Street Smarts & Stolen Hearts

by Rob Hunter

  Daveth shifted awkwardly on the hard seat, darting his eyes around the room as he felt Edwin’s gaze fixed on him. There was a clock on the wall that was ticking loudly, each sound reverberating through his bones and making him uneasy.

  “So, Daveth, what is your education like?” Edwin asked, turning his attention to the computer in front of him.

  “Um…” he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

  “Should I leave the section blank?” Edwin asked. Daveth glanced up at him, before noting the faint smile on the older man’s face and he realized he was making a joke. He laughed awkwardly, sounding more like he was choking on air than anything else.

  “I got ABB at A level,” he answered. Edwin pulled a face.

  “I don’t even know what that means…”

  “I finished my education in England,” he pointed out.

  “I’ll just write it down,” Edwin decided. “Did you go to college?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did you major in?”

  “Well, I did my A levels there…” he replied, confused.

  “I…what?” Edwin stared at him. “Do you have a degree?” he reiterated.

  “Oh, no.”

  “So you didn’t go to college?”

  “What’s college in America?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. Edwin sighed heavily.

  “When did you leave education?”

  “At eighteen.”

  “Then you didn’t go to college,” Edwin replied wearily, typing a few more things.

  “Oh, you mean Uni!” Daveth answered, realizing suddenly.

  “When did you come to America?” Edwin continued, ignoring him. “Are you a citizen?”

  “Yeah, I’m a citizen now. And um, when I was nineteen,” he answered. Edwin hummed.

  “Do you have any work experience?”

  “I’ve done a bit of cinematography,” he replied. Edwin looked at him sharply. “I do slo-mo stuff, or I mean, I used to, but I’ve worked on a few things, like films and TV shows,” he elaborated. Edwin was still looking at him intensely.

  “How an earth did you get into that?” Edwin asked. Daveth assessed him, relaxing as Edwin turned fully to him, genuine interest in his eyes.

  “In England, I had this really cool neighbor. He was an older guy, but he had loads of these high-tech cameras, including a phantom and stuff, and he taught me some stuff.” He laughed self-consciously. “It probably sounds really stupid, I guess.”

  “Not at all. It sounds fascinating.” Edwin smiled gently at him. Daveth returned it, glancing down at his lap with a blush. He had got out of the habit of mentioning his interests in slo-mo to others; most people didn’t find it as interesting as he did. His step-dad had outright said that it was boring as fuck and that he ought to get a real job. Which was rich coming from someone whose job and livelihood was completely illegal.

  “So I guess you want to go back into doing that then?” Edwin continued after the silence dwindled on a bit too long. Daveth nodded quickly.

  “I mean, if I can get back into it. I guess it’s not exactly the safest career move, especially when you’re homeless.” He rubbed the back of his neck. Honestly though, his cameras were probably the main thing he had missed since being homeless. “And I don’t exactly have the money for the equipment anymore,” he huffed.

  “Well, I mean, maybe you won’t get straight into it, but if we can get you back on your feet and getting paid, then sure, I reckon you could get back into doing it.” Edwin smiled, his seat creaking as he leaned back against it and assessed him. Daveth ran his tongue over his lips.

  “Easier said than done.” He shrugged. Edwin frowned at him.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Well, I mean Adam and Roy have been on the streets for a few years now,” he pointed out. Most of the people he had met had been homeless for years and it wasn’t exactly filling him with much hope, even if it made him feel guilty to think of his friends that way.

  “Doesn’t make it a lost cause,” Edwin replied carefully. “Adam and Roy have been homeless for years, but not continuously. They had a couple of years where they both had jobs. It can be difficult, but it’s not impossible.”

  “They got jobs?” he asked, surprised.

  “Getting a job usually isn’t the hard part. It’s getting enough money that is. They never really earned enough to be able to settle down anywhere,” Edwin explained. “I mean, they have their own difficulties as well, but well, I don’t want to get into trouble for breaking confidentiality.”

  “It sounds really complicated,” Daveth mumbled, resisting the temptation to rest his head on the table. Other than his cinematography, he didn’t have anything going for him job-wise, and his cinematography skills were useless when he didn’t own any cameras anymore.

