Dramatic Child Stars

Four.

Percy,
July 17th, 2021
2:24 pm.

Riley was prone to wandering off the way little kids do when nobody is watching. It was something I'd genuinely just learned to expect from him. He'd been doing it since we were kids anyways. It was a behavior he'd simply not ever grown out of. I used to lose him at events and premiers. One time, we were genuinely supposed to be accepting an award for Generic Family Sitcom, and when they called our name I had to do it alone because Riley had went to the bathroom and never came back. He met someone with a fancy dog that was apparently super friendly. He was only 11 at the time, and probably shouldn't have been allowed to wander the event alone anyways. I was still only 13. That was a scary stage to stand on alone as a fledgling teenager.

He found his way back to me at the market eventually. I'd noticed him slip away, but I'd kind of forgotten he was gone because I was so immersed in my conversation with Poppy. I had an idea about where he was and who he was with, so I didn't bother with asking questions. He was just a little bit predictable. After he returned, Poppy gave us snacks for the walk home and then hugged us both. I pretended not to notice how tense Riley got when she grabbed him a bit abruptly. He flinched, but recovered well.

Aside from that, I thought he looked well that morning. He was at least a little smiley. His eyes were tired, but not drooped. He didn't smell like alcohol or weed. He didn't stumble drunkenly at all when we walked. There had been so many things I'd wanted to say to him about the night before, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Not when he'd woken up so well managed.

On the way home we were stopped near the Salmon Street fountain because someone recognized him from the movie he did with April Belmont. It was an older woman with lines in her face and graying hair that made me question why she'd bother watching a raunchy college drama. She complimented him on those special scenes he'd done with April. He managed to smirk even though his eyes looked properly horrified by the compliment. I remember him doing the scenes so thoughtlessy. I remember having no idea April had helped him dope himself to get through it until he'd told me later that evening. I remember how he walked out of his own movie premier twice for impromptu bathroom breaks to avoid having to watch them again. He took a picture that he didn't seem to know how to refuse with the woman and then we continued on.

We made it the rest of the way up the walk to our high rise without another issue. He finally started nibbling on his crushed up croissant as we approached. I'd thought he was just going to throw it away, but I was thankful to see him eating something.

When the building came into view I saw the dark haired homeless teenager leaning up against the gate. Riley seemed to notice him at the same time as me. Before I could voice my complaints, he said, "Don't call the cops. It's just Joey."

I stopped walking.

"I wasn't going to call the cops."

"You were making your angry face," Riley protested.

"I don't have an angry face," I countered, shaking my head.

"You do," Riley assured me. "You're still making it."

"Why is your feral pet infront of the building?" I asked, cycling back to the main point. "I told you to make sure he wasn't coming around here."

For the record, I'm not being especially unkind. The first time I met , it was because he was panhandling on the front steps. Other residents complained. Joey told the security that he knew Riley, which made the landlords reach out to me. We almost got told to move out. I'd had a very awkward conversation with the building owner where I had to explain that Riley just was too friendly for his own good. I had an equally as uncomfortable conversation asking Riley to keep his friends away from the building.