12

"Hey dude! I didn't know you were gonna be here today!" The green-hatted boy said. "Oh, hey Chef PeePee."

"Hey, um, can we move this conversation somewhere else?" The chef recommended. He looked around for a place to hide. Settling for another alleyway, he brought the two boys there.

"Did you guys get to catch the news? I would've, but I missed it because I was chasing lunch. Those stupid squirrels always get away!" Joseph asked, before scowling at his missing meal.

Chef PeePee and Junior both let out a breath they'd been holding. Luckily, Joseph didn't know they were reported missing. "Y-yeah, we did." Junior finally said.

"Ooo, tell me what happened! Did another guy on drugs headbutt a police car?! I love it when they do that, it's so fun to watch the bodycam footage!" Joseph asked curiously.

"Well... it was actually about us." Junior said, looking up at the chef to see what he thought.

"Yeah, uh, it was." Chef PeePee added. The nervousness in his voice couldn't be missed.

"No way! That's sick dude! I've only made it into the newspaper, not even on TV!" Joseph exclaimed in complete amazement. "Soooo, what was it for?"

Junior and the chef glanced at each other once again. Neither of them could think of a lie to tell. And there were several other problems with Joseph finding them. There was only one way to keep themselves in hiding, and it was risky. But the chef was willing to take that risk.

"Listen, if we tell you what we're doing here, you have to promise not to tell a soul, not even Cody or Jeffy or whoever the hell you're friends with, okay?" Chef PeePee told the boy.

"Alright, I promise I won't." Joseph replied, putting his hand on his heart and his other in the air, swearing he wont tell nobody. "Is it... bad?"

"Well... kind of?" The chef answered. "Due to some... complications with Junior's dad that weren't able to be solved civilly, we kinda... ran away from the house without telling anyone. We got reported as missing, and now we're being looked for."

"...woah." Joseph said, pretty surprised. The chef's answer wasn't what he was expecting.

"And the police think Chef PeePee kidnapped me! Which he didn't!" Junior added. "So we walked all the way here so they wouldn't find us, and now we're on the run."

"You walked all the way here? Wow! Normally if I go to your house, I hitch hike." Joseph said. Junior cheered in his head about his theory being right. "Don't worry dude, your secret is safe with me. Are you gonna keep hiding here, or are you gonna go somewhere else?"

"We're gonna keep walking until we're far enough away, so probably a few more towns away." Chef PeePee answered.

"Do you know where we could go? Somewhere safe, just in case we are found here?" Junior asked.

"Of course! I know tons of places! I can take you to one now, if you want." Joseph said.

"Sure, lead the way. We need an out-of-sight place to figure out our next move, since someone reported us missing sooner than expected." Chef PeePee replied.

Joseph nodded, and snuck the two put of the alleyway. He then led them a few blocks away to some sort of trailer park. The trailers in it were very dirty, probably even abandoned. Joseph led them to the edge of it, into some bushes and trees. In the middle of all the plant life, there was a small clearing which had a few plastic gas station bags and cans of soda scattered around. It looked surprisingly welcoming to the two.

"I sleep here when its warm out sometimes. You guys probably can too, if you stay." Joseph told them.

"We probably won't, but it's a good place to stay for now." Chef PeePee said. He laid his bag against one of the trees and sat against a tree next to it. Junior and Joseph sat near him.

"Is there a way we can get out of here without us getting caught?" Junior asked Joseph.

"Uhhh, I'm pretty sure. Though it is a big town, so it'll take you a while to walk to the highway that leads to the next one. I have a couple extra maps I draw on when I get bored and don't have paper, let me find one for you, dude." Joseph said, getting up and walking to a medium sized bush. He dug through it for a short while until he pulled out one of the maps he was talking about. "This town is pretty active, so it'd be smarter-er to start walking at night.

"But that would be the most common time for police to be out on patrol..." Chef PeePee mentioned. "What about sundown? Like after the time most people get off work?"

"Oh yeah, that'd work too. There's less people in the gas stations then too, that's when I steal candy bars sometimes." Joseph agreed. Junior and Chef PeePee sometimes forgot that Joseph was a homeless, parent-less kid. The chef more-so wondered how he wasn't taken to an orphanage yet, or how he was even enrolled in school.

"Right... so if we stay here for a few hours, nobody would come out here, right?" Junior asked.

