Chapter 1

    The bus stopped right at the center of town. Looking out the window I saw tables that had been lined up together running down the street. Each was selling a variety of fruits and vegetables like a farmers market.

    I stood from my seat and swung my backpack over my shoulder and strode to the front of the bus. The tired bus driver sat waiting for anyone to leave or get off.

“This your stop?” he asked when I drew near.

“Yes s-sir.” I stuttered. I fumbled for my bus ticket, which I had stored in my pocket along with other trinkets and coins that had no value. I pulled the ticket from my pocket and showed it to him.

He was obviously curious as to why I had no adult supervision, “Do you have anyone meeting you?”

“Yes I-I do.” I lied. He opened the bus door, I was finally released from the metal beast and  easily got lost in the small jumble of people.

    There was a small field across from the lineup of tables that the town seemed to revolve around. A church with a giant steeple was at the head of the tiny plot of buildings, the entire setup seemed to look like an old movie.

    My stomach growled and I took off my backpack and sat on a curb across the park and searched it for anything to eat but found nothing; not even and money to buy food with. All at once I began to find my situation a little more desperate than I really wanted it to be. I wished I had brought more from home, but in my rush to leave I guess it wasn’t the most important thing on my mind.

    My belly begged me once more for food, I scanned each booth for any kind of treat I could easily get my hands on. I finally set my eyes on a particularly busy table were an old man sat negotiating the prices of  fruit with women. A bucket of apples and others had been placed in front of his table, it would be easy to snag one without his noticing.

    I stood up and casually walked over to his booth as if I belonged to one of the women. I had gone unnoticed until actually went to grab one of the apples, but right as I placed my hand on an apple I heard the man say, “Get your hands off the produce please.”

    My heart skipped a beat and I removed my hand, everyone at the booth was staring at me, “I-I-I’m sorry.” I stuttered nervously as I looked from face to face. They went back to their business and I slipped away.

    After my heart had stopped beating so fast, I looked around for another place that was as busy as the first table I had chosen. My stomach was feeling like it was in knots from going so long without any food. I leaned against a street lamp and picked at the dirt under my fingernails and examined each setup.

    A pickup truck pulled around the corner and stopped just a few feet from me. The bed of the truck was filled barrels of giant red apples; My mouth watered from just looking at them.

    A weathered man got out and shut the door. He stepped around to the front of the truck and pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

    I was about to make my way towards the truck when someone shouted, “Hey Phil!” I followed the voice to the other side of the street and set my eyes on an oddly dressed man.

    I studied him while he crossed the street; it must have been well over 80 degrees but he was dressed in a bomber jacket, jeans, and had it all topped off with a tan scarf that was probably white a long time ago. He looked like a pilot from the black and white movies papa watches.

“You want any help Phil?”

“No thanks Harley, I need all the exercise I can get.”

They continued to talk for a bit longer, if there were as good a time as any to steal an apple it would be now. My heart was pounding fastly, I was prepared to run if they turned their heads and saw me. I pressed myself against the truck and reached in for an apple. Once I had my prize in hand I pulled it out and quickly walked away as if nothing had happened.   

I found an alley behind the line of buildings to sit and eat. The dirt was wet as if it had rained on late last night, so I sat on the steps and dug my shoe into it to make a hole while once I had a suitable grave for the core I dropped it in and kicked the loose dirt over it.

“Getting rid of the evidence?”

    Once again my heart sank, I got up off the steps and backed away from my witness. I recognized him immediately, that guy who was dressed like a pilot. He tossed another apple from hand to hand.

“W-w-what?” I asked, trying to sound innocent. How on earth did he sneak up on me like that?

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you that stealing was wrong?”

“W-what a-are you gonna d-do?” I stuttered. I stayed back from him as best I could, but I was backed against a fence with only two ways to run.

“Nothing kid calm down, I thought you might want another one.” He tossed me the apple, but before I could react to it, the apple bashed me right in the nose.

