Fiction: Two Blocks

I slowed slightly to catch a deep breath or two and heard a slow thumm-thumm of the green car's bass pulsing louder to my right.

"Shit!" I blurted. The gangers had somehow whipped a tight U on the crowded street and were about to turn onto Hickory. I picked up the pace, separating myself from the street by a couple of backyards.

"Yeah, yeah, keep runnin' Guero. You know what they say? You only gonna die tired!" shouted the ganger from the alley near my place. He had seen too many movies, but  I could hear his footfalls as he jogged towards me. Old Lady White's place was only four houses up, so I dug harder at the broken asphalt of the alleyway. The thumm-thumm of the street racer's stereo was booming reverberating in my chest.

"Hey!" came a different voice from the street. "Aye!" The car was at the foot of the alley!

"Hah-huh!" I laughed, realizing why they weren't following me into the alley; the lowered street racer was not able to easily navigate the dip between the street and the alley. Finally, a stroke of luck! A second bit of luck graced my path a heartbeat later. The gnarled trunks of the old trees that peppered the sides of the alleyway jutted deeply into the narrow road. I ducked to the right and kept running, hoping the venerable tree trunks hid my path.

"Chaaarlieee," the voice called--was that Roberto in the car? "Where are you going? We live here too, you know, man."

Only one more more backyard separated me from my path to Broadway. I tried to listen while I ran to Old Lady White's back gate. I could hear two sets of feet jogging toward me as the exhaust of the street racer whined its way quickly to my my right and started up Fourth. They were working hard to catch me... almost too hard. Another grizzled tree trunk provided some concealment ahead and I ducked out and around it and, catching a familiar branch, vaulted over the picket fence and into Mrs. White's yard.

I landed somewhat hard, grabbing at the rotting leaves and branches as I pushed myself up. I had mowed this yard several times as a kid, so I was hoping to grasp one of those branches that had often kicked out at my shins. "Oh, score!" I stood up, carrying a thick twig toward the gate's latch. Jamming it into the padlock hole, I spun back toward the front gate I knew was there.

I hurdled the gate--just like I did in high school while practicing for track--and continued running toward the sidewalk. I could hear the thumm-thumm of the car's bass somewhere near Ivy. I had to move quickly.

Sprinting across the street, I veered back towards Hickory and kept running in the direction of Badger's place.

My lungs were burning as I got back to Hickory and turned left towards Broadway. The traffic on Second Avenue was blocking my path. Thank goodness for old city blocks, as they were much smaller than the ones I'd seen in the new housing tracts in the suburbs, but I still had to get the liquor store. I squeezed through a break in traffic and continued on my path.

I couldn't hear the gangers behind me anymore, but that didn't mean they weren't looking for me. I found a burst of energy to get me through a small break in traffic on Second, generating only one irritated honk before I landed on the opposite curb. I ran down the block within sight of Broadway and paused to listen. I could faintly hear the thumming bass of the ganger's car behind me--almost directly behind me. If I could get this far this fast, they could do it in half the time if they figured out where I went.

I found a new source of energy and bolted across Broadway, looking to the alleyway beyond. From the edges of my vision, I could see the neon traced name of "Broadway Liquor" lighting up the street. I needed to find the fire escape behind Badger's place before I knew if I was going to make it tonight.