  “That’s why I’m here to help you,” Edwin pointed out gently. “There’s lots of people who manage to go from being homeless to having a very stable, secure livelihood,” he promised.

  “I guess…”

  Edwin patted him gently on the shoulder, turning back to the computer that was old with dust, and returning to asking him various questions. Daveth realized after a while that Edwin was more or less building him a CV and he supposed that he felt slightly more relaxed, knowing that at the very least something was being done.

  “Nothing will get done straight away. We’re a bit limited with resources if you can’t already tell, but hopefully you’ll get some further suggestions in a couple of weeks,” Edwin explained.

  “So is there anything else I need to do?”

  “Not at the moment, no. I mean, you can go and apply for jobs yourself now, or you can wait for more support. It’s up to you,” Edwin answered. Daveth nodded, glancing towards the clock as they descended into silence. It was still quite early, breakfast wouldn’t be served for another hour or so.

  “How many more appointments do you have left to do?”

  “You’re my last one for this shift,” Edwin replied. “I have a few more in the evening. So Solomon told me a bit about how you ended up homeless. Your step-dad is a bit of a dick,” Edwin said after a moment, rubbing the back of his neck. Daveth snorted.

  “You can say that again,” he replied, picking at the peeling table.

  “It’s good that you found Adam and Roy though…” Edwin continued. Daveth nodded, slightly confused at the effort Edwin was going to with him. He hadn’t thought the older man cared for him much; he always seemed rather blunt and eager to leave every time they interacted. “And Solomon as well, I guess. They were all really worried for you yesterday.”

  “Yeah,” Daveth murmured quietly. “Are you…are you and Solomon a thing?” he asked cautiously. Adam had mentioned something about the two of them, albeit if only briefly. It had, at the time, come across as a warning. He didn’t quite understand why.

  “No,” Edwin said sharply. Daveth looked up at him uneasily. Edwin sighed. “Let me guess, Adam mentioned it to you.” Daveth nodded sheepishly. “I swear to God, if he could stop telling everyone about me and Solomon that would be absolute great,” Edwin muttered, but there was something fond in it.

  “So, you’re like an almost-thing then?” he questioned carefully.

  “Stop saying ‘thing,’ Jesus, it’s not high school,” Edwin groaned. “Or whatever you call it in England.”

  “Okay, are you both touching tips or what?” Daveth asked, gesturing crudely. Edwin glared at him, shaking his head with a huff of almost-laughter.

  “No! God…” Edwin spluttered. “It’s nothing, seriously. If you want to go ahead and jump on that, you can,” he muttered.

  “What? Solomon? No, I’m not…I don’t…I’m good with not jumping on that…” he stuttered, flushing a dark shade of pink. Edwin glanced at him suspiciously.

  “Really?”

  “Uh, yeah! I’m not crushing on Solomon, why would you think that?” He laughed awkwardly. Edwin blinked, his expression still disbelieving. �
��Why, is he crushing on me? Not…I’m not interested,” he added, his voice precariously high-pitched.

  “It’s nothing. Guess I read the situation wrong,” Edwin responded, a trace of bitterness in his voice. Daveth stared at him wide-eyed.

  “Wait…are you jealous?” he said. Edwin looked pointedly away. Daveth gave a startled laugh. “That explains a lot.” Edwin snapped his attention back to him.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I…nothing.” He ducked his head, but he could still feel Edwin’s intense gaze on him. “You might have been slightly…less than friendly to me a few times?” he elaborated, tension radiating off of his body.

  “I see…” Edwin murmured, scratching at his beard. “I didn’t realize. I’m sorry about that.”

  “It’s okay. It wasn’t major.”

  “Still. That was a dick-move.” Daveth didn’t respond. “I don’t hate you,” Edwin added after a moment.

  “As great as that is, this is really awkward,” he admitted. Edwin laughed.

  “Yeah, I guess it is. You can go,” Edwin agreed, gesturing towards the door. Daveth got to his feet, trying not to move too fast as he went towards the door.

