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Ch. 3 Out of the Pouring Rain
(OWEN)
"Muscles you better come see this," Fitz calls just after I tell Clare she's not dating Eli anymore because the prick was hurting her.
"What's up?" I question turning to him but my voice growls because I'm still pissed.
"Just come on," Fitz says waving his hand and looking at Clare, Adam and Tris says, "you three better stay there."
"You two keep an eye on her, Freckles text your brother and Lone Star to gather the others and get back here," I command and he nods.
Adam gets out his phone and I follow Fitz down to the far edge of the park, into the woods that border the ravine and then I see it. Cam's body is lying under a tree, he's dead. His lips and skin are blue, his eyes open and totally lifeless. Something got to him in the middle of the night because he has some bite marks but I don't think that's how he died. His eyes are blood shot I think he was high; he's never been high before though so maybe it was just the cold night, at least I'm hoping.
"FUCK CAM WHAT THE HELL WHERE YOU DOING?! WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU COME TO THE APARTMENTS LAST NIGHT?! WHY WOULD YOU STAY ALL NIGHT OUT HERE?! WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL?" I yell in anger because a young kid shouldn't die on the streets. Especially one of mine, I do everything I can to prevent that. "We're going to have to call the cops; I'll have to talk to them. Go back and get the others out of here, take them back to the apartments I'll meet you there when I'm done," I tell Fitz.
"You sure you want to talk to the cops by yourself?" Fitz asks.
"Yeah I can handle them, get the others out of here and don't tell Mouse what happened, or Trouble, Platinum or Dollar for that matter. Not until I get back but I don't want them to be involved in this," I tell him and Fitz nods running off.
I get out my phone and call 911 telling them where to find me at and that there's a dead kid here. They tell me cops are on their way and I wait for the sirens. I get a text from Drew that they're getting some lunch before they go back to the apartments and I'm glad everyone's going to eat now because I doubt they'll want to eat once they find out. It takes about ten minutes before the cops get back to me.
"Are you the one that called?" Asks the officer, his name plate says Turner.
"Yeah call me Muscles, this was Puck he was a friend," I tell Officer Turner
"Muscles? Yeah alright, what about him do you know his real name?" Officer Turner asks.
"Cam, Campbell but I don't know his last name," I respond as the other officer starts taking pictures of Cam's body.
"Do you know what happened?" Officer Turner questions.
"He got in a fight with one of the other kids and I told them both to take a walk and cool off. He didn't come back last night and we hadn't seen him all morning," I reply.
"So he's been missing over 12 hours?" Officer Turner queries making notes in his little notebook.
"Yeah like 18 or 20 hours maybe," I respond.
"Why didn't you report him missing?" Officer Turner inquires as two people in Coroner's jackets come and start picking up Cam's body.
"We live on the streets! I try and keep all my kids together in a group but they're kids they wander off and don't always come back. It's hard to know when someone is missing on the streets; even if they don't answer their phone they could be napping somewhere or blowing off steam!" I exclaim kind of growling but I'm angry that Cam died, angry that this officer is asking me questions when he should be finding out what happened to Cam and I was already angry at Eli for hurting Clare. All the anger is building and it's going to explode soon.
"Alright son calm down it was just a question," Officer Turner tells me.
"What happened to him, how did he die?" I demand.
"I don't know son we'll do what we can to find out, what about this kid he had the fight with do you think he could have hurt…what did you call him?"
"Puck his name is Puck and no way Dollar could have done this! They were competing over the same girl that was it but they wouldn't kill each other over her. Dollar did come back he was at the apartments in the evening when we got back," I tell him.
"Okay we'll look into it and the coroner will do an autopsy. We'll need to this other boy…uh Dollar was it? Also the girl that they were both fighting over," Officer Tuner says.
"No way are you talking to Dollar or Mouse, I just told you Dollar couldn't have done this and Mouse was with us the whole time. Anything you need to know you talk to me," I state firmly.
