Lying As a Martyr

I lit a cigarette as I strolled out of the Taco Bell with a brown paper bag in hand. I inhaled deeply, feeling the warmth of the smoke fill my lungs. The cold wind nipped at my face and I threw my black knitted scarf my sister had made me around my neck. The sky was a deep gray and the air smelt like snow. I strolled down the Seattle street, hearing a faint coughing in the distance.

I ignored it for a moment until I heard a deep hacking and slight retching. It was against my better side to help a stranger coughing up a hairball, but I turned the corner down the dark alley way anyway. I couldn't see very well for dusk had returned the shadows of the streets. The coughing came nearer, then cut off.

I found a boy pressed sideways against the wall, holding his abdomen. He was wearing a short sleeve t-shirt and a tight pair of pants with ripped up converse that had writing all over them.

“Are you okay?” I said softly and he jumped, looking down at his hand where blood had pooled from his coughing. He dropped his hand and wiped it on a handkerchief.

“Who are you?” he snapped quickly and pressed himself tightly against the wall, eyes wide with fear. He was shorter then me, probably about up to my chin. I reached my hand out and he eyed it, not taking my handshake offer and I let my hand drop as well.

“I'm Tyler. Are you okay?” I repeated and he shrugged slightly. I could just barely see his face, his bottom lip quivering and turning blue. He had very frail features, almost feminine. He was pasty white, more like death than the Grim Reaper himself. I reached out and touched his arm and he scooted away, his arm full of goosebumps and freezing. “Are you a vampire?”

“No, I'm just cold,” he said quickly and my eyes grew soft.

“Oh,” I said softly and paused, pulling my outer burlap coat off and slipping it over his shoulders. He resisted it at first but then tightly wrapped it around himself. I was standing in a sweatshirt I had on under the coat and looked at him.

“Do you have a home?” I asked cautiously and he nodded. “Why aren't you there?” I asked and he sighed, his eyes looking glassy.

“Do you have to ask so many questions?” he asked quickly and I shrugged back. I opened my Taco Bell bag and pulled out a burrito and offered it to him and before he even knew what I was offering, he had it in his hands and was chowing it down.

“I'm Kandi. They call me Kandi,” he said with a slight smile, going rosy in the cheeks. I smiled back, motioning him to leave the alley. He looked sketchy for a moment then walked out and I followed. We stood under the dim street lamp and I took a good look at him. He had faded electric blue hair and his lip was pierced on either side. The pants he was wearing were falling off and they looked like they could fit a super model. His shirt was black and had a skull printed across the front. He was overly skinny and his skin clung to his bones.

He was scarily beautiful.

“Hi Kandi,” I said a little breathless and glanced around, looking straight into a warm starbucks across the street. “Can I buy you some coffee?” I asked quietly and he smiled, crumpling the burrito wrapped and tossing it into a nearby garbage can. We started to walk across the street and I slipped my arm warmly around his waist.

He scooted right into me.