Chapter 2: One Jump Ahead of Danger

I sighed impatiently, leaning against the empty stand behind me. Al was supposed to be finding us food, but he had been gone way too long for it to be a good sign. Abu hadn't gone with him and thinking of the little monkey, I glanced around. He was nowhere to be seen again. Abu was essentially the toddler of our group. He got into more trouble and Al and I did put together, and that was saying something because trouble seemed to find me no matter where I went.

It was part of my luck. I am the Jinx after all. There was a reason my name was such. Al would probably sit on me again if I told him what I was thinking about just now. He hated it when I called myself a jinx, but that was what I had been referred too for years. Two years being with Al just didn't make it go away. I was better at not running away from him though. In fact Al was proud that I had overcome my, what he jokingly called "disappearing" act and in a way I was too.

I had run away from him for three weeks straight after I had first met him, making him cross with me. I only come back occasionally, but never ever slept in the hovel. Until one day I had felt way too lonely and had found myself standing outside until Al called me in. From then on, I stayed in the hovel becoming part of his group along with Abu. That was over two years ago, I was ten now, but Al said I didn't act very much like a normal ten-year-old. Then again, I had never really known normal.

Al pulled me out of my shell that I had built around myself and I would forever be grateful for him taking me in like he did. Life was great for me now. The only problem was my jinx-like nature struck often and when it did it hit hard and fast. In fact it had been so bad lately that the guards had made us their number one targets. And with all the thieves and cutthroats around that was really bad. We only stole food, but they didn't care. A crime was a crime in their eyes and Razoul, the big ox-like one, hated us with a passion. I may or may not have tossed a few insults his way when he had us cornered. What can I say? Sometimes I feel the need to be smart-alecky.

"Thieves! Guards!" The bread vendor shrieked suddenly as Al took off from his stand, a load of bread tucked under one arm. Not wanting to be left behind I followed him, speeding along the streets. A few years of running and ducking the guards had made me swifter and a bit more agile and I was able to run along the streets without fear of getting lost. I could always find home no matter where I was.

Al ran up some crates, only stopping briefly to acknowledge that I was there, and I had to appreciate that he did look. (One time he hadn't and I was almost caught.) I ran up behind him and without looking I knew the guards were following closely. We got to the top and started running across the rooftop trying to outrun the guards that were shouting and barreling over each other in their wild pursuit of us. Al reached the side first and skidded to a stop, of course it had been abrupt so I ended up slamming into Al's back, almost toppling us both off the roof. The perfectly baked loaf went up into the air and Al struggled to catch it, after glaring at me briefly.

"Oops?" I said sheepishly as he rolled his eyes and turned back around to assess where our enemies were now.

"Stop thieves! I'll have your hands for trophies, street rats!" Razoul shouted after us.

I flailed my hands at him. "These are mine!" I retorted. Al looked at him, then down at the bread, then at me.

"All this for a loaf of bread?" He asked and I shrugged.

"Maybe that fat one is hungry again." I grinned and Al snorted before jumping off the building. "Oh, great." I muttered and leapt after him, just as the guards came upon me. I felt their hands breeze past me as I fell a short distance before catching a clothesline and sliding down it behind Al. He collected pieces of people's hanging clothing on him as we went down the line and I was glad he went first.

As we reached the end of the line, some woman reached out slammed the shutters closed on us with an angry scowl, as if we offended her. Al slammed into the shutters and me into him and one by one we fell bouncing off the many awnings below. Al landed on the pile of clothes that he had collected and neither of us was too hurt. Not to mention I had an extra cushion to break my fall.

Al growled when I landed on him and I laughed sheepishly shrugging my shoulders. "Uh…Oops again?" He rolled his eyes and reached out, catching our bread. Then he shoved me off him. I made a face at him and he grinned cheekily.

"There they are!" One guard shouted and we looked up at them.

"You won't get away so easily!" Another shouted indignantly. Al and I looked at each other with smirks.

"You think that was easy?" Al asked me.

"No way!" I shook my head, grinning. We heard laughter and looked over at three women who were laughing at us. Al wrapped himself in a sheet and tossed one over my head, and then we ran over to the women disguised as girls…Or people with sheets on their heads. Al was not very good at disguises and if this managed to fool the guards, I would take it back.

"Getting into trouble a little early today, aren't we boys?" One of the women asked us, smiling secretly. Al and I grinned.

"Trouble?" Al said feigning innocence.

"No way." I scoffed with a wave of my hand.

