nan | 楠木

2.
　　A few days later, Rick went to the local 7-11. He picked up a few packets of cigarettes, for his little army-he had just organized it, by the way, to defend himself from Alonzo.
　　He went to the counter. And there she was.
　　"So you work here?" Rick said casually. "Just came here or what?"
　　"Yes, just last week. Can I have your name?"
　　"Call me Rick."
　　"I haven’t thanked you yet." The girl was really shy.
　　"Don’t need to. I didn’t do it for you."
　　"But I should still thank you."
　　"What’s your name?"
　　"Helen."
　　"Helen, you know what would be really good for you? Get out of this place. It’s not good for girls like you. You don’t even know how to protect yourself."
　　"I did screamed for help."
　　"Yeah, and that’s no f****** use. You know what you should have done? Scream and say there’s a fire. You get better attention that way. And how did you get yourself in that blind alley anyway?"
　　"He pulled me in."
　　"He was waiting?"
　　"Yes, I guess."
　　"Then he’s probably still waiting. The guy’s a complete jerk. I’d move away, if I were you."
　　"Thanks for the advice."
　　"And what are you doing here anyway?"
　　"My grandma lives here. She’s ill, and needs looking after. That’s why I came here."
　　"Oh, that’s really nice. You take care, girl. He’s gonna try a second time."

3.
　　"Man, I guess I better get a job. You know any good ones?" Rick asked his friend, Tony.
　　Tony gave him a look. "You crazy, man? Get a job? Aren’t you happy right now?"
　　"Yeah, but I still think I should get a job. I don’t think I can last forever out on the streets."
　　"What’s the problem, man? You need some quick money?"
　　"No, man. I just want to settle down."
　　"Shit, man. What’s that you just said? Settle Down? How did that ever get into your head? And think, man! What can you do? You didn’t go to school, and only boys from schools get themselves jobs."
　　"Yeah I know. But don’t you think there might be something for me to do?"
　　"Wow, man, are you thinking of going pro?"
　　"I don’t want to go pro. They get caught too easily, and end up doing serious time. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in some maximum security prison!"
　　"Then there’s no job for you, man."
　　"Really?"
　　"Listen man, this is just the devil playing with you. He’s giving you all these crazy ideas about getting a job. You know what you should do?"
　　"What?"
　　"F*** the devil."
　　"Yeah. F*** him."

4.
　　After the "Blind Alley Incident", as he called it, he definitely went to the 7-11 more often than before. Of course his men needed cigarettes, but deep inside he knew he wanted to see her. But to his dismay she wasn’t as warm to him as the first time.
　　"I guess she’s afraid of me," he thought.
　　"The usual." He said.
　　"That would be 7 dollars." She replied.
　　"Keep the change." He said as he handed over a ten dollar note.
　　But she always had 3 dollars ready.
　　"I got to think of something to say. What does she like to do?" He thought.
　　After some investigation(which included some bullying, of course), he found out that she liked movies very much, and often went to the local cinema at the weekend.
　　So on Saturday, he went to the shop again.
　　"The usual."
　　"That would be 7 dollars."
　　"Keep the change."
　　She handed back 3 dollars.
　　He paused, instead of leaving immediately as usual. But she had turned her attention to the next customer.
　　He waited patiently until that customer was finished. But she still did not look at him, and instead checked her sum.
　　"You want to go to a movie tonight?" He finally broke the silence.
　　"Excuse me?" She said.
　　He repeated his question, or rather, invitation.
　　she stared at him for a moment, and there was such a complex look in her transfixed eyes.
　　"Sorry, Rick. I’m busy."
　　"Oh. Forget it."
　　But that night she did go to the movies.
　　Rick knew, because he had been watching her, at first because of the "Blind Alley Incident" and Alonzo, but later for some other reason deep down inside his heart which he dared not question.

5.
　　He didn’t go to the 7-11 anym
ore after that, even though his gang ran out of cigarettes. Instead he gave them the money, which they, of course, spent on other things.
　　But he would still follow her in secret, looking after her, just in case Alonzo should return.
　　He didn’t know what was happening to himself, but he felt himself changing, for better or worse. It was a terrible feeling.
　　Sometimes he wished he could go back to before the "Blind Alley Incident", and choose to ignore Helen’s plea for help.
　　But that’s life, he told himself. You can’t change the past.
　　Even he could understand that.
　　Three weeks later, Saturday night, he watched her again as she went to the cinema.
　　He never went in the cinema on these occasions; although he would have liked to be able to watch her in the darkness, he preferred to stay outside. He would usually dive into a pub nearby, and see to the business of getting himself drunk. Not too drunk, however, as he still needed to escort her back home.
　　When he came out of the pub two hours later, he found that the movie had already finished some twenty minutes ago, which meant in other words, that she was already on her way home.
　　He cursed himself for his carelessness, for usually he came out after an hour and a half, and still had plenty of time. Then he panicked.
　　He ran down the street as fast as his legs could carry him, and he paused every two blocks for breath. It was a long walk home, and he often cursed her for choosing to walk home.
　　"That girl will never learn!" He would say to himself.
　　But that night he could only wish everything was all right.
　　Another three blocks to go. Perhaps she’s already home, Rick thought. He suddenly wanted to laugh, because he could see himself panicking for no good reason.
　　Then he saw the shadows down the street. Three shadows, dragging a fourth.
　　His heartbeat raced as he rushed down.
　　It was Alonzo and two others, dragging Helen.
　　"Let her go, Alonzo." Rick suddenly felt very calm. He was outnumbered, but as long as he managed to get Helen out of this, everything would be okay.
　　Alonzo turned around and looked at him with vicious eyes.
　　"It’s you again."
　　Rick didn’t waste another moment and charged, knocking Alonzo down, but immediately two pair of hands got hold of him and pulled him away.
　　"Helen, RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" Rick shouted frantically as he struggled.
　　Alonzo caught Helen, and somehow Rick had the strength to pull free and rush over and take Alonzo down for the second time.
　　Helen looked at him for a second, and during that second they had said a thousand things to each other.
　　She got up, and ran.
　　Rick gave up the fight, as the Alonzo and his two aides landed their blows on him.

6.
　　The next day a heavily bruised and battered Rick entered the 7-11 for the first time in a month.
　　"The usual." He said.
　　"That would be 7 dollars." She replied.
　　"Keep the change." He said as he handed over a ten dollar note.
　　She didn’t hand over the 3 dollars that she had prepared. Instead she said, "do you still want to go to a movie with me?"
　　Rick looked at her.
　　"No," he replied after a long pause. "I’m not your type of guy."
　　"I just want to thank you again."
　　"You don’t need to. It’s my place, after all."
　　"Are you… all right?"
　　"Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for calling the police."
　　Another long pause.
　　"I’m leaving next week… My grandma and I are going to my mother’s."
　　"Then I’m really relieved." Rick tried to grin.
　　"Can I see you from time to time?" She asked.
　　"No… I guess you’d better not. It’s kind of rough round here. Eh, I got to go."
　　"Well… thank you."
　　That was their last conversation.