Living Rough

by Cristy Watson

  “Not bad at all,” he lied.

  He looked like he was in a ton of pain. Even Tylenol would help. I’d have to scrounge for bottles to buy a painkiller. Then I had a brainwave.

  “Dad, I have to go to school soon. Do you think you’ll be okay here?”

  “Oh, sure. I may even head back to the campsite to check out the damage. Hopefully, we didn’t lose too much.”

  “Yeah,” I said, “I think we did a good job of tying things down. I’m sure it will be fine. I can walk with you to our site.”

  “No. It’s easier to go straight to school from here. Why don’t you head off? We’ll meet this afternoon and then figure out a plan.”

  We parted at the door, and, after making sure my dad was steady on his feet, I ran up the hill to school. I probably beat my old record—the caffeine made me hyper. I actually had a bit of a headache when I got to school. I figured that would make what I was about to do easier.

  I headed straight for the office. Mr. Brock was at the photocopy machine when I opened the office door.

  “Hi, Mr. Brock,” I said, trying to squint so it looked like my head was really hurting.

  “How are you today, Edgar? I was concerned when you left class yesterday. You seemed frustrated.”

  “Oh, yeah—I was ticked with Paul. It’s all cool now. But,” I said, rubbing my temples for effect, “I do have a migraine. I get them around exams when I’m up late reading. Any chance the medical room has some Tylenol?”

  “Oh, I’m sure they do. But I’m not allowed to dispense it to students. Let me see if Mr. Johnson is around. Just hang on, okay?”

  “Sure. Thanks.” I watched him head toward the library and spotted Ben coming in the front doors. He was early today too.

  “Poe…dude. I’m glad you’re here. You won’t believe what I heard on the news.” He jerked his head sideways, like he wanted me to come into the hall.

  “Just a sec. I’m waiting for Mr. Brock.” Ben approached the counter and leaned against it. He looked agitated. I was starting to wonder what had him so riled up when Mr. Brock returned.

  “Here, hopefully these will help. Maybe you should get your eyes tested.” He discreetly placed the two pills in my hand and then patted my shoulder.

  “Thanks. I’m sure these will do the trick. I just have to get some water.” I moved out to the hall, where there was a drinking fountain. Ben followed, and Mr. Brock returned to his photocopying. I pretended to swallow the Tylenol in case any adults were watching. Then I placed them in my pants pocket. I would have to skip classes to get them to my dad. The way he looked when we left the coffee shop, I didn’t think he’d last until 3:00 pm. Besides, all I could think about was our site and the damage the storm might have done.

  “So, what were you going to tell me?” I asked Ben as we moved toward our lockers.

  “Dude, it was all over the news today.”

  “Hang on,” I said. “Why are you here so early?”

  “I thought if I got here early, you could help me with math.”

  “I guess,” I said. “But I don’t plan on staying long.” I didn’t have the head-space for this right now, but Ben seemed to really need my help. I pulled my texts from my locker.

  “Forget the math,” Ben said. “It doesn’t matter anymore. This is big. I mean, really big.” His voice had tensed, and his eyes were wild-looking.

  “Okay, what’s wrong?” I asked, feeling my nerves heat up.

  “Mom had the radio on when she drove me to school. They were saying the storm knocked out power last night and took down trees.”

  “So, tell me something I don’t know,” I said. I closed my locker and began to walk down the hall.

  “A bunch of trees in that forested area at the bottom of the hill came down. They found a campsite, and they think some homeless guy was living there. They figure he had a kid too, from the clothes they found. The police are there now. ”

  Everything went fuzzy.

  My dad and I had been discovered.

  Chapter Thirteen

  My head was really pounding now. I looked around, but no one was watching us. What did it matter, anyway? My secret was out. If the police were at our site, they probably had my dad in custody.

  “You knew I was living in a tent?” I asked Ben.

  “It was you!” he replied.

  “What! You mean you didn’t know?” I felt a burn behind my eyes and blinked hard. “Why’d you trick me like that? I thought we were friends.” I turned to leave, but he pulled on my shirt, so I sat down.

