Chasing Thunder Read Online Free PDF Page A

process. That brightly lit corner in the shadows of downtown L.A. was a dead end for many. Without these two strangers, Haley knew she would have been forced to join the ranks of the homeless who lined the streets, scraping by any way that they could to survive.
    She recalled Tammy’s matter-of-fact way of looking at her own profession as a hooker. Tammy was fine with sucking the dick of some stranger just so she could have a safe, cheap motel room for the night. Was that Haley’s fate now?
    If so, why the hell did she need to leave home?
    “How’d you do?” Billy asked Tammy, who shook her head.
    “Slow day,” she said as she pulled a wad of five-dollar bills from her pocket. “You?”
    He shook his head as well. “Donny’s got his goons out in force. I haven’t been able to show my face anywhere. We’re staying in the squat tonight.”
    Tammy turned to Haley in the backseat to interpret. “A squat is where we bunk when we can’t afford anything else, or can’t stay anywhere else. It’s usually in some abandoned building. There will be some other people there, but stay with us and you should be okay.”
    Haley gulped. “What kind of people?”
    Tammy shrugged her shoulder. “Tweakers. Burnouts. You get used to them. Just don’t turn your back on them.”
    Billy instantly scoffed. “They’re going to eat her alive.”
    “If you got any money, take it out of your purse. That’ll be the first thing they snatch the minute you fall asleep. And don’t hide it in your shoes, either. If they can take it off of you, it’s fair game.”
    None of their advice made her feel any better. “Maybe you could drop me off at a motel or something,” she suggested. “I can pay for one night.”
    “Yeah, but you can’t rent a room without being eighteen,” Billy informed her. He looked at her in the mirror. “How old are you?”
    She turned her head. “Not eighteen,” she finally said.
    Tammy brightened, like she had the most fabulous idea of her life. “Maybe we can rent a room together.”
    Haley wasn’t too keen on that idea either, given that she didn’t know Billy from Adam and wasn’t exactly sure what he’d do within the close confines of a private motel room. Tammy could easily read the reticence on her face.
    “We could also try to earn some more money,” she offered. “I just don’t know if you’re ready.”
    Haley wanted to ask, “Ready for what?” But she was afraid of the answer, so she sat quietly as the car rattled and sputtered through a series of decidedly unglamorous side streets from downtown to Hollywood. They finally slowed to a stop near a darkened two-story building just a few blocks from a busy boulevard. No Trespassing and Condemned signs were posted all over the building. Billy and Tammy, undaunted, scooted through a narrow gap in the locked chain-link fence. Haley reluctantly followed.
    As quietly as he could, Billy pulled down a metal ladder on the side of the old brick building, which had been gutted by a fire. She followed her hosts up to the second floor, through a broken window and into a hollowed-out loft where other homeless kids were scattered across the bare, dirty floor. Haley shuddered and pulled her bag close as Tammy guided her by the arm to an empty corner. They spoke in hushed tones.
    “Sit on your bag,” Tammy advised. “Seriously. They’ll grab it right out from under you if you let them.” To prove her point, she stored her thin cell phone in the ripped lining of her hoodie, where it couldn’t be easily lifted from her pocket.
    Haley nodded and settled on the soft fabric of her sole possession. Together they looked around the darkened room. “Normally we’d stay in our car,” Tammy told her, “but there’s not enough room in that POS for the three of us. I guess it’s good that you see this, though. This is the reality of your new life. Better to learn it now than later.”
    Again, Haley shuddered. What had she gotten herself into? She had leapt