Cocaine Heart

“I am hungry” the little girl speaks up shivering from the cold, her body burning up because of the fever and the boy hands her his dirty woolen sweater so that she didn’t die from cold. She was hesitant to accept it. If she took it that meant he would be left in only in his torn oversized t-shirt. She wanted him to stay warm as well so she declined it but the boy was insistent on making her wear it. He had found this from the donation bins set up at the side of roads only a few weeks ago but it was already in a bad condition.

The girl was about seven years old with graceful features disguised under the dirt and grease. The boy was cuddled up next to the girl. He was a little older than her, about twelve years old. He too was quite a handsome fellow if he were made to clean up. Once they lived that life… but that was long gone. Now they were here living in the streets, wandering, begging and putting in manual labor here and there to earn just enough money so that they can get food at least once a day but still it didn’t happen every day that he could gather food for both of them. He let her have his share when he knew she was hungry and slept empty stomached. That is what a brother does right?

The snow fell heavily over them and the boy was grateful he had managed to gather some pieces on cardboards to hide them from prying eyes and make a fake comfort around themselves. The ground was wet and the atmosphere dark and cold. But still both the children would close their eyes and pretend that they were living inside the large house. The familiar smell of duck glazed with raspberries tingling their senses as both of them sat on the chairs and did their home-work before dinner and their mother helped them. They pretended that their dad entered the house and put his cap on the cabinet before coming to the kitchen to hug their mother with a kiss on cheeks. They pretended.

He shivered due to the cold and steadied himself to go out in search of some food. He hated seeing her like this. He hated when he could not provide for her. He often thought of leaving her in an orphanage so that she could have a better life, a life she deserved but he didn’t think he could live another single second if he knew that she was away from him and he couldn’t see her. She assured him that it was okay. She assured him that one day it will all change. That they will have the life they once lived and better and it was her words that kept him going days after days.

“I am going to go out and search for some food alright?” he gave her little forehead a gentle kiss before moving the makeshift door he had created and steps out into the snow filled dark alley with a plain plastic bag. The only source of light was the florescent lamp hanging at the other corner above the garbage can near the Chinese place. It was a nice hide out really. They had wanders many place because he didn’t want his sister near the older boys who wanders the streets like him. He was very protective of her so he hardly ever let her get out of that place unless absolute necessary. He made their shelter near a restaurant so it was easy for him to collect food for him and his sister but there was a problem here too.

The owner didn’t like scums like him loitering around the garbage can littering the place so he always kept a cane with him. The boy had met the owners cane a couple of times but he kept going back there. This was a little away from the main town area so the other boys didn’t really come this way looking for food. But on a bad day when luck was not on his side the older boys came looking this side to find food and then he would have to battle them for food but they always won. He was small and alone. They were older and more in number. Sometimes he wished things were different but things weren’t. He had to go through this every day.

The thing that bugged him most was how his sister was uprooted from her life. He could still live like this – sleeping on the pavement, eating the food thrown into garbage cans, doing some laboring in the small shops to earn some money but that was not what his sister deserved. They didn’t have a home to live in. They had nowhere to go. They didn’t have any money. They didn’t have food. They couldn’t go to school. They weren’t invited to their relatives’ house either. What wrong had these two innocent being had done to receive such a punishment?

He moved to the garbage can and saw the restaurant hadn’t thrown their leftovers yet so he started walking a little farther. There was another alley just around the corner and it was a little Italian place. They usually threw the pieces of breads that were leftovers and sometimes meat. He hoped he would get some food because it had been two days since he last ate something. Last night he managed to get some scraps of meat and handful of rice but just then the owner had come out so he ran the other way misleading him but on the way he had lost the bag where he had collect the meat so he only returned with the rice and it was not even enough for one person so he lied to his sister when she asked why would not eat and said he had already eater and that’s why he was late.

He hides in the corner and see a young lad in his twenties taking two garbage bags out and then throwing them in the large trash can. The little boy’s eyes sparkled. No one was here yet. He could take more food today. Maybe he would be able to enough so that there is some left for tomorrow. He rushed to the area and opened the knot on the trash can before rummaging through them gathering quite some amount of stale leftovers. You should have seen the smile on his face. He looked like he had found a pot of gold but unfortunately this was one of those days when luck wasn’t on his side. He saw a shadow and there were some more following it close behind so he did what he did best. He hid.

The boys came for food and found that the bags were open so they started looking for the little rascal who dared steal their food. He stayed behind the gap of the trash bin. He was scrawny and little so he could enter these tiny spaces and not be noticed. He held his breath afraid if he breathed they would sense his presence. Finally the shuffling and cussing stopped. He thought they had gone elsewhere in search of food so he came out from his hiding spot.

“Ah there you are you little bastard! Coming here in our area and stealing our food. You thought you could get away with that? You fucking bastard! Get him!” a boy shouted at him and the others charged towards him. he started running but there was only a little distance those little twelve year old feet could travel before the heavy footsteps met up to his. He felt someone tug at his worn t-shirt from behind causing a tear in it. He still tried to get away from their hold, trying to keep the packet of food away from them but they snatch it from him and a sob emits from his throat. He is not the ones who cry easily. But tonight he does because he is desperate. He wants to go back to her sister. He wants to bring some food to her so that they can eat and survive the winter… at least for tonight. He was happy that tonight he would get to eat something.

