Chapter 2

On the outskirts Chloe found that the buildings grew smaller and shabbier, mostly broken-down messes of sheet-rock with rusty chicken wire fences. They clustered around a cracked dusty road that went beyond the neighborhood. Chloe had never seen this part of town before, but she could have sworn that the end of town led to the highway. She looked around the single story buildings and saw that except for a few houses and sheds, the town stopped to give way to a vast unbroken plain. Even in the fading light and overcast sky it seemed foreboding to her. Perhaps it would be best to find a life here now that she had come this far.

Her stomach grumbled. She had to get something to eat. She looked in the windows around the neighborhood. Most were dark but a few were lit. So she watched up to the first house with a light on and stopped. In the large patches of overgrown grass lay a large black dog. Chloe tiptoed backwards hoping not to wake it. Too late. The dog sat up and shot a glance at her with its brown eyes flashing in the dark. Frightened, she turned and walked away.

Looking back she saw that it jolted toward her barking furiously. She panicked and ran down the street until she was exhausted. She took a moment to breathe, and heard the dog barking a ways behind her. She looked behind and saw nothing. Good, she thought, it’s not following me. She picked herself up and trudged toward another house. Like the previous one, this house had dimly lit windows. Unlike the previous house, though, Chloe couldn’t see any dogs. After carefully mulling it over, she decided it was safe to approach the front door.

Her heart raced as she knocked on the door. She didn’t know what to expect. Perhaps she could find a new home.

Perhaps not.

She waited for a few minutes and nothing happened. Figuring the owner didn’t hear her, she knocked again. This time she heard muffled footsteps and voices approach the door. It slammed open, almost smacking her in the face and she jumped back. A sour-looking wrinkled woman in a bathrobe slouched on the other side of the door, scowling at Chloe.

“What do you want?” the woman frowned.

Chloe’s nerves got the best of her and she shrunk back in fear. The woman looked angry.

After staring tensely, the woman barked again. “Don’t waste my time. Do you want something or not?”

Chloe hears thumping coming from within the house and looked around the doorway to see a girl her age peering at her. She felt a rush or relief as she realized there was someone her age. Maybe this family would let her in.

The illusion shattered when the woman started to slam the door. “No!” Chloe threw herself at the door trying to push it open. Clearly taken aback, the woman screamed. “What are you doing? You can’t come in here!”

Desperate to get a word in, Chloe screamed back that she just needed a place to stay, only to have the door slammed on her hand. She just barely yanked it out in time. She clutched her thumb in pain, trying to keep it from throbbing.

More than that, she felt hurt and angry that someone could be so callous. She briefly wished she could get back at her somehow.

She thought of her parents and how they would not approve, but pushed the thought aside as she wandered down the streets. It was now dark outside, even with the clouds giving way to the moon. As she looked around she realized that this was not like her old neighborhood at all. The couple of streetlights there were gave only enough light to give the run-down place a lonely ambience. Nobody walked the streets. The whole area felt dead.

Chloe had the creeping suspicion that this place was not safe. She felt she had better find a place to stay quickly. Looking around she saw a house without a fence. The lights were off, so she figured it would be safe. Creeping to the back of the house saw a broken-down tool shed, patches of grass, and a water spigot. Feeling curious, she walked over to the spigot and tried to turn the faucet on. She couldn’t see it earlier, but it was rusty and she had a hard time twisting it. But she was thirsty and thought it worth the risk.

It took a while, but eventually the spigot groaned and sputtered out water. The sound alone made her rethink taking a drink, but she knelt down anyway and lapped up the stream of water.

BLUGH!!!

She spat it out almost immediately. Besides being on the warm side and not the cool water she expected, it tasted metallic and had some sort of grit that stuck to her teeth. To her it was almost more like mud soup than water. She left the spigot running and looked at the building. She hadn’t noticed it before, but it looked to be more of a shop than a house. It had some sort of sign wedged under its tin roof and had a note saying “closed” hung on the rear doorknob.

Curiosity got the better of her and she went over to the wooden door and tried the knob. To her surprise it was unlocked. She looked around apprehensively to see if anyone was watching.

No one.

She crept inside and gently closed the door behind her. Once her eyes adjusted to the dark she could see that the building was actually a kind of kitchen. It had a small worn out grill, grimy sink, and cupboards wall to wall. On the wall hung various utensils such as large butcher knives, spatulas, and an apron. It all felt somewhat eerie in the dark, but Chloe took comfort in the fact that the owner was probably some sort of cook, and that if she stuck around she might get something to eat.

Then again, she thought, she was probably trespassing, and wouldn’t be welcome here. Maybe if she could sneak out before the owner came back there would be no problem at all.

But where would she go from here? She realized she hadn’t thought of a plan for tomorrow. After mulling it over she decided she could not stay here in any case. She would have to get up early and figure out where to go from then on. But for now she needed some sleep. She closed her eyes, occasionally startled at the sight of the apron, which would catch what little light there was and sometimes look like a ghost looming overhead. Her nerves calmed down, though, and she soon fell asleep in the corner of the room.

                                                                       ~

THWACK!

Chloe woke up to something hitting her on the head. She must have bumped it against a cupboard door, she thought, still mostly asleep.

Not even five seconds later she felt something coarse and bristly swatting against her head and scraping her cheek. It stung, and this time she fully awoke to see a figure looming over her. Oh, that stupid apron, she thought, rubbing her eyes.

It was no apron. As her vision began to clear she saw it was a grizzled old man armed with a broom, glaring at her. Shocked, she sat up to see that the sun was already rising, illuminating the man’s angry stubbled face.

