Reaper's Lullaby

Gus: Skid Row

"It's hard to trust when all you have from the past is evidence of why you shouldn't."
- Unknown

Gus kept to himself his first night on Skid Row. It was a long stretch of sidewalk that L.A.'s homeless had taken over and was the ultimate place of defeat. When people talked about rock bottom, this was it. Blocks and blocks of colorful tents flapped in the wind. The stench in the air was worse than the grossest public bathroom. Gus had to step around the shit and piss that was left to fester on the concrete. All around him were shouts and screams and loud voices.

He had come here only because he'd heard the drugs were cheap and plentiful, and already he could identify them by their different smells as he walked past the tents. Spice, dope, crack, crystal meth. That last one made his heart pound with desire, but he had no money.

Gus had nothing but his trash bag, and he looked enviously at the tents around him, but he didn't dare ask anyone for favors... yet. Here, he was an outsider. He had to get a feel for the place before he could run his own game and earn enough money to get back to Chicago, where Ember, Shaggy and Hex still were.

The night was cold and windy, quickly blowing away the thought of Hex's pretty face. Gus found an empty, clean spot of sidewalk in front of a chain link fence. There, he curled up with his coat on, using his trash bag as a pillow. For the first time ever while living on the streets, he was afraid, and he kept his eyes wide open, never intending to drift off. But he did.

Adam visited him in his dreams at the bridge where they used to sleep. He looked different than the last time Gus saw him. Brighter. Happier. Healthier.

"Hey, Gus," he said.

"Hey. I've missed you," Gus replied.

Adam embraced him, and Gus closed his eyes, sighing contentedly. Though they were standing under the bridge, all the garbage was gone, replaced by white flowers, and the night was soft and warm, not freezing like it had been that night. Adam's smell was familiar and comforting, and Gus buried his face in the soft hoodie he always wore everywhere.

"How is it where you are?" Gus asked.

"It's amazing," Adam said. "I tried to tell you earlier. In the car. Did you hear me?"

"That was you?" Gus asked.

"Yeah."

"Then you can come back!"

Adam pulled away and looked at Gus sadly. He reached out and gently brushed a piece of Gus's hair out of his eyes. "No I can't. But I'll visit whenever you need me."

"I need you all the time! I love you!" Gus cried desperately.

Adam moved his hand from Gus's hair and caressed his cheek. "I love you too."

Their lips met.

The slap of liquid tore Gus right out of his sleep and, consequently, out of Adam's arms. He sprang up, terrified. The sound of laughter was all around him, and it didn't take long for him to realize what they were laughing at. The smell hit him first. Someone had dumped their piss bucket all over him, and he frantically threw off his soaked coat and hoodie, leaving only his t-shirt on.

"Hey! Faggot! Can you hear me?"

The voice was angry. Gus looked up and saw a group of men circling around him.

"You're in my space," the middle one said.

It was too dark to see their faces, but the one who spoke was by far the biggest, a hulking shadow with clenched fists. Gus scrambled to his feet and tried to move past them, but they blocked his path.