13

Dreamless sleeps weren't rare for Chef PeePee. He never had anything to dream about, besides cooking and cleaning, and cleaning and cooking.

But now he was free from that. He had things to dream about.

His dream included him and Junior finding a sack of money in a dumpster, and spending it on cool shoes. These shoes made them practically kings to everyone else. They didn't have to work another day in their lives. As silly as it sounded, the chef would rather that reality than the current one.

The man woke up to quietness. All he could hear were the sounds of the distant city, nature, and the grunts of Joseph trying to win at Brawl Stars.

He looked up at the sky. He could see the sun on its way down.

"Joseph?" The chef called out, grabbing the attention of the gaming boy.

"Yeah dude?" He replied casually.

"What time is it?" Chef PeePee asked, standing up to stretch. His legs felt much better. Still sore, but not as sore as earlier.

"5:02." Joseph said, glancing at his phone. "I was gonna wait until about 5:30 to wake you guys, so that way everyone's home from work."

"Good thinking." The chef replied, pretty impressed. He never thought Joseph would have any good ideas, especially since he hung out with Junior. Though, being homeless is his thing.

The chef looked to Junior, who was still out like a light. He decided to let him sleep longer, while he packed everything up. Chef PeePee started with Junior's crayons, then the notebooks. He also put Junior's empty water bottle in his bag. They'd have to get Joseph to fill it in a gas station.

It was a little funny to the chef that he was still cleaning up the ginger boys messes. After years of doing it, he was used to it. It was one thing that was familiar to him from the house. Being familiar with anything out here was definitely going to become a rare occurrence.

As he packed, he heard some hard things hitting a tree. He payed no mind to it, that is until one of those things, aka a rock, almost hit him on the head.

"Watch it, brat!" He yelped out of impulse. Joseph stopped throwing rocks into the sky and faced the chef.

"Sorry! I'm just trying to catch some dinner. I didn't see any roadkill today." Joseph apologized. The chef looked up into the trees and saw a squirrel running around.

"I don't know if you're going to kill it with just rocks." Chef PeePee said.

"I've done it before." The green-hatted boy said. "Well, only once or twice... and the first one ran away before I could finish it off..."

"I'm surprised you haven't made a slingshot, or something more advanced."

"Like what?

"A slingshot? A bow and arrow? Something to shoot it." The chef said. He saw a good shaped stick on the ground, which gave him an idea. "You got any rubber bands, or hair ties?" The boy nodded and went into a shrub. He pulled a few rubber bands out of a bag and handed them to Chef PeePee. "Watch this."

The chef took a sharp rock from the ground, put the rubber band on the stick, and aimed at the sitting squirrel. He held the rock back far enough to have a good range, but not too far so the stick wouldn't break. He then let go. The rock hit the squirrel in the neck, startling it and knocking it off of the branch.

"You did it!" Joseph shouted. The boy got a metal bar, and ran to the squirrel. It tried to hobble away, but the boy struck it again in the head. The hard blow practically paralyzed the poor thing. The chef flinched and looked away from the scene. The boy took out a pocket knife, and put the animal out of its misery. "That was easier than normal. How do you aim so well?"

"When I was a kid, the main entertainment we had was the woods. You'd either shoot other kids with rocks, or be shot. I learned to be the former." The chef explained. "I didn't think I'd remember how, but I guess I did."

"That must've been a long time ago, since you're so old." Joseph teased.

"I'm only 31!" The chef retorted.

"And I'm only 12, you're way older!" Joseph said. "He took out his phone to check the time. "It's 5:24, you guys might wanna start heading out."

"Alright, I'll wake Junior up." The chef responded. He handed Joseph the slingshot, and walked towards the sleeping boy.

"You gotta teach me to shoot this thing sometime." Joseph said.

"Someday, once we have time. And if you're good." The chef replied. Joseph nodded.

"Yes sir!"