Chapter 5
Michael darted across the road with Harry still in his arms, on high alert for both cars and the kid’s relatives. Layla and Bridget sprinted beside him, while Leaf, as the tallest member of the group, brought up the rear.
They managed to get into the shelter without being run over, and Michael and Layla made a bee-line for the lounge area, ducking down in front one of the sofas to hide Harry among a group of other teens who were busy taking turns on the shelter’s Atari 2600. It wouldn’t completely hide Harry- while they weren’t the only punks and goths in the shelter, Harry was still really short compared to just about everyone else, and younger as well. Still, Michael sat with him in front of the fire, setting him down beside him and tucking the kid’s head into his arms to hide his face.
Hopefully, to anyone else, it’d just look like Harry was Michael’s little brother and was taking a short nap. Layla re-arranged the kid’s flannel shirt so that it hid his backpack, and tucked his glasses into the breast pocket to really sell the image, before practically stomping to the front desk, Bridget and Leaf right behind her.
He ignored the other three for now, and looked around anxiously, half-focused on how Harry’s breathing seemed to calm down, bit by bit. He knew the other shelter kids well enough to be reasonably certain that they wouldn’t just out the kid to a large, angry, clearly abusive man, and the front desk workers were under a strict policy not to reveal anyone’s name to outsiders, but there were also adults here, and Michael had no such security that they wouldn’t just give the kid to his uncle or the coppers under the promise of 50 dollars, or something.
He was vaguely aware of Leaf getting their key from the front desk, presumably to head up to their locker to get something else for Harry to wear- (because honestly, the flannel was getting kind of snotty now, and Leaf, as a regular volunteer, had gotten a bigger locker, so most of Harry’s projects were stored in there), and out of the corner of his eye he saw Bridget for a brief moment, picking up something from the snack aisle for the kid to eat, but his attention was mainly focused on the front doors.
He was right to, because as soon as Leaf and Bridget both disappeared and Layla started walking back to the lounge area, a large man with a moustache who was definitely the kid’s Uncle threw open the doors, making the kid jump a little. He wrapped Harry’s flannel around him even tighter, whispering, “Sssh. Don’t look up. Pretend you’re asleep,”
He got a tiny nod in response, and tried to act natural, watching someone’s current run of Centipede while Layla perched on the armrest of the sofa, watching the Walrus Man yell at the front desk.
One of the reasons Layla had trusted most of the front desk workers, Michael knew, was because they were hardy, honest, and truthful, and his ears he could hear the current desk lady calmly repeating the same line over and over again.
”Sir, we cannot release the names of individuals in this shelter for security reasons. I cannot verify or unverified that a black-haired child with green eyes was in here. If you continue to repeat this behaviour security will remove you from the premises,”
Harry shivered slightly, and Michael drew him closer to him as Layla whispered, “He’s on the lookout. Scanning the floor,”
”It’s okay. He can’t see us from where he is when we’re on the floor,” Michael murmured softly, still watching the screen as someone swore at the GAME OVER screen.
“Shit, Bridget’s coming over. I’ll intercept her, be right back,”