  “Relax. I suspected it was you as soon as I heard the news. You’ve never had me to your place, and you’re always hard up for food. I figured you and your dad were just tight for cash. I didn’t know until today that things were that bad for you.”

  My breathing was shallow, and every breath made my head hurt more.

  “Listen, Poe. I really didn’t know. I would have helped,” he said, sitting down beside me. “You could stay with me. My folks won’t mind.”

  “Yeah. Well, thanks for the offer, but that doesn’t really help my dad, does it?” I don’t know why I was giving Ben attitude. He was the only friend I had, and right now I needed support. “Sorry,” I said, then put my head between my knees.

  Suddenly the lack of sleep hit me and I felt exhausted. “Right now there’s only one thing on my mind. I have to find my dad.” I stood up to leave. “I think he broke his arm yesterday, and I don’t know if he got hauled in by the cops or what.”

  Ben stood up too. “I’m coming with you.”

  I had no energy to argue, and frankly, I think I needed Ben. I wasn’t steady on my feet. “I’m really sorry I snapped.”

  “Hey, no worries, dude. I can’t imagine how you’ve been living in a tent all this time…and through the winter? Man, you and your dad must be strong. I couldn’t do that.”

  As we walked out the doors, I saw Inna leaving her parents’ car. She bent in to kiss her mom goodbye, then waved at Ben and me.

  What would I tell her?

  Inna’s parents were eyeing us from their car. I waved, hoping they’d be satisfied and drive off. But they continued staring. As she reached us, Inna grabbed my arm and practically pulled it out of the socket, dragging me into the school foyer.

  “No…hi…I mean. Let go,” I said, trying to pry her hand loose. She looked hurt. “I’m sorry, Inna. But Ben and I have to go. Leave…goodbye.”

  I guess tact goes out the window when you haven’t slept all night.

  She shook her head and put her arms up to signify she didn’t know what I was talking about. I didn’t know what to do. But I couldn’t be in the building another minute.

  “Goodbye,” she finally stated, when I didn’t say anything. Then she stomped down the hall.

  “Well, that went well,” said Ben.

  “Shut it,” I said back.

  “Hey, I’m on your side, remember?”

  “Now I’ve screwed up with Inna too. She’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  “Dude, she’ll come around. The timing was bad, that’s all. But we better get going before the bell rings and a teacher nabs us.”

  “How are we going to find my dad?” I asked as we stepped into the crisp air again.

  “Let’s find a coffee shop with a tv and check the news. Maybe they’ll say if your dad is in custody.”

  Custody. There was that word again. It sounded scary. Dangerous.

  Could they put my dad in jail? Could they lock him up for living with his kid this way? I wished I’d never left him alone this morning. I felt the two painkillers in my pocket. A lot of good they’d do him now. I took a deep breath and felt my temples burn. “Good idea,” I replied to Ben’s suggestion. Then I downed the two pills, dry.

  As we walked, Ben filled the silence. “You know,” he said, “you’ve got to look at this like one of those Greek tragedies. The kind where the hero undergoes a bunch of trials. Fights off three-headed dogs and comes out triumphant.�
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  “Right,” I smirked. “It’s called a tragedy for a reason.”

  “Okay. But at least he gets the girl in the end.” Ben didn’t sound convinced.

  It was over nine hundred steps to the coffee shop. I lost track on account of the pain in my head.

  “In local news,” a woman on tv said, “a homeless man was discovered near the remnants of his tent after last night’s storm ripped through his home. It appears the man’s son was living with him. Authorities found clothing and schoolbooks at the site. The man has been taken to the Peace Arch Hospital for medical attention…”

  Without waiting to hear the rest of the story, I turned to Ben and said, “Let’s go!” It would take a good twenty minutes to get to the hospital, even if we hustled.

  Now I knew that my dad’s arm was being taken care of. That was good. Our secret was out, so I didn’t have to lie anymore. That was good. But what would happen to us?

