Chapter Text
Katie had the cab drop her off in front of one of the buildings that made up Oak Hill. She watched its departure under the guise of searching for her keys. Once it had turned the corner she set a steady jog away from her “home”.
In actuality, she lived a couple blocks over. She ducked under old construction tape, and jimmied the back door of an old condemned building.
It was dull grey in color, and the roof had several small holes in it; the second floor was almost always flooded. The first floor originally had five rooms- a large sitting room, a kitchen/dining room, two bedrooms and a bathroom.
Now, with the addition of plywood and sheets, it had ten small rooms. Each room had a mattress on the floor and several boxes to hold personal items. As the building was condemned, the power and water had been shut off, so several candles were lit.
As Katie had been the first one there, she got first pick. She had removed the old refrigerator and stove from the kitchen. She had room for her mattress, a small chair, and all of her possessions went in the cabinets along the wall.
She tiptoed through the small hallway, and pulled back the curtain for her room.
“Boo,” someone whispered.
Katie chuckled, and lit a candle next to her bed. On the bed lay Phillip. A runt of a boy, his big doe eyes worked wonders on old ladies. Katie couldn’t count the number of times he had come home with a box of cookies, simply because they thought he was adorable.
“You need a haircut,” she remarked, ruffling his curly brown locks.
“Where did you go?” Phillip asked, smirking. “Visiting your boyfriend?”
Katie grabbed her pillow, and smacked Philip upside the head with it. He gave her an outraged look, then lunged for her other pillow.
Before the epic pillow fight could truly begin, there was a thud on one of the dividing walls. “Some of us need to sleep!” a grouchy voice called. “So shut up!”
“Sorry, Harold!” they chorused, giggling quietly.
“So, where did you really go?” Phillip asked eventually. “You said you were going to the park, but that was forever ago.”
“I got into a bit of a scuffle,” Katie said vaguely. “I had to get patched up.”
Phillip immediately straightened, in full business mode. “How? Where? Do I need to get my kit?”
Katie smiled, chuckling. Since she had met him four years ago, the little guy had shown an interest in medicine. She had obtained a first aid kit, and taught him to do stitches. Hers were by no means pretty, but they were effective. After four years of practice, his were tight, straight, and reduced the chances of scarring to almost nonexistent.
The then six year old had captured her heart. She brought him home after seeing him trying to eat rotten vegetables from behind a restaurant. Katie couldn’t leave him there to starve, and from experience knew what spoiled food could do . He was a good kid, and welcome company.
She informed him that she was okay, and at his skeptical look pulled up her sleeve so he could see for himself. “It looks okay. Whoever did your stitches is really good!”
“Maybe if I see them again, I’ll introduce you. The one who fixed my arm was a real doctor, so maybe he could give you a few pointers.”
“Do you plan on seeing them again?” He smiled devilishly. “Got a thing for the doctor?”
“No to both,” Katie replied, laughing. “Would you stop trying to hook me up with everyone in London? It was probably a one-time thing.” She stretched, back cracking. “Now go to bed. It’s way past our bedtime.” A quick hug later, and he was off to him own room.
Katie sighed, laying back on her mattress. The night hadn’t gone as planned. At all. She had meant to go to the fountain and collect the change people always threw in it. It was supposed to be Leroy tonight, but he was too drunk to function, as usual.
She had tried finding his secret liquor money, but hadn’t had much luck. She had found a little cash under his mattress, and used it to buy cheap pasta. It had been a decent dinner, and everyone had gotten full.
Of course, everyone played their part. Only a handful of times had she had to kick someone out of her little ‘hotel’. She didn’t want to say that some people deserved to be homeless, but some people deserve to be homeless.
The change would still be there tomorrow night, she decided. She would just go then.