Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Romance

Jack.Be.Quick

           Damn, that was weird.
           What did that chick want from me? 
           I had to keep looking over my shoulder. For some reason, I kept feeling her eyes on me and hearing her girly voice, Waaaiiit!!
          Dark clouds were out in the distance looking like the end of the world was among us. If it stormed tonight, there’s a chance my squat would flood. I’d have to sleep on the street somewhere, which was always risky. I would sleep with one eye open all night, just in case I was mugged or something worse. 
          I made to it to my squat before those eyes or voices could reach me. I was safe under my bridge. 
           My home. 
           My squat was a huge dirt mound that started from the top inside of the bridge, where the street was, down to the creek bed. There were no paths or walkways to it. One couldn’t just stumble upon it, either Vince or I would have to show you how to get down there. The only people in the area were college kids since it was on campus, but they had no reason to come down there. 
           I sat in my makeshift chair I had made out of a broken lawn chair and some pieces of wood I had found. Nobody ever stole it for some reason. I guess they knew if I had seen them with it, Vince and I would kick their asses. 
           I can’t believe I had told her my real name. Nobody knew that information except Vinnie, who gave me my nickname. My shirt had coffee all over it, thanks to my mom, so he had lent me one of his shirts. It was an old Quick-Lube employee shirt. He had put an Anti-MPAA patch over ‘Lube,’ and wrote ‘I am’ above the word ‘Quick.’ Some people couldn’t get over the joke so I covered the ‘I am’ with the universal Nomad symbol—an ‘N’ with arrows shooting out from the two ends. I was by then considered a nomad by the group and my name was officially Quick. 
           However, many of the drag rats back then had hopped the train or bus and moved on, so only Vince knew my real name. So why did I just give it out so easily to that chick? 
           What was her name?
            Alex? 
            Alex plural.
            Alexis. 
           I gotta learn to stay away from people when I’m high. 
           She was cute though. There was something about her that got me talking and even joking with her. She had those gray eyes of sadness. I would recognize those brown eyes from anywhere. They were exactly like Heather’s sorrowful eyes. 
           Now, I wanted to see them again. Just to see if they were the same eyes. She had wanted to be shown the city for some reason, I remember.
           But why would she want a homeless, hood rat to show her? Doesn’t she know to stay away from people like me?
            I could easily rob and rape her, just like old-boy had. That’s not the way I roll, but she wouldn’t know that. 
            Two hours later, I awoke to the wind blowing immensely. All my magazines and newspapers were being tossed around, dancing in midair. The dirt that wasn’t being covered from the bridge was black as opposed to the light brown I laid on. That was my natural rain gauge. Also, the creek was flowing harder than normal, I could hear it—another rain gauge. If this kept up, I would have to find another place to squat. 
           A few of the homeless kids would go to the shelter. That was not a plan for me, however. I would have to wait in line for hours, then have to sleep next to dumpster-diving derelicts who would stop at nothing to stab, rob, and rape me. I’ve heard too many horror stories about that place. So the shelter was out of the question. 
            I thought about that girl, Alexis. 
           Would she help me out?
            I hoped so. For, if she didn’t, I would have to run to my dealers house. That would be another nightmare, though not as worse as the shelter. My dealer has always had a thing for me. He would always ‘joke around’ telling me how sexy my ass is and how he’d like play with me from behind. He’s tried to make a pass at me several times when I was horribly dope sick. But I had fought through the sickness until I finally copped some dough. 
            I walked back over to the church hoping I’d see her there. 
            Nothing. Nobody. 
            Everyone was inside since it was lightly raining and looking like it was about to pour. Like a monsoon or tidal wave blocking the sun, it was dark out and humid, just about to spill down on all of the city. 
            There was an old tree right outside the church that covered the steps so I was protected for the time being. I sat and waited for somebody I didn’t know or even know was coming.