"Son we just want to talk to them, we're not accusing anybody of anything," he says trying to calm me down and be all authority like but that won't work with me.
"Don't call me son; I haven't been anyone's son in a while. You don't get it do you? We live on the streets, we don't trust cops, we don't trust no one but each other. Mouse barely utters a word anyway and Dollar doesn't trust anyone. Neither of them will tell you anything and if you try and make them talk they'll just run away. We live on the streets we know every dark corner, way to hide and quick escape route there is. You need to ask questions you can talk to me, now I gotta go find my own and tell them Puck is gone," I tell him mostly through clenched teeth and then turn around to leave.
"Hang on I need your number," Turner says.
I give him my number real quick and then start walking for the apartments. When I get back everyone is there hanging out in the living room and they all look at me when I come in.
"Where have you been? What's going on?" Bianca asks.
"Puck still isn't back I think we should be worried now," Tris comments.
"Puck isn't coming back, he's gone," I inform them.
"Gone? You mean he left?" Dollar inquires.
"No he's dead," I tell them and Maya gasps.
"Dead how?" Tris queries.
"I don't know and we may not find out, he may have been high and I don't know why he didn't come back last night," I reply.
Maya bursts into tears and runs up stairs, Miles gets up to follow her but Tris stops him.
"I'll take care of her," Tris says running after Maya.
"What'd the cops say?" Fitz questions.
"Nothing they don't know why he died yet and I don't want any of you talking to the cops if they need something they go through me," I tell them firmly and look at Clare holding her arm. "How's your wrist? I never got a good look at it," I comment going over to her and holding out my hand for her arm. She puts the back of her hand in my hand and I push her sleeve down to her elbow exposing not only the cut but another bruise. "He do that to?"
Clare nods while everyone else down here gets a good look at her arm.
"Shit!" Drew exclaims.
"Trouble what happened are you okay?" Fitz questions going to her side.
"Gloom, he's been hurting her," I inform them.
"That fucking prick I never liked him you're too good for him!" Dallas snarls.
"We should get bandages and get it cleaned," Bianca says sounding the voice of reason.
"Spikes you and Raven go to the drug store and get some antiseptic and bandages and whatever else. Trouble how many more are there?" I inquire while handing Drew some money.
"That's the only cut but there's more bruises," she admits.
"Show me," I assert. She bites her lip and shifts nervously so I know there are bruises she can't show without getting undressed. "Upstairs come on," I insist but I want to see everything Eli did so I know exactly what to kill him for.
Gently pulling Clare from her seat I get her up and take her to an empty bedroom upstairs. None of the doors lock of course but I lean against it so no one can come in. Clare stands over by the bed and takes off her hoodie; I see half a dozen bruises just on her arms and chest. Clare takes off her shirt and I see half a dozen more on her abdomen sides and back. Slipping on her shirt again she then takes off her shoes and pulls off her jeans where I see ten or so more bruises on her legs, mostly concentrated on her thighs. She lets me look for a few seconds and then she puts her jeans back on.
"There's a few more but I'd have to get naked," she tells me looking at her hands nervously and her cheeks red with shame.
"It's fine I get the picture but why the hell didn't you say anything? He's been hurting you this whole time and you've been hiding the bruises just to sleep in the motel?!"
"No not just for that, I like Eli and there was a security in it, I'm sorry I really didn't think it was that bad. Honestly Muscles I only got scared when he cut me," she apologizes.
"Nobody should be hurting you Trouble! Gloom was hitting and cutting you and you never said anything!" I growl slightly and she jumps a little but I'm seriously pissed about so much right now it's hard to keep my rage in.
"He didn't beat me," she responds sitting on the bed to get her shoes back on.
"What the hell do you mean he didn't beat you what are those bruises then?" I demand thinking she's just covering for him or trying to make excuses for him.