    I picked it up off the floor and rubbed my face, my finger tips were covered in blood.

“Aww s**t.” Harley mumbled, “I’m sorry about that.” he took off his scarf and handed it to me to put against my nose.

“D-don’t worry, I-I get bloody noses a-all the t-time.”

“You get yourself into a lot of fights?”

“No t-they just happen. No one c-can explain it, t-that’s why I-I wear medical tape on m-my nose.” I rubbed the dirt from the apple off on my shirt and handed the man his scarf back, it now had a reddish brown stain on it.

“I don’t think that will help.” he squatted down to my level and peeled the tape off the bridge of my nose.

“T-that’s what everyone s-says.”

Really? I wonder why.” he paused then asked, “Where are your parents? Aren’t they going to be worried about you?”

    I looked into the stranger’s mouth while he talked, his top and lower canines had been sharpened to a point, “Why a-are your t-teeth pointy?”

“Birth defect, why do you stutter?” I didn’t answer, I only continued to eat the new apple, “But hey, where are your parents?” Harley repeated.

“My mom is dead and my papa is nowhere near here.”

“What?” he exclaimed, taken off guard, “Well do you have someone to look out for you? I’m sure they’re looking for you.”

“Nope!” I smiled to reassure him that I was perfectly fine, but he seemed unconvinced.

“Look kid, if you don’t have anyone looking out for you then the responsible thing for me to do is to take you to the police station.”

“No!” I shouted, “Please don’t or else he’ll find me!”

“Who?”

“Please?”

“Where else would you stay? You got no one to look out for you, you’re all alone.”

    I thought a second, “I-I know you.”

“No you don’t,” he said flatly.

“Your name is H-Harley.” I said hopefully.

“Listen kiddo, you don’t want to be around me; I’m filthy and a bad influence on you. And what if I were an axe murderer?”

“I don’t s-see an axe, o-only a guy with a-a bloody scarf.” He looked unamused.

“My brother hates people, he wouldn’t even begin to tolerate you.”

“Neither did Nick.” I mumbled looking away.

“Nick? Is he the one who takes care of you?” Harley asked.

    I didn’t say anything, Harley couldn’t know or else papa would get in trouble.

    Harley stood up, “Come on, I’ll take you to the police station.”

“No! I-I won’t go a-and you can’t m-make me!” I tried to run but Harley grabbed me by my arm.

“Geeze kid they can help you.”

“No, please!” My panic, I made a last effort to escape, by biting into Harley’s arm in order to make him let me go.

“What the hell?!” he let me go, “Didn’t your mom teach you any manners before she died?”

    I didn’t answer him; We stood quiet for a few moments, neither of us knew what to do.

“Do what you want, but you’re going to need help from someone soon.” Harley spat. He turned and walked away.

    I don’t know why but I followed him. He was already halfway down the sidewalk when I poked my head out from the alley.

    He couldn’t see me through the small crowd while I followed him, I figured he wouldn’t even notice me.

    He briefly stepped into a grocery store to talk to a lady. As I spied on them through the dingy window, I saw her leaning over the counter she stood behind and Harley struggling to keep his eyes on hers. Papa’s roommate Nick did that all the time with girls, I never understood why.

When he left, he continued down the road full of people. The further he walked from town the crowd thinned. I followed him all the way to a dirt road that led away from the heart of town.

He stopped at the road, “You’re not very sneaky, this is the second time I’ve caught you today.” Harley said.

“You m-must have h-hawk ears.” I whinned.

“Hawks don’t have ears, otherwise they’d look stupid.”

“I-I guess?” I picked up my feet to keep pace with him while he walked the path of the dirt road.

“Listen, you gotta leave me alone. I already told you that my brother wouldn’t tolerate you.”

    Regardless of Harley’s protests, I continued to follow him, he was fun to be around.

    A little ways up the road I saw a beaten and worn out looking pickup truck that looked like it had seen better days. The truck was just like Harley’s scarf, once white but now well rusted and weathered.