  That’s what scared me now.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The Tylenol was kicking in as we arrived at the hospital, so my head felt better. But my stomach was churning. Ben got us a chocolate bar from a vending machine, and then we followed the signs to the emergency room.

  A crew of reporters was in the waiting area as we came around the corner. Ben eyed them suspiciously while I went to the counter to ask about my dad. Even though I used a really low voice, the cameraman beside me yelled, “This must be the kid!”

  I turned to run. Ben put himself between the news people and me. In an instant, I realized that if I ran, I’d have to stay on the run. They knew my dad had a kid. It would only be a matter of time before they tracked me down. I didn’t want that. All I wanted was for my dad to be okay.

  “Are you Mr. Reed’s son?” a woman asked as she shoved a microphone into my face.

  Maybe it was the lack of food. Maybe it was the knowledge that we’d just lost everything. Or maybe it was because the worst had already happened. Whatever it was, I decided to be honest.

  “Yeah. I’m his son,” I answered.

  “So you were living in a tent with your dad? How long has this been going on?” she asked in an accusatory tone.

  “You don’t want to hear about last night? How my dad broke his arm? How we lost everything we own? Does it matter where we were sleeping? Shouldn’t the real question be, where are we going to sleep tonight?”

  “Yes, but you didn’t answer me,” she replied, looking into the camera. “Why were you living in a tent and how long were the two of you in the woods?”

  “My dad didn’t plan this, you know. It’s not like he wanted to live in a tent. He had a good job when we lived in Merritt, and we had a home. Bad stuff happens. Maybe if someone had hired my dad after my mom died, we would have been okay.” I saw Ben nod and smile, encouraging me to go on.

  “But why didn’t you stay in a shelter?” asked the reporter.

  I was on a roll now. “In Surrey and White Rock, there aren’t any shelters that take men and their kids. There are shelters for women and kids. There are shelters for men by themselves. And for teenagers, you can maybe find shelter in Vancouver. If you’re lucky,” I said. “But my dad and I don’t want to be separated. He wants to help me with my homework. He wants to be there for me.” I could feel a lump forming in my throat. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

  “So you’re saying there’s a gap in the services?” she asked.

  “You bet there is,” I replied.

  “Even so, you could have reached out to social services,” she added.

  “So I could go into foster care? No way! My dad and I want to stay together. And we were doing all right. That is, until the city started clear-cutting and the storm destroyed our site.”

  My shoulders relaxed a little. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ben clapping. I managed a smile.

  “Can I just see my dad? I want to make sure he’s okay.” Tears threatened to well up into my eyes.

  “I’m Sandra Kelley, reporting live from White Rock,” she said. Then she gave the cameraman a signal to stop filming. “Hey, kid, you did a good thing. The camera loves your face, and a lot of people are going to be touched by your story. Sorry I pushed.”

  I returned to the emergency desk. Making Ms. Kelley feel better wasn’t high on my list of priorities. The nurse had my dad’s information ready. “He’s been moved to a room upstairs for the day,” she said.

  “He’s okay, isn’t he?” I asked.

  “I’m sure he is. Room four-twenty-two.” She pointed to the elevator.

  “Thanks,” I said, then turned to Ben. “Let’s go.”

  My stomach jumped as the elevator landed on my dad’s floor. I needed something more in my belly. The chocolate bar wasn’t cutting it.

  Trays of food were going by as we walked down the hall. Ben saw me eyeing the breakfast items.

  “I’ll go to the cafeteria and get you something. What do you want?” he asked.

  “It’s okay.”

  “No, I’m serious. You need food. Besides, it’ll give you and your dad a few minutes on your own. Really, dude.” He shook his head. “You need to eat. You’re as gray as the hospital gowns.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dad was sitting up in bed when I entered his room. His cheeks had some color, and he looked rested. His arm was in a blue cast.

  “Nice color, Dad.”

  “Who knew? I’ve never seen casts like this before. Pretty classy-looking, hey?”

  I smiled and sat down on the edge of his bed.

