Runaways by Nicole Dykes
Hayden has been more than helpful this last week. I don’t know what we would’ve done without him because the more I think about it, the more I know how right he was. We’re on the outskirts, all on our own, and the streets are dangerous.
Colin and my mother were awful, absolutely terrible, but I hadn’t known what it was like to sleep outside with an empty belly until now. Still, as I lay on the old comforter we took from the motel and stare up at the muggy stars above, drowned out by the city lights, I know I’d pick this over that.
Over Colin’s touches and his nasty, vile words. Over his body on top of mine. Over my mother believing him over me and being convinced that I wanted his abuse.
I’d take this any day. But as I turn my head and look at Lawson’s beautiful profile, his lips pouty in his sleep and the worry creasing the middle of his forehead, I don’t know if I would choose this for him. It’s not fair.
His life wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t this. And it wasn’t abuse-filled like mine.
“You okay?” I hear Hayden’s whispered voice coming from his tent next to the makeshift one we built from cardboard boxes.
“Yeah. I’m fine,” I whisper back.
He only smiles. “Liar.”
I smile back, keeping my voice low because Lawson needs rest. “I just don’t know how to get us out of this.”
He rolls to his side, laying on his hands as he looks at me. “Yeah. I wish I knew.”
“How have you survived so long?”
Three years on the street is a long time, and he seems to have it mostly figured out. He has a relationship with the owners of the bakeries around town. They have a fondness for him and save the day-old baked goods so he can distribute them to the people here. Same with a pizza place on the corner.
“I don’t know. Luck, I guess.”
I snort because it’s not luck. It’s his charm, and we both know it. “You have a long-term goal, Hayden?”
He closes his eyes for a moment, breathing in deeply before looking back at me. “I want a cabin.”
“A cabin?” I grin.
He laughs. “Yeah. A simple little cabin on the lake. Just me and my cats.”
I laugh at that, but quickly try to stifle it to remain quiet. “Cats?”
“There’s nothing wrong with cats.” He’s defensive but playfully so.
I grin and raise a hand in surrender. “Okay. A cabin with cats.”
“What about you?”
My gaze drifts to Lawson absentmindedly before looking back at Hayden, who smiles knowingly. “I just want him.”
“You have him, sweetie. Trust me.”
Lawson coughs and then rolls on his side. That cough is worrying me because he’s had it all day, but he’s told me not to fuss. I look back at Hayden. “I don’t know. Things have changed a lot.”
“Life on the street will do that, but he’s still there. Trust me. I saw the way he protects you. He loves you.”
I bristle but try not to. “He just thinks I need protection. He thinks I’m weak.”
He chuckles at that. “Please, I knew you weren’t weak the moment I saw you. And someone protecting you? Especially when you’ve never had that before?” He looks up at the sky, his head sticking out of the tent. “That’s priceless. Trust me, there are so many worse things.”
I look back at Lawson’s gorgeous features and smile, my hand brushing over his cheek, craving touch. But then I realize he’s burning up. “He’s hot.”
“You don’t have to rub it in. I know how hot your man is.”
I sit up. “No, he’s hot. As in burning up.” I place my hand over his forehead and immediately pull it back because he’s definitely running a fever.
Hayden sits up. “How hot?” I grab his hand when he moves over to us and place it on Lawson’s forehead. “Shit.”
“I knew he wasn’t feeling well,” I grumble.
Lawson moans in his sleep like he’s in pain. “Okay, we just need to get him some fluids and some Tylenol.”
“How? We have no money whatsoever.”
Hayden motions to a woman I’d guess is in her early thirties who’s up and pacing around. I’ve noticed her before but haven’t talked to her. “Hey, Janey?”
“Yeah?” She walks over, scratching at her arm. It’s pretty obvious, even to someone who doesn’t have much street smarts, she needs a fix of whatever she’s hooked on.
“Can you keep an eye on pretty boy here for a few?”
She looks down at Lawson, and my instinct is to hug him to me, but I fight it. Her eyes lift to Hayden. “And what do I get in return?”
“Really?” It falls from my lips before I can stop it, but Hayden only chuckles.
“I’m fresh out of cash, but I’ll owe ya one, okay?”
She purses her lips but then slides down the wall onto the ground next to Lawson. “Okay.”
Hayden pulls on his shoes, and I follow his lead before he grabs my hand, and we walk down to a corner market. He then hands me a five dollar bill. I cock my brow at him, wondering what he wants me to do. “Grab some Gatorade, okay?”
I nod my head slowly but follow his directions as we walk inside, looking around the small store until I see the drink section. There’s only one person who’s working, and he doesn’t look up from his phone.
I grab some Gatorade and walk up to the counter to pay. I notice Hayden leaving before me. When we start walking back, I begin to get worried. “He needs more than a drink.”
“Relax.” I can’t though. I felt how hot Lawson’s skin was. He’s burning up. What if we can’t get his fever down? When we get back, Hayden thanks Janey, and she leaves before he opens his coat and pulls out some cold medicine. I stare at him, dumbfounded, and he shrugs. “Sometimes, we have to break the rules to survive.”
I try to hide my surprise but don’t do it well. Hayden just laughs me off, and we wake Lawson. He’s pretty out of it, but we thankfully get him to drink some of the Gatorade and take his pills before he passes back out.
I find myself watching him. Leaning back against the wall, I pull his head into my lap and stroke his head, where his hair used to be long and thick but is now buzzed short. “He’ll be okay. It’s just a cold.”
I look over at Hayden, who has settled back into his tent but is watching us. “What if he needs a doctor? We have nothing.”
Hayden shrugs. “You could always try hooking.”
I laugh at that, but Lawson grumbles and turns to his side with his head still resting in my lap. He looks over at Hayden. “She’s not selling her ass.”
Hayden chuckles, “You’d make a hell of a lot more out here than she would, pretty boy.”
“Should I be offended?” I ask, happy to hear Lawson’s voice before his eyes flutter closed again.
“Nah, just the way of the world.”
He looks away, and I know I should probably shut up. But since neither of us are sleeping, I decide to ask, “Have you . . . ?”
He looks over at me, his eyes saddened, but there’s the playful gleam that’s always there. “We all do what we have to do.”
“That’s so dangerous.”
He shrugs. “Everything is. And it’s not always that bad. Sometimes I get a free, warm bed for the night. Sometimes I even come.”
I roll my eyes at him as he waggles his eyebrows at me. Appalled for my friend, for the choices he’s had to make to survive, but not wanting to seem like I judge him. Never. He’s a beautiful human, no matter what ugliness he’s had to endure.
“No more selling your ass either,” Lawson grumbles, his eyes still closed.
“Aw, you gonna protect me too?” Hayden asks, his tone flirty.
Lawson only grumbles more, not really coherent, and Hayden and I laugh at him before talking long into the night. I hate that we had to steal tonight, and even more, I hate how not sorry I am. There’s nothing I won’t do for Lawson. And apparently, Hayden feels the same.
He truly is our angel.
