Empty Pockets
Short story number one
Six years agoA small light escaped through the curtain. The blue moonlight dimly lit the room. A boy lies on the bed staring at the ceiling deep in thought. The covers kicked off the bed. Only wearing shorts. Bruises and cuts scattered all over his arms, legs, stomach, and chest.
'Go! Y' have ta! Jus' go now! They're probably passed out on the couch or the floor! They always are! They don' care 'bout ya!' he thought to himself.
He sighed and sat up. Letting his feet touch the floor. He ran a hand through his brown hair. He sighed again and got up. He pulled on a tee shirt and shoes. He grabbed a book bag and packed some clothes. He swung it over his shoulder and opened his door carefully. He looked down the hall to make sure no one was up. When he saw no one and he walked down the hall. He stopped in front of a door. His hazel eyes locked on it.
'Y' can't leaver 'er! She's y'r little sister! She gets beat jus' as much as y'! Go wake 'er up!' he looked down the hall once more and opened the door.
The room was completely dark. He made his way over to the bed. She was just lying there. Bruises and cuts along her arms and legs. He put a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her.
"Rei! Rei! Wake up! We're going!" he whispered.
"Remy?" she mumbled sitting up.
She rubbed her eyes and yawned.
"Where we going?" she asked.
"Away from here," he said.
She instantly got up and pulled on some clothes. She grabbed a bag and packed some clothes in it. She wouldn't complain about leaving, she hated it hear just as much as he did. Two alcoholic parents who always got drunk and angry. All that anger would be taken out on them. Rei threw the bag over her shoulder. Both of them where only two years apart. She was only eight and he was ten. He had no plan! She had no plan! Neither of them had any clue what they would do.
Remy sighed, not sure why he was doing this. He could have just got to the police and reported his parents. But all that would do is send them to some other relative. They where just as bad! The only thing their family consisted of was a bunch of drunks! It always made his mad just thinking about. So mad that he wished he could just blow them all up! Just get rid of them so no other kids have to go through what they had to. Their parents would both go out and come home late. They'd be drunk. Rei and himself where just like punching bags.
Remy led them out of the room and to the living room. No one was down stairs. He spotted a wallet on the kitchen table. He snuck over to it and grabbed all the money out of it. It must have been a bit over a hundred. He caught sight of sunglasses on the table. He smiled and grabbed the two pairs. He gave a pair to Rei. Both of them put the sunglasses on and headed to the door. They tip toed to the front door avoiding the squeaky floorboards. They walked out side into the cool crisp air. They shut the door slowly behind them. As soon as it was shut both of them where smiling. They walked down the street and into the city. Neither said anything to each other.
Remy's thoughts where racing and he was pretty sure Rei's where too. If they where caught they'd be sent back. He wasn't even sure how they'd make money! They could try and find jobs. But the boss would want to know who their parents where. They could street performances. But two kids would probably draw a cop or two in. He sighed trying to think of something. He looked over on the other side of the street. Two men passing each other.
He noticed the one man going the opposite way of him slipped his hand into the other man's pocket. Remy stopped and watched the man keep walking. The man stopped and held up a wallet. He pulled out a few things and tossed the wallet aside. Remy's mouth dropped a bit. It was an option. It was a bad option, but it was still an option.
"Remy? Y' ok?" Rei asked looking at him.
Remy nodded his head and started walking again. It was the only thing he could think of. It would work. They'd have to practice a lot. They'd have to be quick. If the person felt them reaching into their pocket they'd be caught. It was risky, but maybe worth a shot. They kept walking down the sidewalk. Everything was pretty quiet. Both of them just kept walking.
As they turned a corner Remy spotted a man heading their way. It would be risky to try without any practice of and know how of what and how to do this. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind. As he passed the man he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled his wallet out. The man just kept walking and turned the corner. Remy stopped and looked at the wallet in his hand. He couldn't believe he did it. Rei just looked at the wallet. Her eyes grew wide.
"Did y' jus'-" she started but Remy cut her off by nodding her head.
"Dis might be de only way. De only way we can make money," Rei just gave him a look "I know, I know, it's risky! But can y' t'ink of any other way?" he asked.
She stayed quiet. Remy pulled the money out of the wallet and threw it aside and put the money in his pocket. They walked on into the night, both of them said nothing to each other.
