The Dangerous Lives of Renter Boys

When we arrive at Warwick\'s that night I know something is wrong. Something in the mood of the place makes my hair stand on end. The minute we walk in the door, Finn and I book-ending Yuri in the middle, a hush falls over the normally raucous cluster of boys on the couches, and they stare at each other pointedly (or more accurately they pointedly don\'t look at the three of us except for a few snuck peeks.)

We stop in our tracks and exchange glancehe she silence thickening as seconds pass by. Finn\'s brow is furrowed, his eyes flicking over the room, trying to judge what is going on. I catch a furtive look from a boy who I don\'t know, mixing drinks behind the bar. I can't gauge the look in his eyes. Maybe pity. Maybe malicious joy. Maybe a little of both.

Old man Warwick approaches us with a purposeful stride. I instantly shift sideways in front of Yuri. Don\'t know when I became such a mothering type of bloke. Used to be every boy for himself. But somehow over the past few days we had become a team. Like the Three Musketeers. Without the swords. And much less swashbuckling. But, for all intents and purposes, much the same idea.

\"I don\'t want \'im \'ere.\" His bony finger pointed at Yuri, who cowers behind me.

\"What?!\" Finny\'s voice sounds strange, edgy and harder than usual.

\"I don\'t want \'im \'ere.\" Warwick enunciates each syllable, speaking slowly as if Finn is an idiot. \"\'e\'s more trouble than \'e\'s worth!\"

I can hear Yuri breathing, and somehow know that his lip is quivering even though I\'m not looking at him.

\"Let\'s \'ave a chat.\" Finny knows it too. He puts his arm around Warwick and physically drags him off towards the bar.

I turn to Yuri. The first of many tears to come are sliding down his bruised cheeks. His eyes are clenched shut. I put my hands on his shoulders and give him a little shake.

\"Hey, it\'s alright.\" I wrack my brain for something to say.

\"I don't want to make trouble.\" I can barely hear him. He\'s whispering and his voice is thick with tears.

\"Hey, hey. It wasn\'t your fault.\" He still won't look at me, so I grab his chin and force his head up roughly. His eyes spring open, shock registering in their clear blue depths. I try to be emphatic. \"Finn will fix this. He could talk his way into anything. I\'m sure that if he died at this very instant, he would flirt his way past the pearly gates in under a minute.\" A tiny smile from Yuri, but he\'s still rigid and shaking. Everyone in the room has their eyes on us, their furtive coyness forgotten in the mere minutes we had been there. I throw our a blanket glower.

I try to watch Finn out of the corner of my eye as I whisper more sweet things to little Yuri. This does not help my frazzled nerves. In fact, as I watch him gesture and argue, I develop a distinct sinking sensation in my stomach.

With one last forceful shake of his head, Finn turns abruptly and stalks towards us and the door.

\"Wha..\" He doesn't stop, grabbing both Yuri and I and tugs us out the door, away from the warm dancing fire and into the decidedly unwelcoming night. Scattered raindrops hit my skin as Yuri and I have to hurry to keep up with Finn\'s pace. He\'s fuming, breath coming in stabs, jaw set in a hard line. He\'s oblivious to us.

\"Finn, stop! What\'s wrong?\" He reels to face me and foe fie first time in my life I am afraid of him. His eyes are burning, almost crazed with anger.

\"What\'s wrong is that we just lost our fookin\' jobs over him!\" He gestures over my shoulder at Yuri, who cringes even closer to me.

\"What? All three of us?\"

\"Yeah all three of us! I don\'t know why in fookin\' hell I stood up for him!\"

\"Because what happened wasn\'t his fault! Christ, he didn\'t do anything to deserve this.\" I glance at Yuri\'s face, blackened eye and split lip, and back to Finn. For a split second I\'m sure that he\'s going to hit me and I brace myself, back and neck painfully tense.

\"Fuck!\" Without warning Finny yells at the top of his lungs, turning to slam his fist with amazing force into the stone wall beside him. He hisses and whimpers, bending over and cradling his injured hand in the crook of his other arm. My heart wrenches as I bend down over him, slipping an arm around his waist. I can see tears on his cheeks in the dim light of the streetlamps.

\"You\'re right.\" He hisses at me, whole body moving with the nodding of his head. \"I know you\'re right.\" He slowly draws himself, turning to lean against the wall, shoulders slumped dejectedly. \"But I just can\'t go back..\"

\"Back?\" I make him lift his shaking hand, pressing him to wiggle his fingers. His knuckles are cut up and bloody, but it doesn't look broken. I pull out my handkerchief

\"You started at Warwick\'s. You don\'t know what it\'s like..\" He winces as tie the fabric around his hand tightly. \"When you on on your own. On the street. Not in that cushy place, but really on your own.\"

\"But there\'s three of us.\" A quick glance up to make sure Yuri is still with us.

\"It doesn\'t matter. You\'re on your own when it really matters. In a carriage or a back-street or out on the docks. You\'re alone, being used, with nothing to go home to. And you have no idea what that feels like, Bryce.\" There\'s a lump rising in my throat as I nod and look down at the ground. I\'ve never heard Finn complain about anything before, and suddenly I realize that maybe he\'s not as strong as he tries to appear, that maybe the eternal toughness and good humor is a façade to hide what he doesn\'t want me to see.

*****

Okay, I swear on my life that this is going somewhere. I\'m sorry if I don\'t really sound like myself. Frankly, I\'m stoned on Nyquil and loving it. [Whee] I do however have at least two more chapters of action mapped out quaagueaguely in my head, to be committed to cyberspace as soon as my life allows (be assured that I would much rather be writing than doing homework or working.. but that\'s life, eh?) Happy renting, xo.