"He did them while we were having sex, he could be rough," she says quietly.
"COULD BE ROUGH? YOUR TORSO LOOKS LIKE A LEOPARD!" I yell and then take a deep breath to calm down slightly. "Did you want it rough? Did you even want to have sex with him?" I question her.
"No but I didn't stop him either," she responds. I hear in her voice that broken down tone that means she's so used to the abuse and mistreatment by other people that she thinks she's not worth anything else.
"I don't give a fuck he's dead and anyone else ever hurts you or even tries again then you tell me or one of the others right away," I assert and she nods. "Come on let's go back downstairs," I tell her putting an arm around her shoulders, "did you eat lunch?"
"We got chips and sodas from the corner market but no one was all that hungry," she replies.
"We'll get some dinner but people might not want to eat tonight," I remark just as we come down and join the others in the living room.
Clare sits on the sofa by Adam again and not seeing Maya or Tris I go back upstairs to find them. Since none of the doors have any locks I just open every closed door I see. Bengal is sleeping in one and doesn't even wake up when I come in. Two guys that sleep here sometimes are getting high in another; they can do whatever they want so long as they stay away from mine. I find Tris and Maya in the room at the end of the hall, the one they slept in last night. She's crying on his shoulder and Tris has his arm around her. I sit down next to Maya and rub her arm gently.
"It's my fault," Maya says quietly into Tristan's chest.
"No it wasn't Mouse, I don't know what happened to Puck but he should've come back here last night. I don't know what happened to Puck but it wasn't your fault," I assure her.
"I liked him…I'm going to miss him…people are always leaving," Maya wails between heavy sobs.
"I know Mouse but we'll never leave you," I assure her hugging her tightly.
She nods and sniffles on my chest, I just let her cry until we hear yelling from downstairs.
"YOU GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" It's Bruiser yelling and I take Maya from me to stand up. She wipes the rest of her tears and gets up along with Tris.
"YOU HEARD HIM GET THE FUCK OUT!" And that was Lone Star yelling.
"Gloom must be here which means I'm going to kill him now," I tell Tris and Maya running downstairs and they follow me.
When I get to the bottom of the stairs I see that I'm right and Gloom is here, he's looking at Clare who has a fresh bandage on her arm. Dallas, Fitz and Drew are all blocking his path to her however.
"She's my girlfriend you morons you can't keep me from her," Eli snarls.
"SHE'S NOT YOUR GIRLFRIEND ANYMORE YOU SICK PRICK! YOU COVERED HER IN BRUISES AND CUT HER!" I roar and shatter a punch square on his face that breaks his nose and he falls back! This time Clare gasps but my anger can no longer be contained. "THIS IS YOUR OFFICIAL BREAK UP NOTICE AND YOU STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!" I keep punching Eli as hard as I can until Clare stops me.
"Owen stop please, he's not even conscious anymore," Clare says with tears in her eyes and grabbing my arm before I can hit Eli again. I look at her, glare back at bloody unconscious Eli and stop myself from hitting him again.
"Leave him he can sleep it off, let's get out of here," I command everyone. Clare still has hold of my arm and I take her hand pulling her out, everyone else follows. We walk to the drug store and sit in our usual spot, Clare between me and Adam, Maya huddles between me and Tris. Drew and Bianca sit on the other side of Adam, Dallas and Fitz next to them and Miles next to Tris. "How's your arm?" I ask Clare after a few minutes.
"Raven and Spikes cleaned it and bandaged it well, kind of stings though," she tells me.
I nod but don't say anything I'm still pretty pissed and then my phone rings. I don't recognize the number but it's local and I'm pretty sure it's the cops. I get up and walk into the alley to answer so that Maya can't hear the conversation.
"Ya?"
"It's Officer Turner, the initial findings from the coroner are that your friend died of a heroine over dose," he tells me.
"That makes no sense Puck never did drugs before why would he do it now?" I say angrily but keep my voice low.
