Trapped with a Way Out

by Jeffery Martinez

  "Can I get back to my community service, Chief? Or do you feel like staring at me until I get fired from something I volunteered for?" He remembered the glasses in her hands and growled, sticking out his hand. "And give me those!"

  Richard smiled as she handed the sunglasses over, chuckling lightly. "Have to keep your identity a secret?"

  Vincent grumbled, fixing the glasses on his face. He finished and got ready to ring the bell. "Yeah…but they aren't mine. I'm borrowing them from the store…" So I wouldn't scare away customers. "…nobody else wanted to do this at night…" The bell rang once and Vincent paused as he left it by his side. "What are you two doing here so late?"

  Richard glanced back at Rodriguez who quietly moved his feet towards the door. "Alex here drank all of my eggnog."

  "I didn't and you know it." Rodriguez countered bitterly, casting a grimace at the black mat he was stepping on. Vincent looked at the muttering teen and smirked, beginning to ring his bell again. He didn't say anything as the two went inside. Several uneventful minutes went by before they reemerged. Richard smiled when she saw Vincent. She walked over to the donation box and stuffed a few dollars into it, stopping before they had all fallen into the container. She kept a dollar in her palm and gave it to Vincent.

  "It's a tip for the wonderful…bell music and for the amusement I received from seeing you wear a Santa Claus costume."

  Vincent glared at the insulting hand, but he accepted the money and held it as he saw that it was a one dollar bill. Without warning, he jammed the dollar into the donation box and rung the bell by his side as his rebellious, steady gaze went to Richard's unanimated features. "Thank you for your donation. All donations will go towards a homeless shelter…or an animal shelter…." The bell stopped as Vincent's eyes unfocused and he rolled his shoulders when he felt a chill. "…one of the other…I don't remember which."

  Richard's eyes marked the path of the bell, moving up and down while Rodriguez waited quietly behind her. Blue eyes blinked when the boy Santa coughed. "What are you doing for Christmas, Vincentimir?"

  The bell continued while the red eyes flowed towards the store windows. "Work, probably." The bell rang out a few times. "I'll be busy, Chief."

  Richard watched the pale face, seeing the windows' distorted reflection in the sunglasses. "I'll give you our number so you can call us if you have a change of plans." The woman started to take out her cell phone but Vincent's cutting tone stopped her.

  "I don't have a phone to call you with, Chief. And I'm pretty booked up. I'm not going to have a change in plans." The bell sounded in the crisp air as Richard took her hand from her jacket's pocket. It was a while before she spoke again, staring at the boy with partially narrowed eyes.

  "Vincentimir…don't lie to me. I work with liars too often to be fooled by your sorry excuse for a fib, boy." She frowned at the sunglasses that refused to reflect her. "You're looking for a job. That means you're still trying to fill up your time. If you don't get a job here you won't have any plans at all going for you…" Vincent licked his lips and shifted from one foot to the other with a stubbornly set mask of indifference for her words.

  "I'm busy, Chief. I've got things to take care of."

  Rodriguez took a breath that he held for a while, watching Vincent. He could tell that he wanted them to leave, he was restless with impatience. "Did you get the rent problem under control?"

  "Yessss." The hiss replied and Rodriguez found himself staring at his own image in the glasses. "Now go Rodriguez. If I'm talking to people no one will donate to the damn hungry people or their dogs…now get. I'm supposed to be a responsible future employee right now."

  The two blondes watched Vincent look away and move to the other side of the donation box. Richard turned and pulled on her son to get him to come with her. They didn't say anything as they walked through the parking lot and dumped their eggnog into the back of the car and drove home. It bothered Richard, as she looked out the window. She had only seen Vincent wear the same set of clothes every time she met the boy… that black sweatshirt was more of an off grey…and it looked pretty thinned out…bad for cold weather, especially for a scrawny kid with a cold. She should've bought him some coffee or hot chocolate.

  Rodriguez didn't say anything, but he was having the same thoughts. He asked a different question that was hanging on the fringe of his mind.

  "Do you think he'll get a job there?" Rodriguez broke the silence. Neither of them looked at one another. Richard focused on her window, eyes keeping track of the trees they passed.

