Without answering, I shuffled along beside her, careful not to brush against her hand that was swinging along between us. She chattered the entire way there until my head was about to explode.
We sat in the corner, and I shoved my bag in the booth next to me. “You’re gonna wanna get a locker at the bus depot for that. You keep carrying it around, someone’s gonna take your shit. Carry the minimum with you at all times. Two waters and two of the breakfast specials.” She ordered for both of us, and I twisted the straw paper in my fingers as I waited for the food to arrive. I could tell she was staring at me, but I didn’t look up.
“What’s your name?” I finally asked her, chancing a quick glance up at her.
“Monique. What’s yours?”
“Nico.”
“So what’s your story, Nico? Get kicked out? Runaway? Sprouted up out of the flowerbeds in city park?” She chuckled, and I couldn’t believe that she could be so sunny after what I’d seen both in my head and on the street ten minutes ago.
“Aged out of the foster system,” I mumbled.
“Mmm, tough break. Didn’t you have a job?” she asked before taking a drink of her water.
“Yeah, I did, but I got fired a few weeks ago.” No clue why I’d told her the truth, but I did. I looked away. It was a shit job at a fast-food restaurant, and I didn’t regret beating the shit out of my coworker. When we were clocking in, I had bumped into him and accidentally touched his arm. He was using date-rape drugs on girls and had planned to use it on one of our other coworkers who was only sixteen.
Thankfully, no one pressed charges against me, but part of that could’ve been the boot I’d buried in his nuts. Well, along with the warning that the next time I’d crush them under my boot heel. It was part of the reason I left our small town and headed toward a bigger city.
“Bummer. You got papers?”
“Huh?”
“Papers.” She said it like she was talking to a toddler. “Birth certificate, social security card, driver’s license? That shit. Papers.”
“Oh. Yeah, they gave me everything when I left.”
“Guard it with your life. That will be like gold. You can get another job. You mind fast food? Gas stations? They’re usually hiring, especially if you’ll work the shitty shifts.” She glanced at the waitress as she put two plates on the table and gave her a smile of thanks.
The waitress gave a tired smile back, and after making sure we didn’t need anything else, she left.
“So why don’t you get one of those jobs? You know, instead of….” I trailed off, uncertain of what to say and feeling stupid for pointing out that I had an idea of what she’d done in that alley.
Pursing her lips, she seemed intent on smearing jelly on her toast.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
She shrugged but still didn’t make eye contact. Then she took a bite and said, “No papers,” with her mouth full.
Though I’d been starving, my stomach churned at the thought of her selling herself to survive. She was pretty in an understated way. Her creamy latte-colored skin was smooth and makeup free, but she didn’t really need it. Thick dark lashes fanned over her hazel eyes as she looked down. Perfectly shaped lips were full but marred by a tiny sliver of a scar through the top one. Not enough to detract from her beauty, but enough to give her character.
A strange need to protect her surged through me, and I shook my head at the feeling. We ate our food in silence after that.
“You got anywhere to sleep tonight?” she finally asked me.
“I haven’t slept much in the last couple of nights,” I muttered. I’d crashed the first night in the bushes behind the hotel I’d stayed at. The next night, I’d snuck in the pool area of the hotel and slept on one of the lounge chairs, but a security guard chased me off at about two in the morning.
She twisted her lips off to the side, appearing to think. “I don’t know why, but I like you, Lost Boy.” She’d gone back to calling me that over my name. I wanted to correct her, but I didn’t want to piss her off since she actually was being nice to me. And she’d offered to buy my food—though I wasn’t about to let her pay for it. Especially not the way she’d earned it. It didn’t feel right having her do that to feed me.
“Mmm,” I grunted.
“Well, I can show you a few places that are safe to sleep, but you gotta ditch that bag somewhere safe. You hear?”
My eyes darted up at her from my plate that was almost wiped clean. “Okay,” I said cautiously.
When the waitress came back with our ticket, Monique tried to pay, but I wouldn’t let her. She glared at me. Then she muttered, “I’m not fucking you.”
“What?” I asked with wide-eyed shock. “I never asked you to!”