Chapter 6
The industrial district slowly gave way to residential rows of faded wooden houses and overgrown front lawns as the afternoon waned into early evening. Leo kept a steady pace, her eyes scanning the street signs and storefronts for any sign of a familiar landmark. They had been moving from town to town for the better part of a year, drifting in the wake of their mother’s sudden disappearance and the relentless eviction notices that followed them like a dark shadow.
Toby’s legs were growing tired, his steps lagging behind Leo’s by half a step. The heavy meal from the food truck had given him a burst of energy initially, but the miles of hard asphalt were taking their toll on his small body. He clutched the empty butcher paper in his pocket like a treasured keepsake, occasionally reaching down to brush his dusty shoes.
"Are we going back to the park tonight?" Toby asked quietly, his voice small against the roar of a passing delivery truck.
"Not the park," Leo said without breaking her stride, keeping her gaze fixed on the road ahead. "Too many cops down by the pavilion. We’ll find somewhere closer to the rail yards. There’s an old loading dock behind the lumber yard with a dry overhang."
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She felt the weight of the red wallet in her pocket against her hip. Every step felt like a small victory against the crushing tide of their circumstances. They had survived another day. They had eaten. But the promise she had made to the bearded vendor echoed in her mind like a drumbeat. We'll pay you back one day. It wasn't just about the food; it was about reclaiming a sense of control in a life that felt entirely out of her hands.
As the sun began to dip below the horizon, painting the sky in shades of bruised purple and orange, they slipped through a gap in a chain-link fence behind the lumber yard. The ground was littered with sawdust and scraps of pine boards, smelling sharply of fresh timber and old earth. They curled up together beneath the deep wooden overhang of the loading dock, pulling their worn jackets tight against the evening chill, watching the stars blink into existence above the dirty city skyline.
