The Street Rat 111

“Keep an open mind?” Maria seethed.

Eddie was sitting on a crate under the fire escape while she paced in front of him. They had moved away from the blankets so the boys wouldn’t overhear their conversation.

“Eddie, this man is killing people, and there are people who think it’s you behind it. What about that would lead you to think keeping an open mind is smart? It’s one thing to keep an open mind about a thief or something, but this man is a killer!”

“I don’t know, Maria. Everything you’re saying is right, but I don’t know. There’s something about the way the guy at the bar talked. I think the guy we’re looking for is one of us. I think he’s just another person trying to do the best they can. I don’t think he’s going about it the right way, but I see where he’s coming from.”

“You see where he’s coming from? You do? Because that worries me, Eddie, if you’re seeing where a murderer is coming from.”

“I already said that how he’s doing it is wrong. It’s evil. But there’s no such thing as a justice system out here. The cops, the legal system, don’t care what happens to us. I can understand how that could push someone over the edge and make them feel like they have to deliver the justice themselves.”

“Fine.” Maria shook her head and turned away from him to look at the boys. “What are you going to do now?”

“I guess I’m going to try and patrol the area around the grocer. That’s where the source said he’d be. I’ll try and talk to him. Try and convince him there’s another way.”

“And what if he won’t listen? What if you don’t even get the chance to try and get him to listen because you already have an arrow in your chest? What then?”

“Then my leap of faith didn’t pay off. And the consequences of that come into play. But you don’t survive out here as long as I have without hope. I think I can get through to this guy. I think I can save him and, in saving him, save others in the community. That’s worth the risk.”

“Well, I’m glad it’s worth the risk for you. And I’m glad you’ve decided it’s also worth the risk for me and the boys if you’re gone.”

“What does that mean?”

Maria turned back to face him, tears in her eyes, her voice steady. “We’re a family, Eddie. What happens to you impacts me. It impacts Tomas. It impacts Alex. Your actions extend further than just to you. If something happens to you, we’ll be left to pick up the pieces when you’re gone. And if you still decide that this is what you need to do, then, fine. But know that it’s not just you that will feel the blow of those consequences.” With that, Maria walked away to rejoin the boys on the other side of the dumpster where they were playing.

Eddie leaned back against the wall. She’s right. What I do does impact them more than I usually think about. But what I’m doing is right, isn’t it? And if I think too much about what I’m risking, I don’t know if I’ll be able to do what needs to be done. I have to push forward. There’s too much at stake.

Eddie looked over to where Maria sat next to the boys.

It’s them that I’m doing this for.

Eddie hopped to his feet. The sooner this is settled, the sooner they’ll be at ease.

Eddie walked out of the alley and made his way to the grocer’s.

Eddie climbed through the fire escape to perch on the roof the vigilante had been on when Derrick was shot. The overcast daytime of Sanders was transitioning to its overly bright nighttime. Hours passed, with Eddie struggling to keep his eyes open as he surveyed the empty rooftops one at a time before starting over.

Then the sky lightened again with the reddish hue, announcing the sunrise. It was morning. Eddie staggered up and dragged himself to the alley across from the diner. Collapsing on the tarp next to the still sleeping Maria and boys, he succumbed into a deep sleep.

This cycle became his norm. Day after day, Eddie would look for the vigilante on that rooftop, keeping watch until the sunrise, before returning empty-handed to pass out in the alleyway.

Maria had found different activities she needed to do during the times where Eddie was awake and not on patrol. Sal wasn’t needing any help for the time being, so during the day, she would spend the day at the public library or play at the small park by the bay with the boys. In the evenings, she would walk with them to one of the community centers that provided a free, hot dinner each night. They hadn’t said more than ten words to one another on any of the days since Eddie told her his plan.

On the sixth day of Eddie’s patrol, the first frost came, making his task of sitting on the top of that building even more insufferable. For the Delgado boys, experiencing their first winter on the street, it was even worse. They moved into the motel the next day. They were still about a week short of having money for the cost through February, but they were confident they could find that over the coming months.

