The Five Times Leo Valdez Almost Died and the One Time He Did

Alleyway Streets

Brused and beaten, left unconscious in an alleyway. That's how he spent the night.

Leo finally started to stir awake. He slowly opened his eyes to look out at the bright sun now starting to make it's way into the sky. He struggled and sat up despite the fact that his head pounded with every move. He was wearing black clothes that matched his dark hair. His once full book bag was lying next to him completely empty. He sighed and picked it up looking at it sadly. He was no more than 12 and was alone on the streets with no money.

It had been a gang fight. He was trying to get away from a bunch of bullies but they wouldn't leave him alone. They insisted on his money but he refused. Unfortunately, they didn't accept his refusing.

It had been a nice day out, just the right temperature to go outside and not burn to death. Leo was on the run again. He had been alone on the streets for 2 months now. He had already been to 4 different foster homes and none of them ever worked out. Since his last one, he had been fighting alone and living in strange places where he wouldn't get caught or beat up, like the sewer. He was dirty and looked like he had never seen a shower in his life or had no clue what a brush was. He tended to stay away from main streets and stayed in closed up alleyways where he wouldn't get spotted.

Everything had been going fairly smooth for those 2 months. He had earned some money and was eating fairly well for a homeless kid and so far no one had found him and brought him back to the foster care system. It all went downhill after that day. He had been walking alone in a well populated alleyway, as far as alleyways go. He was trying to find a shop to buy some food at. Anywhere with decent food for little money. All the money he had made recently was in his book bag. It was no more than $100 but it was something and would feed him for the next couple of days if he played his cards right.

He was about to walk up the steps to a supermarket to buy some food when a large kid stepped out in his way. Leo looked up at him questioningly. The boy was a head taller than Leo and much buffer than Leo. He stood no chance in a fist fight against this kid. Leo waited for the boy to say something but when he didn't Leo filled in the awkward silence with his sarcastic remarks.

"Umm, giant? Yeah, hi, I'm trying to get to the store so I don't die of starvation, do you mind moving?"

The kid rolled his eyes and pushed Leo backwards making him trip and fall down the couple of steps. "Give me your money, punk," The large kid said in a deep booming voice.

Leo looked up at the kid, trying to size him up. He didn't want to get in a fight with him but he wasn't about to just give his money up. "What? No way," Leo spat back.

The kid narrowed his eyebrows and moved in closer. "I said, give me your money," he repeated in a much more threatening voice.

"Look, Gigantor, I worked long and hard for the little money I have, I am not giving it to you. Why don't you just go beg for some money on the street," Leo suggested trying to inch his way around the large kid. He didn't get very far before the kid grabbed him by his collar and yanked him back to look at him face to face.

"You think this is funny, eh? You think you're some kinda jokester?" The kid questioned getting uncomfortably close to Leo's face. Leo could now see his slightly tilted nose, lumpy moles, and yesterday's lunch stuck between his yellow teeth. "Give me the money now and I'll let you walk away without any trouble."

Leo gulped. "Aw, c'mon man, you're not gunna beat me up around all these homeless people are ya? They just want some alone time. How 'bout you just let me down and we'll both be on our very separate ways, yeah?" Leo tried to offer. The kid looked around and growled.

"Hmm, you're right, there's too many people here, too many witnesses. What do you say we take a trip to a more secluded alley, huh?" Leo shook his head and tried to protest but the kid grabbed his collar tight and yanked him down a couple of blocks. Leo desperately tried to find a way out. He didn't want to go anywhere with this kid. He wanted to be by himself and eat. The giant kid turned the corner and Leo felt his grip loosen slightly. He took the chance and kicked the boy down below in a place you should never be kicked and freed himself from the large boys clutches. Leo quickly dashed around the corner into another alley. He jumped over a spilled trash can and did some decent parkour tricks. He thought he was free when he suddenly ran right into another equally as large boy. Leo hit a full stop as he ran into the boys stomach. The kid reached down and picked Leo up off the ground by the collar of his shirt.