"Never say goodbye, because saying goodbye means going away, and going away means forgetting."
~Peter Pan
I had no response for the scruffy man standing hunched inside the box in front of me.
How was it even possible that Stephanie had known him? Had he worked at the hospital at some point?
"She's dead, right?" Ty croaked, his raspy voice almost lost in the wind that had started to pick up around us.
"Yeah." I finally managed to bring myself to say, my eyes following him as he moved out of the box in one swift move, his eyes never leaving me.
"Why are you here then? How the hell did you know-"
"How did you know my sister? You're a twenty something year old man, and you were talking to my twelve year old sister?" He stood up, earning a quiet squeak out of me when I realized how much taller and more intimating he looked now that he was standing.
He had to be a good foot taller then me, his eyes had darkened with the sky, his lips twisted in a grimace. My eyes fell from his face and on to the dirty and torn blue shirt he was wearing, the jeans that looked seconds from tearing at the seams.
"My daughter was sick for her first couple years of life. She met Steph at the hospital." I could feel sympathy starting to creep its way into my chest upon hearing his words.
"Why are you here? Did they just send you here to tell me she's dead? I'm not really all the fucking surprised. This world takes all the beauty and generosity and washes it down with its shitty government and rich snobs that couldn't care less about all of us out here." He made a gesture toward the people that were lined up and down both sides of the street, some of them watching the scene we were making.
"Look, Ty. I don't know who you are exactly, and I'm sorry about your daughter. But I'm here because of Stephanie. She. . . she gave me this list and. . ."
"And what does some stupid list have to do with someone like you being down here right now?" I could feel my hands clenching into fists at my sides.
"Would you all stop saying that! What the hell do you mean by someone like me? I'm just like you-"
"Just like me?" He laughed sarcastically, "I don't see you sleeping inside a box in the middle of the winter with absolutely no idea if you'll ever be able to see your four year old daughter again. I don't see you sitting here and crying yourself to sleep while people out there with money go and eat at fancy fucking restaurants when we're lucky if we can get a piece of moldy bread. So tell me, sweetheart, how are you anything like us?" He was pointing at me as he spoke, as if he were lecturing a small child. I could feel everything inside me want to walk away and forget I ever came here, but I couldn't leave. This wasn't for me, this wasn't for Alyssa The Useless. This was for Steph and I wasn't going to let her down.
"You're rich. You wear your clothes once and toss them aside, knowing that you can just go and buy another pair of jeans if you get tired of the ones you have." He went on when I didn't say a word, his blue eyes so dark I could barely see the blue in them anymore.
"I'm sorry." I said, preparing myself to stalk away, "But you aren't the one that just lost her baby sister, all right?" He only stared at me, not saying anything until I started to back away.
"Of course that's all you think about, Rich Girl. Your sister was an amazing person, I doubt I could say the same about you." I had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from lashing out on him, my hands clenching and unclenching at my sides.
"Just go." He muttered. I shut my eyes, letting out a shaky breath. As much as I wanted to leave, to go, I couldn't.
"My sister wanted me to give you something." I forced myself to meet Ty's eyes, "But I forgot to bring it with me." I had planned too, I had even set it on top of my bed so I wouldn't forget it. But I had been so caught up in my thoughts about coming here and finding Ty that I did forget.
"What is it?" He questioned, confused.
"I don't know. It's a box." I wrapped my jacket tighter around me as I backed away.
"Then you'll be coming back?" He didn't look overly joyed by the realization.
"Yeah." I turned around, ready to leave without saying anything when I stopped dead in my tracks.
Why was I just going to walk away? Steph wouldn't have wanted this. She wouldn't have wanted me to leave Ty on bad terms, with absolutely nothing.
"Ty, wait!" I spun around, catching his arm before he could start to walk away.
"Can't you just leave?" He groaned, massaging his temples as if I were giving him a terrible headache.
"Let me take you to get coffee." I said, "If not for me, then for Steph." He couldn't be dangerous or bad, right? Steph had trusted him, she had obviously cared for him. So why couldn't I?
"If I agree to go with you will you leave me alone afterward?" He mumbled, not even bothering to look in my direction. I huffed out a long sigh and glanced at the gloomy sky over my shoulder.
