*Disclaimer - The characters in this story belong to Orson Scott Card who authored the book "The Lost Boys" and Joel Schumacher who directed "The Lost Boys" Movie. I only own the storyline to The Street Rat and the original characters. *
Chapter 2
*TRIGGER WARNING – MENTIONING OF RAPING OF A MINOR*
A year had gone by. Maya had learned some hard lessons about what it meant to be a kid who lived on the streets. She had been lucky to meet Tobi when she first came to Santa Carla.
Tobi took the girl under his wing and showed her how to survive in Santa Carla. He showed her how to properly beg for cash from tourist, how to know what restaurants would be willing to fork over leftover food, which restaurants would call the cops if you tried to ask for food, where it was safe to sleep and who to avoid.
Tobi had a cheerful attitude about everything and loved showing off his creative spirit. Tobi was an amazing artist who could have had artwork hanging in galleries all over the world. Unfortunately, his parents died in a car accident leading him to be placed in the foster care system. Tobi took off here not long after his 3rd placement. One thing Maya loved about Tobi was shark tooth necklace he never took off. It had blue and red beads on either side of it. Tobi swore it was given to him by Michael Jackson. Maya was not so sure.
Maya spent eight months with the boy until one day he disappeared. Maya searched everywhere until she saw one of the Surfs Nazis with Tobi's necklace around his neck. Maya grieved for her friend and prayed that his death had been quick.
The Surf Nazis were the ones to navigate around and always avoid their attention. They were cruel and, if you attracted their attention, it was better to run than be caught by them. May street rats suffered the pain of catching the Surf Nazis attention. Most prayed death would happen quickly when caught.
The Lost boys were another group that Maya had learned to navigate around. It was best to avoid their attention as much as possible however if you did attract their attention than be as respectful as possible. Those who disrespected them tended to disappear after the encounter.
Santa Carla had its own rules and, if you didn't learn them fast, you would lot live long enough to see the error of your ways.
Santa Carla was not always a bright and sunny place to be in. It had its bad days where it rained sporadically during the day. With this weather, tourism was down and begging for cash did not work. People were less likely to give when they were not in a good mood and rainy days put people in bad moods.
Maya slipped down the alley between Dixon's pizza and Ben's surf shop. Dixon's Pizza kept their trash cans in the back of the building. The owner would wrap leftover pizza he couldn't sell in newspaper wrappers for homeless people to have before putting it in the garbage. Maya moved the lids from the cans and started digging through the garbage for edible food. She was so focused on digging through the trash cans that she did not hear the footsteps behind her.
"What do we have here? A little mouse."
Maya jerked around to see 3 young men standing behind her. The leader was the one Maya had seen wearing Tobi's shark tooth necklace. The man reached out and brushed a finger across her cheek. "Isn't she a pretty thing, boys?"
Maya jerked away and tried to run down the alley toward the main street but one of the other males grabbed her arms and pulled her back against his chest.
The three men started laughing. The leader walked over and grabbed her face in his hands. "Nah uh princess. We are going to have some fun. Behave and we may let you live after we are done."
Tears ran down Maya's face. "Please don't do this. Please just let me go."
The young man laughed. "Don't worry. It shouldn't hurt too bad."
Maya was shoved onto the ground. The leader forced her on her back and sat on her lower legs. He ripped her shirt off her body and stared down at her chest leering at her.
Maya closed her eyes praying for a miracle. Just as she felt his fingers glaze her chest the weight of his body was gone. Maya opened her eyes to see a see a blond man standing over her. He had a leather jacket with different patches on it, a pair of jeans, and a white wife beater shirt on. He stared down at her with this pity look and held out his hand. Maya slowly put her hand in his and he pulled her up off the ground.
He removed his jacket and held it out to her. "Hold this."
Maya held his jacket as he removed his white shirt and held it out to her while taking his jacket. "Put this on."
Maya grabbed the shirt and pulled it over her head.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" A voice called out.
Maya and the man looked to see the three men who assaulted Maya still standing there.
The blond laughed mockingly. "Apparently I'm stopping some child molesters from raping a kid. Really pathetic boys"
The leader ran at the blond and swung at him. The blond grabbed his fist and twisted it around and behind the man's back before shoving him forward into his friends.
Maya's eyes widened as she backed away from the fighting men.
The three men were even more angry than they were before. This punk had disrespected them. Their plan was to rape the girl but now they were going to kill this man and then take the girl somewhere else to rape her.
The leader took one step forward and was about to raise his fist when everyone heard clapping in the distance. Like clockwork, everyone turned to look at the end of the alley to see three other men standing there.
One had bleach blond hair and was dressed all in black, the second man was Native American and the last was a man who looked like a Rockstar with crazy hair. The bleach blond boy's eyes shifted for a second to Maya before turning toward the men.
"Look what we got here boys? A bunch of little boys trying to make themselves feel like men by attacking a kid. What's wrong boys? The women of Santa Carla think you are such a poor excuse of what men should be that you turn your attention to a little girl. I don't think she is too interested in you. She obviously knows what real men look like and you just don't qualify. Why don't we show you what real men are like?"
The rock star blond and the boy with the patched coat burst out laughing however the Native American man walked over and pulled Maya away from the wall. He handed her a $20-dollar bill and pushed her toward the entrance of the alley. "Get out of here kid."
Maya looked between the two groups and ran past the other two lost boys back to the safety of the boardwalk. She never looked back to see what the fate was of those three men, but she never saw them again.
A couple of days later Maya saw the Lost Boys sitting on their bikes. She had taken the white shirt and washed it in the laundry mat with some of the money given to her by the native american lost boy.
She slowly walked over toward them. All four boys glanced at her as she walked over to them.
"And who do we have here?" The leader said.
Maya slipped her backpack off and pulled out the shirt. She slowly offered the shirt to the blond who gave it to her.
The Rockstar laughed and pulled the shirt from her hands. "Aww isn't that sweet Marko. It looks like she washed it clean all for you."
Marko laughed. "Thanks kid"
Maya blushed. "Thank you for saving me."
Marko nodded his head.
She pulled her backpack back on and turned away before the leader called out to her.
Maya turned toward him to see him holding out some money. Maya glanced at the money but did not take it.
The leader laughed. "Take it kid. You look like you could use a good meal."
Maya reached out and took the money from the man. She took several steps away and nodded her head. "Thank you."
She walked away with the four males laughing in the distance.