  "No."

  And she was right.

  Vincent shut his eyes as he felt his stomach vibrate as it growled. The fussing was drawn out…and annoying. Vincent wrapped his arms tighter around his stomach and dropped his head to his knees as he reclined, touching his back to the wall behind him. His bare feet were buried in the comforter he was sitting on, surrounded by the dark sea of blue fabric. It was warm and comfortable on his futon. It was cold everywhere else.

  He couldn't plug his heater in, as he had yet to pay his rent so his electricity had been shut off. He couldn't boil hot water without power either, and his stomach complained loudly about this. The sink was useless now as well. The water had been cut out too. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, making him wonder if he had accidentally eaten paste when he was dozing by the wall. Because his mouth tasted of like he had, as he tried to move his tongue around to wet it. The boy stayed like this for a time, then his head turned on his knees so that his cheek was pressing against them now and his eyes could wander over the stacks of things that slopped like a range of mountains, filling the room. He closed his eyes again and pressed them into his knees as he took a deep breath, keeping it so that he could let it out a little bit at a time.

  He hated selling his uncle's stuff, but he wasn't able to get a job. No one would hire him when there were 'better' kids out there searching as well…adults even…who needed the money to help their families. The delinquent couldn't even get hired to do chores. Others had already grabbed and scheduled to do all of them… No more cars to wash…no sheds to paint. No more newspapers to steal and resell…people had caught on that someone was stalking the paper 'boy' (a man who drove a car by houses and chucked the bagged papers out his window), and had begun to take the newspapers inside earlier in the morning, or they had lengthened the chains of their dogs so that they could bark at any trespassers or steal the newspaper themselves, just to rip it up and snuggle in the scraps. Anything was better than allowing some crazy person to steal them…no one considered how desperate a person would have to be in order to feel compelled to do such a degrading thing. Vincent chewed on his lip, his stomach gurgling loudly.

  "Alright." The employer would look Vincent up and down and then pause, noting his pale skin and crimson eyes. A hand would rise and gesture to them. "Take out the contacts fist, kid. Then I can take you seriously and consider giving you the job."

  Vincent would keep quiet until the demand was made again. "They aren't contacts."

  That's usually when people got rid of him. They thought he was a common druggy…or that he had tattooed his eyes like the other 'freaks' were doing now adays…getting cat irises, horns, and whiskers…they wanted nothing to do with those type of people. It made them uncomfortable…it would make their customers uncomfortable, if they had any. Then his clothes…and his willingness to work for less than minimum pay…and his tall stature… His shifty eyes and quick fingers made him suspicious…like he was going to rob them blind when he got the chance. Or maybe he had some strange illness? Maybe he was mentally disturbed? Who knew? It would be best to see him to the door, and remember to make sure to watch those hands. Don't let him steal anything on his way out.

  Vincent sighed. He would have to sell some stuff…again…before his land lord was actually tempted to give in to his threats to call the police to come pick him up. Vincent shuddered at the thought of going to jail. He'd heard stories…

  Jail food sucked
…and the beds were uncomfortable. The boy curled up to keep warm for a while longer…a while longer before he would have to move some of this stuff to the nearest pawn shop. That was the worst part. Vincent gritted his teeth together, dreading the awful 'move'.

  He would have to throw away his dignity again today.

  Cloudy skies, grey and smoke-colored, without rain. Rodriguez drove under them, stopping occasionally at stop signs that allowed other lanes to go before him. The teen was quiet, fixing his glasses to make them more comfortable. He pushed on the gas and moved away from the stop sign to continue roaming through the town to find a place to finish the Christmas shopping. He hated shopping especially with…

  "Alex! Alex, Alex!" A hand yanked on Rodriguez's jacket, pulling a sigh from his lungs as he consented to responding.

  "What?"

  The girl pointed at the window…or rather up ahead, at the sidewalk. "Pull over. I want to give the homeless man some money."

  Rodriguez grumbled but drove up to the curb where he saw the grungy figure pulling a cart with part of a green tarp draped over it, to keep out any rain that might start to fall. He draped an arm over his steering wheel and rested his chin on it, thrumming his fingers as he waited for the girl to take a few dollars from her purse. She lowered her window and smiled at the dark figure that looked at her from his shadowed hood. She waved the money out the window. "Here. Merry Christmas."

