Chapter 16
“Hey, are you okay?” Mack whispered, startling Guy.
“Yeah, I guess. Just remembering.”
“Well, stop. You can’t change things so there’s no sense letting it keep you awake.”
“Is that how you deal with whatever pushed you onto the streets? By trying to forget?”
Mack nodded. “Pretty much. I did some stupid things, my folks decided I needed a lesson and were going to send me to a private school to straighten me out. I decided that wasn’t happening and split.” He smiled wryly. “My, umm, skills kept me alive at first. But I told you that, about giving head. What I didn’t admit out loud was I’d been hooked up with a dealer. That’s what pissed my folks off when they found out. Anyway, I stuck with him for a long time after I left home. Then he got busted, I almost did, too, and I knew Tone by then and he helped me figure out maybe it was time to stop. Now I spange and sometimes pick up a job through a day labor place if things get really tight. Or did until Covid, damn it.”