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“Alright,” she echoes.
“Alright.”
I kiss her on the forehead. “Chin up, baby girl. We got this.”
A rustling sound comes from behind the dumpsters, and I see a shadow crouching toward us. First a face appears, then a small body follows as a kid crouches on the ground from behind the dumpster and studies us with interest.
I press my finger to my lips in the universal silence sign, then wave for the kid to go away.
But he doesn’t, only stares at me, then Callie.
He is about eight. Ten max. Shirtless, in shorts, barefoot. He is malnourished. His body is covered in cuts. His bare feet are black. Hands dirty, so is his face, smudges from food in the corners of his lips. His hair is tangled and hangs down to his shoulders and onto his face. But there is childish curiosity in his eyes that study us with interest.
He won’t go away.
Callie and I exchange looks. “What are you doing in the streets at night?” she asks.
“I live here,” he answers too quickly, his childish voice surprisingly cheerful.
“Where?”
He nods behind us.
Behind us are only several old cardboard boxes. Then I realize what the rag is—possibly a blanket or a bed.
Fucking hell. This townisa shithole.
The kid sits on his haunches in front of us, his knees wide apart, and plays with an empty cigarette pack in his hands.
A raspy bark comes from twenty or so feet away. “Hey, Little, wha’ ‘d ye do with tha’ bottle?”
The kid presses his forefinger to his lips, mimicking my silence sign, and runs off. A sound of dinging bottles comes from one of the dumpsters.
Suddenly, voices come from the distance.
A collection of footsteps.
Heavy. Stomping.
The clicking of weapons as the footsteps approach.
Shit!
I still. So does Callie next to me.
The old man’s voice is irritated when he is asked about a young couple.
“Haven’ seen none,” he rasps. “Got a smoke?”
“Hey!” the authoritative voice snaps. “You, kid! Saw a young couple around here?”
“Yeah,” the kid’s voice squeaks too innocently compared to his cocky voice before.
I forget to breathe.
“A guy and a girl?” the kid asks.
I close my eyes, cursing.