  Rodriguez muttered something about giving the man some food. Who knew what he would do with the money? The teen jumped out of these thoughts and stared blankly at his gas meter when he heard the homeless man snarl at the money.

  "I'm not a hobo you bitch!"

  Green eyes rotated to the window and Rodriguez leaned down so he could get a good look at the man's face. He couldn't see it very well, but he recognized the worn sweatshirt immediately. He sat there, mute for a moment, while the girl gasped an apology and then stammered angrily.

  "D…Don't call me a…that word! I was only trying to give you some money!"

  "Feh." The man lurched, pushing on his cart while the two watched. Rodriguez blinked calmly, his mouth a dead line on his face.

  "Hey Vincent."

  The man and the girl jerked in unison. Vincent went rigid, the tendons on his hands straining as he tightened his grip, popping a knuckle or two. He was paralyzed as the curious girl gawked at Rodriguez and then the hobo that wasn't really a hobo. "You know this homeless man?"

  Rodriguez frowned at the girl while Vincent didn't hear her, too horrified of his position to do anything other than stand where he was. Rodriguez opened his car door and got out, then leaned with an arm on the roof of his car and peered across it to watch the teen. "What are you doing with that cart?" He waited for a response, not really expecting to get one. "I thought you told me that you had a place to stay…or did that guy throw you out? What are you doing?"

  Vincent's hands shook with anger and hatred, reserved for himself. In his passion, he ripping his hands away from the cart and faced Rodriguez, tearing off his hood to allow his black hair to spill out and the gloomy sky to brighten his eyes. "I'm doing stuff Rodriguez. Leave me alone." He glared at the green eyes while the girl gazed up at his face, shrinking back into her seat for a moment, before pulling away from it to get a better look at the red eyes and this rather young 'homeless man'. She saw his wretched stand for human dignity in this position, and the girl bit her lip, eyeing the pocket on his sweatshirt as she flipped the edge of her money with her finger, listening to the sound as the two boys didn't speak.

  "What are you doing with a grocery cart? You know those aren't free…" Rodriguez's bare features never moved from their untelling expression.

  "This looks worse than it is, Rodriguez." A pale hand moved to touch the cart. "I don't have any other way to move this stuff. I'm selling it down there." The hand traveled with the words as Vincent looked down the sidewalk to find the shop he was trying to get to, in the distance. He looked at Rodriguez as the other teen continued to search for the place Vincent had pointed to. "It looks bad… But I don't have a car…so how else am I supposed to move this stuff?" A heel bumped the wheel of the cart. As Rodriguez held his silence, Vincent noticed a hand emerge from the car, attempting to slip the money into his pocket. He growled and moved out of the girl's reach, hissing fiercely at her disappointed face. "I'm not a hobo, bitch, and I don't need your God damned money!" He glared over the top of the car at Rodriguez when he saw that he was scaring the girl. "And you! You and your girlfriend should just go! Do whatever it was you were going to do and let me and my business be!"

  The girl gasped while Rodriguez's lips parted, his eyes widening as a weak laugh came from the car. Vincent glared at the girl, a bit confused now. She smiled at him and threw a thumb back at the blonde teenager behind her. "That's my little brother, not my boyfriend."

  "Oh." Vincent stepped back to get a better view of the blue-eyed, blonde haired girl. She wore her hair in two pig tails at the back of her head…and her pink sweater made her look like one of those teenage dolls girls like to dress up and push around in pink convertibles. Vincent frowned, tilting his head a little and slipping a hand into his pocket as he observed the girl. "You look a little like the Chief… No, never mind. It's just the hair and the eye color. You're too cutesy to be like her."

  Baffled, Rodriguez's sister blinked but smiled at what she took as a compliment. "Aw." She beamed at Vincent, making his face lose its expression. "You called me cute? Thank you." She laughed to herself and looked back at the dark jacket that was all she could see of her brother. "Hey Alex. Your friend thinks I'm cute."

