Chapter 13 - On The Run

Adam got dropped off outside a local shelter. He thanked the driver and went in the building. Adam had never been anywhere near a place like this before. He wasn't sure what to expect.

Adam went through the door into an office waiting area where a receptionist was working. There was a woman in the office everyone had to see for a bed for the records and funding.

In the waiting area there was a television turned to channel 13 news. There was a story about a 16-year-old runaway and a parents' plea for his safe return. Adam heard that and wanted to laugh. He looked up at the television screen and saw a picture of him at a fundraiser for Josh's school that was held last year.

Adam grabbed his bags and got out of there before anyone could get suspicious. There was a description of what Adam was last wearing over the news so he took five dollars from his wallet as soon as he saw a second hand thrift store. He bought himself a new shirt, pair of pants, and a new winter coat (well new to him anyway).

He put his stocking cap on over his blond hair sure that no one would recognize him now. At 3:30 Adam had gone to Jessie's school to wait for the guy he had called, Matt, to hook him up with something.

Matt was waiting for him on a bench. The two teenagers talked about how much news play his story was getting so Adam couldn't lie low in a shelter somewhere. Matt thought Adam could pass for eighteen easily so he had called a friend to get him a fake id.

Adam crashed at Matt's apartment for the night. That was the smallest dirtiest cheap place that Adam had ever stayed at before. Adam loved every second of it.

Matt's mom worked nights so Adam and Matt went to Matt's girlfriend's apartment for a while. The girl's mother was home and didn't look very happy to see Matt when Adam and him arrived.

Matt headed back to her room. She was sitting on her bed taking a crack at her math assignment. She smiled as she saw Matt walk through the door.

Matt said, "Hey Jen, where's Kevin?"

Jen gave him another smile and told him to go get Kevin. Matt left the room and returned with a little baby around eight months old.

Matt announced, "Adam, this is my boy, Kevin."

Adam was surprised to see someone his age with a little baby. Things like that just didn't happen where Adam lived or at Eden Hall.

The three of them talked about Adam's situation. Matt and Jen agreed that Adam was definitely going to have to slum it or hitchhike out of there. Hitchhiking wouldn't be the first choice between the news coverage and the freaks out there on the road. Adam agreed with them yet no one really had a solid plan.

Adam was just going to get the fake id, dye his hair, and board a plane for somewhere else in the morning.

Adam Banks slept that night in a little apartment on the hardwood floor. Matt slept on the couch and Matt's mother was never home.

The next day Adam had his fake id with his picture and some bogus name. Then Matt bought some dye from a nearby store and dyed Adam's hair black with fiery red tips. Then Adam got a ride to the airport where he boarded Flight 99 to Seattle before 11:00AM.

Adam sat there quietly the entire flight. There was a woman next to him who didn't want to fly. She was scared. Adam held her hand when they took off. She couldn't believe how kind he was to her.

When they landed in Seattle Adam knew things were going to be so much different for him. He got his things and got off the plane. He had to leave 16-year-old private school hockey playing Adam Banks behind because now he had to become 18-year-old homeless jobless Joshua Bandsmen. This was a new start for Adam.

Adam took his things and went to the nearest shelter. He easily got a bed. Adam knew that he needed a good nights sleep and a shower for him to make it through the next day.

Adam went to every nearby restaurant and grocery store looking for a job. Finally one of the small grocery stores offered him a minimum wage job bagging groceries and helping people to their cars. Adam got a call back from one of the restaurants the next day. He could have the night shift of the 24-hour restaurant, Bobbie's Restaurant, as a busboy and if he was good Adam could be a waiter.

Adam started working the next week. He worked from 8AM-4PM at the grocery store six days a week and from 10PM-6AM seven nights a week at the restaurant. Adam was good at his work and he started saving what little money he did make.

The costumers at the grocery store were mostly neighborhood regulars and they were very pleased with the work and level of trust they got from Adam. His boss gave him a raise almost immediately to six dollars an hour.

Adam soon started looking for a small apartment for himself. Soon he found himself four rooms, one bedroom and one bath garden level apartment in walking distance to the restaurant and grocery store that was in his price range. The place wasn't anywhere near great, but it was better and more private than the shelter.

Adam moved in one night after working in the grocery store. He was getting used to the new identity he had and felt free in his new life.

Even though Adam kept his hair dyed, said his age was 18 and answered to Josh now people still thought he looked like that missing kid, Adam Banks. One night the cops came to his door.

One of the old ladies from the grocery store thought he looked like the missing boy and called the police. Adam got them to go away with his cover story, but wasn't sure if they would buy it. The visit spooked Adam.

He wasn't sure what his next move should be.

He walked to the nearest department store. Adam went in and bought as much medicine that he could. He skipped work that night and got some poor guy from the shelter to buy him beer in exchange for a meal in Burger King.

Adam started drinking. He finished off the twenty-four pack and the bottle of tequila that the man had bought him.

Adam felt so sick. He had never downed so much alcohol before so he turned to the painkillers that he had bought and slowly opened them. He downed all of them with some Coca Cola.

The room just started spinning as Adam just sat there on the floor since he hadn't bothered with buying furniture. He started throwing up all over the floor.

Finally Adam's young body just went limp in a puddle of his own vomit. He had passed out yet he had not stopped throwing up.

Adam Banks died that night. He choked on his own blood and vomit. The police didn't find him for another week. When they ran his fingerprints through the system to help find whom his family was. What the police found was not a record for Joshua Bandsmen, but a positive identification as Adam Banks, the missing 16-year-old from Minnesota. Everyone finally knew the whole truth about Adam Banks. All because he couldn't be accepted for himself by anyone; family, friends, strangers, coaches, and teachers.

THE END

Author's Note: I would like to thank the reviewers, Dana especially, for triggering a spark that helped with a case of writer's block and supporting this story along the way.