Spirits and Demons

Fast Life In The Big City

                                                            Part Twelve

  The first day in Kansas City was like nothing James Michael and his siblings had ever experienced before. It was after noon before anyone even woke, James Michael lay weak in the floor near the wall. Chip woke him up, telling him to come on and see what the big city looked like. James Michael thought why not since he didn't know how much longer he'd live anyway. Stepping into the hallway, lying in a pool of blood was one of the winos from the fight the night before. Chip raised the dirty sheet someone had placed over the wino's dead body, eyes still and opened wildly. He dropped the sheet back over the wino's head and we scooted past it, careful to not step in the pool of blood. Fear crept up James Michael's spine and Chip reassured him all is okay, that this kind of thing is normal in the big city. Still James Michael was dumbfounded upon realizing no police had shown up and no one had picked the body up since the night and into the afternoon. A cheap, empty bottle of wine was still in the dead wino's grasp. Chip kicked it loose and it could be heard rolling across the gritty hallway floor as they made for the stairway.

  Outside the noon day sun was bright and high in the sky whilst their eyes adjusted to the brightness after being in the dimly lit apartment and hallway. Walking along 113th street, they were forced to walk on one side of the street due to an underground leaking gasline. Several blocks going uptown, scantily clad women stood in bar doorways, beckoning customers to come inside and buy them a drink. Chip asked one woman how much she'd charge him to sleep with her and she told him twenty dollars. He told her he'd come back later since he didn't have enough money on him at the time. Life was fast in the big city, a lot faster than James Michael was prepared for yet he took all in stride. A few more blocks and they arrived at a Kress five and dime store that stood many stories high. Inside, they walked around a while and Chip pocketed a few things he wanted. Chip became aggravated because James Michael wouldn't steal like he was doing. Chip tried to run off and leave James Michael behind yet James Michael rode the escalators for hours, keeping Chip in sight since he wasn't sure if he could find the way back to the apartment. Much to James Michael's surprise, he looked up and discovered Jimmy Don, Ricky, and Ronny had found their way to the store and they were also riding the escalators. The entire day was spent riding the escalators until the store security guard ran them all out of the store.

  Once outside, Chip told them all it was time to go to the park and watch the airplanes arriving and departing. It was nearing sundown as they all arrived at the park near the airport. The first thing James Michael noticed was the wino's preparing for the cold night. All the benches were occupied with them, and they were covering themselves with newspapers. James Michael had only seen this kind of thing in the funny papers, never did he believe it could be true until seeing it with his own eyes. On through the park they walked until reaching the edge of a drainage canal between the park and airport. Lying on their backs in the grass they watched airplanes taking off and landing for what seemed like hours. A crowd gathered and Jimmy Don and Chip purchased some heroin and speed from one of the drug dealers. They took the drugs and soon joined in chasing rabbits over the edge of the drainage canal. James Michael, Ricky, and Ronny stood on the edge to see what was going on and when they saw the drug heads were entertaining themselves watching the rabbits falling to their death, this is when James Michael took Ricky and Ronny by their hands and led them out of the park back in the direction of the apartment. The first day in the big city was quite a shock for James Michael and he tried to shield Ricky and Ronny from the cruelness of it all. How he wished he and his siblings were back in West Monroe, away from it all. Back where life was safer and somewhat predictable. Night had fallen, walking back through the park there was seen wino's fighting one another for last drinks of cheap wine. James Michael held Ricky and Ronny at the park's entrance until Chip and Jimmy Don came along to show them the way back to the hotel apartment. Chip and Jimmy Don finally arrived, rushing by and hollering for them to run as fast as they can to get away from the gangs that were arriving. The crazy thing is the gangs were made up of little kids, numbered between forty and fifty gang members each and they all had weapons of some type. After a half hour of running to reach the hotel apartment, James Michael was relieved knowing he and all his siblings arrived safely. Upon reaching home, they were all grounded for being gone all day with none of the drunk adults knowing their whereabouts. James Michael had noticed the dark, red blood stains in the filthy carpet and on the walls of the hallway. The police were knocking on doors, asking questions whilst the dead wino's body was being wheeled out.