all I could feel or think about it first was the splitting migraine I had. rolling over and touching the back of my head made me wince in pain and felt a little nauseous when I looked at my hand and saw a bit of blood. quickly came back to me why I was waking up on the ground and where the blood had come from. my mother had kicked me out of my home. not that you can call the rundown Apartments in front of Charter a home... my mother claimed I was too much of a burden and that at the age of 14 I should be able to take care of myself. with that she threw me in my backpack with only a few pairs of clothes and was telling me to leave. when I tried to argue in protest she gave me a good show which led to me smacking my head on the dumpster I guess. I knew the truth though. easier to afford drugs when there's not another mouth to feed.
slowly I stood up trying not to move my neck too quickly despite really wanting to pop it badly. everything look the same at first walking up to the street seeing all the buildings lit up. I had seen this same exact View a hundred times. but then why did it look so weird? why was there a sense of deja vu? the only thing that made sense was that there was a little bit of brain damage. not that I was a fucking doctor or anything. it was just the only way to explain this feeling like I had two sets of memories of this View. two different clashing emotions. a small sense of joy that made me angry since every time I was looking at this View at this time of night it was simply because I was waiting for my mother to let me back in.
it didn't matter I have other things to worry about. namely the most important one being I was homeless and just one of millions homeless in this city. just another pathetic face to get lost in the crowd. of course since I was 14 there was always the chance of getting kidnapped... there was always the occasional kid that claimed to have seen one. whether it was true or not didn't matter wasn't hard to imagine that there was a market for torture porn and being a teenager made me a prime victim. not really sure why that was the first thing that popped in my head but that fear was still eating at me. I was alone with nowhere to go and no one to ask for help. slowly walking to the sidewalk there was already a couple of people walking by not caring one bit to look my way. it's not like it was any different so why did it bother me now...
either way it didn't matter I needed to find a place to set up for shelter. at least some place safe to sleep until the morning. I decided to take a right in front of the apartments walking down the sidewalk. I was moving a lot more slowly than I normally would be. but eventually I started to get to a couple of the local businesses down the road namely a couple of food stands. it was the man at the second one the guy behind the counter of men-tatsu that called out to me. " Hey kid what do you say need something to eat!" he called out to get my attention. " sorry i... don't have any Eddies." I told him when I looked up at the Kennedy Ave sign trying to think of where to go to from there. " it's all right choom! customer had ordered something a little while ago but then they had to leave urgently. looks like you had it rough so you can have it." kindness always came at a price in night City. there was always a catch. but I was feeling hungry and besides I wanted to hold on to some hope that maybe there was good people that would help me at a time like this.
" thanks... appreciate it... " I told him as I walked up to the counter and he immediately placed a sandwich in front of me. it tasted awful like a lot of things around here. you practically learn from the time you can eat food that it's best to just ignore it and get it down. Sam cooks are telling there's enough to make the food a little more palatable. pizza place not too far away from here isn't too bad either. " so choom you got a name?" the cooked ass and I was hesitant to tell him my name but I still felt a little bit grateful to him. " it's Xander. " I told him plainly before taking another bite and forcing it down. " you look a little rough there Xander. what happened did you get mugged?" swallowing my third bite I shook my head quickly at first and then gently slowing down holding my head.
" no I got kicked out. trying to find a place stay at least for the night. I'm not sure what but I'll figure out what to do tomorrow. " leaning over his counter he looked me up and down for a moment trying to get a read on me. " well I know a spot you can sleep. just go down those stairs make a right and just before you get to the circle there's a little Nook you can hide in. couple of back doors in it but nobody ever uses them. wouldn't recommend making it your permanent spot but if you just need a place to rest for the night should be fine until morning." he was helping me again. that and the smile should be a warning but it was a warning I wasn't listening to. " sure um... thanks choom that really helps me out a lot." I was feeling pretty tired so I stayed away from the counter and thanked him again. as I started to walk away I turned around to ask him what his name was him but it looked like he was about to take a call.
I found the spot he was talking about and went to the back of it finding a spot in the corner behind a couple of trash cans to keep myself hidden. looking down at myself couldn't help but feel a little bit of pity. raggedy clothes and worn out shoes. more old torn up clothes was all that was going to be in the backpack too. it was better than walking around naked I thought to myself as I pulled out a t-shirt bawling it up to place behind my head so I can lean it back in the corner comfortably. tomorrow I was going to need to start finding a way to make a little bit of money. even if it was just enough to get a few bites of food every day it would be enough to keep me alive. for now I would have to just try and get a good night's sleep.
like anyone can get a good night's sleep in night City...