“I-is that yours?” I asked Harley.

“Yup,” He answered, “Why are you still following me?”

“Because you’re my friend.”

    Harley looked at me, I smiled at him, “What’s your name anyways?” He asked.

“B-Ben, but s-some people call me B-ben ben, o-on account of my s-stutter.”

“Ben-Ben huh?”

“Yup!”

    We came to the truck, which was admittedly better looking from farther away. Harley opened the front door and I quickly scrambled in, he opened his mouth to argue with me but saw that it was a lost cause and decided not to say anything and let me come along.

    He put in the key and mashed the brake pedal, the entire motion made the truck scream to life as if there were some type of dead animal under the hood rather than an actual engine. The engine finally came alive and made a halfway decent motor noise and began to vibrate throughout the entire truck. Harley rolled down the windows and turned off the radio, which had blasted as loud as the engine had.

“I-is it legal t-to drive s-something like t-this?” I asked.

    Harley ignored my comment and pulled out onto the dirt road, “So Ben-Ben, what are you doing all by your lonesome? You running from an orphanage or something?”

“Nope.”

“Well who’s your gaurdian?”

    I thought a moment, “what’s a-a guardian?”

“It’s an adult that looks out for you and makes sure you’re not dead.”

“You could be.”

“What?”

“You’re a-an adult, you made s-sure I-I wasn’t dead when you threw that a-apple at me.”

“It wasn’t like that.” he told me, “And I mean someone related to you.”

“Oh… Then I-I guess not.”

“Come on kid! Where are you from, who looks out for you?” He asked, gettign more and more annoyed with each question I dodged.

“You live kinda far away huh?” I said. I had been looking out the window and admiring the enormous pine trees that towered over us and blocked any sight of the town, even though we had only been in the car for a little while.

“Not too far, the road for vehicles is longer than the one for bikers or runners.”

“Why do you live so far away?”

    Harley didn’t say anything, which was mildly unsettling.

“Are you an a-axe murderer?” I questioned.

“Ben-Ben we’re gonna play a game.” He said.

“That d-doesn’t sound c-creepy.”

“You can ask a question that I have to answer truthfully, then I can ask a question that you have to answer.”

    I waited a bit before answering, “S-sounds like one of those g-games parents make up to get you to do something, l-like the Quiet Game, I-I hate that one.”

“What’s your last name?”

    I decided to play along in Harley’s ‘game’ but only to find out if he was really an axe murderer or not, maybe getting in a car with a stranger wasn’t my best idea.

“T-turner.” I told him, “Now, are y-you an axe murderer?”

“No, where do you live?”

    I began tapping my fingers on my knees, not liking where the ‘game’ was going, “I used to live in Portland.”

“Long way from home.”

“Why doesn’t your brother like people?” I asked, trying to turn the conversation away from me.

“He’s had a lot of tough breaks in his life, and now he doesn’t trust people as much as you and me.”

“You and I-I.” I corrected.

    Harley glanced at me, then turned his attention back to the road, “Smart a*s.” he mumbled, “Why is a spunky kid like you so far from home?”

“Pass.”

“Pass?”

“I-I don’t w-want to answer, so I-I pass.”

    Harley looked back at me, “well whoever you’re running from must be freaking you out.”

“W-why do you s-say that?”

“You tap your fingers when you’re nervous.”

    I stopped and clenched my fists, “I-I don’t want to play anymore.” I told him.

“Okay.” he said fairly satisfied with himself.

    Harley stayed quiet for a while as did I. the drive itself shouldn’t have taken so long, but every time he had to turn a bend or go up a hill, the poor truck only trudged along as if it were ready to give out at any moment.

After a bit longer we came to a wooden fence that Harley had to get out and manually open and shut.

“You live on a farm?” I asked as I studied the empty fields that were nearly camouflaged with pine trees that surrounded the perimeter of the land.

“Yeah, if that’s what you call it.”

“What do you make?”

“Nothing.”

