Chapter 2

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“Hey! That kid just stole my wallet!”

“Shhhhhit…” Hunter picked up the pace and started running, meeting Lucy in the nearest alley.

“I thought you said you could pick-pocket!” She whispered angrily, helping him duck behind a pile of garbage bags.

“I never said I was the best at it!” Hunter fired back, then leaned against the wall and took the thin wallet out of his back pocket, opening it and counting the money inside. He groaned. “I thought there’d be more on that guy… only 2 bucks…”

“Hey, I mean, it’s better than nothing, right? This’ll buy us some food at least…” Lucy shrugged, giving him a small, reassuring smile.

“But we don’t need food! The place down the road has free food!”

“Well… that’s only because they throw most of the perfectly good stuff out…”

“That’s besides the point. What we need is a better place to live and blankets or a fireplace or something! It’s October. You know how cold it gets at night by now. Have you not seen those people freezing to death on the street corners!?” Hunter tried to keep his voice at a whisper to avoid alerting the man from which he had stolen from and what seemed to be a policeman with him.

“More than that… we’ve witnessed one of our own experience the same fate…” Lucy’s gaze turned solemn and sorrowful. Hunter raised an eyebrow. Lucy explained. “We had someone, named Lilo, and in 27, she died because it was too cold and there wasn’t any room on the mattresses anymore…” She sniffed.

“Oh… I didn’t know…” Hunter felt a bit sorry for her, but he kept his assertive tone. “But that’s all the more reason to spend this money on stuff to keep us warm.”

“Right… but… until someone creates a better way to get food for free like some kind of kitchen downtown… food is our top priority,” Lucy placed a hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, but this is the way things are.”

Hunter shook Lucy’s hand off of him and crossed his arms, forgetting he was supposed to be whispering. “Fine.”

“Hey!” A police officer found them. Hunter gasped, grabbing Lucy’s wrist and looking at her to cause a distraction quickly. She nodded and ran away in between the officer’s legs. The officer immediately took off after her, giving Hunter an advantage. He climbed up the ladder on the side of the building onto the roof and ran to the other side. There was a fairly sized gap in between this building and the next. He hesitated to jump, but eventually leapt off the building, missing the roof and crashing into a window on the second floor. He got his footing quickly, but he had glass shards sticking into his body and cuts where others had just grazed him.

Ignoring the glass stuck in him, he rushed down the hallway to the staircase and came out of the building onto the sidewalk. He looked around for Lucy, seeing her grabbed by the police. After the officer realized she didn’t have the stolen wallet, he let her go and began looking for Hunter, who ducked into another alley, into a dumpster. He watched the man and the officer pass, still looking. The officer stopped in the alley where Hunter was hiding, and turned towards the man.

“Sorry to tell ya this, but yer wallet’s gone,” the officer shrugged, which clearly outraged the man.

“What the hell do you mean it’s gone!? That little shit is somewhere around here and I’m gonna find him!” The man stormed off. The officer ran after him.

“It was only 2 bucks, right!?” The conversation faded into the crowded streets and was lost from Hunter’s range of hearing.

He climbed out of the dumpster, picking bits of trash out of his hair and casually walking towards Lucy, who remained on the sidewalk on the other side of the road. He cautiously ran across the road, in front of many cars and carriages. He tackled Lucy into a corner.

“WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT!?” Lucy shrieked, angry at him. “AND- what happened to you?”

“I tried jumping from building to building and uhh… I ran into a window…” Hunter blushed with embarrassment.

“You have glass sticking out of you!” Lucy yelled, trying to pick the pieces out of his arms and chest. “Does that not hurt!?”

“Uhh… no?” Hunter chuckled nervously. “Should it?”

“I mean, I don’t know! But we gotta get home. Steal some stuff on the way. Pennies on the ground, wallets, jewelry, whatever,” Lucy tried not to keep her eye on the blood seeping through the glass cuts as she started walking back towards the apartment.

Hunter spotted a surprisingly wealthy-looking man and nudged Lucy to look. He wore a suit and tie, and was heading in the direction of the train station.

“Must be traveling through town. Work your mediocre magic,” she shoved Hunter in the direction of the man, making him bump into him and knock him over. The man, now angry, glared at him.