"Yeah, I guess so."
*
Sienna tried to get Ty to talk the entire way to Java Jamie's, coming up short when he'd only nod or shake his head in response to her questions. Even when I was staring ahead, at the darkness that we were driving into, I could feel his eyes burning into back of my head.
"I haven't been to one of these in years." Ty whispered, staring out the window and at the extraordinarily crowded parking lot like a child seeing a toy store for the first time.
"Sienna, do you. . " I trailed off, nodding at the cafe in front of us. She waved her hand, laughing.
"No, dear. You two go ahead." I smiled sadly at her before climbing out of the SUV and waiting for Ty outside. I stared down at my gloves as I waited, the same pink wool gloves that I had helped Steph knit a few months ago in her hospital room.
Once Ty was out, he brushed against me and shut the door, rubbing his hands together to heat them up.
"Come on." I said, leading him across the cross walk and to the front of the building. He lingered behind me upon reaching the door, his eyes on the people sitting at most of the tables and booths.
"I'll wait out here." He replied, rubbing his hands together again.
"It's freezing, Ty. Let's go." I held the door open, making a gesture with my hand for him to go in.
I swear that I saw nervousness flash in his eyes as he walked passed me and into the cafe, keeping his head bowed. I dug through my purse for my wallet, trying to ignore the stares that people were throwing in our direction.
"Hi!" I tried to sound as enthusiastic as possible, but ended up sounding more like a drowning mouse. The cashier wasn't even paying attention to me, but to Ty, who looked like he wanted to crawl back into his box and hide from the world.
"Excuse me." I leaned in front of Ty and waved in the cashier's face, "What exactly are you staring at?" She frowned, her nose scrunching up in disgust.
"Is he with you? Because he smells like he just crawled out of a sewer and look as if he was attacked by a pack of wild dogs." She shot Ty another disgusted look as I stiffened.
She wasn't wrong, not by any means, but who the hell says that to a person? It wasn't his fault he couldn't shower or buy new clothes. It wasn't his fault he lived on the streets.
"Look, I came here for coffee. Not for you to come here and judge him. Do you want to serve me or not?" I wasn't in any mood to fight, because I knew very well that all of my emotions would come whirling in and I'd lash out on the somewhat innocent cashier.
She only stared back and forth between Ty and me, the at the people behind us that had stopped typing on their laptops and talking to turn and look at us.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am. We can't serve customers-"
"You can't serve customers? Then why the hell are all these people in here?" I threw my hand behind me, "How is he any different then anyone else here?" She started to shake her head and hit a button in front of her, probably signaling for her manager.
"He's dirty, he stinks, and frankly, I don't like your attitude." She snapped back, her lip curled back in disgust. I slipped my purse back on to my shoulder and snorted.
"Don't like my attitude? Yet you're the one that is sitting here judging him like he's some sort of animal. I thought the customer was always right?" I grabbed Ty's wrist and stormed out of the store, letting the door swing shut loudly behind me.
I dropped his wrist once we were outside but continued back toward the car, shaking my head.
"Hey, wait a second." Ty grabbed my wrist and stopped me, his hands feeling like ice against my arm.
"Why did you do that? I could have just left and you would have been able to get your coffee. I-"
"I'm just tired of being treated like shit." I answered, slipping my hand from his grip, "And she had no right treating you that way." He shrugged, grabbing at his shirt.
"Look at me. What else did you expect?" I waited until we were back at the SUV to respond.
"You didn't deserve to be treated like some animal." I could see Sienna's eyes flickering with confusion as she started the car, yanking her seatbelt on a second later.
"Where too, Miss Lys?" She questioned, pulling out of our parking spot.
I sent a quick glance at Ty over my shoulder, surprised to find him staring down at his hands with a disgusted look on his face. As much as I hated to say it, he really did look like utter crap. His face was covered in dirt, as were his hands and arms. His hair looked greasy and as if it hadn't been washed in weeks.
So when I turned back to Sienna, I knew exactly where it was we had to go.
"Home, Sienna. Take us back home."
***AN***
Hope you guys enjoyed!
What would you have done if you were Alyssa?
Let me know what you thought!
~ChasingMadness24