"I don't know but I've seen many kids on the streets turn to drugs, the drugs could have been tainted and the new kids don't know the difference. We're still waiting on the toxicology to come back but it looks like it was an accidental death," Officer Turner tells me.
"Yeah thanks," I reply hanging up and wondering why Cam would take drugs. I come out of the alley and see that Clare and Adam are gone. "Where are Trouble and Freckles?"
"She wanted to go back and check on Gloom we told her it was a bad idea but she was determined. So my brother took her to The Dot to distract her," Spikes informs me.
"Good she could use the distraction," I reply sitting down next to Maya again and putting my arm around her as she's crying again.
(CLARE)
"What's The Dot?" I ask Adam after we've been walking about a block.
"It's a little café near DeGrassi Community School, it's in Owen's old neighborhood we've been here a couple of times but we usually stick close to downtown," Adam informs me.
"I still think we should go back and check on Gloom, Muscles beat him pretty bad," I comment.
"Gloom deserved it and Muscles was already angry about losing Puck. What did Gloom do to you anyway?" Adam queries.
"Every night when he'd come back to the motel he'd want to have sex and he liked to be rough. He never really hit me or anything but he just sort of got carried away," I answer.
"Has he been doing it the whole time?" Adam questions in a worried voice and I nod. "How many bruises do you have?"
"I'm not sure, a lot mostly around my torso and thighs, a few on my arms but last night was the first time he cut me," I respond.
"And the last after what Muscles did to him," Adam comments and I bite my lip. "Gloom will be alright after laying low for a couple of nights and he deserved it Clare, he shouldn't have hurt you during sex or otherwise," Adam says just as we arrive at a little café with a sign above it that reads: The Dot.
Adam opens the door; we go in and walk to the counter, a tall skinny boy with blonde hair smiles at us. Adam orders us a chocolate shake and basket of fries; we sit at a table by the window and eat silently. While we we're eating the skies open up, it's just a little rain but by the time we leave it's pouring rain. It's coming down so hard we're soaked in less than a minute.
"We'll never make it back in this, come one the Bakers church is just a block away," Adam says having to talk really loud between the thunder, rain and wind.
He takes my hand and we start running, I can't see anything and have no idea where we're going but I trust Adam. After a bit we arrive at a hall attached to a church but I can't see the sign, Adam opens the doors and pulls me in. Now that we're inside I'm freezing and wish I wasn't soaked completely through. I look around and see a few tables all full of kids; at one end is a little table with bread, soup and vegetables.
"Come on we should try and dry off," Adam says pulling through a doorway and down a hall.
"Freckles good heaven's you're soaked to the bone and who's this?" A woman asks in a kind voice.
"Hi Mrs. Baker, we call her Trouble, you think we could dry off and wait here until the rain stops?" Adam asks the woman.
"Oh of course, come with me," Mrs. Baker says. We follow her into the church itself and she shows us to the washrooms. "Start getting your clothes off and I'll put them in the dryer, I'll be right back with something you can wear temporarily," Mrs. Baker tells us. I walk into the girls washroom and Adam into the boys, I begin getting undressed and pile the wet clothes on the sink, I take out my phone from my jeans and set it by my clothes. When I hear a knock on the door I hid in one of the stalls. "Trouble I brought you a robe, I'm sorry but I don't think we have anything else that will fit you well. I looked all through the donation bin and my daughter is tall and rail thin, it's right here on the counter for you and I'll put your clothes in the dryer."
Mrs. Baker leaves and I slowly open the stall door making sure she's gone. Assured that she is I go out and find a long velvety dark blue bathrobe. It covers me and it's warm and dry, Mrs. Baker also took my shoes and socks to put in the dryer so she brought me some warm socks. I put those on too and go out to find Adam waiting for me, his shoes were taken too and he's got the same socks I do. He's wearing grey sweat pants and a red sweatshirt; he raises his eyebrows when he sees me in the bathrobe.
