Confused Identity
Chapter 2: Unknown Territory
Once the leader left, about ten of the men exited one by one. No one else seemed to notice this, or if they did they said nothing.
The new kid got up, stretched, and casually walked over to the hole. Just as he was about to climb out, one of the big men behind him said, "Oy, where you goin'?"
Thoughts were racing through the boy's mind. Why hadn't he stopped the leader? Why was I being stopped? And what would happen if I just ran?
Instead, he turned around casually. He shrugged as if it were no big deal and replied, "Gotta get bread fer t'night ". With that, he turned again, and scrambled out through the hole as fast as he could.
He set off down the closest alley. He saw something disappear around the corner and ran to see what it was. As he walked out of the alley, he found all of the burly men who had just left the cellar gathering. Farther along was the leader, strolling away from the men. Instead of trying to go around or through the group, the new kid turned back down the alley and set off.
He took the alleys that ran parallel to those the leader was taking, hoping to catch up with him eventually. He rounded a corner and glimpsed the leader as he went by. The new kid went down the alley. When he reached the end, he looked to see if the guards were anywhere in sight. As he was about to come out of the alley a voice came from behind him. "Oy, what're you doing?"
The new kid jumped and spun around. There was the man who had stopped him in the cellar. Quickly he looked around for an excuse. And found one.
"Shh," he said. He pointed to a lady carrying bags into a house. There were several bags left with corn sticking out, and pears, and some apples. And there. A loaf of bread.
Silently, to himself, he cursed making up an excuse where he would have to do something like steal. But now he would have to keep the charade up. Just as he was about to step out of the alley for the second time, the man walked up to the lady and said, "Here'm let me help you." She looked flattered and accepted the offer. The new boy quickly got out of the alley, but not before shooting a mock glare at the man.
The leader was heading into the slums of the city. He didn't really like this place, but at least he was free. For a little while anyway.
There was something about the new kid. He didn't belong. It wasn't his clothes or his speech. It was just his…aura. The leader didn't know exactly what it was about him, just that the new kid didn't belong anymore than he did.