Street Smarts & Stolen Hearts

by Rob Hunter

  “Sounds a bit clingy,” Edwin suggested.

  “I guess,” Roy answered with a frown. “What do you think of him?” Roy asked, sitting up straighter.

  “Barely know him. Seems nice enough. A bit of an idiot I suppose,” he answered honestly, scratching his nose idly. “I feel like he might be the type to get annoying after a while.”

  “He’s not actually. Once you get to know him.”

  “You only met him a few days ago?” Edwin pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

  Roy shrugged.

  “Yeah, well, it’s more intense on the streets. If you’re going to befriend someone, you tend to do it pretty quickly or not at all.”

  “I suppose,” he relented. Maybe he would have to make an effort to try and get to know Daveth more, if the guy ever came back to the shelter. They didn’t have to become best buddies, but he supposed it would be nice for Adam and Roy’s sake to at least make an effort.

  “Jesus…” he hissed, catching sight of his watch as he carted a hand through his hair, which was in desperate need of a cut. “Emerson’s going to be pissed if he realized I sat here for an hour and a half talking to you.”

  “Guess you better get back to work.” Roy laughed, stretching his back with a satisfying crack as he stumbled wearily onto his feet.

  Edwin rolled his eyes, going to switch off the lights, and ushered Roy out of the room.

  “You better go to sleep. We can catch up later,” Edwin suggested, locking the door, before turning and embracing Roy in a short, swift hug once ensuring the hallway was empty of prying eyes. Roy’s hands clung to his back for a lingering moment, before he stepped back with a small smile and headed back towards the beds.

  Edwin ushered Solomon into the car, waving to Kris and Mikaela who had taken over their shift, and now had the unfortunate job of ejecting everyone from their beds and supplying enough food for the breakfast and lunch shift. He’d managed to grab a cup of coffee before he left, which hopefully would put him in a more suitable state to drive.

  Solomon looked half-dead as he slipped into the passenger seat, throwing his head back with a groan and closing his eyes. He leaned to the side, nuzzling his head into Edwin as he started the ignition. He laughed lightly, propping Solomon back up and ignoring the other man’s grumbling.

  “You can sleep when we get home,” Edwin pointed out, putting the car into reverse and carefully maneuvering it out of the parking lot.

  Solomon hummed, letting his tired eyes flicker open, and fixing Edwin with a weary stare.

  “Roy and Adam have a new friend then,” Solomon pointed out, rubbing the back of his hand across his eyes.

  “Jealous?” Edwin teased.

  “Unlikely,” Solomon huffed. “What do you think of him?”

  “Who, Daveth?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Dunno, seems alright,” Edwin muttered vaguely, glancing at Solomon out of the corner of his eyes as he tried to focus on the road. It wasn’t too busy yet, but the roads were still wet from the storm last night and had frosted over due to the unforgiving cold. “Why, what about you?”

  “I like him,” Solomon stated simply, eyes lightning up. Edwin spared him a surprised glance. “Well, other than the whole pickpocketing thing—”

  “Pickpocketing?” Edwin interrupted.

  “Oh yeah, he was the one who pickpocketed me yesterday,” Solomon said nonchalantly.

  “What? The one who kicked you in the balls?” Edwin exclaimed, startled.

  Solomon nodded with a laugh.

  “Jesus, Solomon, and you like him? After that? He could be dangerous…” “Nah, Daveth’s harmless. I was talking to him earlier. He’s quite endearing actually.” “Endearing?” Edwin repeated.

  “I mean, like, he seems okay. Easygoing. I reckon he could be fun to be around,” Solomon added with a shrug. “Why do you care so much anyway?”

  “I don’t. Just curious,” Edwin said, gripping the steering wheel tightly. Solomon hummed, but otherwise remained silent as he let his eyes close again, leaning back against the headrest.

  ***

  Daveth came back early the next day. Solomon was actually pleased to see him, even if he came without Roy and Adam.

  “How come you’re on your own?” Solomon asked after he’d reserved him a bed for the night. He walked beside the younger man as Daveth went to get food. Daveth shrugged, something a lot lighter in his step than it had been the other day.

