The Girl Who Kept Running

11. The Boy with A Hook But No Catch

23 September, 2050

The battle of wills on stage - of toss and tussle of lines, ideas, minds - had ended without conclusion, in his opinion. Though, the balance of spectator approval was clearly on her side.

Not quite the whirlwind she had been last night, she had still been powerful tonight.

She hadn't even cared for the noisy ovation clearly sent her way at the end of the play. The shrill whistles, the hoots and whoops, the few irreverent catcalls and slogan-like yells mostly from the male crowd only propelled her early exit.

She didn't run away this time. Instead, he had seen her walk her into the alley to their right that led to Caleb's one-room office.

Caleb. What was going on between him and her? Harry rued the fact that he hadn't arrived at the theater with time to spare. He could have witnessed some of the goings-on behind the scenes. He was still surprised at finding the girl - Roxie, that is - again as his co-lead.

There was another draw in discreetly following her to the office, where Caleb had taken to with a twisted mouth and a drawn face as if he couldn't stand all the applause. If Caleb could give the girl some advance payment, he could give him some too. It had to be advance payment for a week's run the girl had snatch last night. Nobody would run away with a day's measly portion which practically amounted to zero. If he too could wrangle some dough out of Caleb's tight fist, maybe he would be able to buy that bicycle sooner than he'd thought after all.

Reaching the unmarked door, he entered the tiny foyer. It was an extremely cramped space taken up by a small table and chair where a receptionist was supposed to be sitting in more prosperous times. The small area was brimming with two arguing voices that came from behind a closed door right in front of him.

The next instant, he was glued to that door trying to catch it all. They must have dived right into the argument. Harry had been only ten steps behind the girl, who had followed Caleb as soon as she saw him leave.

"For the third time, I'm telling ya: I haven't told no one about you. No one even knows your real name. What's the urgency?" Caleb's voice resonated with impatience. So ‘Roxie Bedelia’ didn't just sound like an alias. It was.

"I'm afraid the Men might be on to my scent here. They are looking for a truant."

"So what? Take a look around. This place is full of truants. All kinds of homeless girls and boys and everyone in between. Welcome to the same old New America!"

"I need you to find me a place to lay low for a few days. All this running around ... I can be trapped unawares."

"Well, I can guarantee that if you accept the real role I've been asking you to play, you would be an angel so deep in heaven, no devils would ever come find you ..." Harry winced at the leer in Caleb's voice and almost gave himself away by pushing against the door. Thankfully, there was no creak, and he steadied back into position by adjusting his weight.

"I swear if you go there one more time," the girl was clearly speaking through her teeth, "I can easily take out a tooth or two this time. You think I've lost it?"

"No, no, baby girl. I'm sure you still got it, but I'm not talking about those moves, am I?" This time such grease dripped from Caleb's greedy voice, Harry's hand was tempted to ghost its way in and leave a resounding slap on one pale cheek.

There was a shuffle of feet then and a scraping of object against object. The eavesdropper felt alarmed. Is he actually harassing her?

"Why did you return when you'd already taken the money and you obviously don't give a damn about my lines?"