The move forced Eddie and Maria to talk more than they had been to take care of the logistics, but after they were settled in the small room, Maria’s walls went back up. The motel was old, and the insulation wasn’t great, but it was a palace compared to sleeping on the street during the harsh winter months.

Inside, the room wasn’t much, with walls and carpet that had once been white but were now tan. The carpet was worn down to where it felt like concrete. It had only one full-sized bed that Maria and both boys would sleep on, while Eddie would make a new pallet of cardboard and blankets to sleep with on the floor.

The only other furniture was a small dresser and an even smaller bedside table serving as a nightstand. The bathroom had the same tan walls and matching tan tiles. The room smelled like a combination of bleach and cigarette smoke embedded in the paint.

But it’s something.

With the boys safe in the motel, Eddie spent more time patrolling than he had been able to the previous week. He’d return to the motel to sleep for a few hours during the day, but was otherwise staking out the area around the grocer’s.

Another four days went by, and then it finally happened. Not long after midnight, Eddie saw a man arrive on top of a roof two buildings over.

Predator or prey? Either one works.

Eddie leaped to his feet and made his way across the rooftops. The man was waiting on the edge, alternating between looking at whatever was in his hand and watching the fire escape he had climbed up. He never turned as Eddie approached him from the other end of the building.

Eddie slowed to a stop. He was about five feet away and a little to the right of the man when the hairs on the back of his neck stood. Eddie slowly scanned the surrounding buildings before resting on the building next to the grocer, the one Derrick had stood on the night he was killed. A solitary silhouette stood in the night, bow in hand, with an arrow drawn on top of the rooftop exit.

“Get down!” Eddie bellowed, lunging forward, tackling the man to the rooftop as an arrow whizzed overhead and clattered to the ground three stories below.

Eddie covered his head, waiting for the next shot, but it never came. Rolling onto his back to sit up, Eddie looked back to the building, but it was empty.

The shooter had vanished.

“What’s all this about?” the man bristled, sitting up and dusting himself off.

“This is about me saving your life. You about took an arrow to the chest.”

“Is that so? Where’s this arrow you’re going on about, then?”

“On the ground. It fell to the bottom after I tackled you, and it went over our heads. Let me guess, that thing in your hand you kept looking at told you to be here at this time tonight. That’s how he gets people. Tells them to meet him on top of one building while he sets up on another rooftop to go for the kill.”

“So, you’re speaking the truth? Someone really was out to kill me?”

“Yes. Can you help me know why? So I can try and stop it? How’d he get you here? Were you supposed to meet him to do a job or something?”

“Not quite,” the man said, handing over the crumpled-up paper.

Eddie looked at it in horror. They were photos of a young woman leaving a building with bruises. The man was standing at the door she had walked out of, watching her leave. The note said to meet at this spot, or those photos would be going straight to the police, along with others that provided continued documentation of abuse.

The man sat in silence while Eddie stared at the paper. When Eddie looked back up, the man asked, “What do we do next?”

“Let’s get to the bottom of the building and find that arrow first. Then we’ll get you somewhere you’ll be safe from your would-be killer.”

The two descended the fire escape, and Eddie quickly found and retrieved the arrow.

“Now, where is this place I’ll be safe? I’m assuming it has nice acco—”

Eddie punched him in the face, causing him to stagger backwards. Eddie ran up on him, hit him again, and sent his head into the wall. The man slumped to the ground, knocked unconscious by the hit against the wall.

Eddie had been carrying rope on these patrols in the chance he could take out the killer, but decided now was just as good a time to use it. Tying the man’s hands together first, then his feet, then tying those two knots together to ensure he couldn’t escape, Eddie put the excess rope in his pocket and stood. Eddie kept the note but left the photographic evidence on the man’s chest for when the cops arrived.

You’ll be safe from him in prison. And people will be safe from you out here.

Eddie dragged the body out to the street to make it easier to find and made his way back to the motel, note and arrow in hand.

Finally, a lead.

Season 1 of The Street Rat concludes with The Street Rat 112.

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