  “Adam reckons a bunch of priests are visiting the church and that he can get some money off of them, and Roy said he wanted to watch Adam fail and give up, so…” Daveth replied with a grin. Solomon snorted; they did have a church in town—it was America, after all—but it was distinctly unkempt, walls moss-stained, and insides damp and rarely visited. He didn’t imagine many priests would be visiting that desolate little thing.

  “So I gather they’ll be coming later than?”

  “Nah, Adam said he’s going to TP the place if he doesn’t get any money…”

  “Fucking hell, can he try not to get in trouble with the law at least once?”

  “Ah, at least it’s funny. Well worth a night in a prison cell if you ask me.”

  “Then why aren’t you helping him?”

  “Because it’s bloody cold out,” Daveth retorted, with a mock shiver. Solomon laughed, not sure exactly what he found funny, but the sound made Daveth beam, so it was worth it.

  “So, Solomon…would you rather have a penis in your mouth, or in your ass?” Daveth asked, giggling as he did so. Solomon huffed. It hadn’t taken him long to work out that Daveth enjoyed hypothetical situations. The fact that Solomon had initially responded positively to the frankly bizarre questions the Brit came up with now meant that whenever there was a slight lull in conversation, Daveth would find some way to incorporate a hypothetical.

  “Can I have both? Both sound good,” Solomon responded with a wink. Daveth paused, looking momentarily startled, and Solomon was suddenly worried that maybe the younger lad wasn’t so open about different sexualities. But then Daveth laughed sharply, a blush making its way down his checks and neck.

  “Okay, would you rather eat a woman out, or put your penis in her?” Daveth suggested instead, still laughing.

  “Try again.”

  “Goddamn, bisexual then?” Daveth asked, with mock frustration.

  “Yep.”

  “Damn, I need better hypothetical questions…” Daveth muttered, grinning up at him. There was still a faint blush over his cheeks, but whether from embarrassment or breathlessness from laughing Solomon couldn’t tell. Either way, there was something about it that was, well, almost cute.

  “How about you? Penis, vagina or other?” Solomon asked, suddenly finding it important that he knew.

  “Well, I mean…” Daveth stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m gay, but I’ve, uh, been with men who don’t have penises before...”

  “Fair. Like I said, I go every which way. If I like the person, I like whatever happens to be in their pants,” he replied earnestly, wondering how exactly their conversation had developed into this topic.

  “Even if they had a snake in their pants?” Daveth mocked. Solomon spluttered, a choked, embarrassingly high-pitched noise escaping his throat.

  “God, no snakes. I hate snakes,” he said, shuddering. Fucking snakes.

  “That’s useful knowledge,” Daveth said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

  “Don’t you fucking dare. I’d ram my fist so far down your throat that I’d be fucking fisting you,” Solomon hissed. Daveth grinned, his body shaking ever so slightly as he laughed silently.

  “Spoilsport,” Daveth said with an exaggerated pout.

  “I’m fully serious,” Solomon growled, but couldn’t help the smile on his face.

  Daveth raised his hand to his mouth as a few more giggles hiccupped out of him. Solomon felt oddly warm and comfortable watching the younger man, and when their eyes met, he felt this strange fondness intensi
fy, and could only help but wonder whether Daveth was flooded with a similar sense of yearning.

  He looked away, almost embarrassed, but still smiling as Edwin came into sight. His smile dwindled slightly when he noted Edwin’s hard, almost downtrodden expression. He ran his tongue over his lips, tilting his head as he tried to examine his friend, but the other man wasn’t looking at him properly.

  “Solomon, more people are asking for beds. I need you to sort it out,” Edwin ordered sharply. Solomon furrowed his brows, tempted to argue back, if just to match the quiet anger in Edwin’s voice, but he thought better off it. Edwin’s gaze flickered to Daveth, who was looking distinctly uncomfortable now, before he turned his back and hurried away.

  “How come he’s annoyed? Roy said he was the calm one…” Daveth commented quietly. Solomon shrugged, before frowning.

