Prologue
I stepped out the back door of the gym, rolled my shoulders, and took a moment to appreciate the quiet of the neighborhood. I liked this time of day. It was silent, calm, no noise from traffic or the bustle of people. Times like that in this city were rare.
Stretching from side to side a few times, I zipped up my sweatshirt, then pulled up the hood and started a slow, steady jog.
This is how I started every day. Just as the sun was appearing in the sky, I ran through the alley’s and reminded myself that although I came from the streets, I’d fought hard enough to stay off them. Each day seeing this was my reality check.
I rounded the corner at the old restaurant and slowed my pace to watch the old woman, I think she called herself Betsy, roll up her blankets. I waited until she spotted me before I spoke. “The kitchen will have breakfast started soon, if you go now and ask for Albert, he’ll give you some hot coffee.”
The only acknowledgement I got was a slight nod, before she looked back to the pavement. Betsy never made eye contact for long. I would have liked to know her story, but that was for her to share, not for me to ask.
I picked up the pace again, making short jabs with my hands as I went. I felt good today. No aches, or gripes from my muscles. It had been a week since my last fight, and this may have been the longest in my life that I wasn’t injured on some level.
Someone stepped out of the shadowed doorway in front of me. He lifted a hand as hello, and then became invisible in the low light before I went by him. Living in the shadows was a hard life, not knowing who to trust and who not to. I had a roof over my head now, but those feelings that tell you to run would never go away, I thought, not that I’d want them to.
The only sound I could hear were my shoes hitting the pavement in a steady rhythm. It was just loud enough to warn any hiding their existence that I was present, and to scare off any rodents or lost pets living in the area.
A clatter to my left had me turning fast, ready, just in case. Relief washed over me when I saw it was only the old guy with the cane. He was struggling to get his wagon out from under the fire escape ladder. He’d probably slept there last night. I stopped and went over to duck under the metal ladder and pulled his wagon to clear the bar that was hanging down. He grinned, his toothless smile and patted the red hat on his head. I’d given him it a few months ago when we had cooler weather. “Kitchen will be open soon. Make sure you fill your water bottles with clean water.” He nodded and turned to pull his creaking wagon down the alleyway.
Rolling my shoulders, I started with a slower pace, in no hurry to finish my run today. I hadn’t been to the south park lately, I should probably drop by later today and see if anyone was around. I’d been so caught up helping the guys in the gym, I hadn’t taken the time, and the guilt rode me hard for that.
The stench of the dumpster I went past had me wrinkling up my nose until I was clear of it. That was one thing I would never miss, the odors that went with living on the streets.
Turning right into the next alley, I grinned to see the light from the rising sun shine down. If there was any way to see this deserted space as beautiful, this brief moment each day was it. It made you forget that rats and homeless lived here in this dirty space that others used to toss unwanted things in. For a brief moment each day, it glowed with the chance to be something better, something more than it appeared to be.
Walking toward me quickly was a woman that lived in this alley, I didn’t know her name, but everyone knew her as the lady that sings. She was always singing. I frowned, she wasn’t singing today. Her expression was one of fear. I slowed as she reached me.
“No, no. Go back.” She said quickly and ran past me.
I jogged on the spot and watched her move away. That was unusual. I looked around, there was no one that I could see. She turned down the dark alley I’d come from and was gone. Odd. I’d have to swing by the kitchen later, after I opened the gym, and see if the guys there could shed some light on what was bothering her.
I grimaced when a sharp pain traveled down my left calf. That would teach me for skipping my stretching this morning. Muscle strains were a tricky thing. Feeling a bit breathless, I turned to keep moving. Getting tired and dizzy before I was half way through my route had me mentally scolding myself. One chocolate bar the night before messed up a carefully maintained metabolism.
I wasn’t one to quit. I’d keep going through the light-headedness until I burned that artificial garbage from my system. I glanced up, blinking to try and focus, gone was the bright sunlight as blackness closed in.
