No Address by Ken Abraham

Author:Ken Abraham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Forefront Books
Published: 2024-09-10T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Lauren stood in front of a bowl of warm, soapy water, washing some dirty dishes. Violet was sorting through cans and plastic bottles on her worktable, keeping count on a scrap of paper.

Jimmy appeared and trudged toward his tent, walking right past them without saying a word.

Lauren called out to him. “Hey, how’d it go?”

Jimmy didn’t turn around, and he didn’t stop walking. “Waste of time,” he groused. He took a piece of paper out of his pocket, crumpled it, and threw it on the ground, and then dove through the front flap of his tent.

Lauren stared after him, her eyes wide. She dried her hands, walked over, and picked up the ball of paper. She pocketed it and went back to cleaning the dishes.

Harris walked toward them, licking chocolate off his fingers from a protein bar he’d just finished eating. He dropped the wrapper into the fire barrel and turned to watch them. After a couple of minutes, he spoke quietly.

“I don’t think the gang will be back before the first of the month, but keep on alert, just in case.”

Violet gave him a sharp salute, and Harris went on his way.

Moments later, Jimmy emerged from his tent. Now dressed in casual clothes, he passed by the women and walked right out of the encampment without saying a word to anyone.

A little while later, Dora stepped out of her tent wearing a long, flowing, slightly tattered pink evening dress set off by a colorful scarf encircling her neck. She held an old beat-up mirror in one hand and her makeup bag in the other.

“It’s a beautiful day!” she said cheerily.

“Hello, Dora,” Violet called.

“Hi, Dora,” Lauren said. “You look lovely.”

Dora sat down near Lauren and Violet and started to apply her makeup. They all looked up when a woman ran into the encampment. She spotted Violet and rushed toward her. Violet glared at the woman, her mouth gaping in surprise.

“I’m sorry to bother you again,” the woman said. She held out the picture of Jimmy. “But someone told me they’d seen my son around here.” She took a breath. “I wondered…”

Lauren ambled over, curious. Violet looked at the photo, then cocked her head slightly as though thinking.

“Look, lady,” Violet said. “How many times do I gotta tell you?”

Lauren craned her neck behind Violet, trying to see the picture, but Violet pushed her back. Violet looked directly at the woman and said, “I ain’t seen that dude.”

The woman lowered her head and sighed. “Sorry. I was just hoping… He’s been missing for quite a while. It’s been more than two years. I miss him so much.”

She started to walk away, but then stopped suddenly. She turned back toward Violet and Lauren and handed Violet a clear plastic bag containing freshly baked brownies.

“Here,” she offered. “Please take these so they don’t go to waste. They were his favorite.”

“Thank you,” Violet replied. “We’ll keep our eyes out for him.”

The woman nodded sadly. She turned and trudged back out toward the street.

Lauren reached over and grabbed a brownie.

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