Kid

I woke up early as Chubbs slept soundly next to me. I tip toed to the closet. I quickly grabbed some clothes and put them on. I walked out of the room and looked around. My dad never came home last night. I straighten up our tiny trailer and Chubbs walks out of the room. 

"I hungy." he moans. 

I frown and look at our empty kitchen. 

"let's take a trip. " I say

"but I hungy ." he whines. 

"I know Chubbs." I pat his head. I dress him and put my sweater on him since it's starting to get cold outside. 

I hold Chubbs hand as we walk outside. 

We walk past the football field and I stop and stare. I always wanted to play football. I stare at the players in awe. 

"KID. I HUNGY. " Chubbs whines again. 

"sshh I know Chubbs. I need to find us some food first. "

I take Chubbs hand again and we walk hand in hand down the street. I look around and see a bunch of shops. 

Chubbs stops me at a bakery. He points at the stuff. 

"kid. Can we get some. Pweeeze. " he begs. 

"Kid?" 

I turn and see Mary Jane and another girl walking towards us. 

I clear my throat. "uh... Hi?"

Mary Jane grins. She looks over at Chubbs you had tears streaming down his face now. He had only half of a sandwich all day yesterday. 

"what's wrong little guy?" Mary Jane bends down and looks Chubbs in the eye. 

He sniffles and wipes his face. "I hungy. "

Mary Jane shoots a look at the other girl. "Marti this is Kid, Kid this is my sister Marti. "

"hi Kid." she gives me a small smile. 

I give her a small wave. 

"me and Marti were just going out to breakfast. Let's go." she holds out her arms to Chubbs and he looks at me asking for permission. I smile at him. 

Mary Jane picks up Chubbs and Marti holds out her hand to me. I take it reluctantly and we walk down the street. We walk into this diner I never been in. We are seated right away

"chose whatever." Mary Jane says Handing Chubbs and I a menu. 

I glance at the menu and frown. This is all to expensive. 

"kid. I'm paying. It's okay." Mary Jane says staring at me. 

"This is my younger brother Chubbs. " I say nervously. 

"what do you want to eat Chubbs? " Marti asks. 

Chubbs points to waffles and Marti smiles. 

"I'm not hungry." I mumble. 

"the hell you aren't. " Mary Jane says. "you're gonna eat. Got it?" she points at me. 

I nod. I choose on pancakes. We place the orders and Chubbs leans his head on my shoulder. 

"tell me about you Kid." Marti says smiling. 

I glance around. "what do you want to know?"

Marti shrugs. "Whatever you want to tell us. "

"Uhm. I'm 9. I have one brother. And that's about it."

"what grade are you in?" Marti asks. 

"4th." I scratch my head, reminding me that we need soap. 

Marti smiles. The food comes and we eat. Mary Jane watches me closely. I eat all of my food. 

Mary Jane pays for the food an we get up Chubbs holding tightly on Mary Janes and Martis hand. 

We walk down the street to a black car.  

"We are going to the store Kid." Mary Jane says. 

I nod meaning its time to go. "c'mon Chubbs ."

"no. " Mary Jane shakes her head. "come with?" she asks. 

Chubbs nods at me not wanting to leave his new friends and I shrug. Marti opens The door for us and I strap Chubbs in the back seat and me next to him. Mary Jane drives us to Walmart. 

Marti let's us out and picks Chubbs up. She puts him in a shipping cart and walks away. 

"but-" I start to protest.

Mary Jane stops me. "Marti won't let anything happen to him. And if she does you an hurt her and me. " 

I look away. Mary Jane grabs my hand and pulls me inside. She grabs her own cart. 

"this is your cart Kid." she says. "put whatever you need in there okay?" she looks at me. 

"I can't." I shake my head. "too much."

"Kid, listen to me."Mary Jane crouches down and looks me in the eyes. "I want to help. Me and Marti and my brothers were in your position. I know how that feels ." 

Mary Janes green eyes stare at me. I can stare at her while she's down like this. She had 3 piercings on her face. She had a Monroe piercing her eye brow and her nose. 

I nod. 

" good." she stands up. 

Mary Jane puts a couple of basic things in there like milk, eggs, and bread. I picked a few things out and she took me to the clothes section. She looked at me and put some socks an underwear in there. I blush. This is personal. 

"I'll take you to get some clothes next weekend. " she says not looking at me. 

I glance down at my stain covered shirt. 

"how long he been gone?" she ask sarig straight ahead. 

"2 weeks." I mumble. 

"who does Chubbs stay with?" 

"by himself. " 

I'm not looking at her but she looks sad. 

She takes me to the electronic section. 

"what are we doin here?" I ask. 

"you need a phone." Mary Jane mumbles. 

"WHAT?" I cry out and the shoppers all around us stop and stare. 

"Keep it down." She scowls.

"I can't ." I stutter

"You can you just don't want to. " Mary Jane says. "I'll let you pick." She waves her arm around.

I pick out the cheapest prepaid phone and Mary Jane frowns.

"You said I can pick. " I say.

She shrugs defeated. She throws it in the cart and we go and pay. We meet Chubbs and Marti at the register. We load up the car and Mary Jane drives me and Chubbs home. Marti, Mary Jane and I put our stuff inside the house while Chubbs takes a nap on the couch. Marti goes back to the car leaving me alone with Mary Jane.

"I'm serious Kid." She points at me. "You better call me."

I nod solemnly. "I promise."

She gives me a smile. "Marti says she will watch Chubbs while your at school. " and with that she walks out of my house.