Al smirked. "You're only in trouble if you get caught!" A hand grabbed his shoulder, startling us both, and yanked him back, his disguise falling off in the process.

"Gotcha!" The guard said. It was that big gorilla, Razoul, the captain of the guards.

"We're in trouble!" I said as the guard continued.

"And this time-" He was cut off mid-rant as Abu pulled his turban down over his eyes, much like he had done the first time we met.

"Perfect timing, Abu as usual!" Al said, laughing at the monkey.

"Thanks, Abu!" I said giving the primate a nod. He grinned at me and chattered 'Your welcome!' as he leapt onto my shoulder.

"Come on, let's get outta here!" Al said, turning and bumping into a guard. He then started singing.

Gotta keep...

One jump ahead of the breadline

One swing ahead of the sword

He said this while dodging the guard's sword. After a couple of swings, I jerked the guard's sash away, dropping his pants. As I was laughing Al grabbed me and took off.

We steal only what we can't afford

And that's everything!

I added loudly after him. Al rolled his eyes playfully at me and I grinned impishly back as we ran away from the guard who had pulled a fish up his around his waist instead of his pants. I started to laugh, but Al tugged me out of reach and we scampered up a pile of barrels, dodging as another guard swung at us.

One jump ahead of the lawmen

That's all, and that's no joke

These guys don't appreciate we're broke!

He sang as I kicked down a barrel onto the guard that was following us. Al gave me an approving nod and I bowed back much to his amusement. The guards on the ground started sing/yelling at us.

Riffraff!

Street rats!

Scoundrels!

Take that!

The guards said as they threw food at us. We flew up to the top of a platform. Al was on the edge of the platform singing as I eyed the guards below us.

Just a little snack, guys!

Yeah, were hungry!

The next second he ducked and I grabbed Abu as a whole group of dangerously sharp weapons flew and stuck into the pole behind me. The guards grabbed on to the bottom then and tried to shake us off as we clung for dear life. Al grabbed me and pulled me to the edge.

Rip them open, take it back guys!

Al fell off the platform and I followed without hesitation. This was about timing. We went flying through the air. And Al grabbed Abu at the same time I attached to his back and like we had practiced it, Abu swug us through a window into someone's house.

I can take a hint, gotta face the facts

You're my only friend, Abu!

What? Hey!

I said angrily. He grinned sheepishly at me as I narrowed my eyes. Then we heard singing and turned to see three beautiful harem girls dancing about the room.

Who?

Oh, it's sad, Aladdin and Alaric have hit the bottom

They've become a two-man rise in crime.

I snickered as Al tried to grin suavely at the girls, but they only wound a scarf around him and pulled. Al spun like a top until he slammed into a large woman. Abu was in a corner stuffing his mouth full of food. Typical. The harem girls giggled at me and I waved embarrassedly back at them.

I'd blame parents except they haven't got 'em

The large woman sang as she attempted to swat Al with her broom. I stuck my tongue out at her and then Al ran through the girls and over to the window, dragging me behind him.

Gotta eat to live

Gotta steal to eat

Al sang as we sat down in the windowsill. One of the girls pushed us out of the window.

Tell you all about when we have the time!

I sang as we fell down to the street, bouncing off a giant awning. Al rolled his eyes at me. "What? We might have time!" I said and he just shook his head. We sprinted through the crowded streets and came upon a performer. Al got up behind a muscled man that was flexing for crowd and matched his moves while I pretended to be among the crowd.

One jump ahead of the slowpokes

One skip ahead of our doom

Next time gonna use a nom de plume.

He suddenly made a mistake and the guards spotted him. I snickered as he kept his form anyway as he made his escape. I walked after him and Abu, who had the loaf of bread wrapped securely with his tail. I walked behind him, trying not to attract their attention.

"There they are!"

Well, that worked I thought rolling my eyes. I broke out in a speedy run behind Al. We jumped on top of a flock of sheep, walking lightly across their backs as the guards waded slowly through behind us tossing sheep left and right like they were dolls. I had to admire their stamina, these guys could chase us all day long. Literally. The really fat one, I think his name was Fazal, was keeping up this time.

One jump ahead of the hitmen

One hit ahead of the flock

I think I'll take a stroll around the block

Al sang as we hurdled over a man sleeping on a bed of nails. The largest guard behind us, Fazal, landed on the poor guy. I winced and we kept running. Looking around I then realized that one of our party was missing, and found him covered in jewels on a stall. The merchant grabbed the jewelry upon the small primate.

Stop Thief!

Vandal!

