then you can get a good job.”
“School’s bullshit”, said the girl, sticking out her chin, “who cares what a bunch of dead guys did anyway.”
“A bunch of dead white guys”, agreed Bernice, “I got you there, honey. Never cared for it myself. And I turned out ok”
Lol smiled, put on her worn sneakers and left the home. Now she was older, she wandered the streets as pretty much as she wanted. She had people that she liked to do jobs for occasionally, some people that she would do jobs for in the old quarter, but mostly, the city was changing, and the new commuters and citizens had little time for a girl on her own wandering the streets. Most of the city was being rebuilt, with vast amounts of old buildings being torn down around her, to make way for new skyscrapers and grey monoliths. Lol had spent the ages of ten and eleven playing around in the old derelict office spaces on 13 th avenue until they were torn down, an entire office block all to her little self. How important she had felt. Now it was gone, and was just a whole mess of girders and workmen telling her to clear off to school. Lol fingered the five bucks in her pocket. Bernice knew Lol would get the cigarettes. Lol had too much to lose. For a start, Bernice was no soft touch. First she would whip Lol’s ass hard if she failed to come back with the cigarettes. And without cigarettes, Bernice would be quite ornery. And third, she would no doubt be dragged back to school. Even so, it was a nice feeling to have five bucks in your pocket. Lol never went back straight away. If you gave her a list of shopping to do, you better not be in a rush for any of it, because it would be early evening before she returned with any of it. But when she did, it would all be correct and present.
Lol decided to try a different alleyway, the one on Halligan Street. The offices there were derelict, but still standing. The doors on the front were all firmly locked and bolted, with riveted panels over some of the entrances to keep kids and homeless out. An enterprising kid like Lol knew that the back doors could usually be persuaded to open though, to reveal the rabbit warrens of dusty abandoned corridors and rooms within, all empty and forgotten. The alley behind Halligan Street was filled with rubbish, dumpsters, booze bottles and old hypodermics. As Lol walked down its length trying to find a door that hadn’t had a metal; shutter bolted over it, a voice came,
“Clear out, you. G’wan, git outta here!”
Lol stopped with fright, then looked around to see where the voice came from,
“Bad things’ll happen if you stay around here. Grrrr”
There it was again. This time Lol answered it.
“Bad things have already happened”, she shouted back, “Got the shit kicked out of me down here last week and the five bucks I had in my pocket got stolen”
A body moved among the dumpster to see the little girl that had answered him back. That was his most scary voice. Jesus, he couldn’t even scare dumb kids any more. This one looked smart. Too sassy for her own good. Blonde hair. Pretty, he thought. Be breaking some guy’s heart someday.
“Why aren’t you in school?” he shouted, “you a dumbass?”
“Yeah”, she said, “so I come to find out where all the rest of you dumbasses hang out. Guess I found the place.”
He snorted a laugh at that. Christ, he liked this little squirt. He came out of the rubbish, making sure his precious pack was safely hidden.
She recognised him as Tinhat. They knew him around the neighbourhood, he’d always hung around, and occasionally she’d seen him about. He was about fifty or sixty, grizzled, with long lank hair and a long dirty beard. His clothes, or rags, were ancient, and his trousers half-mast and short. He wore sneakers, old battered ones without socks and his pale dirty ankles were thin and old looking.
“You tinhat?” she
“School’s bullshit”, said the girl, sticking out her chin, “who cares what a bunch of dead guys did anyway.”
“A bunch of dead white guys”, agreed Bernice, “I got you there, honey. Never cared for it myself. And I turned out ok”
Lol smiled, put on her worn sneakers and left the home. Now she was older, she wandered the streets as pretty much as she wanted. She had people that she liked to do jobs for occasionally, some people that she would do jobs for in the old quarter, but mostly, the city was changing, and the new commuters and citizens had little time for a girl on her own wandering the streets. Most of the city was being rebuilt, with vast amounts of old buildings being torn down around her, to make way for new skyscrapers and grey monoliths. Lol had spent the ages of ten and eleven playing around in the old derelict office spaces on 13 th avenue until they were torn down, an entire office block all to her little self. How important she had felt. Now it was gone, and was just a whole mess of girders and workmen telling her to clear off to school. Lol fingered the five bucks in her pocket. Bernice knew Lol would get the cigarettes. Lol had too much to lose. For a start, Bernice was no soft touch. First she would whip Lol’s ass hard if she failed to come back with the cigarettes. And without cigarettes, Bernice would be quite ornery. And third, she would no doubt be dragged back to school. Even so, it was a nice feeling to have five bucks in your pocket. Lol never went back straight away. If you gave her a list of shopping to do, you better not be in a rush for any of it, because it would be early evening before she returned with any of it. But when she did, it would all be correct and present.
Lol decided to try a different alleyway, the one on Halligan Street. The offices there were derelict, but still standing. The doors on the front were all firmly locked and bolted, with riveted panels over some of the entrances to keep kids and homeless out. An enterprising kid like Lol knew that the back doors could usually be persuaded to open though, to reveal the rabbit warrens of dusty abandoned corridors and rooms within, all empty and forgotten. The alley behind Halligan Street was filled with rubbish, dumpsters, booze bottles and old hypodermics. As Lol walked down its length trying to find a door that hadn’t had a metal; shutter bolted over it, a voice came,
“Clear out, you. G’wan, git outta here!”
Lol stopped with fright, then looked around to see where the voice came from,
“Bad things’ll happen if you stay around here. Grrrr”
There it was again. This time Lol answered it.
“Bad things have already happened”, she shouted back, “Got the shit kicked out of me down here last week and the five bucks I had in my pocket got stolen”
A body moved among the dumpster to see the little girl that had answered him back. That was his most scary voice. Jesus, he couldn’t even scare dumb kids any more. This one looked smart. Too sassy for her own good. Blonde hair. Pretty, he thought. Be breaking some guy’s heart someday.
“Why aren’t you in school?” he shouted, “you a dumbass?”
“Yeah”, she said, “so I come to find out where all the rest of you dumbasses hang out. Guess I found the place.”
He snorted a laugh at that. Christ, he liked this little squirt. He came out of the rubbish, making sure his precious pack was safely hidden.
She recognised him as Tinhat. They knew him around the neighbourhood, he’d always hung around, and occasionally she’d seen him about. He was about fifty or sixty, grizzled, with long lank hair and a long dirty beard. His clothes, or rags, were ancient, and his trousers half-mast and short. He wore sneakers, old battered ones without socks and his pale dirty ankles were thin and old looking.
“You tinhat?” she
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