"You know, Glitch. You ain't gotta stay in the dumps anymore. My apartments big en—"
"No, man!" Glitch shouted out even with the guy trailing behind him. It was hard to remember sometimes that he was actually the younger one. Mo was practically an adult. Well, he was. He wasn't any kid, but the age difference was there. Still, it was Mo who was whining at his back like the child of the pair.
"It's warmer."
"I'm not cold," Glitch lied. It was a horrible lie spoken through clenched teeth. That was right. He still wore the busted up jacket, though Mo insisted on getting him a new one.
"Besides.. Where are we gonna practice at..?"
"You know what he really means, Angel," Mariette teased as she watched the boy pace up and down in front of her. Really, it was a wonder he still showed up. She only ever upset him with her words. "Why don't you just say yes? You'll get a place to stay. It's not so bad. You're not istill/i a virgin, are you?"
"Wh-What! I.. Of course not!" Glitch found himself blurting out. His face was hot. Another obvious lie.
Still, Mariette only smiled. The woman lounged back upon the tattered couch. There were shady dealings going on inside her apartment today. She let Glitch come by, but it was always best when his visits were kept short and sweet. There was no sense getting him involved. She knew he was way beyond simply not interested in the scene. "I bet… it really is warmer.. Especially with someone like him. You said he was good looking?"
"I.. did..?" Glitch stared for a while longer than he intended. Had he said that? No way… But Mo is a guy! Well.. he wasn't naïve. Guys liked guys. Guys especially liked guys they could buy to… But Mo wasn't like that! Quickly, Glitch took to shaking his head. His favorite escape route at last appeared, "I gotta go…," he muttered which was not so much a lie as it could have been when he spied scary guys entering Mariette's apartment. "See you Mari."
Night came and the subway filled with the now typical crowd. The blond guy from before, Bodie, still showed up every night since that first. His friend, Emilia, was busy selecting their beats for the night. Everything was just getting set up. And Glitch? As always, he picked up and made sure he kept his distance away. He wasn't interested in them after their first run in. Maybe Emilia wasn't so bad, but Bodie and his buddies simply creeped him out with their strange grins.
Despite the cold, the jacket was folded at the back of his head. It didn't really make the cement wall any friendlier, but he hoped it would have made for just enough comfort that he could get some sleep even with the bass pounding the floor and all the excitement nearby.
Mo wasn't showing up tonight. Actually, did Mo even hang with Bodie's crew anymore? They usually met up in the subway during all the festivities. Mo would take him out for a bite to eat. They'd talk. Mo would bounce his ideas of the giant Glitch-wall of rejection and denial.. then they'd call it a night. He wondered.. what sort of person was Mo? Why did he want to hang with him? Was he not friends with Bodie and the others now because of him? That wasn't a good thing… He didn't want to burden anyone, especially not Mo.
"You look lonely," spoke the voice that sounded FAR too close for comfort.
Glitch found himself scrambling back and away from the body he only just realized sat beside his own. "Uhh.. the hell..?"
"Tch. What? Did I scare you? You weren't really sleeping were you? You sleep out here..? So that means you're really homeless, aren't you?"
"I uh… Well… umm..," Glitch stuttered out when Bodie leaned in far too close.
"You know… I could pay you..," Bodie whispered.
The heat flared once more at Glitch's face. Pay him! Suddenly all the strange, creepy grins had a reason. He swore he felt the guy's hand brush against his thigh. No. No way. It was just his imagination. After all this time, he was not just now being molested by a dude….practically alone..though there was a crowd a couple feet away….in the middle of the night.. in the dark scary tunnels of the subway. "Wh-What are you talking about…? Back off, man…"
"To dance.. of course," Bodie spoke with a chuckle. "I want to see how you move… You need the money, don't you..?"
"Money… just to dance..? Really, you'd do that?" Glitch stopped freaking out. He was really considering it. Was that really possible though? He never thought dancing would have gotten him any money. Sure, there were the dirty dancers in the bars that got money for flashing tits..but.. well… he didn't have any of those and his child-like appearance never would have sold to anything but creepers and..what the hell he would have never done that sort of thing anyway. What was he even thinking? "Just any sorta dance..?"
