Houses and Hobos

[The Mood is Write]

Life for a homeless demi is like life in hard mode, but that doesn't deter Vinnie, who chose to escape his parents at a young age, and now lives in an abandoned warehouse, under the close, protective watch of two agents parked in a big black van outside, whose strict rules only allow them to interfere when his life is endangered by a lack of action.

Vinnie does everything for himself, and enjoys his freedom. What happens when someone notices the lone boy?
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[Janvier]

Damn. She dropped it and now the shattered glass winked teasingly up at her, taunting the mistake of clumsy hands. She stood there unmoving, the flat of her heel tapping against the scuffed floors. Her eyes flickered from side to side, waiting for something, anything to happen. There was light tap on her shoulder, sharp and piercing as if a small knife was sawing its way under her skin. She spun around, her head spinning from the panic that flew to her throat. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to break it, it just slipped from my hands!" The woman, no teenager, rose an unimpressed brow. Newly manicured nails fell in a lazy rhythm against her crossed arms and she blew an aggravated breath while tossing dreadfully dyed blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Ma'am. That'll be $12.63 at the check out." Elise winced at the girl's biting tone. As the girl swayed away from her and turned to walk down another empty aisle, Elise hissed in resentment. "$12.63 my ass! This thing looks like it could be made from clay!" She kicked at the neglected pieces of the mug, the light snaps of the poorly made cup crunching beneath her shoes. "And she has the audacity to just walk away without even cleaning the mess! What the crap is she here for then? To look pretty?!" With one final stomp, she crushed what ever was left of the mug, muttering bitterly.

It was an early Sunday morning and Elise had planned to have a peaceful shopping trip before the crowds came to hover over her every step. Unfortunately, four things happened the night before which led to her have a terrible start. 1) She found out the her fiance had been cheating on her (with her cousin no less). 2) After a long night of screaming and ranting into the phone with her newly made ex, she broke the receiver after slamming it down too hard. 3) She spent most of the night crying pitifully into her pillows until both were to soggy to even sleep on. 4) Her voice was sore as hell and she had difficulty as it was speaking.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Elise heaved a heavy hearted sigh as if every single burden in the world had been placed upon her shoulders. This was an exaggerated thought of course, but she couldn't help but feel she was being pulled down into a thick darkness of misery. Pushing the grocery cart away from one of her many mistakes, she moved to find where the dark coffee was hidden, the life blood of her very soul. As she passed the cereals, she found that her eyes had strayed to the back of a young boy. A very short boy who seemed on the very of dying. "Dang, he is a skinny thing", she thought humorlessly. If he fell, all the bones in his body would just snap on impact of the ground.

She glanced this way and that, looking for the parents. When she didn't see anyone who looked to be a guardian, she wondered if he had just wondered away. But then a thought made her keep moving rather than question the boy. "I'm being creepy! Just staring as some scrawny kid like I'm so kinda pedo! God, my life..."

 

[The Mood is Write]

The boy skipped the cereals almost entirely. He didn't have a fridge for the milk, anyway. Instead, he grabbed bunches of cereal bars, most of which were little more than a way to get sugar disguised as nutrition into the body. He piled them in, about eight if anyone bothered to count-- he sure didn't. He turned around to head to the next aisle, and from the side, she could see he was wearing a labcoat that he was absolutely drowning in, rather than just a very large white coat. He looked around with eyes that had dark circles under them, then grinned and darted forward, pushing the cart as fast as he could.

"Yessss!" He tossed more objects into his cart. Chips were on sale, and he paused as he began to load the bags into his cart and stared a few moments, trying to calculate how he'd carry as much as he wanted. After a few moments, he shrugged and tossed three total bags in, then moved on, heading toward the produce aisle.

The boy paused at the candy at the end of one aisle, then turned down it with bright, eager brown eyes as he gazed at the chocolates like a normal boy might look at a video game or a dirty mag. He licked his lips as he pulled several chocolate bars and bags of bulk sweets from the shelf and put them into his cart before he went to the produce section, where he selected one bag of big purple grapes and put them in the seat part of his cart. He turned, and began to head toward the registers, the front of his cart visible to his follower. There were a few small cans of baked beans there, which were the only sign of real nutrition other than the grapes.

It was a good haul, he decided. His food stamps had just refilled, so he could stock up a bit on nonperishables, and even some treats. As he hurried toward the register, his soles slapped against the floor, parly separated from his shoes.

 

[Janvier]

Elise was no mother, hell, she doubted she even had a paternal side to her. But as she watched the boy, her heart gave an extra painful clutch. She kept looking for parents, god, even a cousin would do to put her mind at rest. So yes, much to her discomfort she followed the young man from a distance. Causally picking up her own groceries and checking off her list, she seemed like any other sleep deprived woman.

Opening her mouth to yawn, she cast her glances back to the boy and then caught sight of his shoes. This time, she looked down at his shoes. "Oh my gosh, no. Just no." He looked like a wild bush child, as her mother would say. His clothes were to big, his shoes were basically rotting off his feet. And no one seemed to notice! Why was she the only person taking notice? Questioning her morals, she followed the kid, head down and walked to another register. Right to were the snob held her mighty position as god from behind the counter. "Someone kill me", she muttered bitterly.

"Oh, its you again", the teen stated dryly. Snapping her gum, the teen smirked a lopsided grin. Elise glanced over her shoulder, wandering if escape was possible from the demon until she heard the small taps and ding calling out her doom. Pulling on her ear, she started putting her items on the conveyor belt. "So do you normally destroy stuff or what?" Elise's head shot up and she glared the the girl's name tag. "TaShona, do you normally go out looking like a rag doll or what?" she retorted. TaShona narrowed eyes, lips pursed in a tight frown.

"$87.44", the cashier hissed tersely. It may not have been the smartest idea to go mock this girl, the same girl who was obliviously over charging her. But she kept her mouth shut, sliding her debit card through the slot and typing her pin.

 

[The Mood is Write]

The boy in the other lane chatted with his cashier. The young man looked like a new hire, and was clearly trying to hide his surprise.

"Can you pay for all this?" He asked. "Where's your caretaker?"

"Nevermind that." The boy grinned. "I have my EBT card. Just ring me up. My guardians are waiting outside."

The young cashier looked toward the wide windows, and an older woman, the manager, caught him. "Nevermind it, Liam. Just ring him up. Vinnie's not a lost or runaway kid." She waved a hand, and the new cashier, Liam, slowly nodded and began to ring up the boy's purchases.

"Would you like paper or plastic?" He asked automatically as he slid each object across the reader, doing his best not to look at Vinnie. The boy's condition didn't sit right, but the manager had her say, and he had work to do.

"Both, and I got it." He loaded up his items carefully. Beans laid sideways in the bottom of a double paper bag, topped by grapes. The chips were stuffed into a single plastic bag. His candy and cereal bars all fit into a single double plastic bag, and he grinned. He could carry everything on his own!

Once Liam finished ringing him up, he trotted forward from the bagging area and slid his EBT card through, then punched in a pin, one thin, clean hand covering the buttons.

"Have a nice day." Liam offered as the boy shoved a plastic bag up each arm, then picked up the paper bag from the bottom.

"You too!" He moved slowly, carefully as he headed toward the automatic doors.