“Get up!” he shouted. “What do you think you’re doing in here? Does this look like your house to you?”

Chloe stammered something, but all she could do was babble incoherently for a few seconds before the man pointed at the open door.

“Did you do this?” he roared.

Chloe had a difficult time understanding what he meant until she looked outside to see the spigot still running, sloshing water all over the yard.

“You think water is cheap?”

Chloe finally caught her words. “The door was unlocked and I…”

“You kids think can just splash around and do whatever you want? The world’s not your playground!” He pointed to the door again. “Now get out!”

Without wasting a second Chloe scurried out of that building. On her way out the man swung his broom at her one last time. Chloe didn’t see it, and the hard end of it connected with the back of her head, knocking her down in a puddle of mud. She regained her balance, got up, and splashed through the mud to hear the man say “I better not catch you urchins here again or I swear I’ll turn you in!”

Once she gained some distance she looked back to see him stooping over the spigot, cursing to himself as he struggled with it. He glanced up to look at her, and in response she stuck out her tongue at him. He leered at her as she walked away.

How could people be so mean? she thought to herself. There’s got to be someone who will help me.

Walking down the street she could see that the block looked very different in the daytime. The ramshackle houses were much more cloistered than she remembered, and some of them almost looked more like mud huts than modern houses. It was also much livelier too. Denizens went in and out of their houses to go to the shops. Chloe didn’t know how anyone could tell each building apart. They all looked like one big mess to her. Some of the shops were simply tarps set in front of houses. Others looked more like afterthoughts added onto each block. Near to the boundaries of the town she found even poorer households that kept goats, pigs, and other small livestock in the common areas. It was all so strange to her. Never before had she set foot in the poor part of town. It was as if she was in another country. Some structures were still destroyed from the last conflict, never to be rebuilt.

She spent the rest of the morning walking from house to house to keep in the shade, which became increasingly difficult as the day grew hot and sticky from the previous rainshower. Despite the events of the morning, she felt well rested, albeit with a knot on her head. She was hungry, however.

Looking around her she saw people milling about and thought of an idea. She remembered back in stories her mother used to read her about young orphans who would beg for food. While they usually ended with the farfetched conclusion of becoming royalty, Chloe thought maybe someone on the street would give her a place to stay, or at least money for food. It seemed like a good idea to her at the time.

Reality, though, proved very different. The denizens of this part of town were more hard-nosed than she thought. Perhaps they were used to street urchins running around, as she was not the only one. Everyone she stopped on the street simply turned her away, having their own problems to worry about.

“I thought you said you could find good deals here!” The shrill shriek of a woman’s voice caught Chloe’s attention. She looked to see a nicely dressed couple wandering aimlessly down the street. One woman wearing a plaid dress waved her arms as she complained to her companion. “So far it’s nothing but flea markets and cruddy shops.”

“Well don’t blame me. Some of the cheapest shops still left on the border are here. It’s not my fault you don’t like what they’ve got. Half this town is trashed now anyway.” the man retorted.

The couple continued fighting until Chloe walked up to them. She didn’t even say anything. The man just reached into his wallet and gave her some money. “Another street orphan. Man, this skirmish has really done a number on the place, hasn’t it?” The woman responded, “Yes, they really ought to do something about it.”

Suddenly hopeful, Chloe continued walking alongside them until they took notice. The man became suspicious. “Look, what do you want? We’ve already given you money. Why are you still here?”

This was her chance. She looked the man in the eye and said “Sir, thank you for the money. But I need a place to stay. Do you think you could…”

The man shook his head. “I’m sorry, but we’ve got our hands full right now. Have a good day.” And with that they walked off.

However, the woman stopped him and muttered something to him. Occasionally they would glance at her. She walked closer to hear what they said.

“Oh don’t be like that.” she said. “I’m sure there’s something we can do.”

“Like what?” said the man. “It's not like she's the only kid who lost their home. We’ve barely gotten our own lives back together.”

The woman responded. “Just look at her. Can’t we at least give her a place to stay?”

The conversation went on like this for a couple of minutes. Chloe got her hopes up. For a moment it looked like they might acquiesce and take her with them, but after glancing at her one last time they simply hurried off. Still thinking she had a chance, Chloe ran after them, only for the man to look at her one last time and say “Look, buzz off you little urchin! We don’t have anything else for you.”

Disappointed, Chloe slumped back against a wall. She would not give up, though, no matter how hard she had to try.

After trying unsuccessfully to get the attention of a few others, she decided her attention would be better spent getting something to eat. By now she had enough money from begging to buy a small meal. Naturally her thoughts turned to the food shack she slept in last night. Maybe the owner would tolerate her now that she had some money, she scoffed to herself.

After finding the shack again she got in line and waited as the day grew hotter. When it was her turn the store owner almost had an outburst. “You? I thought I told you to get lost…” Chloe held up her few coins as the man noticed the perplexed faces from the customers in line.

“How much will this buy?” Chloe asked, not feeling as confident as she thought she would. The owner sighed and took the few coins she had. After muttering to himself, he said “Well you have just enough for a small bowl. What do you want?” Chloe chose vegetables and sausage. It wasn’t that much better than that of the hospital, but at least it was something.

She spent the rest of the day wandering the streets begging for attention once more. Eventually she grew tired of this and sat in the shade until dark. As the sun began to set a shred of doubt crept into her mind. This could not be all there was. Surely there had to be something in this town for her. Because if not…

No! She shook the thought from her head. She must not think like that. She would find a home here! As she sat watching the hum of the shanty town die with the sunlight, nibbling the crust of bread she found in a nearby garbage can, she vowed she would stay until somebody would help her.