Brian Laver - Mom was best

He took a shower, raided the refrigerator and relaxed. Now he was flat broke and be wasn't anxious to be out on the streets. It still didn't feel like time to go home and he thought about what he might do. He could keep coming back here and sleeping in that doesn't, but that didn't sound like a very good idea.

Finally, Bill got itchy to get going, so he filled his pockets with food and hit the streets again. It was a bright, sunny day so he headed for the park. It was only a few blocks away, and he might run into some friends who were skipping school.

As he sat on a bench watching the people pass by, a bunch of young chicks swinging their asses reminded him his promise to himself to get laid. Now that he was broke, he wasn't going to be able to buy a fuck, and he was feeling too down to try to pick up a chick. He felt like a failure.

The hours passed and Bill remained on the bench. Every now and then he dug into his pocket for a bite of food, and when it ran out he didn't care. Finally, he got up and began strolling again, but he stayed in the park and finally settled on another bench. The sun was still shining, but it was shining from the other side of the park.

It got dark and the park became relatively deserted. Bill knew that the park wasn't safe after dark, but he didn't worry about that. He was almost in a stupor of horny despair.

A man walked up the lane, but Bill didn't even notice him until he was standing right over him. He looked up at the guy. In the dim light, he couldn't see the man's face and he wondered what the guy wanted. Without saying a word, the man turned and continued down the walk. Bill thought that was strange and wondered if he was too miserable-looking to even interest a mugger.

He didn't know how much time was passing, but he figured it was getting late. He'd been in that park for over twelve hours, and he was getting over his lethargy. Bill shifted his body around on the bench to stretch his muscles.

Suddenly, be heard loud voices and footsteps. He looked down the walk and saw a group of kids heading his way. Now that he was coming out of his stupor, he knew enough to be scared. The kids were talking all at once in rough growls and pushing and shoving each other. They were too close for Bill to slip away unnoticed, so he decided to sit there and hope for the best.

His heart froze when he heard one of the kids say to him, "Hey, give me a quarter."

"I don't have a quarter." Bill said as calmly as he could. "Really, I'm broke."

Now all the kids were gathering around him. He began to feel panicky, but he fought to control himself. It wouldn't do him any good to try to tough his way out of this. There were too many of them.

"Oh, yeah?" the kid who had asked for the money growled. "Can we have all we find on you."

They began to close in on Bill until all he could see were those kids leaning over him.

"Look, guys, really, I don't have a dime."

Bill felt hands on him. They were grabbing at his clothes and pulling him up. He was ready to run. But when he jumped, he would have to run away or be prepared to become a punching bag for those thugs. He was on his feet now, being shoved from one kid to the next, while they grabbed at his pockets, looking for money.

It was hard for Bill to plan an escape while he was being roughly pushed around like that, but he suddenly jumped over the bench and ran into the bushes. It was very dark once be got off the path, but be didn't stop. He could hear all those kids behind him, so be burst through the branches that were grabbing at him and tripping his feet.

The sound of all those creeps charging after him spurred him on. It was like a fox hunt, and he was the fox. He came out on another walk and ran down it. All the hunters followed, and some of them could run faster than him, he discovered as he felt a hand touch his shoulder. Although he thought he was running as fast as be could, that hand touching him made him run even faster. He was too scared to look over his shoulder.

Bill knew he couldn't keep running for long, and he figured his best chance would be to get off the lighted path and try to lose them in the bush. With the roar of his own breathing in his ears, he ran up a rocky outcropping and down the other side. He could still hear footsteps behind him. The kids were probably getting into the fun of the hunt now. Bill sure was getting into the frantic desperation of running for his life.

He broke into another clump of bushes. He felt the tangled branches scraping his face and tearing his clothes. Still, be fought through those bushes as fast as he could without worrying about mere scratches. His foot hit a hard roqt and he was sent tumbling down a steep hill. He rolled to the bottom and got to his feet again without stopping.

Running into a clearing, he saw the buildings on Fifth Avenue looming ahead. Although be didn't know where he was, he had been near that side of the park and he figured there must be an exit nearby. Straining to see in the dark, Bill kept his legs moving as fast as be could even though be didn't know if he was still being pursued or not.

Finally, he saw a walkway that led out of the park. He ran across a lawn, along the sidewalk arid out onto Fifth Avenue. The landscape suddenly changed from grass and trees and tangled bushes to pavement and buildings and cars. Bill couldn't have stopped now even if he wanted, and he didn't want to because he was still scared that those hoodlums were hot on his heels. He was too beat to think; all his energy was going to his running feet.

As if be were blind, he ran into the street and smacked into the side of a car. The next thing he knew, he was lying flat on his back in the street looking up at a crowd of people.

Finally, be saw a cop appear and look down at him. He was helped to his feet, but he couldn't say a word because his breath was still rasping in his throat. He was led to the squad car and helped into the back seat. He looked back at the crowd as they drove him away. Bill had never been so glad to see cops before as he sat back in the car and tried to catch his breath.

"Thanks," he finally managed to gasp. "They were chasing me…"

He had to stop talking until he could wet his dry mouth with some saliva. Then he said, "You can just drop me off at Eighty-ninth."

Bill finally decided that it was time to go home.

The cop said he would have to take him down to the station though. Now he wished he had gone to his safe home and his mother's embrace long ago.

The cops took him into the station and led him to a bench. No one was staring at him there. He was just another poor fool who had gotten into trouble. Bill looked around and saw a few guys who were pretty beat-up. There were a couple of bums lolling on the bench, and some sleaz whores. Being part of the New York street life didn't seem like so much fun anymore, and Bill only wished be could go home.

Finally, a cop brought, him a few forms to fill out. He said they had called his mother and she was going to come dawn to pick him up. That was good news. Bill finished filling out the forms, and sat back to wait. He heard his name called out and looked up. His mother was rushing toward him with her arms outstretched. Bill jumped up and they fell into a tight hug. She covered his face with kisses.

A cop came over to them and took them into a small office. Bill explained to Sue what had happened in the park. They were ready to leave, but the cop said that they were charging Bill with being drunk and disorderly. His heart sank. Now the cops were going to be after him.

"What do you mean?" Sue screamed indignantly. "The boy gets chased by a gang of muggers, almost killed by a car, and you're going to charge him? What's the matter with you? Do you have to pick on an innocent kid?" Her face was white with rage, and Bill had never been so proud of her.