"So you're interested?" Bodie's brows raised questioningly. "Well, let's see what you got, little man."
As Glitch stood, surrounded by Bodie's crew, his sane mind finally caught up to him. What the hell was he thinking? He didn't know the first thing about dancing. He was just a pickpocket. A thief. And…most recently… a very bad liar.
"Just follow us," Emilia spoke with an encouraging smile. "Do your best!"
"If you can keep up," Bodie teased with a grin.
Glitch had watched them before. They drew a crowd for a reason. People came out in the cold and dark to watch Emilia and Bodie dance together to their favorite tunes. He never really thought much of it. Were they making money from it all that time too? But damn… As the music began and they began to move… Never had he felt like such a total idiot.
The boy was left stumbling upon his feet as he tried his best to have followed their lead. Wait.. how did they do that? He was completely out of sync. Wrong arm. Wrong leg. They were all laughing when he tripped and fell against some of their gang.
"Are you even trying? Man.. this is painful to watch," one laughed, shoving the boy cruelly against another body.
"No kidding..!" another agreed between his howling laughter. Then, another shove sent Glitch reeling forwards. He fell onto his front, unable to even catch himself with his hands and knees. The side of his head hit pretty hard upon the floor.
When Glitch fell harshly on the ground like that, the pair had by then stopped their moves. They could only survey it all. Emilia seemed concerned. It was written clearly across her face. Bodie looked surprised. Glitch realized what a fool he had made of himself. What was he even thinking..? It was all just a joke, wasn't it? Damn, but he was so gullible. Tears stung at his eyes, built equally from both his frustration and his embarrassment.
"Here, let me help," Emilia spoke gently. Bodie was soon at her side, helping her reach to assist Glitch back on his feet.
"Just leave me alone," the boy hissed beneath his breath. He shoved away from them. He ran. And he never looked back not once. Unfortunately, he also was rather blind as to where he was going. He ran right into a tall figure. At first, he figured it was just some random guy. Just another of Bodie's crew maybe. Just another person that wanted to roar with laughter like all the rest. However, as he moved to shove away at the guy, he found his shoulders held so gently. A concerned face stared down after him.
"Whoa.. hey…hey! What happened.. Shit your head.. You're bleeding…"
Glitch was left stunned by the sight of that face. He stared through the tears after the guy.. his partner, Mo. What was he supposed to do..? Mo saw him crying.. again. Wait.. bleeding? Was he..? For a moment, he raised a hand and felt the trail of blood that dripped down his face. Had he hit the floor that hard? It only made the tears spill that much more. He was pretty shook up over it all.. and immensely embarrassed.
"Glitch… ," Mo spoke, reaching a hand to carefully maneuver the black hair away from the wound. However, he was left pretty surprised when his action was fended off. The smaller body shoved past him. He could only watch as Glitch ran off. This was his fault. He was late. Work was to blame..but that was no good excuse.
Glitch panted when he reached the door. It was pouring raining again, but he knew it did nothing to hide the stream of blood that had fallen from the gash on his head. Whatever. It wasn't like he could have gone to the doctor or anything. This was the next best thing. This was all he had. Even so, he stood a good while at the door, uncertain of how to proceed. He never stayed at the place… He was always out on his own. He only visited every so often… but…
Slowly, Glitch raised his hand and knocked his skinned knuckles against the door.
"Yo?" called a voice within.
It wasn't her… Was this still a good idea? It didn't matter. He.. had nowhere else to go. "Uhh.. its Angel. Mari's Angel. Can I come in?"
There was muffled talking on the other end. Was the voice arguing with someone about it? This wasn't such a great idea, Glitch supposed. "Uh… Nevermind. It's nothin'.. Just let Mari know I came by?"
"Sure. Yah, I'll do that.."
It was a strange answer. Mariette always had the weirdest company, though. So it wasn't that unusual. He would just find her in the morning. Her place usually was emptied out by then. His hand braced his forehead. It was still throbbing with pain when he finally found a place to hide away from the cold, wet storm's reach.