“I’m so sorry sir. Here, let me help you,” Hunter stood up and offered his hand to the man, who took it reluctantly. As he stood up, Hunter unbuckled his watch and slipped it into his pocket. Then reached into the coat pocket on his suit and found his wallet and a ring. Jackpot, Hunter thought. This dude is one of those rich guys that run factories, isn’t he?

Once the man was on his feet, Hunter ran off towards Lucy. Not wanting to seem suspicious, he walked the rest of the way to the apartment, then dumped out his pockets on the table. Lucy’s eyes widened, and Otis looked up from reading the paper. He gasped and ran to the table, banging his hands on it excitedly as Hunter looked into the wallet and started counting the money out loud.

“77, 78, 79, 80… 90… 95… 95!” Hunter finished counting and spread the money out on the table. “There’s 95 bucks in here!! I knew that guy looked rich! He must’ve been passing through too… there’s a train ticket to Cincinnati in here…”

“Well he’s not going to Ohio any time soon!” Otis laughed.

“Where are the others?” Lucy asked. Otis smirked.

“Freya took the job. They’re giving her English lessons for some reason… probably to talk sexy to men~” He laughed.

“Wait. When she said she was gonna perform in a bar… does she really mean…” Hunter asked. “Stripping?”

“Yeah, I guess. People are gonna pay her money, and a handsome amount, too get a good look at her,” Otis counts the money for himself. “And yes, Ramirez is learning too. James went just because he’s bored and has nothing better to do since he can’t read.”

“Why won’t you teach him?” Lucy raised an eyebrow. “And why won’t you teach the rest of us?”

“I- I can read!” Hunter huffed.

“Because I like reading to you all. It’s the only form of entertainment I have other than managing el dinero,” He rubbed his fingers together to indicate money.

“Speaking of ‘el dinero,’ do these ‘English lessons’ cost money?” Hunter glared at Otis, who shrugged.

“Sure they do. It’s kinda mandatory. Also, the whole ‘not speaking English’ thing is kiiind of a turnoff for the guys, unless they’re multilingual of corse…” Otis’s tone grew brash and boastful.

“Yeah yeah, we know you can speak different languages. Tell us something we don’t know!” Hunter was getting a bit annoyed.

“You don’t know that Ramirez would be willing to teach you Spanish once he’s done learning English,” Otis pointed at Hunter, who looked confused.

“Why me?” Hunter asked.

“I don’t know. He said, ‘I’m gonna teach Hunter English’ and didn’t give me a valid reason why,” Otis shrugged. “Anyway, what else did you steal?” He rubbed his hands together greedily.

“A watch, and a… ring in a box. I think it’s a wedding ring,” Hunter picked up the small box and pulled out the ring. “Shit… I think this dude was gonna get married.”

Lucy burst into laughter, and Otis soon followed. Lucy caught her breath for a moment and wiped a tear from her eye. “Oh, I would not wanna be that guy!”

“I feel kinda bad for him…” Hunter frowned. “I mean, we kinda just got him stranded in Chicago with no money in his pocket and no train ticket. Plus, he can’t get married now…”

“Who cares!? What’s the big deal, honestly!?” Otis took the ring out of his hand and smirked. “We’re gonna be rich for sure… get us a nice apartment, maybe even get us out of shitty Chicago!”

“We can’t. Remember? We won’t have anywhere to go. We’re not even legal adults yet!” Lucy punched Otis in the arm.

“Plus, when the depression ends, things will be a lot easier here!” Hunter smiled, then winced, turning to Lucy. “Ok… remember when you asked if this hurt?”

“Uh-huh?”

“Well, it hurts now…” Hunter groaned slightly.

“Oh yeah, what happened to you?” Otis smirked brashly.

“I fell into a window,” Hunter walked to the other side of the room and took off his slightly bloodied shirt, looking at the cuts. There were more than he expected. “Damn.”

Otis snorted, desperately trying to hide his giggles. Lucy stood up and gave Hunter a warm, wet towel, which he pressed against the cuts gently until they stopped bleeding. He sighed, disappointed in his recklessness, and he sat down on a bench next to the window, where he stared out on the street, of people hurrying along, needing to get places, and he let his mind wander away as his friends put the money in the small crate underneath the floorboards in the back of the closet.