The Taki and Wufei Story
Chapter 6: Survival
.
"Where are we going?"
Bisho doesn't bother to turn toward him. She simply flicks a glare in his direction and allows herself a dark smirk. He hadn't said a word since they'd begun their trek over an hour ago. Not that she'd expected him to. She'd known he wouldn't be happy about leaving not only his coat and hotel key card behind, but his cash and identification as well. Tough shit, she thinks. If he really wants to know what it's like, then I'm not going to sugar-coat it for him.
In answer to his question, she gestures to the dimly lit streets, the homeless, the jobless, the predators and prey slinking through the shadows. "We're already there."
Wufei glares at her, demanding an elaboration.
Her eyebrows arc in mock disbelief. "What? You thought streets were only for getting from point A to point B?" She chuckles. It's not a happy sound. "Take a look around you. Do these people look like they have somewhere to go?"
Reluctantly, Wufei follows her suggestion and looks. He watches women in tight, short skirts and halter tops, suppressing their shivering in the cool, night air, as they smile invitingly for the occasional passing motorist and pedestrian. Yellow light and loud voices spill onto the street from open bar doors. Hunched forms shuffle through the shadows, everything they own draped over their backs and stowed in their pockets.
"This is nothing," Bisho tells him. "It's still pretty early yet. You just wait until midnight rolls around..."
There is something about her voice that tells him he won't like what he'll see.
"See," she says. Her voice is softer now, but no less bitter. "For a lot of people, the streets aren't a way of getting from one place to another. It's a destination in and of itself." She shakes her head. "It amazes me how naïve all those people—" She gestures to the classy apartment buildings in the distance. "—are sleeping in their temperature controlled water beds under their down comforters in their climate regulated three-bedroom apartments."
Wufei glances at her, a little surprised to see the bitter resignation on her face.
"They think that if a person really wants to, they can get their life together and get out of the streets." Bisho shakes her head. "Stupid." For a long moment, she says nothing else. But then, as if she's finally remembered she isn't alone, she looks at Wufei and her gaze is quite critical. "You're just like them."
He doesn't deny it.
"So, Mr. Successful, let's see how you do."
He blinks at her, scowling. "Excuse me?"
"You want to 'understand,' right?"
He doesn't nod, but the look on his face speaks for itself.
She continues, "Then let's see you get yourself off the streets."
Wufei stares at her. "My hotel's only a hour and—"
Bisho ruthlessly interrupts him. "Your hotel? Where's your key card, then?"
"Back at Duo's—"
"Who's Duo?"
He doesn't answer. He doesn't have to. He's beginning to see what she's getting at. But, just in case there's any confusion, she spells it out for him.
"You have no money, no identification, no one. All you have is what you're wearing."
"So you're just going to leave me here to figure it out for myself?" he inquires.
Bisho laughs. "Oh hell no!" She shakes her head. "You... out here by yourself... That's funny." She releases a humor-filled sigh. "Naw, I'll be sticking around. You're gonna need my help."
His expression darkens. "I—"
"Shut up, Chang." Despite the harsh words, she doesn't appear to be angry with him. She looks... amused. "You have no idea what these people out here are like. You're just lucky you've got a friend." A toothy grin flashes in his direction, "And you're very lucky that I won't pimp you out for a meal."
Wufei's so shocked by the very idea that he doesn't think of a reply. Which is just as well. Bisho isn't yet finished with what she has to say.
With a leer, she continues, "Unless you piss me off. Then it's open season." She squares her shoulders and heads off toward the epicenter of the colony's night life. "Com'on, Chang!" she calls over her shoulder. "It's time to survive."
.
Wufei glowers at anyone and everyone who dares to check him out. Beside him, Bisho swaggers down the street, acting for all the world like she has the Earth on a leash. Once upon a time, he thought Duo to be the master of the cocky attitude, but here is a thirteen-year-old girl, working the crowd over like a professional punk.
He keeps an eye on her out of the corner of his eye as she... talks with various shady characters. He doesn't entirely understand the jargon she uses, so he says nothing. The man she's conversing with at the moment grins lasciviously at her and reaches out to touch her long, gleaming hair.
"I think I could find you a... position you might be interested in," he murmurs.
She slaps his hand away. "Keep your dick in your pants, Mario. I'm not interested in small-time ass kissers like you."
His eyes flash with anger. His mouth tightens. Still, his body language remains inviting. "What do you know about anything, little girl? You're new around here. You need someone to show you around..."
Bisho doesn't take her eyes off of him. "Oh, yeah. The fifty-cent tour." She leans closer and glares. "I might be new but I ain't stupid. Now, who do I see around here about real estate?"
The guy lifts a shoulder and crosses his arms. He's decided that the kid isn't going to be reined in by a display of arrogance. But being helpful, on the other hand... He's pretty sure she'll remember him. And come back for more later... He smiles. "That'd be Ross. Ask for him at the Black Bull."
She nods. "It's been real."
Wufei turns with her and they stride down the block. Bisho ignores the catcalls and appreciative whistles. Wufei glances over his shoulder and back at the sleazy Mario. "You pushed him too far," he tells her.
She gives Wufei a wry look. "You're so innocent. It's kinda cute, you know."
Wufei chokes.
"Didn't you see it in his eyes?" she asks. "He won't try anything. He'll wait for me to come back to him, wait for me to remember how very helpful he was when I was asking around."
He studies her. "How do you know he—?"
"Experience," she says, cutting him off. "Sure, he'd love to meet up with me in a dark alley sometime, but he's not going to go out of his way to get in mine. Lazy, opportunistic bastard."
Wufei continues to stare.
"Most are like that," she shares. "Too greedy to turn down a free bang, but too lazy to make trouble."
