Throwaway People

Priorities

Green Acres, Camp: 7:30 AM

Key had a nightmare again. It was fading quickly. It wasn't the old nightmare with her Mother laying dead on the bed. Andy was there wiping blood on Key's face. Jorge was in the background. It was one of the private rooms in the Casa Sombrio.

It didn't have the intensity of the old dream. Key looked over and saw the empty space where the old bed was. She missed having Patty sleeping in the room with her. If Bobbi had slept in this room it wouldn't have been the same.

Key wandered into the main room where where the adults were having breakfast. Bobbi was there looking haggard. Her beard shadow was obvious. Without make-up accenting her feminine features, Bobbi's face showed that she was a he.

"We all help with the meals, clean around the apartment, and other chores." Jim was explaining to a obviously tired Bobbi. "We share our incomes to buy food and hygiene products."

"What if I don't want to?" Bobbi asked.

"I'll kick your sorry ass out." Jim said. "It's like a commune, we all contribute in our own way. If you want to stay here you have to contribute."

"If you toss me out, I still know where the camp is, I could tell Jose and Jorge all about this place." Bobbi countered.

"In that case you would have ratted Key out and Patty would kill you for that." Jim said.

"I would, in a heartbeat." Patty assured Bobbi.

"Oh, yeah, you scared me alright. Don't worry, I'd never say anything about this place." Bobbi said. "This place has something strange about it."

"We all noticed that." Jim commented.

Bobbi might have challenged Jim and Patty about doing expected chores, but Bobbi did them without complaint. She finished what was required of her and went back to her attic bedroom to go back to sleep. She wouldn't even get started for another three hours.

Jim, Patty, and Key went down 10th Avenue to the bus stop on the other side of Military Trail. Where Jim waited with them until they caught the route 61 bus. Jim crossed 10th Avenue and headed down Military Trail to Forest Hill. He would sell what he could there and then cross Forest Hill and continue on down towards Southern.

Green Acres, Camp: 12:20 PM

Bobbi got up after Noon. She looked at the racks of retro clothing on the racks in the attic. Bobbi chose a pair of bell bottoms, a beige top, and a pair of block heeled sandals. After taking the path she was told to use, Bobbi emerge near a canal. She looked around for a blue sedan, seeing none nearby Bobbi walked down Haverhill towards Lake Worth Road.

Little C. had hidden himself in the woods on the other side of the canal. He had found his gun earlier. It had gotten rusty and dirty where he had dropped it the last time Little C. had tried to find the path to the camp that Jim and Patty had in the wooded lot. He watched Bobbi leave, he could hardly wait until she was gone.

Jim, Patty, and another girl he didn't know had left earlier, but Little C. hadn't been awake. It had been early in the morning. He hadn't expected them to leave their camp before the sun came up. Little C. didn't want to confront Jim, so he left them alone. He didn't need to confront Bobbi, since she had showed him how to get into the camp.

Little C. went around the canal. He found the path into the camp. Little C. thought that the couple might be holding Kitty in the camp. It might be possible that he could find her tied up. Little C. thought the girl might even consider him a hero if he could rescue her. Of course he'd have to bring her back to Jose. She might not like that part.

Little C. was careful to check the path for fire ants. He didn't see any signs of them as he made his way down the path. As Little C. pulled back the cut chain link fence that was when the spiders attacked him. Big ugly greenish spiders that began biting him. Screaming, Little C. ran back down the path towards the canal. The ugly spiders began falling off as he ran. By the time he dived into the canal there were no more spiders. Their poison worked it's way into Little C.'s system.

A huge dog walked from the path it stood on two legs and stared down at C. He smiled at him. Little C. knew it had to be the poison in his blood. He was screaming in pain as he stared up at the dog.

"Don't come around here no more." The dog told little C.

Little C. heard something rise out of the canal. "Tell Jose to call off his dogs." Said a voice behind him.

A bony hand gripped Little C. under one arm and helped him to his feet. He turned to see a skeleton with flesh still clinging to it. Little C. screamed and pulled away. As the crazed addict stumbled away the poison worked further into his system. He stepped out into the traffic on Haverhill and bounced off a mini-van. It didn't kill Little C., but it didn't help his condition either. This time after being sent to a hospital Little C. was sent to an institute on 45th Street.

Lake Worth, Downtown, 8:30 AM

Patty and Key had gotten to the Lost Tea Shop early. Stacey hadn't arrived to open up. Key walked across the park with Patty. They both stared at the intercostal waterway for a while. There was a sailing yacht drifting by. Key remembered how she used to use the ocean as her escape when she had to be with a client. Now she remembered why it had been such an important fantasy for her.

When you had to be with a client, Keyote and the other kids would learn to imagine being somewhere else. Pretending they were there, instead of doing it with the client. There were times that Jose would slap Key when she wasn't paying attention to his needs. It would snap her out of the fantasy of being at the ocean. It didn't take Key too long to slip back into the fantasy.

As they sat at the bench watching the calm waters of Key began to tell Patty about how she had used the ocean as a form of escape.

"I used to think of myself on stage singing country." Patty said. "I haven't thought about that for years. Before I quit the life, I was just thinking about my next hit."

"Do you still think about it. Your next hit I mean." Key said.

"I told you, sometimes it's so strong that I can't stand it. That is why I'm taking the chance of bringing you with me." Patty put her arm around Key. "Seeing you helps me keep my priorities straight."

Palm Springs, Military Trail: 12:30 PM

After the excitement of the last few days Jim found he was bored. He wasn't selling a lot of water today. Not that he needed to. Patty and Key were right that he had a stash of cash. He had found the money box the first day he explored the abandoned building. It held three thousand in cash with some change to spare.

Not having to pay rent everyday had allowed Jim to squirrel away more money. Patty had managed to save up some on her own. Jim knew she kept it hidden under the dresser in the master bedroom. Bobbi had some cash as well. Now that Key was singing too he imaged that she too would have a stash of money for herself.

Jim wondered if Andy had convinced himself that they were telling the truth about Kitty. It was possible they wouldn't bother them anymore. If that was the case, now was the time to try and find out where Key's family was and help her reunite with them

Jim appreciated that Patty and Key loved each other. That it would be hard for them to accept that there was another family out there who would want to find Key again. That had been their original goal was to find Key's family. It was time that they started working on that goal again. Despite how painful it would be to lose Key.

"Tomorrow." Jim said out loud. A promise to himself.