Beaten and thrown out of his home by his father, Guy ends up on the streets. A few days later he's 'adopted' by two strays, a German shepherd mix and a gray kitten. Later that night, when he returns to a vacant house he'd found the previous day, he meets three other homeless teens -- Mack, Tone, and Dani. After a false start, because they think he's a punk looking for trouble, they become friends. Dani insists the animals need names, and she decides to call the kitten Ghost, while the dog becomes Shadow. When Mack and Guy are threatened by two real punks in the alley behind the house, Shadow defends them, with Mack's help. This leads to their decision that it isn’t safe to remain where they are. As they move on, the quartet's friendship deepens, and Guy eventually trusts them enough to tell them he's gay ... which they accept with no problem, as it turns out so are Mack and Tone. Now they have to continue dealing with life on the streets while COVID ravages the country, making being homeless a fight for their very survival.

Strays in the Time of COVID

“There should be safe places for kids like them. The young ones.” Guy sighed. “Us older ones, too.”


Tone nodded. “Someday there will be. Until then, we cope.”


“Which means looking for breakfast and a place to wash up,” Mack said. “Then we head to the plaza so Guy can do his thing and make us rich.”


Guy rolled his eyes. “Not sure that’ll happen. If you don’t mind peaches and stew for breakfast, we can eat here while I feed the animals.”


No one had a problem with that, or the half-bag of stale doughnuts Tone found in one of the Dumpsters. As soon as everyone, human and animal, finished eating, they went in search of a gas station with restrooms that didn’t take a key. They found one in, no surprise, a rundown area on the outskirts of downtown. Once everyone had taken care of business, cleaned up, and changed clothes, they made their way to the plaza. By the time they got there, the clouds had dissipated and it was sunny and warm.


Chapter 17