Chapter 142

Russ nodded. “At first they didn’t believe him, and then the guy I was going with backed him up, before he took off for wherever.”

“Shit, Russ,” Kurt said. “That’s how you ended up on the streets?”

“Yes. Running for my life because the jock told the others to take care of me before I ratted them out to the cops. I hitched halfway across the country, ended up here—” he clenched his hands together, “—and ended up dead.”

“It’s not so bad, once you get used to it,” Tonio said.

Kurt grinned. “We can see any movie we want without the ushers kicking us out.”

“I’m not sure that’s a great perk,” Daw told him. “On the other hand,” he said thoughtfully, “there’s a lot of movies I’d like to see that came out after I hit the streets. For some reason they frown on people like me and the kid going in without paying.”

“I’m not a kid,” Russ muttered.

“You’re what, nineteen now? I’m twenty-six. You’re a kid. A kind of cute one, but…”