Al ran up to him and pulled Abu away. The pearl necklace snapped as he gave the monkey a jerk and I shielded my face from flying pearls.

Abu!

Al!

Scandal!

A lady behind the stall covered with a cloth shouted at us. I stuck my tongue out and I stood by Al as the guards surrounded us.

Let's not be too hasty

Al sang shielding me as we backed into a wall. The wall suddenly opened up behind us, which was actually a door, as a large, ugly woman scooped Al up. I snickered at the look of horror upon his face.

Still I think he's rather tasty

Al tumbled away from her and leaned on one of the guards like they were old friends. I inched away from the woman before she spotted me.

Gotta eat to live

Gotta steal to eat

Otherwise we'd get along

Wrong!

Al and the guards sang as they tackled us. Al dragged me underneath them as they grabbed at us. I wanted to stay and get a few punches in but Al pulled me and we hid under some large pots and we started to tiptoe away. By the time the guards had figured out that they were fighting among themselves, we were almost home.

"Over there!" One shouted, and we threw off the pots. Al jumped on the back of a coal walker and I followed with ease. The moronic guards thought they were being smart as they ran across themselves. But they were soon yelping and hopping about as their shoes heated up from the hot coals. We ran past a sword swallower, and Abu yanked his sword out of the swallowers throat. Abu advanced on the guards, who cowered back in fear. I stopped running to watch with interest.

"He's got a sword!" One yelled, terrified. I snickered.

"You idiots, we've all got swords!" Razoul said, pulling his out to show them.

"Oh yeah!" The other guards followed suit with grins of realization. Abu grimaced and set his sword down slowly, then I grabbed him and we made a run for it. We quickly climbed up on a floating rope in the street provided by a friendly snake charmer and the guards crashed into each other below us.

We were again surrounded by guards once we landed on the ground, and Abu ran up the stairs leading up the side of a building. I followed quickly him with Al further behind us.

One jump ahead of the hoof beats!

Vandals!

One hop ahead of the hump!

Street Rats!

One trick ahead of disaster!

Scoundrels!

Their quick-but we're much faster!

Take that!

Guards suddenly appeared in front of Abu and I. We shrieked and Al pulled us out of the way just as they swung their swords at us. He pulled up a carpet lying around, and pulled me onto his back. Time to fly! My favorite part of the day!

Here goes, better throw my hand in

Wish me happy landin'

All I gotta do is jump!

He said, jumping out the window. The carpet popped open in the air so that our decent was slowed. I looked behind us at the guards who had stupidly followed us and they fell into 'Crazy Hakim's Discount Fertilizer.' I laughed loudly at them, imaging the way they would smell for a while.

We landed in a back alley and Al and Abu smacked hands. As we settled against a wall, Al broke the bread into three pieces and grinned at Abu and me.

"And now, esteemed effendis, we feast!" He handed out the pieces and I took mine eagerly as did Abu.

"All right!" I said and leaned back against the wall. "So…your stealth didn't work today?" Al elbowed me.

"Shut up, Rick."

We were about to take a bite, when I noticed that something had Al's attention. I looked over to where he was gazing and saw a little boy and girl digging in the trash ahead of us. They caught us looking and the oldest, the girl, dropped what she was holding and she tried to hide her little brother from view. Al and I looked at each other and nodded. Then our gazes fell upon Abu, who haughtily took a bite out of his bread. Al sighed and stood and I rolled my eyes at Abu and stood up too.

We took our bread and handed it over to the children. Al handed his to the oldest girl.

"Here, go on-take it." He said reassuringly to the girl. She hesitated a moment then smiled and took the bread. I held out mine to the little boy in front of me. He looked slightly frightened.

"It's okay. You can have it." I said gently and he took it carefully.

"Thank you." He said softly and hugged me. I pulled back, slightly embarrassed then I recovered. Al had taught me that doing good deeds for others was rewarding. At first I had been unsure of that, but the first time I had helped another person, it had felt good and I learned that if I wanted to keep the jinx at bay I needed to do more good.

"You're welcome." I told him and rubbed his head. He giggled as I stood. Al walked past me to see what the big crowd outside the alley was about.

I was about to follow when I looked over my shoulder at Abu to see if he was going to share his bread or not. The little monkey took one look at the pleading children and went over to reluctantly hand his bread over. The children smiled at him and tickled him. Abu swatted the hands away playfully saying, 'aw don't'. He glanced up, finally noticing we were gone and I turned back around as he jumped onto my shoulder.

"Nice of you to join us." I teased and he rolled his eyes.