"Mrs. Baker said she couldn't find anything else that would fit me, I think I'm shorter and curvier than her daughter," I comment.
"Yeah you definitely are, Becky is tall and thin as Mouse, thinner maybe," Adam says. "I called Owen and told him where were and that we were going to wait out the rain," Adam tells me as we start walking back to the hall. We enter and I get a few looks from guys for walking in wearing a bathrobe and socks. Feeling embarrassed I make sure the robe is closed as tightly as it can be and hid behind Adam a little. "Let's get some coffee it'll help warm us up," Adam says pulling me by the bathrobe sleeve to the table with the soup and bread that has a coffee machine and disposable cups at one end.
"Hi Freckles," grins a very perky tall thin strawberry blonde I deduce to be Becky Baker from Adam and her mom's descriptions.
"Hi Becky this is Trouble, Trouble Becky Baker, her father is the reverend here," Adam introduces us.
"Hi it's nice to meet you, wow I love your eyes, why are you wearing Luke's bathrobe? Oh you must have come in from the rain; well it looks better on you anyway. I'm sure Luke will agree too, mom must have put your clothes in the dryer. Were you guys hungry were you going to get some soup?" Becky says without taking a breath and talks so quickly it takes a minute for everything she said to enter my brain.
"Umm it's nice to meet you too, yes our clothes are in the dryer, your mom said she couldn't find anything else that would fit me. Who's Luke?" I question after sorting out everything she said.
"Luke's my brother, he's eleven months older than me, we're really close, Adam is wearing his sweatshirt," Becky explains.
"We just wanted some coffee to warm up a little," Adam informs her.
"Oh don't drink that awful coffee you two should come into the house I'll make you some cocoa," Becky offers. Before we can say anything she comes around the table linking her arms with ours and pulls us away. She leads us down the hall and down another then we run under a carport to the back of the house and Becky opens the door. "Oh your socks are all soaked now, take them off and leave them out here. I'll get you some others," Becky says before we go inside. Adam and I take off our socks and go in the house, it's a very nice house, it reminds me a lot of my old house in Scarborough. "Make yourselves comfortable on the sofa I'll be right back," Becky says and then skips upstairs.
"Are you sure it's okay for us to be in here?" I ask Adam following him to the sofa.
"Yeah I know Becky pretty well, Spikes and I came here a lot when we were first on the streets, they don't let many people in their house but they know Muscles and the rest of us well enough they let us in. They have cots in a couple of big rooms where we sleep sometimes," Adam tells me and I remember him mentioning so before.
"Here they're my socks but they should fit you both," Becky says handing me a pair of purple socks and Adam a pair of white socks, "these are Luke's."
Adam takes Luke's socks and puts them on while Becky disappears again. I still feel like I shouldn't be here but when Becky comes back with a tray that has three mugs on it and a big smile I finally settle in.
"Smells great Becky," Adam smiles taking his mug from her.
"Thanks I added cinnamon," she tells us handing me a mug and sitting next to Adam.
Becky turns on the TV and we watch while sipping our cocoa, it's really good and warms me up and almost makes me have to pee when I'm done. Adam too since he gets up and goes into the visible washroom down the hall, I really have to pee so I look at Becky.
"Is there another washroom?"
"Oh sure on the second floor," Becky tells me with a smile, I think she's the cheeriest person I've ever met.
I smile at her and go upstairs to the second floor, guess I should have asked what door because I find five closed doors in the hall. I'm assuming the one at the end of the hall is the master so I open the first door on the right and find a linen closet; the door next to it is very obviously Becky's room. So I go across the hall and open that door to find a half dressed boy with blond hair.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I was just looking for the washroom," I apologize covering my eyes.
Update Thursday June 19th starting from right here and Luke's reaction. And no he's not like their stupid character twisting in the show he won't rape her if that's what you're worried about.