  “Hang on, the calm one? What the fuck does that make me?”

  “The angry, tired-looking one with tattoos,” Daveth answered with a smirk, ducking away with a squeak as he swatted at him.

  “Go get food, you dick. I have to get back to work unfortunately,” he muttered, pushing the younger man away with a playful shove. Daveth stumbled, gesticulating wildly and almost managing to trip over his own legs. Solomon rolled his eyes, laughing as he walked away and trying to push away the nagging concern about Edwin.

  Okay, so maybe he shouldn’t have actually gone through with his threat to TP the church, but it wasn’t his fault that the priests were absolute dicks. It wasn’t his fault that he had sat, surrounded by visiting priests who were meant to be charitable citizens, and not gotten a single dime for his effort. He knew he looked like a hell of a sight, and he even tried asking for spare change (much to Roy’s amusement), but they continued to ignore him, even to poke their noses up at him, as though he was homeless by choice. Fucking dicks.

  Perhaps, at least, he should have waited for the visiting priests to depart. Maybe he should have paid more attention and realized that the priests were visiting to pay respect for the passing of the local pastor, and decided to pick a more appropriate time to desecrate their so-called holy property. But he’d never exactly been known for his sound judgment.

  So he stole some toilet rolls from the few public bathrooms that were still open and dragged a reluctant Roy into helping him, all the while fuming and cursing under his breath at the uncharitable bastards.

  And honestly, it hadn’t even been satisfying. Roy was absolutely useless, just standing off to the side and watching him with amused eyes, whilst occasionally cracking a sarcastic comment that would get Adam fuming all over again. The church was still damp from the storm, and the toilet paper got soaked through immediately and started dribbling down the stone walls. He could barely get it over the roof, and every time he did, it would rip and start dribbling down again.

  The most frustrating thing was that the church, with its crumbling walls, broken windows, and stained stone, was so unkempt that the toilet paper ended up looking more like decoration than anything else.

  And then blue lights had cascaded over them. Roy muttered an “oh shit” before sprinting out of sight, reacting before Adam had even comprehended the situation. He cursed, throwing his head back with frustration as he heard the door open and a haggard cop got out, glaring down at him unimpressed.

  So now he was stuck in a cramped prison cell. Because he was a fucking idiot. Or because the priests were fucking dicks. Probably a mixture of both.

  It wasn’t too bad. The guard was actually quite friendly for a cop, but he supposed that his petty ‘crime’ was a welcome relief when they usually had to deal with hardened criminals that would rather slice their own mother’s throat than come quietly.

  Edwin was going to be pissed, though. The cop assured him that he wouldn’t be charged with anything, considering he hadn’t actually damaged the church, and that if anything actually happened, it would be the legal equivalent to being slapped on the wrist. But they had phoned Edwin, who was registered as his official social worker at the shelter (the only place of residence he could give), who was apparently coming down to bail him out.

  Edwin did not like crime. At all. Edwin did not like the people he was responsible for getting in trouble with the police. Solomon would find it funny; Edwin would be like a disappointed parent, and it was not a conversation he was looking forward to in the slightest. God, Edwin was probably going to treat it like he had fucking mugged someone, instead of, you know, just throwing around some toilet paper out of irritation.

  But it was either that or spend a few nights in jail. Which, as much as he appreciated the warmth, was not exactly what he wanted to do. The place was already making him bored and irritable as it was.

  Nevertheless, the moment the prison door opened and he was guided towards reception, and he saw the deep glower on Edwin’s face, the way the older man was grinding his teeth and the lines that were cascading across his forehead as his frown deepened and his eyes blazed, he wondered whether staying in that cell would have been a better fate.

  “What the fuck, Adam? TPing? TPing a church? What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you even think that’s okay, or that you wouldn’t get caught? Jesus, Adam, what the fuck?” Edwin growled the moment they were in the car together, the words barreling on and on, not even giving Adam a chance to interrupt, and he found himself wondering briefly how an earth Edwin was finding the time to breathe.