  “Thanks,” he said quietly, slipping out of the door and closing it behind him. He leaned back against it, breathing heavily before giving a few breathy laughs at the ridiculousness of the situation.

  He didn’t consciously make the choice to visit Ellis, but he’d just finished eating breakfast when Solomon had sneaked a couple of deliciously large muffins into his hand, and, well, it would have been slightly piggish to have kept them to himself. And besides, he still wanted to thank the other man for his kindness the other day.

  So he’d wrapped his coat around himself, and waved Adam and Roy off, having learned long ago that they only had hope of begging for money when they were alone, otherwise no one would dare approach them. It was cold out, a faint mist darkening the surroundings, but thankfully there was no wind to chill his bones as he retraced his steps from the day before.

  He arrived at a seemingly empty alley, and he hesitated, scuffing his feet on the floor as he contemplated his next cause of action. But then he noticed that the dumpster was slightly out of place, and he smiled to himself, walking further into the alley and turning to see that Ellis had moved his sleeping bag into the warmer space between the dumpster and the wall, with the lid of the dumpster pressed against the wall.

  Daveth wrinkled his nose and crouched down, eyes narrowing in the slight darkness cast by the lid overhead as he made out the faint lump in the sleeping bag, a faint mop of dark hair peeking out the top. Even in sleep, Ellis was still wearing the mask, although now it was lopsided and looked anything but threatening.

  “Hey, Ellis…” he whispered, gently shaking the older man. He’d contemplated letting the other sleep, but well, it was slightly creepy for Daveth to stand around and watch him.

  He didn’t know why, but for some reason, he had expected Ellis to be a heavy sleeper. But the second he reached out and brushed a hand across Ellis’s chest, the older man had stirred immediately, as though struck by lightning, and within the space of a few seconds, Daveth had been flipped viciously onto the ground with a yelp, before he was pinned securely with the cold steel of a knife pressed up against his throat.

  His heavy breath condensed in front of him, and he leaned his head back, trying to distance his neck from the bite of the knife as his hands scrambled uselessly into the gravel beneath him. There was a brief moment of stillness, whilst the man above him heaved, eyes wide and frenzied before they narrowed, a spark of confusion in their depths.

  “Daveth?” Ellis questioned, his grip loosening slightly.

  “I brought you a muffin…” he answered with a sheepish laugh. The knife was moved away from his neck, and Ellis removed his mask after a brief struggle, still pinning him to the ground with his body.

  “Why?” he asked, suspicion lacing his tone even as he holstered the knife. Daveth squirmed slightly.

  “Um, to say thanks?” he suggested, blushing ever so slightly. Ellis stared at him for a long moment, running his tongue over his lips as he furrowed his brows, seemingly conflicted.

  “Oh…you didn’t have to,” the other man stuttered eventually, brushing a hand through his bed hair with a frown as his fingers caught on the tangles. Daveth stared up at him awkwardly, before Ellis seemed to realize that he was still straddling him and pinning him against the ground. “Sorry…thought you were…” He trailed off vaguely, scooting back and reaching out an apprehensive hand as he helped lift Daveth into a sitting position.

  “Here.” Daveth rummaged through his bag, before offering one of the muffins in a wary outstretched hand as though the other man was a wild animal. Ellis stared down at his hand for a moment, before cautiously reaching out and examining the muffin.

  “Where did you get these? They’re expensive,” Ellis asked, the plastic wrapping around the muffin crinkling as he picked at the topping. Daveth smiled, reaching in for his own muffin, aware of Ellis watching his movements carefully.

  “My friend gave them to me,” te said, ripping through the plastic coating quickly. “His name Solomon. He works at the shelter,” he explained, taking a big bite out of the muffin, moaning loudly in appreciation. Ellis pursed his lips before taking a small bite from his own muffin.

  “That’s strangely nice of him,” the other man commented, licking away the stray crumbs that collected across his lips.

  “Not strange per se. He’s just nice,” Daveth answered with a shrug. Ellis glanced at him speculatively.