2 years ago
Two kids ran up the stairs of their house. Both of them pushed at the door, it swung open and slammed against the wall. They collapsed on the floor. The two of them looked at each other in disbelief. Each of them taking in deep breaths. Sweat poured down their foreheads and mingled with their red hair.
"Did we just do that?" the girl asked.
The boy nodded his head and said "Yea. Yea we did!" he started to laugh a bit.
The girl just looked at him with wide green eyes and smiled. She started to laugh a bit too. Soon both of them where laughing. They stopped and leaned against the bed.
"How we did that I'll never know!" the girl said.
"That w-that was awesome!" he said.
"Oh my god! Johnny! People know we did! We'll get in so much trouble! We might get sent to juvy! I can't go there! We can't go there! We'd get beaten up for sure!" the girl said jumping up and pacing around the room.
"Cali! Cali! Calm down! They can't send us there if they can't find us!" Johnny said as his green eyes followed her pacing.
Cali just shot him a look.
"Are you saying we're gonna play hid and seek?" Cali asked.
Johnny laughed and shook his head "No! We take off! There's more of the world out there! No one will find us!" he said.
Cali's mouth fell wide open "We're gonna run away? We can't do that! Where would we go? Where would we get food? Most importantly where would I get sushi?" Cali asked.
"Cali, we're in New York! You could find a sushi place any where!" Johnny stood up "Now pack a bag! We're off!" he ran out of the room.
Cali sighed and smiled. The thought of what happened earlier came through her mind. She grabbed a bag and pulled out clothes she liked. Johnny came back into her room after a while. She looked around the room to make sure she got every thing she needed. She caught sight of her stuffed kangaroo. She grabbed it and shoved it in her bag. Johnny just smiled and pulled out his stuff platypus. The grins on their faces where as big as they could get. Just before they left the room Cali grabbed her guitar and guitar case. She shoved her guitar in the case and threw it over her back.
"I'd never leave my guitar!" Cali said as they ran down the stairs.
Johnny walked into the kitchen and grabbed the jar of money on the fridge and shoved the money into his pocket.
"Money for the time being!" he said.
The two ran down the bus stop and jumped on the bus to the next town. Cali's thoughts where about what they did. Jut the two of them playing around with some matches. Caught an old abandoned building on fire, which caught the forest on fire. There was something about fire that drew both of their attentions to it. They'd just sit there and stare at it in all its beauty. The read and yellows and oranges all mixed within it. They stayed hidden until they got off out of their town. They then caught another bus to the next town.
In the next town they grabbed some food. Cali and Johnny sat on a bench. Cali pulled her guitar and started strumming and singing. This drew in a few people. Johnny grinned and grabbed a baseball cap from his back and set it front of Cali. It was filled up in no time. After she finished Johnny started counting the money. Cali just glared at him.
"Music should be free!" she said.
"Yea, but sushi isn't free!" Johnny said.
Cali just looked at him and held her guitar up and grinned "Sushi!" she squealed.
Cali kept playing and singing. People came to listen and watch. Johnny, every once in a while, would get up and dance, which brought in a lot of people and a lot of money. There was still one thing still on her mind, if someone they knew found them, even thought they hadn't even been gone for five hours, no one would really looking for them. But they'd be taken back to their parents, they'd be sent to juvy, and probably have to do community service. Cali hated the thought of having to go to an old person's home and talk to old people! She never liked them. They smelled funny and where never any fun. Johnny seemed to have no worries.
Cali just kept on playing. It was something that calmed her down and made her feel good. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as she thought. Maybe Johnny was right not to worry. She should just be a little more like him. She smiled and played her best.
PresentA boy walked down the hall after getting off the phone. His thoughts racing. Not sure what to do. He went to his room and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked around the room at some of his paintings. Everything that was bright and colorful looked dull and colorless. He sighed and caught sight of a picture. Bright sparkling blue eyes, cheerful smile that would make you smile, short soft black hair, and all bundled up into one little girl. Just the thought of having to tell her broke his heart. He put his head into his hands.
'How do I tell her? She's only six!' he got up and headed towards her room.
He stopped in front of the door. His blue eyes looked at up and down and rested on the doorknob. He reached his hand out to but pulled it back as soon as it touched it. He backed up and shook his head and walked down the hall to the phone. He presses a few buttons and waited for the beeping noise.
"Hello?" came through the earpiece.
"Paul?" he asked.
"Petey? Oh man! It's been a while! How are you? What's going on?" Paul asked.