Being slightly shorter than everyone else, I easily weaved through the people until I could see what had everyone's attention. I watched as a fancy clothed man rode by on a white horse. I then went back to Al and we listened to a conversation behind had in front of us.

"On the way to the palace I suppose." The first man said.

"Another suitor for the princess." His companion agreed. Al and I just exchanged looks. That was the third this week! Was she that picky? I turned back around in time to see little kids from earlier running right out into the middle of the street and in front of the fancy prince!

"Al!" I shouted and, not waiting to see if he heard me, I dove into the throng of people hoping to get there in time. I saw them in front of the prince's horse holding on to each other in fear as the sparkly white horse reared up. I ran and stood in front of the kids, shooing them behind me.

"Out of my way you filthy brats!" The prince raised a whip high in the air, his expression one of total arrogance. He didn't care if we were kids or not, he was going to whip us!

"Go." I whispered out of the corner of my mouth at the children and they ran off to safety. I faced the snooty man alone, my arms rose in defense, and braced myself. I heard the whip crackle, but instead of feeling pain, I felt something slid in front of me. I opened my eyes to see Al's back in front of me. The whip was in his hands.

"Hey, if I were as rich as you, I could afford some manners!" Al shouted and tossed the whip back at the prince, smacking him in the face with it.

The prince gave us the death glare. "I'll teach you some manners!" He snarled and kicked out. His booted foot collided with me and I fell back into the mud behind us. Al turned and looked at me with wide eyes before turning to glare at the snooty prince who had no sign of remorse upon his uppity face.

All around us people were laughing, making fun of the street rat sitting in the mud. I wiped the mud off my face and got an idea. I whistled and the prince turned to look at me. As soon as he did, I "accidentally" tossed the mud in his face.

"Oops." I said and he sneered in disgust wiping his face clear.

Al snickered and then winked at me. "Look, guys, it's not every day you see a horse with two rear ends!"

I roared with laughter and the prince whirled around in his seat. "You are worthless street rats! You were born street rats and you will die street rats and only your fleas will mourn you!" He hissed and Al attempted to go after him, but the palace gates slammed shut in his face. The slam echoed in my head and I looked down at my lap, the prince's harsh words circling in my head. It shouldn't hurt, they were only words, but it did.

"Stupid!"

"Jinx!"

"Freak!"

"We are not worthless and we don't have fleas!"

I heard Al say, snapping me out of my thoughts, but not my mood. I looked up to see him scratching his head and then frown at his hand when he realized what he had done. He looked at me and I hid the hurt feelings from him. I gave him a shaky smile instead and he held his hand out to me.

"C'mon, Alaric, Abu, let's go home." The monkey ran and sat on Al's shoulder and I walked glumly behind him still feeling the sting of those long forgotten words. As we walked home Al started to sing softly.

"Riff raff…

Street rat…

I don't buy that. If only they'd look closer."

After that one verse, Aladdin seemed to stop. I just stayed quiet for a time. When we got home, he started again.

"Would they see a poor boy?

No sir-ee."

Abu hopped up onto his bed and slid off his hat. I went to sit on my bed and lay down on my side, watching as Aladdin tucked him in and leaned out our window, looking at the beauty of the palace.

"They'd find out...

There's so much more...

To me."

He sighed and then turned to look at me and Abu. "Someday, guys, we'll be rich, live in a palace, and never have any problems at all."

"Sure and I'll turn into a great magician." I snorted without meaning too. It wasn't that I didn't believe Al, but… Well we were street rats. To live in a palace, we'd have to be royal.

"Must you be a doubter?" Al rolled his eyes at me.

I scowled. "Who cares, Al? I mean really. We're street rats."

"Rick…What's going on?" I shook my head, but it didn't matter Al always seemed to know what I was thinking, always.

"Nothing."

"Alaric." He said and I looked at him. He shook his head at me. "Don't let that stuck-up prince get to you, Rick. You're not worthless." He hugged me to him and I allowed it, needing the comfort. "I mean it. I don't want you to think things like that anymore. You are not a jinx, okay?" I nodded and he patted me once before going over to his bed.

"Sorry." I muttered and he smiled at me.

"Don't worry about it. Now get some sleep." I suddenly felt very tired and yawned. "And don't worry Alaric, I'll see to it that you'll never have to live like street rat ever again and you'll always be taken care of."

"Sounds incredibly boring." I slurred sleepily and settled down into bed. I soon started to drift off and the last thing I heard was:

"You'll see."


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