"Nope! Well, unless it's Terry. He gives me money if I give him foot massages. He's really nice." Joseph replied. Chef PeePee silently hoped that the 'Terry' guy Joseph spoke of didn't come here that night. He definitely didn't sound as nice as Joseph thought. Joseph peered at his phone "It's 2:09 right now, so you guys have a few hours, I'm pretty sure."

Chef PeePee was iffy about staying in the same place for over 3 hours, but from the looks of it, they seemed almost completely hidden. Junior on the other hand was just happy to be able to relax for a while. He decided to take out his art supplies and color to pass the time. Chef PeePee decided to take a nap, since he figured it'd take the entire night to walk from Titoville to whatever town was next over. Before sleeping, he took a good look at the map. He found a route that would keep him and Junior out of sight for a whole. He stole one of Junior's crayons and drew it out.

"What are you drawing on there, Chef PeePee?" Junior asked once he noticed one of his drawing utensils missing.

"It's the way we're gonna walk to get out of here." The chef answered. Junior got up from his spot to peer over at the map. He didn't understand much of it, but as long as Chef PeePee could, he'd be fine.

The chef found a grassy spot to lay and, and put his bag behind his head as a sort of pillow. "Junior, you think you'll be able to stay up from now until early in the morning?"

"I don't know, probably not." Junior answered.

"Then you should take a nap too. We're both going to need the energy." the chef told him. He then laid his head back, and closed his eyes, drifting into slumber.

"I guess Chef PeePee's right, I should take a nap." Junior said to Joseph.

"Go for it dude, I'll keep watching and wake you up when it's time." Joseph said as he watched Junior get up and get his sleeping bag out.

"Thanks man, you're the best for this." Junior replied, giving his best friend a fist bump. He went over near where Chef PeePee was laying, and laid his sleeping bag on the ground. He laid down on top of it like the previous night, and relaxed his muscles. He always did that to try and get tired enough to fall asleep. He's always had trouble getting to sleep, which got more on his dad's nerves than his own.

"No problem bro. I'm just glad we got to hang out and stuff." Joseph said. He occupied himself by using Junior's colors to draw on one of his spare maps. He then thought of something. "Hey, Junior, I have a question."

Junior, still awake, perked up. "Yeah, man?"

"Were the... complications with your dad the reason you missed so much school, or was late all the time?" Joseph asked, stunning Junior a bit. He didn't fully expect Joseph to ask something like that. Nevertheless, he answered.

"Well... yeah. It was. Nothing happened too often, but I guess it became more of a thing recently."

"And, what did Chef PeePee mean by complications?" Joseph asked.

"Um... well..." Junior mumbled, trying to think of the correct wording to use. He silently cursed his bad English grade.

"If you don't wanna say, it's good, dude. I won't bother you about it." Joseph reassured with a sorry smile.

"No, it's fine. You should know." Junior said. "My dad... he gets mad at me a lot, Chef PeePee too. And when he gets mad... he uses his hands, and shoes, and paddles... and he hits me on the head and the arms and the face." Junior took a breath before continuing, he felt like he was about to start crying. "And he leaves bruises. The only reason they aren't showing right now is because my dad got me this makeup stuff to cover it so no one would know what he was doing to me."

"That sounds awful dude. I'm sorry." Joseph said apologetically. He knew Junior's dad got mad at him, a lot of times deserved, but he didn't know how rough it really was.

"And what he does with me, he does worse to Chef PeePee. He doesn't have a lot to hide with him, so he takes out a lot of anger on him too." Junior continued. "And he can't do anything about it either. He doesn't have anywhere to go..."

"Well, I'm glad you got out of there. Your dad is a bad guy for doing that stuff. There's nicer people than him in street gangs I bet." Joseph said. "I'll make sure you don't go back there, alright dude?"

"Thanks again, Joseph. You're amazing for this. Without you I'd be back at my dad's right now, or at least close." Junior told the green-hatted boy. Joseph scooted over to the ginger.

"Happy to help, dude." He replied, high-fiving the boy. Hugs really weren't their style. "You should get to sleep. You only have like 2 or 3 hours until 5."

"You're right." Junior agreed, lying back down. "I'll see you when I wake up, Joseph."

"Same. Sweet dreams, dude." Joseph said. He walked away from Junior to let him nap and occupied himself with a 1 player game of catch, and drawing whatever on his spare maps.