Spare the Lambs Read Free Page A

him.  Gerald said they had seen me walking the day before and thought I looked cool.  No one had thought I was cool and I didn’ t believe him.
    In a stage whisper, he told me that the beautiful redhead was Lily and she thought that I was cute.  My heart stopped and then took off at a gallop.  He wanted to know if I would come up and meet the others, including Lily.  And I did.  I really did, but I was still afraid that he just wanted to beat me up away from any witnesses.  His words were friendly and his tone could never hide knives, but he smiled the whole time and that smile made me feel uneasy.  It showed all his teeth and reminded me of a wolf’s grin.
    His eyes made me feel naked and unable to defend myself.  But, I had never seen anyone to match the beauty of the girl in the window and if Gerald wanted to beat me up, but that’s a chance I was willing to take.  The pain of getting my ass kicked would suck, but it wasn’ t as if I hadn’ t been beaten up before.  When I met the others, pain and shame were my only friends.  When I decided to follow him, I started down a road that lead me to some of my best and worst experiences.
    The inside of the building was filthy.  The few ceiling panels that remained were either black with mold or stained dark brown from years of water damage.  The walls were water stained and tagged with names and gang signs.  Moss had grown over parts of the wall and floor.  A section of the outer wall had crumbled exposing the rusted rebar in the concrete. 
    Dust and dirt formed thick layers on the floor.  Water from cracks in the wall, leaks in the ceiling, and the glassless windows washed some of the dirt away in random spots.  Rotten ceiling panels joined broken beer bottles, soda cans, faded newspapers, and old food wrappers were scattered around the floor.  There was a pathway worn through the filth that headed from the front door to a staircase off to the side. 
    I talked in nervous bursts as we made our way to the staircase.  I asked simple questions about Gerald’s friends, but found it difficult to remain silent long enough for his answers.  He claimed to be a son of a butcher in town.  I thought he had to be lying, hadn’ t Wal- Mart and Kroger put all the butchers out of business?  I knew my hurried questions showed how worried I was, but his calm and friendly tone did a lot to soothe me. 
    I hoped that Gerald’s words, or a change in his tone, would warn me before an attack came.  At the foot of the stairs, I made out a group of people talking and laughing.  They sounded far off, which calmed my racing heart more.  We went up the stairs and down the hall .  The voices were coming from a room off the hallway.  Gerald stepped in and I followed to a room that had to be one of the larger ones in the hall .  Four teenagers sat on plastic milk crates around a little portable fuel heater.  Two crates were unoccupied, next to each other and towards the outer wall.
    Gerald cleared his throat and the group fell silent.  They turned as one and looked at me, their eyes slowly moved over my body from head to toe.  I was barely able to stop myself from babbling again as the two boys and a black haired girl nodded, as if the cut of meat met some standard and then returned to their conversion. 
    Their words were light and playful but something was wrong.  They were telling funny stories about their school week.  Laughter, digs, and complaints flew between the three of them but, there was a tension in the way they held themselves and they laughed a little too hard. The room felt like a guitar string tightened too much, one little pluck and it would snap.
    Lily, my goddess, hopped up to hug me and introduce herself.  I blushed, as she pulled me close, gave me a short squeeze, and released me.  It shocked me, no one had ever hugged me on first meeting and having someone I had dreamed about do it left me motionless.  I wanted to throw my arms around her and