Chapter One

Avoiding the Cops

By Lizzie Jaco

 

Chapter One:

Fighting for my life is what I’ve always been able to do. I’ve never been able to do anything else. I was terrible in school couldn’t sell anything worth a damn, and got kicked out of every single place it felt like. I only had a handful of friends, most of which would turn me into the cops for anything they can think of. I have to keep bribing them with stuff that I steel and earn.

Living in the black streets of America has come with some hardy lessons of life. Most I learned the hard way, because there weren’t any other way for people to get to me. The first lesson that I learned was that no one was there for you. You have to fend for yourself ‘cause no one will have the heart or thought to help a steeling person like me.  I learned that in grade school. All those people who swore to help kids like me are a bunch of lying b******s. No one could think of me as a child in need. All of them felt that if I couldn’t do two plus three by the time I was in the fifth grade, ten years old, then I was a no good child.

Now, don’t get the idea that I didn’t try in school. I did, at least when I had the little support I’ve had. Now, humph, no one cares. None of the foster homes that I was in cared. I got detention, they just threw me out. So I had to make my own ways over, letting fate take its role, a year in Juvee, a year in prison, and now I’m back on the streets.

I was left walking down the main boulevard in Houston when a siren went off, and a police car started rushing by. I quickly ducked into the nearby trees and avoided the lights like the plague. Once they were gone for almost a minute, I decided that it was safe to come out.

I continued my walk to my childhood home- the home I knew for the first three years of my life. The only good years of my life. The only years that I didn’t have to fight for my survival and fight for the very food I get to eat or for the clothes on my back.

I turned around, circling a neighborhood a few times as the sun set and the night got darker and darker. Finally, it had to be nine; I got to an old, abandoned house that I used to shelter myself from the elements outside that had to be fatal.

I entered through the hallow back door and quietly snuck around until I hit the top bedroom and plopped on the old four pillared bed that was full of spider webs marking the vacancy of the house. I fell asleep almost instantly.

The next morning, was not easy for me to go through. Usually, I had to get up early to make sure that no one saw me coming out of the old, wretched house, but when I woke up, it was about noon. I sighed as I got myself together to go to the truck stop o wash myself and take a nice hot shower.  I walked my way there, said hello to my friends, the cashiers, and went straight to the showers. As I grabbed the nearest empty shower, I said hello to some e of the truckers. Most of them agreed with me about showering every three days, but they had a reason. They weren’t always a place to take a shower. Me, I just didn’t have the money. Nor did I have the resources to take a shower. 

Once I was done taking a hot shower, I got my clothes on, grabbed my old ones, and went to the nearby washeria where I met some other cashier friends for some quarters to wash m lovely dirty clothes. I sat there waiting for my clothes to dry when a sudden police car pulled up and started walking towards the store.

“Oh crap,” I said to Shaylen, “I gotta go. Thanks so much!”

“No prob. “ Shaylen replied, and I jumped over the counter and left the store through the back door.  I watched as a policeman held his hand on his gun and walked inside the washeria. Once he was out of sight, I looked around to make sure that there wasn’t any more police lurching behind the wheel or tree, and ran for it. I ran for miles and miles, ad ducked into all the ditches possible when a car came by.  I ran to my secret hideaway in the famous Third Ward and hid for two and a half hours.

It was about four thirty, and I felt safe enough to leave my hideout and pick up my clothes that I left at the washeria. When I turned the corner to go back to the washeria, I saw Shaylen in hand cuffs with the sheriff pushing him to the police car. I sighed as I locked eyes with Shaylen. Good luck in Jail, buddy,  I thought.

All the sudden , Shaylen shook his head towards me, and I knew what was happening. He was turning me in, the f*****g b*****d was. I ran for it, but hesitated enough to hear him shouting, “There he is! Sheriff, get him! He’s running for it, b*****d! Get him!” I ran harder and harder. No friends were true friends.

I ran to Wal-Mart, and saw my friend on TV. Holy s**t, Shaylen made front news.  I watched the TV for a few more minutes until they flashed a sketch that Shaylen provided to find me. I took off, grabbed a bunch of bananas , a mask, and ran, not even thinking about paying for them. I had my bags ready,  saw that the checker person with the highlighter, making sure you weren’t steeling anything was busy, and ran out the door.

I arrived at the neighborhood of my broken down house, and saw that police cars were surrounding all the entrances. I then realized that it was damn foolish for me to not get another hideaway abandoned house. I started walking away when a cop saw me and shouted for me to stop. I looked behind me, shook my head, and ran for my life. I ran to the Third Ward, and ran around there, hoping to lose the cops on my tail. Unfortunately, they didn’t let up. I looked around for my last hope, and saw that there were trees, a good forest to cover me. I dove into the tree cover and started running, careful no tot make any noise as I ran through the bushes and trees. I ran for another couple of miles of forests and slowed down because of hunger and tiredness. I walked for another hour until I saw this empty, uninhabited trailer. I tried the door, and found that it was unlocked. I opened and walked through the door and into the home.

Author's Note

So... a little cliff hanger for ya... How was it? I'm still iffy about it... I think I made the person seem too educated... Idk... What's your impression?

Reviews

[Sleepless]

i like it ! but its not a cliff hanger you have to make it like have you ead the hunger games like when gale tels katniss that there is no district twelve you have to make the reader pause and like be like ? and then want to read the next book or chapter but for a book idea ths is great and i personally think its a great story :)

[Shep]

Not a cliff hanger, but still a good story. What i don't understand is why first person? Is for reason I can not fantum seems to be the rage for young writers. Which is fine if trying to get started and there are published writers who still write in this style. I ' m not one of them yet, at least not fully if i included my new book Troubles. But if you decided that this must be in first person, do it correctly by introducing in the first paragraph who the person "I " is.

Other than that a good beginning. Everyone has a hard life some even a unfair life myself included one of the reasons for my series of What's Behind The Looking Glass. I think I said enough so I am moving to your next chapter.

[Danielle]

It didn't seem like the character was too educated to me. Nice start to a story. Keep on working on it.

[Marie]

It's prety good. No you certainly didn'tmake this person seem too educated.
"Steel" is spelled "steal".
Anyone who doesn't know two plus three by ten years old is probably not going to benefit from being helped.

[- - -]

I really quite like this. A good start to a story. I can't wait to read more.