Scene #3
Broken Angels
Reality hit Lilly full force when she
slammed into a solid wall of muscle. Inwardly she cursed her
stupidity. The street was a cruel, unforgiving teacher. It didn't
leave room for mistakes. She'd seen enough casualties to know it
didn't give second chances.
The whirl of the police siren
had stopped her cold. Fear of getting caught held her paralyzed. By
the time her brain kicked in and signaled her feet to move, it was
too late. The man's huge hands were locked around her forearms. She
struggled against his hold, but she couldn't break free. Her
efforts proved to be as useless as Nothing's pathetic hisses.
"The cops playing that music for you?"
"Hell, no," she
said.
"Then what you running for?"
"I'm getting
my exercise, keeping my girlish figure in shape." She twisted her
mouth into a go-to-hell smile. "You got any more stupid questions
you need answered?"
He narrowed his eyes in warning. "I've
been accused of being a lot of things in my life, but I've never
met anyone big enough or brave enough to call me stupid."
"Look, can't you cut me a break?" She gave him her best
lost-little-girl look. Raising her chin a notch, she added, "If my
mother finds out I went out tonight she'll kill me." She batted her
eyes at him apologetically. "Just let me go. Okay?"
He
shook his head. "It's a wonder you're not choking on those lies,"
disapproval echoed in his voice. "Judging from the looks of you,
you haven't seen your mother in some time. How long have you been
on the run?"
"I just told you --"
"If all that's
going to come out of your mouth is lies, just shut up." He let go
of one of her arms.
Lilly dropped the humble approach.
"I'm not the one who wanted to hold a conversation in the first
place."
"What's your name?"
"Lilly."
"Like the flower?"
"Yeah, mister, like the friggin'
flower." She tried to pull her other arm free. "Look, it's been
real nice chatting with you, but I've got to be going."
"Give it up. You're not going anywhere, until I say so." He sniffed
the air. "You sure don't smell like no flower. When's the last time
you had a bath?"
Despite the dirt on her body and the
faded rags on her back, Lilly's face heated. Her pride forced her
to feel the full sting of his insult.
"That's kind of
personal, don't you think?"
"So's a man's trash, but that
hasn't stopped you from digging in mine, like it was a goddamned
buffet table. Shit, go at it kid." He released her and waved his
hand in the air. "If you want to eat garbage it's no skin off my
nose."
Her jaw jutted out. "It's not a question of want,
mister."
"I'll be damned." He took a step back and folded
his arms across his chest. "You do know how to tell the truth.
There just might be hope for you yet."
"Yeah, I'm a
miracle waiting to happen."
"You hungry?"
"No."
He raised a brow in reprimand. "I can see telling
the truth isn't going to be habit forming for you."
"I
don't owe you anything."
"Didn't say you did. So, are you
a thief too?"
"When I have to be."
There was no
point in lying about the obvious. This guy didn't strike her as
slow.
She wasn't overly proud of some of the things she'd
done in the last year. But she'd managed to survive, which was more
than she could say for some of the other kids she'd met. Some had
ended up dead; others ended up worse off than dead.
Most
of the time she didn't have any money, clean clothes, or a warm bed
to sleep in, but she still had her dignity. No one would ever take
that from her.
"You know stealing is a ticket to jail."
"Yeah, well, it's not like I've got a lot of options." Her
stomach rumbled.
"Still not hungry?"
"So, I'm
hungry." She shrugged. "Big deal. It's not the first time." She
scooped Nothing, who'd been hissing at the man the entire time.
"Look, mister, that's three truths I've given you. If I go for
four, can I collect two hundred dollars, breeze past jail, hop a
ride on the Reading and go home?"
"I got a feeling home's
the last place you want to be."
"What's it to you?"
"It's nothing to me." J.T. pushed his lips together and shrugged.
"I'm just offering you some food."
"What's your angle?"
"Angle?"
"Yea, what the hell do you want?"
"For starters, you can stop cursing. It's not ladylike."
"So. Who says I'm a lady?"
"Me." He pointed a thumb at his
chest. "Jordan Thomas Hines, and I don't lie."
Lilly eyed
him with open suspicion. "Why would you want to help me?"
He pointed his jaw toward the sky. "Full moon."
"Look,
mister, if you're expecting sex you can forget it."
His
laughter echoed in the alley. "Do I look desperate to you?" He gave
her a quick once-over. "Even if I was, I sure as hell wouldn't roll
in the sack with someone who hasn't taken a bath in a month. Now,
what's your answer? You want that food, or not?"
