to get more but it would be a struggle to carry. I sighed and picked up a couple gallons of water, pasta, frozen veggie mix and some pasta sauce.

"Dinners ready" I announced after I'd lugged the heavy shopping bag to our alley and prepared a decent meal over our trash can fire.

I finished eating and called it a night. I crawled into my room, yes crawled. We were lucky enough to catch some moving men throwing out huge moving boxes. So after they left we each snatched one from the dump and brought it back here, we tied a tarp over them and it sheltered us from the cold nights. It was fun customising my box. I had two gym matts and a wooly blanket I laid at the bottom for cushioning and I poked a nightlight into the cardboard so I could read at night. I snuggled into my make shift bed and pulled out a new book and opened the first page.

***

"Please do you have some spare change" I begged as I held up my dirty tin can. The women looked at me and scrunched her nose. I felt a little embarrassed. I knew I smelt but what could I do? "here kid, buy some baby wipes and some deodorant" she smiled handing me a $20 bill "thanks so much" I smiled in awe as I held it like a precious diamond and tucked it safely in my pocket.

"Oh hey Carla!" I called out as I spotted her across the street. I headed over to her "what's wrong?" I asked a little worried as she gripped her stomach "I'm so hungry" she moped. I looked down at her sadly then remembered the $20 bill I had. I showed it to her proudly "wow! Someone gave you twenty dollars?" She shouted plucking it from my hand "yep! So how does lunch sound?" I laughed pinching it back from her and throwing my arm around her shoulders "yes please!" She cried happily.

As we walked to a food truck I told Carla about the women that had given me a $20 bill, only to look down to my side and realise I was talking to myself. Where had she gone? I scanned the street and saw her lurking behind me with her face pressed up against a bakery window, she was practically drooling. I sighed sadly and walked back over to her. I grabbed her hand and led her away "you know we can't go in there" "but why not?" Carla whined "because" I paused trying to figure out the nicest way to say it. I put my hand on her shoulder and bent down to her level "Carla, we haven't showered in weeks, we smell, we have dirt on our face and we're dressed in rags.. we won't be served and we'll be thrown out" I explained watching her little blue eyes turn red. She nodded as her bottom lip quivered.

This was just how everyday was. Everyday was survival.