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Step 3: Streets
It had been 3 weeks since Anika ran away from the Hammonds. She had found an abandonned warehouse to squat in on the other side of the District and she had picked up quite a few objects to make her newfound home a little more comfortable : cardboard boxes, old rags, chairs that people had put in the garbage, anything that she could find, she took. All of her money had been spent by now and the only food she manged to find was food that she stole from the supermarket. She also panned for some money at times and it usually worked fine, and some people did give her money out of pity.
But the streets were a much harsher place than she had always thought. Two nights before, as she was panning, a man asked her if she was hungry, and she nodded.
The man brought her to a restaurant and paid her one of the most delicious meals she had eaten in quite awhile. He then asked her if she wanted to crash at his place, and thinking only of a warm place and more food, she had accepted.
It was a bad mistake on her part because not long after they had gotten at the man’s appartment, the man stripped himself naked and approached he with a lustful look in his eyes. Knowing nothing better to do, Anika drew her jack knife and stabbed him in the stomach, getting out of his house and running away again.
She could still remember the scream of pain he let out as he fell and the profanities he screamed at her as she left his apartment in a hurry.
Looking at Janice, Anika gave her doll a tight hug.
Feeling her stomach growl, she knew that she had to go get some food soon enough… Also meaning that she’d have to face the streets again. But had to be done had to be done she thought to herself.
Tucking Janice in the cardboard bed she had made for her doll, Anika picked up her dirty jacket and headed for the exit of her « house».
As the young girl left the supermarket with a pack of dried meat in her pockets and a bottle of water, she noticed a young boy on the other side of the street. Anika had seen him before and he always made her feel something that she could not explain. He was probably her age, maybe a year older at most. He was about her height and very slim. He had short dark brown hair jacked up in spikes. He always wore a suit that was a little too big for him that was a little dirty with a black tie and black army boots. This boy obviously lived on the streets as she did but he had so much class doing so. She was very much impressed by him and often wished she was as confident and classy as he was. The boy was either alone or with his friends who also looked like homeless children, but whoever he was with, wherever he was, he always gave away an aura of happiness that made her feel a little bit jealous. She could only wonder how he found happiness with the conditions he lived in.
Who knows, perhaps she would find such peace and happiness one day too.
The boy, who was on the other side of the street, suddenly turned his gaze towards her and gave her a warm smile.
Feeling her heart skip a beat, Anika realized that she had stood in front of the supermarket all along,gazing at him like there was no tomorow.
She smiled back at him, blushing and turned away immediately walking away.
She bumped into someone and fell back on her behind.
« YOU! » screamed the man she had bumped into with a look of hatred in his eyes.
Anika looked up and recognized in horor the man who had tried to take advantage of her the other night.
Without hesitation, Anika drew her knife and popped it open.
She started to walk backwards, trying to keep the man at a reasonable distance. But he was too quick for her and slapped her hand with one quick stroke, making her drop her knife.
« I’m going to make you pay for knifing me you little whore! »
« I don’t think so! » answered a determined boyish voice.
Both Anika and the man were surpised by the interuption and she was even more surprised to see the boy with the spikey hair and the suit holding a gun at the man as he walked towards the two of them. The boy bent down and picked up her knife and gave it back to her, never leaving his sights on the man.
« I believe this is yours ! » he said to Anika.
Anika nodded as she put it back in her pocket.
« You wouldn’t dare to pull the trigger! » said the man nevously.
People all over the scene were backing away from the three of them. Nobody wanted to get involved in this situation. The boy smiled at the man.
« Don't bet your life on it! » he said confidently « I’ve used this gun before… »
He lowered his aim to the man’s leg and pulled the trigger. The loud explosion made Anika jump and the next thing she knew, her would-be tormentor had fallen flat on his back again, holding his leg and screaming. People were running wildly around the three of them, fleeing the scene like the plague.
« Come on! » said the boy, extending her his hand « We have to get out of here before the cops show up! »
Anika gave him her hand and they started to run…
She didn’t know where she was going, but she knew that she hadn’t felt this comfortable in quite a long time.
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