Chapter 11: Unwelcome memories

The fast-food burger place where he met them brought unwelcome memories of his youth. For one horrific moment, the smell of cheap fried food transported him back to his childhood, and his stomach was burning with hunger. His pride, stinging like acid, had been injected into his blood at having to either beg or steal to have a meal.

During those days, having a burger from a place like this had been a rare treat, that treat only possible if he could find a restaurant in a shady area, with a restaurant manager willing to exploit an underage kid. Sometimes he'd washed dishes for his meal, and sometimes he'd stolen what he wanted, and once he'd beat up a kid from an obviously privileged middle-class upbringing carrying a large brown bag with more food than one well-fed kid needed.