“Then do you have any animals?”

“Only two cats.”

I looked at him, “You’re not a very good farmer.”

Harley laughed but still looked annoyed, so I kept quiet till he pulled up to a barn and parked next to it. The barn was twice as big as the tiny house, and both looked out of place in the middle of a large plot of land with no crops or trees.

“If you don’t have any animals then what do you use the barn for?” I asked him, studying the well kep building.

“I fix things in there, it’s my own little workshop.”

Harley got out of the truck and I followed, not sure what to expect. He walked up to the house and stepped up to the porch, “Stay outside while I talk to Cade, okay Ben-Ben?”

“Okay, but you promise you won’t call the police on me?” I asked him as he opened the screen door,

“I won’t, but I don’t know about Cade.” He went into the house shutting the screen door behind him.

I stepped up the stairs that led to the giant wrap around porch and pressed my face into the screen to see what was inside the house. Inside it was fairly well kept like the barn, a lot of the windows were closed for some reason though. I couldn’t see Harley or Cade.

“What do you mean you found a kid? You say that like you found a missing shoe.” an unfamiliar voice shouted.

“Keep it down, he might hear you.” Harley told him.

“Hal what happened?”

    Harley took Cade through the events that had happened earlier, the entire time my face was pressed against the screen door studying the house and everything in it.

“Why didn’t you take him to the police station like any normal adult would have?” Cade asked, “You had him in your car!”

“He’s a cute kid who needs a little help Cade I-”

“We can’t do anything to actually help him Hal!” I heard footsteps coming towards the door, I backed away from the door and waited for them to emerge from the house.

    They finally came out and stood in front of me, and I suddenly felt a little smaller. Cade was shorter than Harley, and looked nothing like him, except for his teeth.

“What’s your name?” he asked impatiently.

“B-ben.” he made me nervous.

“Where’s your family Ben?”

“I-I don’t have o-one.”

“What?” Cade said flatly.

“Ben-Ben told me he was running from someone but he never told me who.” Harley cut in.

“Who are you running from?”

“I-I can’t say, I-I made a-a promise, but if h-he finds me bad things are going to happen to me.”

    Cade took a moment to study me, I must have looked like a pitiful sight to him. He didn’t believe me, I could tell.

“Common Cade one night wouldn’t hurt.” Harley said.

“Hal this is different, it’s not like those two cats you found.”

“Let him spend the night, then I’ll take him back to town tomorrow.” Harley said again.

“That’s what you said about those cats, low and behold they’re both still here.”

“C-can I-I say something?” They both directed their attention back towards me.

“What kid?” Harley asked.

“I-I’m a lot better than a-a cat.” I said.

    I wasn’t completely sure but I thought I saw a smile on Cade’s face for a minute.

“See Cade, this kid is great!”

“Hal, he’s not a pet.” Cade said. He stepped off the porch and began to walk away.

    I waited a minute till he was out of ear reach and then looked to Harley, “He’s n-not gonna send m-me away is he?”

“Cade think’s logically, he’s wired a bit differently, if you told him why you were in trouble he might let you stay.”

“I-I already told you, I-I h-have to keep it a secret.”

“You can tell us Ben-Ben, we don’t exactly have anyone besides ourselves to talk to.”

    I looked to Cade, who had already gotten a relatively good distance from the house, “Cade wait!” I shouted, I jumped off the porch and bounded over to him.

“Yeah, what?” he asked annoyed as he watched me pant and catch my breath.

“Will you promise n-not to tell a-anyone what I-I’m about to tell you?”

“Sure.” he said.

“R-really Cade i-it’s important.”

“Okay, I promise.”

    I took a deep breath before I let it all cascade from me, “I-I was a witness t-to my papa and roommate’s c-crime a-and now his roommate w-want’s to k-kill me.”

Author's Note

Any and all advice would be awesome! And any suggestions about how to fix the fact that I have way too much dialogue would be awesome, cause I'm a bit clueless as to how to fix that.