Gum on the Sidewalk

Chapter Four: The Alley

I chased her right into the darkest and dampest place I had ever seen.  Taking in my surroundings, I stopped behind her, looking around.  It looked like something out of some really bad cop show, like a robber was going to jump out with a TV on his back at any moment.  But, suddenly, I realized why she was staring bleakly into thin air and backing of of the alleyway.  Not because it was dark or dirty, but because there were two very angry dogs coming toward us.  They were bearing their teeth and growling, spitting their slime at us.

I wanted badly to figure out why it was so dark here when everywhere else was bright and sunny.  I looked and saw it.  The strange thing about this alley is that it had a roof.  No lie, it was a criss-cross weaving of old crummy boards like thatch.  Latice, I think it was called.  The edges of the boards were lying on top of the builds either side of the alley was covered in brick, holding it down, making it stronger.  Even strong enough to hold two ropes.  Ropes that were strong enough to hold two teenage girls.

I grabbed the first rope and tugged, the boards didn't even creak.  I started climbing.  Samantha followed suit and grabbed the second rope.  I never liked dogs, except my own, especially when the dogs were very large.  These were the proverbial junk yard dogs or whatever, doberman pincers, and not the miniature cute ones, either.

"Why did you have to go and get us into a thing like this? Huh?" Samantha accused.

At that insinuation, I gave her a glare that could freeze Hell over and I said, "Me?  Who was it that had to try the tractor and ended up almost tipping it over and making me hit my head?  Again!" I gasped, looking over at her and fighting the urge to throw something at her.  I didn't know what I'd throw, but I had to have something in my pocket.  A pencil or lint or something.

Something in the expression on her face, being a scowl, made me even angrier, made me want to wipe it off her face.  I had to do something.  I wasn't just going to hang here forever, letting my arms fall asleep and get numb.  So, I swung my body toward her moving twenty feet at the most.  When I got close enough, I kicked her.  I kicked her as hard as I could in the short time that I had before I swung back to my original place.  The dogs were following the ropes, though, which was crazy because I wouldn't think a dog would eat a human unless they were extremely hungry.

Just then, I got my answer.  I felt a sharp pain in my leg.  When I looked down, I definitely didn't like what I saw.  That stupid, good-for-nothing, old, dirty dog had a hold on my leg with a grip that even a hammer to the back of its head wouldn't change.

"Oh-my-god!" I screamed.

"Here, I'll help you!" Samantha said genuinely.

"I believe you've helped quite enough already," I started.

"Just let me help you, I am sorry about what happened today," she muttered.

"Really? Well, I only wanted to help my friend, I thought that maybe she wouldn't want to be alone when she messed up," I stopped when she tried to interrupt, "And yes, I knew you'd get into some kind of mess.  And then, to top it off, you have the brilliant idea of wrecking a hundred thousand dollar tractor, at least.  So, 'sorry' doesn't exactly make me feel any better about the situation," I informed her.

"Please, just let me make things up to you," she pleaded.

"Come on, then, and hurry up; he's tearing the skin," I shouted.

"Okay!  Here, you swing this way toward me!  I'll swing toward you and we'll grab each other's hand when we meet.  I'll help you push the dog off with my foot!" she explained.

"All right, just hurry," I said.

So, we did just that.  I had to swing myself three times, before I actually reached her.  Having a dog, about sixty pounds, attached to your leg makes swinging difficult.  And then, to add insult to injury, her hand slipped and we had to start over and do it again.  Finally, we managed to make the dogs understand that we were not their lunch and they went away.  Just then, I saw a porch with a railing.

"Samantha, look at this," I said and pointed.

"Oh!  Let's go over it!" she exclaimed.

"No, I thought we'd just sit here and look at it for a while!  Of course, we're going to climb over it!" I said sarcastically.  I grabbed her hand tighter and pulled her toward the ledge.  When we got close, I swung my leg over the railing and hooked it around tightly, so that we were well-attached.  Slowly, but surely, Samantha leaped over the edge and waited there with her arms open, ready to catch me.

"Just move, I can make it on my own," I said, not trying to sound like I was ordering her.  As if she could read my mind, she grabbed the end of the rope that I was clung to and held it tightly.  I let one hand go and grabbed onto the railing, leaping a little so I went over the edge.  I stood, waiting for her to laugh at me, but she didn't.  I looked up at the sky, which was now dotted with stars.

We went down the attached stairs, Samantha a little more slowly than I would have liked, but to each their own.  I winced at every creak and crack that they made.  I was very surprised and astonished at what I saw.  It was not at all what I had expected.  The stairs, that took what seemed like hours to descend, only lead out of the alley, I had thought it was a dead end into the back of someone's house or something.  Instead of going back the way we came, we went through the dark, the dust and the cold.  Up ahead, I saw a light.

"I wonder who lives there," Samantha said dumbly.

"No one lives there; it's a store," I said, avoiding the urge to flick her or something.  It wasn't her fault she was dumb.