We Protect Each Other

Chapter 2

Mitch's pov

I took a bite out of the apple, not listening to this Scott guy's advice about savouring it. I was starving. I hadn't even gotten to eat supper tonight before I was kicked out of the house. It was like 11pm according to my watch, that means it's been over 10 hours since I had last eaten. I couldn't help but wonder when the last time the sleeping boy across from me had eaten, probably not recently.

I finished the apple down to the core and grabbed the blanket, hoping to get some sleep too. I threw it over my body a curled up, trying to stay warm. I attempted to clear my head but I couldn't seem to shake tonight's events from my brain. The scene played over and over again. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the anger on my dad's face, the disappointment on my mom's and the fear on my sister's. I cried, letting my sobs get louder now that Scott fell asleep and he wouldn't be judging me for being a baby. I closed my eyes, trying to stop the tears. I covered my ears and curled up until I drifted into a deep sleep.

*****

I woke up to the sound of metal scratching something. I let my eyes flutter open and I rolled to face the entrance of the small space. Scott looked at me as he walked in. He was already up? What time was it? I checked my watch and it said it was 8am.

"Why were you up so early."

"Easier to get food when people are too tired to fight back."

"You.. You fight them?" I'm sure I sounded weak and stupid but the question came out before I could stop myself.

"No, no. I steal but I don't fight, I don't do the whole violence thing unless I really need to."

That calmed my nerves a bit but I was still in a room with a stranger from the streets. The light coming in from outside made it easier to see Scott today. I noticed he was blonde, it suited him. His hair was a total mess but I guess I should've assumed that seeing as hair gel wouldn't be his top priority. He looked up from what he was doing and noticed me staring. I blushed and looked away quickly.

"Hungry?" He asked me and I nodded. He rolled me another apple and a can of lemonade. "Don't drink all that lemonade at once. Drink as little as possible, make it last."

I ate the apple but hardly even made a dent in the lemonade, as Scott told me to do. Once I finished, he started talking again, "So Mitch, you follow my rules now since you are staying in my territory."

"Okay..." I said quietly and nodded.

"So here are my rules. First, no hurting anyone unless it is out of self defence. That is the most important one, got it?" I nodded my head and he continued on, "Don't steal from other homeless people, ever. They have it as hard as us, don't make it harder. We support other homeless people, we don't take from them." I nodded again. "We help. If there's anyone that hasn't eaten in over 4 days or is very weak, we don't leave them. Again, we support others on the street. If they're injured, they can stay with us until they're better but they're gone once they're better."

He started moving towards me and sat down close to me. "That's all I can think of right now."

"Okay." I still kept my tone quiet for some reason.

"Now let's go."

He started heading towards where he had just come in a few minutes ago.

"Where are we going?" I asked while I followed him out.

"You're meeting my friends."

"Your friends?"

"Just cause I'm homeless, doesn't mean I don't have friends. I helped both of them when they were first put out into the street and we got really close. Their names are Kirstie and Alex."

He grabbed and apple and shoved it into his pocket before picking up a Swiss Army knife. He must've seen my eyes widen when he picked up the knife.

"It's to cut the apple, genius. Alex and Kirstie are capable of handling themselves but I bring them food anyways."

"I thought people on the street were a lot meaner than this." I said kind of awkwardly.

"I can be meaner if you'd like." He threatened then turned to face me.

"Sorry, I just - I didn't - that's not what I meant." I looked down towards the ground and felt my cheeks turn red from the embarrassment.

He laughed a bit and hit my arm, making me wince. "I was just messing with you." He said then looked at my face and noticed the expression of pain. "Are you okay? I barely touched you."

I shrugged my shoulders and held onto my arm.

"Come here." He pulled me out into the alley and fixed the scrap metal before lifting the sleeve to my hoodie. There was a large bruise that I didn't remember was there at first, then I remembered it was from last night, at home. I cringed at the memory but forced back the tears. "Are you okay?" He asked me. I nodded in response and quickly pulled my sleeve back down, and started walking away, not wanting him to question me about it.

After a short amount of walking, we met up with Scott's friends, they were both homeless as well. They apparently share a space. Kirstie was about my height, a bit shorter and she had blonde hair and dark eyes. Alex was taller than Scott and he was also blonde, and had brown eyes too.

"Kirstie, Alex, this is Mitch." Scott introduced me. The pair both smiled and said hi to me while I stood there, half hidden behind Scott and just smiled at them.

"Mitch, this is Kirstie and Alex."

"Hi." I mumbled so quiet, it was barely audible.

Scott looked down at me and even though I've known him for like less than a day, I felt somewhat safe behind him, even if it didn't seem like it. He smiled at me and spoke quiet so the other two couldn't hear him, "don't worry, they are nice people, but I understand if you're shy, I get it."

They seemed nice, they accepted me into their small group even though I only said about 5 words the entire time because I was so shy and awkward but they didn't even mind, they said they understood what the first few weeks are like on the street and that they wouldn't pressure me. They were kind of great.

Maybe they would make this whole homeless thing not totally horrible.