A punch meets his cheeks and he falls face down on the ground. Several kicks meet his stomach and back but he still fights on. He has taken worse beatings for far less food. He was not letting go and lose so easily this time. He manages to crawl up and stand as another boy punches his nose making it bleed. The boy holding his plastic bag is laughing at the pathetic display of power he shows over him. The boy pulls out the tiny scrap of rusted metal that he has ever so artfully tied to a piece of wood with straps of cloth and discarded tape. The boy doesn’t think twice before slashing it through the cheeks of the boy with the bag finds this is the perfect opportunity to snatch the bag from his grip and make a run for it.

“Oh you little fucker! You have had it. I am going to kill you!” The boy keeps running and he is vaguely aware of the mob of angry voices following him but he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t care that he almost slips on black ice. He doesn’t care about his torn and tattered clothes. He doesn’t care about the snow falling over his head. He runs as if his life depends on it. Maybe it does. He bumps into someone and falls to the ground. “Hey –” a man turns to look at who disturbed him. “I will call you later” the man speaks on the phone and shuts it off putting it inside his pocket. “Sir please help me… There are some people after me please help me” the boy cries. Maybe this man will help him. Although he half expects the man to ignore him and get inside his car to drive away the man bends down to help him with the bag of food he collected. Instinctively the boy brings out his own made knife suspicious the man will snatch his food. The man looks good. He is wearing nice clothes and expensive watch. He doesn’t look that old either, maybe in his mid-twenties.

The man notices the hint of fresh blood on the rusted piece of iron and he has to think to himself how impressive that is. The man holds his arms up in surrender allowing the boy to calm down and put the knife down. The man can easily kill the boy in front of him to even dare show him a knife but he is intrigued by him. Some might even say he is impressed. “There he is, let’s get him” the man hears the voices getting closer to the boy and the boy attempts to run again but the man grabs him and pulls the little boy behind him and pulling out a gun from behind and pointing it at the fifteen or sixteen year old teenage fuckers.

The boys instantly pull up to a stop their faces recognizing the man. The man noticed the boy whose cheek was slashed and blood was dried on the surface. The man cocked his head to the side ready to shoot them. They didn’t need to be told twice. The boys didn’t turn or made any comments further. They just turned and ran. The man tucked the gun back in the back of his pants and bent down so that he was leveled to the boy. The boy was scared. This man was dangerous. But then again he saved him tonight. The boys feeling towards the man in front of him is conflicted. He is scared and grateful to the man at the same time.

“Come on, get in. I will give you a ride” the man offers opening the door to his car. The boy is hesitant. He doesn’t want the boys coming back looking for him but something tells him that they won’t disturb him ever again. “Thank you sir but I can’t. I have to get back to my sister. She is alone” he speaks. This is probably the first time he says anyone that he has a sister. He always wants to protect her but he is sure that this man won’t hurt them. “Really what is her name?” the guy asks. “Raven” the boy simply answers. “What a beautiful name but why did you leave her alone so late at night?” the man asks. “She was hungry so I went out get some food” the boy says and the grip on his bag tightens. “Oh really? Why are you stealing?” “I am not stealing. I collected it from the trash cans” the boy saps. In all the time he has spent here living in the streets he never stole. He worked, he looked through trashcans and if he didn’t get anything, he lived empty stomach. He didn’t like begging either but in the past he had to do it twice or thrice because he didn’t have any money or food to feed his sister.

“Well okay then. Go, walk back to her. She must be waiting” the man says and stood up. He hands the boy a couple of bills and when the boy looks at it, there are about a hundred pounds. He can’t possibly take this much money from him. The boy stood there not moving. “Why are you not going?” the man asked confused. “I can’t take your money sir” the boy hands the money back to the man but still does not move. “What’s wrong?” the man asks. The boy is surprised that the man stays behind and talks to him for so long. Usually people don’t even notice that he is there. They just turn away, their features a mask of disgust as they walk away but this man does not look at him making him feel like a weed in the garden or a pest. The man just looks at him like a human. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to be human.

“I am scared” he admits to himself. He still thinks that the boys are hiding in the corner of an unknown building waiting to pounce on him when the man is out of sight. “Why?” the man asks him. “I think they will follow me” the boy innocently replies and the man barks out a laugh. He pulls out the gun again and places the large cool metal on the palm of the little twelve year old child. “See this? You know what it is?” the man asks him and the boy nods. “It is a gun” the boy replies. Of course he knows what it is. He has seen one from his childhood. “If someone comes near you, you take it like this and then pull this part this way and pull the trigger. Okay?” the man demonstrates how to use that gun. The boy nods oddly fascinated by the block of metal that is kept on his hand. The gun is awfully heavy for a twelve year old boy and when the boy tries to hold it in one hand like the man showed him, it slips and fall on the ground surrounded by snow. The man only laughs.

“Okay, what do you say, I take you to your sister and then both of you can come with me to my place. Your sister can eat the food in my house and I will teach you how to use the gun nicely. Then you will never have to be scared again. Ever” the man smiles down at the boy and the boy nods, his tongue darting out to lick his chapped lips.

The man opens the door and the boy hesitates again not wanting to stain the cream leather interior with his dirty self. He doesn’t want the man to get mad. The man seems to understand his hesitation because he says “Don’t worry about the car, get in or else you will die of cold” the man urges the boy inside and then the man walks to the other side and get in before driving away in the direction given by the boy.

“By the way I am Hector” the man introduces himself. “My name is Zayn” the raven haired boy answers.



A/n: HEY EVERYONE. I AM NEW TO THIS WEBSITE AND THIS IS MY FIRST STORY HERE. HOPE YOU ALL LIKE IT.

Notes