Streetwise
by Lark... jet2lark (at) gmail (dot) com 
Part 14:

My sleep in the clump of trees in the park was fit full. It got cold in the night and I would wake up and not know where I was and then go back to sleep. Finally it was the traffic noise just outside of the park that finally woke me and when it did, I sat up and suddenly realized, I was homeless.

I still had a little money left to get something to eat but I knew it wasn't going to last long. I sat in a Dunkin-donuts eating a doughnut and drinking coffee to help me wake-up. Like at the edge of the park, I sat by the window so I could watch people walk by. I mostly to look at boys. I saw a tall and very skinny black boy. He walked by in long strides. His skin was much darker than Boyscout's and I thought to myself, that black boy is cute I wonder if he would like me..

 

They must know I'm gone by now and Marko is fucking Boyscout every chance he gets. I have to admit that they looked good together but I feel so left out. I was stupid to even bring that little fucker home..

Yesterday wasn't a day I wanted to repeat but that is what it looks like. There was a boating pond not far from the bench that I was beginning to call home. I lay out on the grass and slept most of the afternoon.

Let's face it, I like suckin dick and if it's the right person, I really like getting fucked. I don't mind getting money for doing it either. It is kind of sleazy to have someone cum in your mouth and then they give you money for doing it.. I have to be honest, there are parts of that I like.

But doing it because you need money to survive is different. When it becomes a necessity it takes all the fun out of it. It becomes lonely and desperate and sometimes, ugly. I keep thinking I'll meet someone like Marko, someone who will really like me. It could be about sex, I don't care.

After awhile I started going off into the woods with people I didn't like or want. Some guys gave me money and some didn't and it kept me on the edge. Because it my only survival, I was becoming a regular.

I was sitting on my bench when a cop on a bicycle rode by and then turned around and came back. As cops go, he was cool looking probably because of the bike.

"You got an Id?"

I told him no.

"How old are you?"

I told him I was 16 which was a lie.

He stood looking down at me and said, "I'm not stupid and I know that you are not 18 and I fuckin know what goes on here at night so I want you to get the fuck out of here and stay out of here so I don't have to bring you in."

I got up and slowly walked towards the park exit. The cop rode off in the other direction.

 

The next few days were pretty bad. After a while, I figured out that the cop that threw me out of the park didn't work the late shift so at midnight, I would go back into the park looking for dick or money.

I was sitting by myself on my bench under the lamp post. The voice seem to come out of nowhere. when I turned, I saw the dark man from before.

"You look like shit, you know that?"

I surveyed my clothes and I was sure I hadn't seen a mirror in a week. I'm sure he was right.

"You ready?"

I stood up and I prepared to be led back into the woods.

"Where you goin?"

The dark man was headed out of the park. he said, "Come on!"

Once out on the street, he hailed a cab and we both go in. In the back he looked over at me and extended his hand. "I'm Ken, what's yours?"

I told him, Michael.

He rolled down his window part way, looked at me, smiled and said, "You fuckin stink, you know that?"

I couldn't tell how old he was but maybe it was what they call middle age. I was glad I was picked up because it was beginning to rain. I had no idea where I was going but I had nowhere to go so it didn't really matter. Even though it was a long taxi ride both of us sat in silence. Soon we were out of the city in on suburban streets.

Ken leaned closer to the driver. "Up here on the left."

The cab stopped and he paid the driver and we both got out. We both walked up the pathway to a small neatly trimmed but small house. He keyed the lock and we went inside. Feeling vulnerable, I was left with no escape other than running out the front door into a maze of other houses in a completely strange neighborhood.

The modern living room looked comfortable. Without a word, he pushed me along to the bathroom and started running a bath.

Finally he said, "Come on, take'em off."

I did as he asked, dropping them all where I stood. Ken stooped down and picked up all my dirty clothes and disappeared with them. I stood there looking around at the small but tidy bathroom. I caught a quick glimpse in the mirror and I saw a frightening image of myself. My face was dirty and my hair was ratty. After that I looked instead at the floor or the running bath.

When he came back he turned off the bath water and told me to get it.
He grabbed me by my arm causing me to look up at him. "Michael, you're not bad looking you just don't care about yourself."

Ken looked different then he looked to me in the Park. In the park, he was a hot predator and I was his prey. There was nothing wrong with that, in fact that's what made it so exciting. We both got it up in anticipation of what was going to happen, but here, it was different.

In his home, Ken looked normal and non-threatening. He reminded me of a guidance councilor I had once in school. He wore a tee shirt and black pants and was a little unshaven.

Ken knelt down by the bath tub and armed with soap and assorted scrubbers, he started to clean me up. It was as if he had found a stray dog. The back of my neck, my face, my feet and anywhere and everywhere. My hair was shampooed with various different beautifully smelling hair liquids.

He took a break and lighting a smoke, he sat back and studied me. "Just how old are you anyway?"

I told him the truth.."Fourteen."

"How long have you been hustling?"

I said, "A little longer than a week, I guess."

Ken said, "Oh so you mean, Two weeks ago you weren't hustling and then suddenly, last week you were?"

"Oh, I thought you meant, how long have I been hanging out in the park. I was only hanging out there for a week. Before that, I was living with a friend."

"So where's your parents?"

Ken didn't seem to mind keeping his own story a mystery but he wanted to know everything about me.

"I moved in with Marko and My Mom was ok with it. She's off doing other things."

Ken listened silently and prompted me to continue.

"So me and Marko were boyfriends for a longtime and everything was fine until he let another boyfriend move in and then things just fell apart."

Ken continued to look at me as if he was trying to figure me out.

"And then, one morning, I got up and just left and that's when I ended up in the Park."

Ken got up and poured water over me to wash away the shampoo.

"So I don't have to worry about angry parents looking for you and claiming that I ruined your life because you've done a good job of it on your own even before you even met me."

I didn't know if he was blaming me or my Mom. "No, I don't think anyone will come looking for me. In fact I can promise you no one will."

Just after I said that, I imagined that I was giving a serial killer everything he needed for me to disappear forever. Maybe he would stab me to death and let all my blood go down the drain. No one would ever find my body and if they did, they wouldn't ever know it was me...Big fuckin deal...

From a shelf he pulled down a large towel and began drying me off and sat me naked in a chair. He combed the knots and tangles out of my hair. "You like long hair or short?"

I said, I guess I like it long.

He said, "Ok, I'm just going to shorten it up a little."

If Ken was really a serial killer, why would he bother to trim my hair?

He spoke softly to me and he called me by my name for the first time. "Michael, it's ok to go into the Park every once in a while to suck dick or get fucked but it's not a good idea to live there. You were starting to look like a water rat and it was getting to the point that no one would want you no matter how young you are."

He held me up in front of the mirror and said, "And, now look at you.. See how beautiful you are."