  “I haven’t had good experiences with shelters,” Ellis muttered, breaking apart a small part of the muffin and eating it slowly. Daveth wondered idly when he’d last eaten, because he’d half-expected the older man to absolutely desecrate the muffin like Daveth was now prone to do with his food.

  “This shelter is nice. Like I said, Solomon is pretty cool, and Edwin…well, Edwin is kind too I guess,” he continued, licking his fingers as he finished the last part of his muffin. Ellis was still meticulously eating and was barely halfway through.

  “You mentioned someone else. Does he work at the shelter too?”

  “Oh, Roy? No, he’s homeless too.”

  “And you’re friends with him?” Ellis said slowly, as though rolling the words around in his mouth. Daveth looked at him, furrowing his brows.

  “Of course,” he replied. “Me, him, and Adam—he’s also homeless—hang out a lot. They’re pretty awesome,” he added fondly. Ellis blinked, before abruptly breaking eye contact.

  “How long have you been on the streets?”

  “Not long, a few weeks now,” he replied, rubbing the back of his neck, not sure why he felt almost embarrassed by the fact. Ellis smirked wryly, finishing up the last bit of his muffin with careful deliberation. “What about you?”

  “About twelve years now,” he said, shrugging it off. Daveth stared at him, not quite sure he could process that.

  “Twelve years?” he repeated. Ellis nodded. “Continuously?” he added, remembering what Edwin had said. Still, Ellis nodded, not looking at all forlorn about it.

  “Is it true you’re a murderer then?” he asked carefully, unable to help himself. Ellis laughed loudly, sending uneasy chills down Daveth’s spine.

  “No. But glad to know that rumor is still going around.”

  Daveth smiled nervously, trying not to make eye contact as he assessed the man sitting cross-legged in front of him. He honestly didn’t look old enough to have been on the streets for over a decade; Daveth had always imagined people like that to have weathered, rubbery skin, but Ellis’s was smooth, if a little grey, but not at all unpleasant to look at.

  “Is that what you came back to ask me then?” Ellis questioned, leaning back on his hunches.

  “No! Of course not!” he replied hurriedly. Ellis quirked an eyebrow but didn’t say anything as he slowly rose to his feet and stretched his hands above his head. His shirt ca
me up, revealing the beginnings of a happy trail that made Daveth blush. “I was just curious. There’s a lot of things I’ve heard about you that don’t make sense,” he added, carefully getting to his feet.

  “Such as?” Ellis asked, scratching his scalp as he yawned. Daveth shifted awkwardly. “They can’t be that bad.” Ellis laughed, a low-pitched, pleasing hum of laughter.

  “I mean, it’s mainly like how you’re supposedly a serial killing lunatic who does stuff to animals, which I guess is pretty bad.”

  “The doing stuff to animals is new, I wonder who created that one...” Ellis hummed thoughtfully. Daveth huffed, tilting his head at the older man.

  “And the serial killing lunatic part?”

  “Ah, I mean, I pretty much started that rumor myself,” Ellis admitted with a shrug. Daveth raised an eyebrow, incredulous. “What? It helps to have a fearsome reputation on these streets.”

  “You’re pretty good at spreading rumors.”

  “Thanks. It’s really my only talent,” Ellis replied with a smirk, which made the corner of his eyes crinkle.

  “So, what are you planning to do today?” Daveth asked, after they descended into a surprisingly comfortable silence. Ellis glanced at him, furrowing his brows and wrinkling his nose.

  “Nothing. Just going to read and stock up on what I can afford,” he explained.

  “That’s it?”

  “What do you expect me to do?” Ellis asked, a light edge to his voice, generally curious.

  “I don’t know, go meet people, go and beg for money or something...” he replied with a shrug, rubbing the back of his neck.

  “Is that what you do?”

  “Well, yeah, pretty much.”

  “With Adam and Roy?”

  “Usually, yeah.”

  “I just usually stay here. I have a couple of books in my bag,” Ellis said, gesturing vaguely towards the rucksack which was tied securely to the sleeping bag.

  “What about money?”

  “I have a part-time job. It helps.”