His scraped palm was as good a bandage as he could have hoped for. A bit of a sniff left him where he sat huddled close against one of the towering buildings. There, he was occasionally graced with the warmth that seeped out each time a tenant opened the doors. The awning filtered at least some of the rain away from him. It still pooled on the ground and found its way to him, however.
It was pretty early morning when Glitch got his start. The night spent in the storm left him chilled. Though it was so early, he hoped that Mariette's company had finally left.
When he once more stood at her door, he found himself rubbing fiercely at his forehead. The blood had caked at the injury sight as well as where it had trailed down his face. He'd have to ask to borrow some money or something—maybe her washroom—something to get himself cleaned up…or at least dried off. Then, at last, his hand raised and he knocked on the door. "Yo Ma—" The door opened just from the faintest tap of his first knock. It wasn't shut. It wasn't locked. Glitch held his breath.
It was like one of those horror flicks. Everything screamed… Get the hell out. What are you thinking? Still, some sort of invisible strings tugged him through the door. "Mariette?" he called out into the eerily quiet apartment. There was no answer. Rational thinking demanded that he turned around and left. He didn't. He moved further inside.
The main room was a mess. It wasn't too unusual. Mari had some pretty wild parties. It was still early. She just didn't have time to fix anything up, he reasoned with himself. The bathroom was clear, though it looked like whatever storm hit the living room had also struck the medicine cabinet. Everything in it was strewn about on the floor and piled in the sink. Then, he found the door to her bedroom. It was left open. The light was on. "Mari?" he called out, his voice wavering.
His hand reached for the knob. It was only then that he realized how much he was shaking. It was just the cold. Ya. That was it. A gentle push and the door creaked open. It was not a sight he was ever going to forget.
Next he knew, Glitch found himself hunched over in the alley outside Mariette's apartment trying to figure out just what it was that had been once been his last meal. It was spewed out over the ground. Then, not even an hour later, he stood in a daze across the street when the cops car lights were flickering off the walls. He watched as they carted out the body bag. It was no way to have said goodbye, but he couldn't very well walk over and say he was the one that found her body. He knew what happened to people who got involved in that mess. Besides, then there would be questions. Where's your parents kid? Where do you live? But.. did any of that even matter? Mariette was dead.
And still. Night came and, like clockwork, he was in the subway as if nothing had changed. He sat there and stared off away from the gang that, this time, left him alone when they all showed up. iMo…/i He had been so mean to the guy last. He shoved him away. Now, of all times, he wished he had that company—or any for that matter. But why would Mo show up now? His buddies thought he was a joke. They pushed him on the ground and made fun of him. He was just some kid off the streets that was given a silly name. That was all.
"I'm sorry about yesterday..," called the voice that came out of nowhere.
Glitch slowly turned his gaze up after the taller guy. For a while, he just stared after him.
"Are you OK?"
The world felt like it finally caved in around him. Glitch had acted so suddenly that it startled Mo backwards a few steps. The smaller boy's arms wrapped around his torso. His head buried against the solid, toned chest. There was not a single bit of shame in those tears….even if Bodie's crew could hear him—which thankfully they could not. They were a ways off, perhaps out of respect from the incident the other night. "I don't wanna be out here anymore, bro. I don't wanna."
Mo's hands braced those shoulders. For a few seconds, he simply held him there, unsure on how to properly respond to this. Was it all just from whatever happened between him and Bodie's gang? He wasn't sure. "Hey… You don't have to. I told you you can stay with me, right?"
"I just.. I don't wanna be out here anymore," Glitch sobbed.
"Okay, okay..," Mo whispered the words gently. His hands massaged gently over the other's back. "It's okay, Glitch… It's cool." What had happened..? It wasn't just Bodie. It wasn't just the prank that caused all this. Whatever it was, Glitch wasn't ready to say it. And it didn't need to be said. "Let's go home, G."
Home… Was that what it was going to be like? Glitch could only nod his head in agreement. Mo even took off the infamous hoodie and settled it over him. It was so warm. Mo held him a while longer.. and Glitch found himself burying his face still against his chest. There, he listened to the most beautiful beat in the world ever… It was certainly his favorite.. There, beneath that warm, solid chest, was the sound of Mo's beating heart. He shut his eyes and savored it. It was the most precious thing that Mo had ever given him yet.