He grimaces at the bad taste suddenly in his mouth. His skin crawls at her blunt words. Bisho's too young to know anything about this. Yet here she is, telling him how the world works down here. If he didn't know better, he'd think it's his heart that's hurting so badly in his chest right now.
"What's 'real estate'?" he inquires as they approach a windowless building with a sign above the door depicting a black bull.
She says, "Just checking to see who runs this area, and where he can be found." As Wufei turns toward the bar, she grabs his wrist and hauls him back to her side. "Keep walking," she hisses.
"But don't you—"
Bisho almost laughs. "No, I don't want to meet Mr. Ross. And if I'm really lucky, I never will."
He doesn't say anything to that. But then he doesn't really understand it, either.
"Let's find some action," she suggests.
Before Wufei can protest, Bisho approaches a crowd of youths in Goth. Their black, spiky hair and vinyl-clad bodies a dead give-away. Hooking an arm around Wufei's waist, Bisho waves to them. "Hey! What's happenin' 'round here tonight?"
A young man with his septum pierced, rakes his gaze over Bisho. After a moment, a smirk plays at the corner of his mouth. "What are you looking for?"
The other members of the gang watch with varying degrees of interest, some appreciating Bisho and a few others with eyes only for Wufei. Bisho rubs her body against her companion, openly displaying her claim. "Hmm... I'm not sure." She nods toward Wufei. "What's the area got to offer for removing a large stick from a guy's ass?"
A couple of the kids snicker. The leader grins. "Yeah, your date definitely looks like he needs to loosen up. We're headed for Club Pink."
"Can I get a score there?" Bisho asks eagerly.
"Sure. Plenty of selection."
"Great."
"Follow us, then."
As the gang moves along the street, Wufei bends down to growl in Bisho's ear. "What the hell are you doing?"
She grins and whispers back, "Following the money. What else?"
He opens his mouth but she shakes her head at him.
"You'll see," she promises.
And he does. The club is in the basement of an old apartment building and they descend the narrow stairs without incident. As the music begins to pound louder and louder, Bisho leans closer to her companion, saying, "Follow my lead, got it?"
He hesitates, pulling away to study her face. Eventually, he nods. Once.
The door opens, revealing a mass of bodies, swirling lights, and smoke. Bisho grasps his hand and pulls him into the throng. He has little choice but to allow the crush of bodies to guide him. Wufei eventually finds himself at the center of the dance floor with Bisho wrapped around him. Reluctantly, he moves with her and the music, wondering what in the hell they're doing there. Although he does notice Bisho's attention wandering. She squeezes both of them through the crowd, pausing at various intervals to dance. On several occasions, her hands leave his back even as she presses up against him.
The fourth time this happens, he decides to do something about it. Looking very disgruntled, he says her name once in warning.
She shakes her head. "Almost got it," she mouths back. And then she's grinning.
He watches as she places one of her hands on his chest. He glances down, catching the corner of a few bills carefully folded in her fingers. Their gazes meet and Bisho tells him, "Breakfast."
It's all suddenly too much. Eyes narrowed, he hauls her from the dance floor and up the stairs. Once more on the street, he stares at her and waits for the ringing in his ears to subside. After a minute, he hisses at her, "What the hell do you think you're doing stealing?"
She grabs his arm and pulls him down the street and into an abandoned stoop. Bisho looks at him and replies, flatly, "I'm taking control."
"Control?"
"Would you rather we went back to Mario and asked for his... assistance?" she inquires. "Because you know what kind of positions he's got in mind, don't you?"
The muscles along Wufei's jaw tense as he breathes out heavily.
"That's what I thought you'd say. Look, Chang, here are your choices: scavenge, steal, or sell."
He doesn't appear to make a choice, so she elaborates. "When we get hungry in a few hours, we can raid the dumpsters, how does that sound? Of course, all the trash will be a good ten hours old because that's when the restaurants would have made their last dump. So unless you'd like to eat something that's been marinating in bacteria all night..."
He makes a face.
She moves on to the next option. "Or, we can steal some money and eat whenever we want to."
His expression makes it clear he flatly refuses to consider that option.
Bisho outlines his final choice. "Then that leaves selling."
"Selling what?" he replies. "You mean getting a job?"
She laughs. "Yeah, something like that. The night's young. You could probably make about hundred if you started now. There's enough time left and plenty of customers down this stretch..." She gives him a knowing, appraising look. "And you're not exactly hard on the eyes."
Suddenly, he really doesn't like where this is going. "You're suggesting I sell..."
She meets his gaze. "Your body," she tells him. "And if you won't go that far, then sell your mouth. A blow job goes for about twenty in this neighborhood."
He gapes at her. "What?"
"You heard me."
Wufei shakes his head. "Absolutely not."
She shrugs. "So we starve. And that's when guys like Mario will start circling. Trust me. You do not want to be at the mercy of a guy like that."
He casts his gaze about, searching for another alternative. "Why not just go get a job?"
She grabs his shirt and actually attempts to shake some sense into him. "Who would hire us? We don't even have a home address! And getting a place takes money!"
"What about shelters, soup kitchens?"
Bisho laughs. "Oh, sure. Shelters where we'll have the opportunity to pick up a few communal diseases. And yeah, a soup kitchen will let us eat there twice, maybe three times a week. Sure, that'll keep us afloat."
Agitated, Wufei runs his fingers over his hair and acknowledges his defeat. "All right, fine."
"Fine what?"
He glares at her. "Fine. I understand. Let's go."
"Go where?"
Wufei pauses and tells her what he thinks is quite obvious, "Home."
Bisho shakes her head. "You still don't get it, do you?" She sighs and looks into his eyes. "There is no 'home' for us to go back to."
.
~End of Chapter 6~
