Throwaway People

Dangerous Men

7:11 PM

When Bobbi left the camp Carlos was waiting. He had discreetly parked in the field and observed when Bobbi came out of the camp and walked across Haverhill. Carlos waited. It was possible she was headed back to the apartments. Bobbi took the time to use the crossing light. She seemed really cautious crossing the street. Running when the light began to flash.

Carlos didn't know that crossing by a light was as dangerous as not using one. Drivers didn't care if they want over a pedestrian as long as they made the light, or they were just in too much of a hurry to give a damn about the peasants on foot. Either way, Bobbi, like most pedestrians knew that crossing with the light meant nothing where drivers were concerned.

Carlos missed Bobbi somehow. He followed Haverhill on down to Lake Worth Road. Carlos figured it was the most logical route. Finally Carlos figured that Bobbi was picked up by a client. It wasn't so unlikely. Cursing Carlos parked back at his usual spot and waited for Bobbi to come back.

Bobby stopped by Reggie's place. As he hoped, Reggie was willing to put him up for the rest of the night. Bobby decided to stay with Reggie a while with the promise of money, as well as a chance to hang out with someone he related to more than his adopted family. Not that he didn't like his adopted family, but Reggie was just more fun.

7:20 P.M. 10th Avenue

Conejita left the old abandoned house. She saw Carlos' pickup and began to run in the opposite direction. Carlos couldn't believe his luck. After chasing Bobbi and losing her. She saw Conejita just walking the streets. Conejita ran across 10th Avenue to the high school across the street.

She ran to the front gates of the school which were locked. She rolled under the large gap beneath the fence, Carlos pulled his pickup up to the gates. The gap was big enough to let Conejita through, but not Carlos. Carlos cursed his luck, he had lost both Conejita and Bobbi.

Conejita hid in a school bus. After a while she chanced going out later. Only Conejita was nervous and went back to the school bus to hide a few hours later.

Greenacres Camp: 11:45 PM

Key couldn't sleep she wandered out into the courtyard. She sat at the makeshift table that Jim had set up. There were metal folding chairs that they put around it so they could sit outside. As Keyote sat there looking at the stars she felt something in her lap. She absently stroked the head of the big dog.

"Hey, why are you so friendly?" Keyote said. "Normally you act like you want to eat me."

Coyote huffed and let Keyote scratch his ears. Keyote got up and the dog followed her. Key stood slightly hidden by the foliage around the hole in the fence. She saw no pickup. She did see a young girl jump the fence. Key couldn't see who it was from her vantage point.

Greenacres, December 5th: 6:23 AM

Breakfast without Bobbi's tired, rundown presence in the morning wasn't the same for Key. She had gotten used to Bobbi being at the table. Dragging through the morning chores than dragging herself back up the stairs to the attic to go back to bed. Despite the exhausted act she portrayed Bobbi never missed breakfast.

"Do you think Bobbi is okay?" Key asked in general.

"She said she'd be gone for a little while. If anyone can handle themselves on the streets it's Bobbi." Jim said. "I think Bobbi is with that guy who saved Pattie's life. I figure she'll be back soon enough. Or is she a he again, he keeps changing his pronouns."

Patty, Jim, and Keyote sat at the dining table eating dinner. They talked about the day. Patty mentioned Stacey's suggestion about going to Rosalee's to sing.

"Why don't we go out tonight and check the place out. Stacey said it was across from the Silver Oak's plaza." Jim suggested. "We have never gone out on an outing together. I think it might be safe enough."

"We might even see Bobbi out there on the Trail." Keyote said.

"If we do, we let him come to us. Let him decide, he may not like use interfering with his pick-ups." Patty said firmly.

Rosalee turned out to be a bar and grill. Not really family oriented. Keyote was the youngest person there. They ordered drinks and a assortment of Southwestern appetizers which Jim paid for from his stash of cash. They listened the the band that was playing that night. Jim didn't know music, but Patty did, and Keyote was learning. The band wasn't half as good as the two of them were.

"Friday we come for the open mike." Patty said. "I'll go online and make arrangements."

A few blocks away from Rosalee's Bobbi worked the Trail. He had a fight with Reggie about money. Reggie felt that Bobbi owed him for his help with Patty. Bobbi thought he was being generous by not charging by the quarter hour. Bobbi had taken off, after Reggie refused to give her money. She was angry. Distracted. A man driving a Ford coup pulled up and Bobbi got in.

The driver had a knife out already and put the knife to Bobbi's belly. He threatened to cut Bobbi open if he struggled, screamed, or said a word. The man driving the coup pulled into a storage facility. It was empty this time of night. No security. Bobbi hoped she could get out of this without any real harm done.

"Give me all of your money." The man said. Bobbi complied.

The man raped Bobbi again and again. Bobbi complied to his demands, trying to build some sort of bond with the man. Pretending to enjoy being used by the man. Trying to ignore that the man was actually raping her. Bobbi talked to him, trying to get a conversation going that might slow the man's libido. She didn't make much progress.

It was more of a surprise to Bobbi than she expected. There wasn't as much pain as she thought there was going to be. With a swift hard stroke the man stabbed the knife into Bobbi's belly. Sharp pain, white hot, then the blood poured out black and warm. Like urine spreading over Bobbi's belly. Before she bled all over the car the man opened the door and took his foot to push Bobbi out onto the pavement. Where Bobbi continued to bleed out while the car took off.