  “Edwin, seriously, it’s not that big of a deal,” he argued, regretting it almost immediately as Edwin turned to glare at him. He could be a bloody scary guy when he wanted to be.

  “Adam, you just got fucking arrested, for being a complete and utter dipshit.”

  “Okay, calm down a second, will you…”

  “Calm down? Calm down! Fucking hell, Adam, don’t tell me to calm down when I have to come and bail your sorry ass from a jail cell.”

  “Look, if you just let me explain…”

  “Explain what? That you had a legitimate reason for TPing a Church? That you TPed in self-defense? What the fuck is there to explain, Adam?”

  Adam went silent, pressing his lips together until they formed a tight white line. He’d never seen Edwin so worked up; he’d seen him angry, sure, but rarely so vicious. He was usually the voice of reason, and Adam honestly didn’t see how what he had done would push Edwin over the edge. It really wasn’t that serious.

  Edwin sighed, his shoulders sagging as he stared resolutely at the bare road in front of them, his fingers tapping an unsteady rhythm on the steering wheel.

  “Seriously, Edwin, what’s up?” Adam asked carefully. Edwin glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, his jaw hardening. “Don’t tell me this is just about me, because sure, you’d be pissed, but not this pissed. So what’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” Edwin said, a tad too quickly. Adam stared at him dubiously. Edwin sighed again. “It’s stupid. Nothing important.”

  “So there is something?” Adam straightened up, looking at Edwin with genuine concern now. The other man huffed humorlessly.

  “It’s honestly stupid. You’ll laugh at me,” Edwin said dismissively.

  “You seemed fine yesterday, so it’s something that happened today.” Edwin didn’t respond, his expression turning stony-faced. Adam took that as an affirmative. “Is it about Solomon?”

  “Why would it be about Solomon?” Edwin exclaimed, startled. Adam almost jumped at the abruptness, staring at Edwin wide-eyed. “You talked to Roy, didn’t you,” Edwin muttered, averting his eyes.

  “It’s pretty obvious you’re into him,” Adam replied with a shrug. “Roy said you reacted quite strongly when he brought it up yesterday.”

  “I didn’t,” Edwin retorted bitterly. Adam snorted.

  “Sure, whatever.” Adam glanced out of the window at the familiar streets, feeling some degree of relief to be going back to the shelter. He wondered whether Solomon had saved him a bed at all. “You know I’m pretty sure he’s into you as well.”

>   “No. He’s not,” Edwin said with a strange, twisted smile. Adam looked at him questioningly. “I’m pretty sure he’s crushing on Daveth.”

  “Daveth? Seriously? They met like two days ago, and Daveth kicked him in the balls…” Adam retorted with a laugh.

  “Yeah, well, that’s what it looked like. I know what Solomon looks like when he’s got a crush on someone, I’ve known him long enough to recognize that look.”

  “So what? You’re jealous?” Adam replied. Edwin chewed on his lip, pulling into the parking lot of the shelter. “If you’re even reading the situation right, then it’s just a crush, right? I mean, you’ve never given him any indication that you’re into him. I mean, does he even know you dig dudes? It doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be equally into you if he knew it would be returned,” Adam argued.

  It was true. He’d known Edwin and Solomon for a few years now, and honestly, when he had first met them, he had assumed they were a couple. It seemed, even to him now, that they were constantly dancing around the fact that they cared for each other, more than just friends cared for each other.

  “I could say the same about you and Roy,” Edwin responded blankly. Adam opened his mouth to respond, and closed it again, his eyes narrowing.

  “No. You couldn’t,” he said carefully, before getting out of the car. Even if he was interested in Roy, the guy was straight as fuck. And he wasn’t interested anyway. He’d cared about Roy the same way he cared about Edwin and Solomon, and even Daveth. Nothing more, nothing less. It was completely different to what Edwin and Solomon had.

  Ellis just wanted to sleep without constantly being woken up, either by the police yelling at him with their bright torches to get him to move, or by fucking criminals that kept trying to rob what few possessions he had or stab him as he slept. It honestly should not be this hard to hide away from the world in sleep when you were homeless and had no responsibilities.