Blaze | Philkas

5

Philip woke up with a sharp pain in his back and a bright light in his face, he lifted his head to see a man in the corner of what looked to be a stingy motel room. The man was dressing himself, nothing Philip hadn't seen in a stingy motel room before. He had seemed to notice that Philip had woken up because he turned around and smiled slightly. The boy saw his wedding ring, the stranger was married. He tried to feel bad but he couldn't, he just hoped whoever this man was married to would find out somehow and leave him. He walked over to the bed and crawled on, moving up until he was right over top of Philip. The man gave him a small peck on the lips and brushed some hair out of his face.
"I don't know where a kid your age learned to ride dick like that, and I'm not sure I want to know, but you're amazing, baby." Philip hated that name coming from his mouth. He isn't anybodys 'baby' and he certainly doesn't want to be. He gave the man a fake smile as he climbed off the bed. Philip had a bad habit of seeking validation, love and attention from the bedrooms of older men who were most likely married and so deep in the closet that you couldn't even try dragging them out. He needed to stop that. The man left without saying another word, leaving Philip alone in the small room that smelled of sweat and unwashed sheets.

When Philip awoke again, it was almost dark outside again, He immediately thought of how mad and worried Helen and Gabe would be, he didn't have his phone with him since he had left it at their house so they were probably freaking out. Philip got up and quickly threw on his clothes. He needed to get to the bus stop and get home and that was exactly what he planned to do until he shoved his hands in his pockets and realized his wallet was gone.
"Oh fuck." He whispered and shoved his hands in all of his pockets, his jeans and his sweater but it wasn't there.

Philip spent hours searching the room for his wallet until he finally reached the conclusion that the man had stolen it while he slept. The boy willed himself not to cry as he exited the room and wandered his way out of the motel. He was in the city and that became very evident to him as he walked out onto the street. He put his hood up and walked with confidence, acting as if he was strong and putting on a brave face to ward off any potential attackers. He thought of going to his mothers house but god knows that was a shitty idea. He thought of maybe going to one of his city friends and asking for their help but he would have no clue where to find them on a Saturday night. That's when the parties happened, meaning they were all drunk off their asses and probably couldn't form a proper sentence.

The boy continued to wander through the city, trying to stay aware of his surroundings and figure out where he was. This was a bad part of town, he could tell by the large amount of shameless prostitutes standing on the sidewalks and the dirty, probably roach or rat infested motels. Not to mention the abundance of strip clubs and run down apartment buildings.

He eventually found himself among a bunch of clubs, bars and restaurants and he noticed a familiar face. Tony. Tony was Helens work partner, he was a nice man and always treated Philip like a friend rather than just his co-workers foster kid as many other people might do.
"Tony!" Philip shouted, making him glance in the direction of the yell and lock eyes with Philip. Tony put his iced tea down and told his friends he had to go, rushing over to the boy.
"Philip, what are you doing out here?" Tony put his hand on Philips arm and pulled him closer in a protective manner.
"I came here yesterday and I got lost, I don't have any money because someone stole my wallet. Can you drive me ho- back to Helen and Gabe." Philip stopped himself from calling the place home, it wasn't home. At least not his home.
"They've been worried sick about you, kid. C'mon, I'll take you back." He led Philip to his black pick-up truck, it was odd for Philip because he normally only saw Tony's sheriffs truck. In fact, seeing Tony out of his work attire and into normal clothes was weird as he never saw the man outside of the station. The boy got into the truck and buckled his seat belt, he looked out the window as Tony started the engine and drove away towards Tivoli.

When they pulled in front of the house, Philip saw Helen and Gabe standing on the deck and he knew he was in for it. The boy thanked Tony then hopped out of the Truck. Helen walked down to meet Philip as he went up and Tony drove off, leaving a cloud of dust. Helen went to hug Philip but he avoided her and just went inside, completely ignoring Gabe too. He knew it wasn't their fault and he shouldn't be mad at them, he had a habit of shutting people out before they could get to him and hurt him. But on the other hand, Helen was blaming herself for making Philip hate her.

That was before Philip was truly alone.