  Vincent's screwed up face made Rodriguez smirk and he looked down at the top of his car, pulling back the blind for the sunroof with a blind hand that went though his window, so he could see his sister's face. She was smirking back up at him. Then his eyes went back to Vincent who was currently trying to sneak away. "Hey, wait! Vincent!" The boy ignored him so Rodriguez left his car and marched up to the now hooded head and grabbed it. "I can take the stuff there in my car. How about that? Is that okay?" Rodriguez demanded gruffly, considerably less patient than before. Red was staring over a black shoulder, mulling the offer over.

  Vincent pulled free from Rodriguez so he could turn the cart around to go to the back of the car. "Fine." He passed the blonde girl. "But no kidnapping, got it? I don't have time for that shit right now, Rodriguez."

  Blue eyes flinched at the curse word, but Rodriguez let it pass as he went to his door to pull the lever that would pop the trunk. He helped Vincent, who had already pulled off the tarp, unload the cart. The jock paused once in a while to look at the odd objects, and he held on to a bottle that had what looked like a baby great white shark sitting in some clear liquid. He moved it around and around in his hands, mesmerized by the shark. Vincent noticed as he unloaded the last thing and he left his hand on the top of the trunk, watching Rodriguez and the fish. He recalled all the time he himself had spent looking at the unfortunate creature, sometimes imagining, when he was a kid, that he would go to the beach and break the bottle open with a rock and then carry the little shark out to sea where it would swim away and be happy and free, coming back to visit little Vincent once in a while just to tell him thank you. Vincent shook his head to get rid of these thoughts, and he slammed the trunk closed, startling Rodriguez who looked up and stuttered about having one more thing to put in.

  Vincent looked at the shark, ignoring the teen, and then turned to get into the car. "Keep it Rodriguez. I've decided not to sell it." His hand went to the door where he paused, seeing the blue eyes that blinked up at him. Slowly, he moved to the back door and got in since he considered it wouldn't be very productive to sit on Rodriguez's sister. Rodriguez sat down after he did, and a tan hand gave him the baby shark before going to the steering wheel. The girl replaced him, big blue eyes watching the mysterious, red-eyed boy. Vincent scowled at her, but she didn't care.

  "My name's William. William Hanna Rodriguez….you?"


  Vincent stared at her, unused to such friendly people…more specifically girls…he had a hard time with girls. He had nothing against them, well…hell…he liked girls, you know, for their perks, but they seemed to have something against him. The teen's eyes went to the mat on the floor as he buckled his seat belt. "I'm Vincent." He replied automatically.

  William paused, mulling over the name while Rodriguez shot her a look of warning, which was wasted on the back of the blonde head. "What's your whole name? I like knowing people's whole names…usually tells you a lot about them." She smiled brightly.

  Vincent hesitantly replied. "Vincentimir…A. Ramos."

  William blinked, dissatisfied with the middle initial. "Ramos…like drake, a dragon?" Surprised, Vincent's shoulder's flinched and he nodded as his eyes flicked to her face. She was frowning now, her gaze considering his holey black converse. "What does the 'A' stand for? Hm?"

  Vincent refused to tell her as she hounded him for a block or two. Then the girl pouted and asked Rodriguez if he knew what Vincent's middle name was. Rodriguez told her to leave Vincent alone, so she turned around and asked a new question, one of her pink sleeves hugging her headrest as she smushed one of her cheeks into it. "How old are you?"

  Tired of this, but seeing that he owed Rodriguez, and even the girl, for giving him a ride, he answered. "Seventeen."

  William gasped, causing Vincent to jerk a little. "Whaa? Really? I thought you were way older! You're a baby!"

  "I'm a what?" Vincent shot back as the girl giggled at his anger. She calmed with a comfortable sigh, swiping back some hair from her eyes.

  "You're younger than Rodriguez and I always think of him as the cute chubby baby he was when my Mom brought him home." She smiled when she knew that Rodriguez was glowering at her out of the corner of his eye. "So…you're in high school? Junior? Senior?"

  "Senior."

  "When do you turn eighteen?" William moved about in her seat, searching for a more comfortable position while Vincent was getting ready to jump out of the car as it began to slow.