Chapter 1

"Meeeoow"

Gary blearily opened his eyes, groaning as he looked at the clock. How could it possibly be six-thirty already? He closed his eyes again...just a few more seconds, he pleaded to the newspaper god. He started to drift back to sleep.

"Mreeow!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming...hold your horses, would ya?" Gary muttered as he flung back the covers and stumbled out of bed towards the door. He cursed as he stubbed his toe on a corner of the coffee table. What a perfect way to start the day, he thought wearily as he opened the door and retrieved the paper.

He hobbled to the sofa and plopped down, flipping through the pages.

"Woman mugged on EL platform..." Gary turned to the next page after noting the time and station where the woman had been mugged. "Three injured in road construction accident..." Gary sighed; he was only a few pages into the paper, and already his morning was fully accounted for. He turned to the Metro section. "Child killed in fall from fifth floor..." He read the details, and then yawning and rubbing the back of his neck, he tossed the paper on to the coffee table and headed for the shower.


"Hey Marissa," Gary said around a mouthful of bagel. He quickly poured a cup of coffee and took another bite of the bagel.

"Morning, Gary," Marissa greeted as she made her way towards Gary. Finding the stool across from him, she lifted herself onto the seat.

"Want some coffee?" Gary offered.

"Yes, thank-you," Marissa answered. She opened her mouth to say something, but hesitated, then cocking her head to the side, she asked, "How busy are you with the paper today?"

Gary swallowed the last bite of his breakfast. "It looks pretty hectic. Why? What's up?"

Marissa shook her head, "Don't worry, it's nothing."

Gary glanced at his watch, and took a final sip of coffee as he stood up. "Gotta go. Talk to you later, Marissa." He snatched up the paper and was out the door in the blink of an eye.

"Bye, Gary." Marissa said to the now empty kitchen, her chin resting in her hand.


Gary rubbed his hands up and down his arms, and tried to keep his teeth from chattering. He had neglected to read the weather report in yesterday's paper, and was now paying the price as he shook the rain from his hair. A cool front had moved through, dumping an inch of rain on the city and dropping the temperature down to a very chilly fifty degrees. His lightweight tan jacket did little to repel the cold rain.

He blew in his hands and tried to ignore the icy stares from the Cabrini Green residents. It was definitely not the best area of town. Cabrini Green was comprised of several highrise apartment buildings run by the Chicago Housing Authority for low-income families. Most of the people who lived there went about their business of trying to survive, but it wasn't easy in an area that was mainly controlled by gangs.

He had been waiting on the ground next to the building from where the child was going to fall, for about ten minutes. At least he thought it was about ten minutes, he wasn't sure, as his watch had stopped working when it became too wet in the rain. He had tried going in the building in an attempt to prevent the kid from falling, but his path had been blocked by a group of young men. He gulped, and wondered if they were part of a gang. He hoped not and grinned weakly at one of them.

He looked up at the windows, trying to guess from the paper's description of the incident, which one the toddler was going to fall from. Suddenly, he spotted a small head framed in a window about forty feet to the left of where he stood. He dashed as fast as he could to a spot beneath it, his progress slowed by the thick mud clinging to the soles of his shoes. A sudden wail of terror gave Gary another spurt of energy as he watched in horror as the child toppled from the window.

Arms outstretched, Gary made a final lunge when the boy was only about ten feet from the ground.

"Ooomph!" The impact of the kid landing in his arms knocked him to the ground as one little shoe caught him across the bridge of the nose. Stars burst in his vision, but he clung protectively to the child in his arms.

Gary sat up, blinking mud and tears from his eyes. He inspected the child, determining that he was unharmed when suddenly the screaming toddler was pulled from his arms.

"Oh my poor baby!"

Gary was cupping his bloody nose with both hands, and glanced up to see a young woman hugging the child. "Is he awight?" Gary asked, his nose already beginning to swell.

The woman was crying, but nodded, "Yeah, I think so."

By now a crowd had gathered, and someone reached down and grabbed Gary's arm and hauled him to his feet.

"Thaks", Gary said, his voice still muffled from holding his nose. He heard sirens in the background, and tried to make his way through the crowd. He would have made it just fine, as the crowd hurriedly backed out of his way to avoid coming in contact with his mud covered body, but suddenly his knees started shaking.

"Hey man! Take it easy." A young man reached out to steady Gary. "You alright?"

"Uh, yeah. I thik so." Gary mumbled. He felt dizzy, but was too embarrassed to admit it. He shook his head in an effort to clear the fog. A towel was thrust towards him, which Gary accepted gratefully. He tried his best to wipe the blood and mud off his face, wondering if his nose was broken. He winced as he fingered it.

Suddenly, he was swept up into a bear hug, as a woman, crying hysterically, repeatedly thanked him for saving her baby.

Gary tried to extricate himself from the hug. "It was no problem. I was just...well...I just happened to look up--" Gary yelped as her head inadvertently connected lightly with his already battered nose. "...I guess I just got lucky. I gotta...I gotta go." Gary practically shoved the woman away, and beat a hasty retreat.

A few blocks from Cabrini Green, Gary ducked into a McDonalds, drawing disgusted stares from patrons. He hurried to the bathroom and stopped and shook his head as he caught sight of himself in the mirror. No wonder people had wrinkled their noses in disgust, he thought. He was covered head to toe in mud, and his earlier attempts to clean up with the towel had only succeeded in smearing the bloody mess around his face. He wearily turned on the water, and splashed his face.

Five minutes later, Gary studied his reflection. He shrugged, satisfied. He looked slightly better. His clothes were still a mess, but at least his face and hands were clean. He leaned towards the mirror, examining his nose. It had swollen considerably, but didn't appear broken. His stomach growled, interrupting his inspection. He wondered if he had time to grab a burger. With a final swipe at some mud on his clothes, he left the bathroom and headed to the front to order.

A quick glance at the clock behind the counter made Gary swear. Another day with no lunch. He would be lucky to make it to the platform in time to prevent the mugging. He couldn't help thinking that if Chuck had still been here, he would have been able to help out. At least, he could have driven Gary where he needed to go. Sometimes, now that Chuck was gone, Gary would use the McGinty's van, but he usually didn't have time to find parking places. After the third time that it was ticketed and towed, he had abandon using it unless absolutely necessary. With a groan, he hurried from the restaurant and raced to the EL platform.