Petey sighed and told him the news.
"Oh man! I'm-I'm sorry to hear that! Is there anything I can do?" Paul asked.
"One thing, I don't know how to tell Jasmine. She'd be heart broken! I-I don't know what to do!" Petey said running a hand on top of his short black hair.
"Just tell her what happened, but be gentle about it," Paul said, "What about child services? Have they called? They'd take Jay away from you!" Paul added quickly.
"Oh no! I hadn't thought of that! What should I do?" Petey asked.
"Can you make your way over here? I'd come and get you but I've got exams this week! You bring your stuff and stay with me! Bring Jay too! You two can stay here as long as you like! I need some company in this empty house!" Paul said.
"Yes, I believe we could make our way over there. But we'll be on foot, no car anymore" Petey sighing, "It might be a week," Petey said.
"Be careful! Bye," Paul said and hung up.
Petey stood there for a while. Just staring at the phone. The same phone that brought him the news. The news about his parents. Driving home after a party. A drunk driver hit them. Both of them died. He sighed and slowly walked up the stairs. He went back to his room and grabbed a book bag and packed it. He went around his room and then the whole house grabbing money from on top of the fridge, on the counter top, in his parent's room, and his wallet. He added it all up and it came to $127.79. He walked back to his room and stuck it in a small zipper pocket on his bag.
He walked out of his room and down the hall in front of the door. He sighed and opened the door. She was just sitting on floor playing with her stuffed animal. The little white tiger he got for her when he went to that summer painting class in Bayville, New York. The same place he first met Paul. Both of them became friends. Paul was nineteen now, Petey was sixteen, both of them had one thing in common, they loved to paint. When Petey's family came and visited they met Paul. He instantly became a family friend and was dubbed 'Uncy Paul' by Jasmine and Paul dubbed her 'Jay'.
She just looked up at him and smiled. He couldn't help but smile. He walked over to her dresser and started packing some of her clothes. She said nothing. But he knew what questions ran through her mind. He could tell her smile must have disappeared, because he wasn't smiling. People couldn't help but smile if Jasmine was smiling. If she wasn't they weren't either. When grabbed all her stuff and turned too look at her. Her sparkling light blue eyes where wide opened and following him. Her smile was gone and replaced by a straight face. He kneeled down in front of her.
"Jay, I need to tell you something," he said.
Her eyes widened and she hugged her tiger doll tight.
"Where going to go to Uncy Paul's," he said.
Her eyes went bright and smile came back on her face "Are mommy and daddy gonna go there too?" she asked.
He couldn't tell her but knew he had to.
"No. Mommy and daddy are-are gone," he said.
"Gone? Where did they go to?" she asked.
"Heaven, mommy and daddy went to Heaven. Don't worry! Their still here! We just can't see them. They're going to watch over us! God is going to watch over them," he said.
Her eyes went dull as she just stared at him. Her eyes stared to water. He knew he was going to want to cry, he could cry though. He needed to stay strong through this. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She didn't sob or say anything. She didn't move. He just looked out the window trying to avoid her eyes.
"Pack a bag, we have to leave to go to Uncy Paul's," he said without looking a her.
He heard her move about the room, slowly. His vision started getting blurry. He wiped his eyes and looked over at Jasmine. She had a small little blue book bag in her hand. She set in the middle of the floor and moved around the room quietly and slowly. She grabbed her small Bible and rosary and put them in her bag. She put her tiger in the bag and went over to her toy box and went through it. She pulled nothing out. She just shut it closed.
"Is that it?" he asked.
She shook her head and ran out of the room. She came back with a family picture and travel sized tissue packets. She pulled the picture out of the frame and stuck it inside of the Bible. She stuck the tissues in the bag and zipped it up. She looked over at him. He stood up and they both headed for the door. They walked down to the door. Petey stopped and looked behind him one last time and walked outside.
Six years ago"Remy? Where are we gonna go?" Rei asked.
Remy thought for a second "How's Bayville sound?" he asked.
2 years ago
"Johnny where are going?" Cali asked.
"Bayville!" Johnny said.
"Bayville?" she asked.
"That or we can sombreros and false mustaches and cross the border into Mexico with new names! I'll be Pablo and you'll be Pabloett!" Johnny said.
Cali went into an uncontrollable blinking state "Bayville's fine!" she said.
Present"Petey? Where does Uncy Paul live?" Jay asked.
"Bayville," Petey said.
