Shelley smiled at him. "I'm glad you found a safe place to hole up for a while. Did the cops figure out who beat you up?"
"No, they haven't."
And he wasn't going to tell them. Maybe that was stupid, and the thought of Lawrence behind bars made him want to smile. However, the guy already hated Ricky. It was tempting to tell the cops, but he didn't trust them to keep Lawrence locked up. For sure, if they arrested the man, the bastard would come after Ricky the second he made bail. If that happened, Ricky might end up in the morgue instead of the hospital.
Actually, there was no might about it.
It was time to change the subject. "Are you guys doing okay?"
"Same as always."
"That's good," Ricky said, considering "same as always" only meant none of them had run into any major problems lately.
Shelley smiled at him again. "You got here just in time. We were about to head down toward the waterfront. Want to come with us?"
"Sure, why not?"
On the other hand, maybe that wasn't a good idea. Ricky only had another hour or so before he'd have to haul ass back to the house. Maybe it was time to spring for a meal for his friends.
"I might have a better idea."
Justin moved to the side to get them out of the way of other people walking by. "What's that, kid?"
Ricky pulled out a wadded-up twenty-dollar bill, one that looked as if it had seen far better days. "I found this in a parking lot yesterday. I thought maybe we could pick up some teriyaki chicken and rice at that restaurant down on the corner."
That sure got their attention. All three stared at the money as if they hadn't seen anything like it in a long time. Maybe they hadn't. Whenever they panhandled, people usually handed over a dollar or two. Even a five-dollar bill was cause to celebrate.
Shelley looked really happy about the prospect of a hot meal. "That sounds great, Ricky. Do you want me to come help you carry it?"
"Yeah, if you don't mind."
Besides, if he got her alone, he might be able to slip her a little more money. She was good about seeing that any cash they got was put to good use. Casey was more likely to blow it on a comic book when what they needed was food.
They started off down the street to the small restaurant. Ricky went inside by himself and studied the menu. He could get three orders for just under twenty dollars. It was tempting to order a fourth, but the others might wonder how he'd paid for it. They were used to dividing up whatever they had, so sharing three orders wouldn't bother them at all.
He picked up the two bags of food and carried them outside to where Shelley was waiting for him. She insisted on taking both bags. "Boy, that smells good, Ricky. We didn't have much in the way of breakfast this morning."
"Here, take this, Shelley." He held out some more wadded-up bills, a five and three ones. "I know it's not much, but maybe you can pick up something at the store for tomorrow."
She quickly shoved the money in her pocket. "Are you sure you found this, Ricky? I don't want you to get in trouble with that lady you're living with for stealing money."
Ricky was always surprised that Shelley had survived so long on the streets with her basic, sweet nature intact. "I'll be fine. Don't sweat it."
"If you're sure."
They walked on in silence to where the others waited on one of the benches in the park. Shelley didn't mention anything about the additional money as she made quick work of dividing up the food and passing out forks. All four of them ate without talking. Ricky enjoyed the chicken, but not as much as the others did. Of course, he'd been living on Marlene's excellent cooking for a while now, which had pretty much spoiled him for anything else.
"I'm full. Does anyone want the rest of my chicken and rice?"
Immediately, Justin and Casey both held out their paper plates. He scooped some onto each one before handing the rest to Shelley, who tried to refuse. "You should eat that yourself, Ricky. You paid for it."
"No, that's okay. I had a pretty good breakfast this morning."
And would have two more good meals after he got back to the house, which would be flavored with a heavy sprinkling of guilt knowing this might be the only hot food his friends got all day.
As soon as they were all done, Ricky tossed the trash in a nearby can. The others were already up and moving. Wandering around the streets with them had lost its appeal. Besides, he'd have to head back to Jack's place soon if he was going to get home on time.
"Listen, guys, I'd better go. The old lady doesn't like it if I'm late."
Shelley frowned. "Are you safe there? Because if you're not, you're welcome to come back and hang with us."
"No, I'm doing okay. Like I said, I need to stay off the streets until my arm heals. After that, I'll see how it goes."
Justin stared down at Ricky's new shoes, and then his eyes traveled upward. "It looks like you've scored some pretty nice clothes living with her, man. You want to be careful wearing shoes like that out here on the streets. Dudes kill for stuff like that."
The sudden flash of envy in Justin's eyes had Ricky fighting the urge to back up a step. "I'll be careful."
Suddenly leaving seemed like a real good idea. He was sure that Shelley would never lift a hand to hurt him. Right now he wasn't so sure he could say the same about Justin, and Casey would follow the other guy's lead. It was definitely time to disappear.
"I'd better be going."
Casey stepped around to block Ricky's way. "What's the hurry? You just got here."
"Yeah, I did, but if I don't get back on time, I'm not sure what the old lady will do. Maybe call the cops or something."
He regretted saying that as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Both Justin and Casey immediately went on full alert, and Shelley looked real worried. "Why would they do that? Nobody cares what happens to people like us."
Not too long ago Ricky would've agreed with her. But he remembered how worried Jack and Caitlyn had been when he had taken off the other day. They weren't faking their concern; he was sure of that much.
"Maybe she's just making idle threats, but I don't want to risk it."
He nodded first at Justin and then Casey. "It was good seeing you, guys."
Then, on impulse, he hugged Shelley. "Take care of yourself."
She looked pleased and hugged him back. "You, too, Ricky. Thanks again for the chicken, and like I said, you're welcome to hang with us anytime."
"Especially anytime you find another twenty just lying around somewhere."
Justin laughed as he said it, but the guy was dead serious. Ricky didn't mind sharing his money with them, but he hated to think that a free meal was all he was really good for in their minds.
"See you around."
But maybe not. He walked away in the opposite direction than he needed to go. Considering Shelley and the others immediately headed down toward the waterfront, he probably didn't need to take a bunch of extra precautions to make sure they weren't able to track him back to Jack's house. As far as he knew, Justin and Casey had never hurt anyone, but then he didn't know much about their lives before he'd met them. They all had secrets, him included, so it just made good sense to keep his old friends separate from his new ones.
Funny how such a short time away from his friends had changed how he felt around them, like he was out of step and had to watch every word he said. There were things he didn't want Jack and Marlene to know, but they weren't always on his case with a bunch of questions he couldn't answer.
He circled back in the right direction only to spot Toby standing at the far end of the block. The other kid was facing the other way, but he could change direction at any second. Ricky froze and looked for a place to hide. There weren't any stores on this block, so he couldn't duck inside a building until Toby wandered away.
Hiding in someone's yard was only looking for trouble. The last thing Ricky needed was for someone to call the cops on him. He started to backtrack to the corner when a familiar pickup truck cruised to a stop across the street from where he stood. Jack rolled down his window.
"I was just on my way home for lunch when I spotted you walking. Want a ride?"
Damn straight he did. Ricky sprinted across the street, glad to have the bulk of the truck as a shield between him and Toby. He climbed in the cab and slammed the door shut. As Jack pulled away from the curb, Ricky risked a look back in Toby's direction. There was no way to tell if the truck stopping to pick him up had drawn his attention. Either way, it was too late to change things.