Theo the Street Kid and the Extraordinary Competition

Chapter 14 - The Bloodthirsty Hunt Begins

The next day, Theo gave the hospital the authorization for Wolfie to begin her medication, with the agreement that full payment would be made in one month's time.
The hospital administration still thought that Theo was the son of a four-star general and so, they assumed he was good for the money.
Theo was told Wolfie would spend the few next days slipping in and out of consciousness and resting in general, so he decided he would hold off telling her about his trying to enter the Extraordinary Competition until he found one of the red pyropes, or better yet, until he won the contest.
In the humidity of the city streets, Theo scoured the capital.
That morning, the streets were full of people searching high and low. Theo was nearly buried in the teeming sea of humanity, which reeked of dust, garlic and car exhaust fumes.
But no matter.
He was used to the crowds.
He would do his best to ignore the competition, or fight them if he had to.
It was still early in the morning, but there were already reports of people being trampled to death as the hunt began.
He decided he needed to be careful.
He also decided needed to focus.
He was looking for anything red, anything that would give away the precious pyrope.
But the city of three million people was enormous.
Where would he even begin to look for it?
He remembered that the King was looking for people who were street smart.
Theo considered himself very street smart. He had developed that trait naturally as a result of learning to survive on the mean streets of Lotus Hill.
But the King had given him nothing to work with, not even so much as a vague clue. All he said was that five pyropes had been hidden somewhere within the city limits of the capital.
Theo knew that sometimes, things hide in plain sight.
Maybe he could start with that.
Where would a red pyrope gem be hidden?
He happened to be standing at the entrance of Lotus Hill Buddhist Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in the city.
He peered at the giant Buddha on the altar.
The statue was clutching something red in his hand.
Could it be?
Would it be this easy? he wondered.
Enthusiastically, he ventured inside.
The Buddha was holding a rosary made of a string of fire opals. And it was attached to his hand. It was impossible to pry off.
I knew it wouldn't be this easy, thought Theo.
Disappointed, he went back out onto the streets.
On his left, mobile street vendors were crying out, "Congee! Congee for sale! Get your breakfast here! Only $0.75 a bowl!"
Theo wrinkled his nose. He had an extreme aversion to congee now.
Fortunately, he had stolen some food from the hospital cafeteria the night before, so he was still comfortably full.
On his right, a woman beggar was holding her baby daughter, who seemed sedated. Passersby ignored her as she cried, "Baby milk formula! I need milk formula for my baby!"
It was a common sight on the streets of Lotus Hill.
Theo wished he could help her, but he remembered that he was now a beggar too.
And he was doing everything he could to climb out of his desperate circumstances.
As soon as he reminded himself that he was now on the very bottom rung of society, he regretted it, but he knew he couldn't wallow in misery.
He had too much to do.
He tried console himself by thinking that since he was now on the bottom-most rung of the social ladder, at least he couldn't go any lower.
He scanned the fruit stalls across the street.
Since he didn't have a clue where to begin looking for the pyrope, he wandered across the street, drawn by the sight of the red apples, scarlet dragonfruit and sliced watermelon.
When the vendor wasn't looking, he began rummaging among the fruits.
He knew what he was doing was stupid. What were the odds of the coveted pyrope being hidden among fruits?
Just as he was about to give up and go somewhere else, his hand touched something hard.
Could it be?
To his utter astonishment, he pulled out a red gem from among the apples.
Eyes wide, he stared at it in both disbelief and exhilaration.
Yes! he thought! Hell yes!
He tried putting it in his pocket, but he was stopped by a chain. The jewel appeared to be attached to the chain.
A rich-looking lady with dark glasses yelled at him, "Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing? Let go out of my bracelet. This is not a pyrope!"
Taken aback, Theo stood there.
Dumbfounded, he looked down at the gem.
It turned out that the lady had been picking apples and she was wearing a bracelet made of rubies.
He had mistaken her ruby bracelet for a pyrope.
His heart sank.
"Sorry, miss!" he said, letting go.
But apparently, his apology wasn't enough.
The lady began shouting, "Help, thief! Thief!"
In the Kingdom of Egalisia, vigilante street justice was common, so whenever the word thief was shouted, people were always eager to help capture the accused. Lynchings were the norm.
Fearing for his life, Theo darted away without looking back.
When he had run four blocks, he slowed down and looked behind him.
No one there.
There were some motorcycles that passed, but motorcycles were common as they were the preferred mode of transportation for many Egalisians, so Theo thought nothing of them.
He breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived.
The revving of motorcycle engines behind him spelled trouble.
He turned around.
Six motorcycles were parked there.
A man took off his helmet.
It was Munah, the leader of the Rattlesnake Gang.
He took a few steps toward Theo. "So you think you can just abandon our gang, huh? Do you know the punishment for desertion?"
Theo shook his head.
Munah brandished a large butcher's knife. "We chop off your hands."
Theo's heart rate rose as he took a few steps backwards. He knew the Rattlesnake Gang wouldn't leave him alone.
He reached into his pocket, hoping to find a weapon, any weapon that would protect him.
Noticing Theo's hand motion, Munah looked suspicious. "Have you found a pyrope? Are you hiding it from us?"
Theo shook his head vigorously.
"You're lying!" Munah accused. "Search him, and then we chop off his hands!"
His group of thugs started to take off their helmets.
Praying for help, Theo looked down at this whistle.
It began to glow again.
Relaxing a bit, he kissed the whistle.
Thank you, he thought.
At that moment, shrilled sirens pierced the air.
Rolling his eyes, Munah shook his head. "Damn it, it's the fucking cops. We gotta get outta here."
They got back on their motorcycles while Theo scampered away in the opposite direction.
Whew, he thought. That was another close one.
He clutched his lucky whistle.
In many ways, it was even more precious than a pyrope.
He inspected his new surroundings. He was in another alleyway.
This time, there was no one there.
Everything was quiet.
He spied a red item in a puddle, glittering in the sunlight.
Could it finally be? he thought.
Not daring to hope, he bent down and picked it up.
Breathing hard, he examined it.
It was just a red cap from a water bottle.
The sunlight had concealed its true identity.
He was so sick of these false leads.
Still staring at the piece of garbage, he had a thought.
Maybe the pyrope wasn't hiding in plain sight.
Maybe it was buried deep somewhere, somewhere only a street kid like him would find.
But where?
In garbage, perhaps?
And then it hit him.
He could try the Mountain of Garbage.
He knew the area inside out. It had been his home for so many years.
It was worth a shot.
Wandering around aimlessly obviously wasn't working for him. And the King did say he was looking for people who were street smart.
Maybe His Majesty meant he was looking specifically for a street kid to enter the Extraordinary Competition and fill whatever special position was the reward.
With renewed hope, Theo headed toward the Mountain of Garbage.