The Wino of Skid Row

Video belongs to Little Shop Connection.
Warning: Depression (very little.)
Sexually suggestive comments/ actions.
Word Count: 635.

Third Person P.O

"Robert Clovis!" The owner of a liquor store screamed at the top of his lungs. He watched as the thief, who had stolen another of his selling wines, ran through the many buildings of Skid Row.

However, the thief wasn't alone anymore. Two men of the law now followed his trail to catch his tail.

"Stop it right there, Clovis!"

But Robert owned the streets. From every dump of Skid Row to it's roofs. He had already slept on all, and he called each place his home. Unfortunately, to others this sounded more like homeless.

It wasn't long until Robert claimed victory after zig zagging through every corner possible. The police were once again beaten. His proud smile spread across his face and he tapped his feet as if he danced. He made his way up above and sat his behind on a pink colored roof.

"Ooh! This one is cherry wine!" The wino on the roof wiggled his feet in the air and giggled to himself.

This was his favorite moment. The moment were he would drown himself in whatever kind of wine and forget.

Forget about them.

About the parents who tore his heart apart. The mother who he thought would stand by him, and the father who he thought would support him. Promises broken. Lies spoken. The day they argued, the moment he ran away. How long has it been?

A year?

A decade?

A century?

Robert dried his tears and tore the cork off the bottle with his teeth. But before he could take that longing sip, his world stopped. The voice of an angel had interrupted his moment. He wasn't mad, instead, he was pleased to listen to her singing.

"Alarm goes off at seven,
And you start uptown."

Crystal.

"You put in your eight hours,
For the powers that have always been."

It only took the sitting man a few seconds to realize he was sitting in her roof.

"Sing it child." Robert frowned at Ronnette's voice. He only wanted to hear the one come out of his love.

"Til it's five p.m."

The wino jumped right outside the ladies' window. His feet landed on a metal platform and the thump startled them.

"Then you go." His deep tone made the girls snicker except the one.

"What are you doing here? You dump!"

"I only flew by to see you, darling."

Crystal rolled her eyes at the love-struck wino in front of her. She is and will always be out his reach. She looked for an uptown man, not another downtown-er. What would it take for her to fall for him?

A suit?

A pretty face?

A million dollars?

"Aw, really? How nice of you!" She obviously used sarcasm, but that only made the man sink into her charm more. "Now, shoo! Me and the girls have important things to do."

"Can I be one of them?"

"Scram!" Crystal's shout made him stumble backwards and fall, but he quickly catched and gripped a tube before hitting the ground and possibly... Dying.

Spicy, he thought.

Robert looked at his other hand. He had a nice tight grip on that stolen wine of his. He let go of the tube and landed softly on the hard concrete floor. He made his way in between buildings and hit some garbage bags to make them 'confortable'. Then, he laid and drank his wine. Finally drifting off to sleep.

• • •

The next day the wino followed the same old path to steal a new wine.

And that's the only way he will ever walk until he dies.

Because far away, there lay a sleepless couple who wait for the return of their lost son, and mourn the death of his sister who gave up her dreams to find him. Only to fail.