Life of a Street Kid ☑️

Chapter 24

We made it to Pete's in record time considering the situation. The woods lead us a good distance to his house and it let us not worry about being seen. In order to actually get to his house we had to cover some streets but they were almost deserted. I had to stop to shake Will a few times but that didn't slow us down that much.

Will and I made it back to Pete's before Will decided to collapse into unconsciousness. We actually were in the doorway. I knocked on the door with my foot because my hands were occupied with Will. He was as heavy as the first time this happened. One of the youngest kids answered the door. I didn't try to bother with remembering his name right then.

"Can you get Pete? I need help." I tried to prop Will up so he didn't keep slipping. The kid ran into the house.

A minute later the kid came running with Pete behind. I smiled nervously. "Sorry to come back in such a short time and bother you but I need some help." Pete rushed the rest of the way to grab the slipping Will.

Together with Will around both our shoulders we carried him into the extra room. We had to carefully lay him on the floor where the kids had set up a sort of bed. It was stacked with what I though was all the blankets in the house. Some of the kids brought their pillows in for Will as well. They didn't seem to be scared of the situation, almost like they were use to it. It wasn't surprising though. Things like this happened all the time.

I sighed a bit relieved we had made it in. Will pushed his self to stay up the whole way and did well. If he hadn't I didn't think I would have been able to get to Pete's house on my own.

Pete came in with some wet rags to wash off Will's face, cuts, and try to take down some of the swelling. The wound on his head refused to stop bleeding so Pete wrapped it. I sat on a chair near by and tried to relax.

I knew that now more then ever I was putting Pete in danger. I was putting everyone in danger. No matter how much I thought being here was a bad idea he was the only one I trusted enough to keep our presence a secret. Pete was the only one that would put others before his self.

I watched from the chair as Pete washed out the cuts on Will's face. He used the rag to wash it out then he put ointment on them to help it heal faster. He did the same with the gash on Will's right arm but instead of leaving it with just the ointment he wrapped it in a bandage to protect it.

He did everything so gently Will didn't wake up. I wasn't really expecting him to. I assumed that the bosses beat him the whole night and then some. They most likely only stop beating him for a short time before starting up again the next day. I bet that they finished minutes before I got there from what the swelling was like.

Pete finished finally and led me out of the room to the kitchen. He made me some tea and sat across from me. No one said anything for a while. He let me get my head straight before asking me anything.

"How long has he been like this?"

I shook my head in response. "I'm assuming a day. Thank you for letting us in by the way. I know you didn't want to see us for a while but I had no one else to turn to." I said exhausted all of a sudden.

"How could I not? You're my closest friend and you had an injured guy on your shoulders. There was no choice but to help you out." He paused for a second not quite sure what to say next.

He decided on Will's status. "Will should be fine. His eye will be swollen for a while but if we keep a cool cloth on it, it should be better than before, not as noticeable. His head wound will need to be cleaned then stitched. He's tired and sore. As once as he wakes up or in an hour we will wake him up, we will clean that gash along his arm better. We need to stitch it up. I hope he doesn't care about a scar."

After that Pete tried to lighten the mood with some friendly company but I kept drifting off. My sleep was not good last night too many times of getting up and going back to bed.

Then I heard Will in the other room. I jerked my head up suddenly awake. I hadn't even realized I had fallen asleep. My neck started to hurt from leaning my head over the chair. Will was up and I had to go see how he was.

I started to get up from the chair when I realized the sun was closer to the west. How longer had I been asleep? I brushed my thoughts away and started toward the door.

I stopped by the door hearing my name come from the other side. Will's voice was first followed by Pete's. As quietly as I could I opened the door a crack so I could hear.

"How are you feeling?" Pete asked.

"I feel like I got trampled on by a herd of cattle. My head is pounding and I feel like my face is a size of a watermelon." Will must have moved his right arm because I heard a grimace then a curse come from his mouth.

"I'd advice against moving your arm like that. You have a great gash along it so until someone stitches that up don't move it very much. And about that head I can only give you a wet washcloth for it. It might help take the swelling down too. It's not that bad either if that makes you feel any better."

"Not really but thanks for the help and the sympathy. Sorry for the trouble. I'm probably the last person you want to see."

"You're a friend of Max and you were hurt. It's not like I can say no when he comes with you on his shoulders." A pause came and I was afraid that he would tell Pete the truth. I held my breath.

The truth didn't come but something else. "Max told me that you two have been friends for a long time now. He said that you took him in when you two were young. He also said that he stayed only a little bit after his thirteenth birthday before he left."

"Max told you that. I'm surprised." Pete said interested.

"Me too but that's not what I'm trying to get at. He said that he left. If you two were so good of friends why did he leave? Did you two fight a lot or something?"

Another pause. "We fought but that wasn't the reason." Pete's voice seemed sad. "He left because he though he was too much of a pain. He thought that he was making my life harder and more stressful. I started to bring kids in from off the streets a half a year before he left and he though he was just another person for me to take care of. He didn't want to be a burden.

"I actually think he left because he thought that with himself gone I would have a better life. I think that he wanted to prove that he could take care of his self and didn't need my help. That's one thing you should learn about Max, he doesn't like to think that he needs someone. He likes to be able to be free and with out worry. I think something about his past has made him feel that way." Pete took a deep breath.

"Has he ever told you about his past?"

"No" regret filled Pete's voice.

"Not even a single thing. Not about family or anything that happened before you helped him." Will got curious.

"No. Nothing. I tried to ask him many times but he either ignored me or got mad at me. Eventually I gave up trying. I learned to not bring it up."

"Oh. Okay." Will seemed disappointed. I thought that now was the best time to let them see me.

I opened the door and walked to the chair next to Will. "How are you feeling, Will?" I tried to act like I didn't hear anything.

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Hey guys! Just wanted to let you know that this books almost done. Maybe a just few more Chapters left. Let me know what you think of this book so far. No need to be shy ;). Thanks for reading!