  “How come they’re keeping you here if it’s just a broken arm?”

  “Oh, I guess they’re worried I’m a little anemic. They’re pumping me full of vitamins. To be truthful, the bed feels great.” He patted the empty space beside him, and I climbed up.

  It felt like heaven. I knew if I closed my eyes, I’d be gone for sure.

  “Edgar, I’m so sorry about all of this. We lost everything. A city crew was cleaning up our belongings when I arrived. I lost my temper and started yelling at them. Guess that’s how I ended up here.”

  “It’s okay, Dad.”

  “What upsets me most is how this is going to impact you,” he added. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Dad, I think I already said it all. On the news. I was interviewed downstairs. I told the truth. Whatever happens now, well…”

  My dad tousled my hair. “My son, the tv star!”

  I wish it were that easy. I wish I’d been interviewed for any other reason than this. Dad must have sensed my worry.

  “Listen, Edgar. I guess the doctors feel that I am suffering from depression. Some days I could see how bad it was, but most days I was just going through the motions. I kept hoping things would get better. But the more we lost, I guess the harder it was to stay positive. I really let you down.”

  I was about to answer when Ben came into the room with a tray of food. I was glad for the distraction. I also hoped this meant my dad would now be able to get back on his feet. While I ate, Ben and my dad talked.

  “If it weren’t for the weather, it could be kind of cool camping out every night,” said Ben. “Except it would be more fun with a campfire for roasting marshmallows.”

  “Well, I think if you were to ask Edgar, he’d say the novelty of camping wore off pretty fast. Especially with the first rain.” A nurse came in and checked my dad’s pulse.

  “He’s okay, right?” I asked.

  “Yes, he’s just fine. A couple of meals and a good rest, and he’ll be raring to go.”

  “When can he return home?” I asked, wincing as I said the word home.

  “The doctor has only given orders for him to stay one night. He can check out in the morning.” Then the nurse moved to help the patient in the bed opposite my dad. The old woman was in a cast that went from her chest to her toes.

  “Mr. Reed,” started Ben, “Poe can stay with me if he wants. I mean, if that’s okay with you. I know my parents will be cool with that. Hey, the
y’ll probably be okay with you staying too. We have an extra room downstairs. It’s not completely finished, but it’s got to be better than living out…”

  “Thank you, Ben. I’m sure Poe and I will work something out.” He yawned, and I realized he needed to rest.

  I gave him a hug, and Ben and I headed down the hall to the elevator. Once we were outside, the weight of everything that had happened sat like an elephant on my shoulders.

  At least I’d have a place to sleep for the night. Maybe with a good rest, my dad and I would figure something out.

  Back at school they were already on the last block before lunch. Ben and I hung around outside, waiting for the bell to ring.

  My tv debut hadn’t aired yet, and even if it had, everyone was in class, so they wouldn’t have seen it. Tomorrow, I’d have to worry.

  I didn’t see Inna over the lunch hour, nor did I spot her during afternoon classes. When the bell finally rang, I could hardly wait to get to Ben’s house. All I could think about was sleeping. For a year!

  His mom made meatloaf and mashed potatoes for supper. My dad would have loved this. Ben’s parents were really cool about what happened. They didn’t ask questions or anything. The conversation stuck to our classes and exams and what we’d be taking next year.

  Once under the covers, I should have fallen asleep right away. But I still had a lot on my mind. I reached over the side of the bed into my backpack and pulled out the photo album I’d salvaged from our site.

  Pictures of my dad, my mom and me filled the pages—pictures of our life before.

  I missed that time. I missed my mom. My fingers ran across photos of her the last Christmas we all shared together. Her smile lit up the page. It reminded me of Inna.

  Funny how something great, like meeting a cool girl, can happen at the same time as the absolute worst thing in your life.

  Before I closed my eyes, I decided I’d ask Ben to borrow his computer in the morning. I had an important message to share with Inna. I only had to find a site that translated my words into her language. Hopefully, she’d still give me a chance.