Page 10 of Rat Park
The man tried grabbing him, but Dominic was already slamming his shoulder against the man’s chest, making him crash against one of the walls. There was a startled shout from the hallway in his mother’s voice, but Dominic didn’t have time to worry about that. He tried to jerk away, but the man’s hands were on him, pulling him back. Dominic tried to elbow the man in the ribs and got a glancing blow in, but it wasn’t enough.
He tried to struggle away, but before he knew what was happening, he was on the floor and the man’s fist cracked across his cheek. The pain was like nothing he’d ever experienced. It exploded in his head, eradicating thought. He forgot all about his body until the next punch split his lip.
“Stop! Stop!” Those were his thoughts in a familiar woman’s voice.
When Dominic blinked again, the man was off him. He blinked, and there was his mom.
“Jesus, Nickie.”
“I’m okay,” he slurred. He stumbled to his feet. His head was spinning.
“What the hell were you doing?” his mom asked him.
“Nothin’. Nothin’.” He flinched slightly when the man pointed a finger at him from behind Dominic’s mom.
“Stealin’, that’s what! Fucking junkie son can’t make his own money so he’s stealin’ from us.”
“Us?” Dominic snorted.
“You fucking—” the man started, but Dominic’s mom cut him off.
“Just get out,” she said, and for one stupid moment, Dominic thought she was talking to the man. But when he looked at her, she was staring right back.
They stood there for a moment, all tangled up. Dominic could feel blood on his lip and dripping from his eyebrow. One of his eyes was swollen shut. The neon of his pain was reflected in her eyes. he could see it flashing there, a No Vacancy sign.
“All right,” Dominic said.
He didn’t even look at the man as he knocked his shoulder walking past. He should pack something, he knew, but he couldn’t get his thoughts straight. He stumbled down the stairs and out into the darkness of the night. The air was a cold sting on his face as he walked aimlessly forwards.
At least the deceitful touch of ghost fingers against his hair had disappeared completely, drowned out by the pounding pain inside his head.
**********
At sixteen, no one looked after you but yourself. Social services had bigger fish to fry, and school didn’t give a shit anymore. The police wouldn’t look at you unless you caused trouble, and Dominic was getting better at staying under the surface of that.
He managed to get off the street pretty quickly, crashing at Prince’s house. Prince was one of the kids from his school he’d been able to get smack from. Prince got his name from his oval face and dark eyes giving him an eerie resemblance to the singer. His slight frame and effeminate gestures would have gotten his ass kicked on the regular if his dad wasn’t one of the larger dealers in the area.
It was strange, having a steady male presence in the house. Prince’s dad could be volatile when pressed but was good-natured most of the time. He wore gold rings on his dark fingers, like he’d learnt his lot in the world from MTV videos, and could often be found in the kitchen, on the phone, or counting money like in films.
For some reason, he took a liking to Dominic from almost the first day he slept over. Dominic went down to the kitchen to grab a drink and found Prince’s dad there, a flip phone by his elbow. Prince’s dad looked up, eyebrows rising a little at seeing a stranger in his house.
“Erm…Prince said I could stay for a little while,” Dominic said, his lip twinging as the cut pulled.
Prince’s dad pointed at Dominic’s face. “Your dad do that?”
“No,” Dominic snorted. Prince’s dad looked at him, considering.
“You look like a smart kid.”
“Shows how muchyouknow,” he couldn’t help but say. He watched carefully, but Prince’s dad just smiled.
“Come here,” he said. Dominic approached wearily, looking down at the table when Prince’s dad pointed at a baggie resting there. “How much would you say that weighs?” he asked.
“That’s a zip,” Dominic said, theduhimplicit in his voice. Who the hell didn’t know an ounce when they saw one?
Prince’s dad looked at him consideringly. “You know what boofing is?”
“Fuck off,” he blurted. “I ain’t putting anything up my ass.”
