Under the Cover of Darkness

Chapter 18 - Bloody Waters

"When our sister was born, her mother died during the operation," Paxton whimpered, the reflection of tears shining in his eyes. "Then, our father ditched us to fend for ourselves on the streets only four years later, and that's only after he beat and abused us. Do you know how tough it is to make a living out on the streets when all you've got in your pocket is a couple dollar coins?"

"Look kid," the market vendor exclaimed, "I'm not gonna give you free stuff just 'cause you've had it rough. Besides how old's your sister now?"

"She's eight," Paxton said in reply.

"See that, if you've survived on the streets for four years with only a couple dollar coins, obviously things are going well for you, so scram why don't you?" He shooed Paxton away from the booth, and he walked off with a frown of disappointment on his face. On the inside, he was jumping for joy at the ease in which they had swindled the dimwitted vendor.

Paxton continued walking down through the crowded street of Ardor's famed marketplace. Having lived and grown up around the sights and smells, the twelve year old kid paid no heed to the shouting men trying to bargain for better prices or the captivating chants from vendors as they braggingly waved their products in the air. All of the fancy foods that had attracted hundreds of customers had no impact on his nostrils. He simply sauntered down the avenues until he approached the end of the marketplace where the crowds had died down and unnoticeable movement was possible.

He turned into an alley where his brother and sister both sat around an aggregation of various foods behind a dumpster. It wasn't the cleanest spot to have a meal, but the trio of thieves had eaten in worse places including sewers and inside dumpsters in order to evade irate booth owners. So when Paxton caught sight of his siblings, he thought nothing of their dirtied appearances, and his conscience had already cast aside the thievery as a sin.

Both of his siblings wore the same raggedy style clothing that the young Paxton had to shelter his body in. All three of them wore a series differing shade of dark brown trousers along with dirtied, gray, long-sleeved T-shirts that all had tears and holes in various places from years of street life. Unlike Paxton who had a black, cotton, newsboy cap and Jessie who had a light brown leather jacket, Haley had nothing else.

Despite getting a clear picture of what the two had collected, Paxton still asked, "So, what did y'all get?"

"We got some fruits, bread, and..." Jessie held up and flaunted a slab of meat that they got off a rotisserie. "Meat! You know, we wouldn't have been able to carry it over here if it weren't for my big brother muscles." Jessie pushed up his sleeves and gave a flex that both Paxton and Haley had seen time and time again. They simply ignored him and began to feast on their lunch

"C'mon, Jess, lets just eat what we can before that vendor notices it's gone. It sure won't be long at all, especially if he was still preparing it, and if we get caught again, Graham will have our head," Paxton lectured.

The histrionic brother was the perfect con artist when it came to their minor thefts. Paxton's ability to smooth talk most salesmen into either conversing for long enough for the grunts, Haley and Jessie, to take any food available inside the booth or talk the vendor into handing over free food was exceptional. He had a quick witted mind, which, despite being the middle child, caused him to be the leader of the trio.

Bragging about his muscle was almost a part of Jessie's job since he drowned his siblings in his achievements every chance he could get. Being the oldest at fifteen and most physically grown, Jessie contained all the physical assets needed to get them out of a tricky situation. He hadn't lost a fist fight before in his life even though some of those opponents were adults trying to make the trio pay for stealing.