7-9 Hours:

Tom and Brandon led their friends through a narrow back alleyway. The smell of vomit and vodka flooded the air. Billy thought that he would throw up. He never could handle liquor too well. Lisa held her nose tightly.

“Are you sure you know where we’re going?!?” she snapped out loud.

“Yes!” both boys called in unison.

“I definitely remember chasing Tommy through here,” Brandon spoke up. “I screamed at him to stop you fucking bastard and that I would kill him!” Miguel looked at them confused on that one.

“Why would you be yelling that?” he asked. Brandon shrugged at him on that one.

“Dunno,” he said. “I can’t remember now.” Miguel sighed out loud in stress. “Figures!” he thought. The crew continued to step over bits of broken glass and rubbish. The snitch grew worse and worse with each step. Billy thought that he would faint. He would have if Miguel hadn’t caught him in time and dragged him along. They all came to the end of the alley way. Tom and Brandon looked around some. The street ahead looked deserted. One newspaper blew past them in the late afternoon wind. The boys looked around for another key piece of evidence to what happened last night. The rest looked on with them.

“Uh…” Billy spoke up. “What exactly are we looking for?” Tom and Brandon didn’t answer at all. They just kept on looking.

“See him anywhere?” Tom asked Brandon.

“No,” he replied. The boys kept looking. Miguel looked on confused.

“Who are you looking for?” he asked.

“Just…” Brandon spoke up. “A little clue to what happened last night.” Miguel and them looked uneasy on that one. Something shifty reared its ugly here. Brandon and Tom always got into all sorts of trouble. Whether it was something small and harmless or something that caught the attention of the police, a huge mess followed in the end. This latest hitch looked like another big headache. Lisa, Miguel, and Billy all sighed out loud. Great, the last thing they needed was more shit from Tom and Brandon to get them into trouble. This search and recovery mission grew into more of a headache each hour that flew by. Everyone began to wonder if they would all be sane by the time everything has finished. Then, a break came through. Brandon looked forward and spotted the person in question.

“There he is!” he yelled out as he pointed forward. The others looked up with him. Tom’s face lit up right away.

“Oh yeah!” he called out. “That’s him all right!” The others looked on nervously however. The clue in question turned out to be an old homeless man sleeping on the sidewalk across the street. There seemed to be many flies trapped inside of his beard. The man looked like he hadn’t had a bath in days and days. He used the flying newspapers as blankets and the old Christmas wrapping paper as pillows. The homeless bum scratched himself in his sleep. Tom and Brandon grinned at him. Lisa looked at the man in disgust.

“Him?” she asked like a total snob. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yep!!!” Tom and Brandon said together quickly.

“I definitely remember him!” Brandon called aloud. “He tried to bum cigarettes off of us!” Lisa still looked on uncertain.

“But… but…” she began. “He’s a homeless bum!”

“So?” Tom asked her. “It’s all we have at the moment. Take it or leave it!” Silence passed over all of them. Lisa shrugged in defeat.

“Fine!” she called. “But you guys go and talk to him. I’m staying right here!” The boys all shrugged to her blankly. The boys shrugged back at her.

“Fine,” Miguel replied. “Suit yourself!”

“Whatever,” his girlfriend said as she waved him off. That’s the thing with Ms. Lisa. She was a total snob. The girl always looked down upon the homeless and the hood. She would the last person one would expect to see in an area on the wrong side of the tracks. Everyone knew that well. But, they all still accepted her. Why? Because she was just Lisa Phelps, that’s why! The boys dashed across the empty street to the homeless man. Tom poked him in the shoulder with two fingers. The man didn’t awake at first. Tom kept on poking him.

“Hey mister,” he whispered to him loudly. “Wake up! We need to talk to you about something!” Tom kept on poking the man as he spoke. The homeless man finally awoke mumbling in annoyance.

“What the hell do you want, officer?” he hissed as he slowly sat up. “I haven’t broken any latel--!” The man fully opened his eyes and saw the boys. He instantly recognized Tom and Brandon on the spot.

“Oh,” he said flatly. “It’s you guys.”

“Yeah,” Brandon replied. “We have a quick question to ask you and then we’ll leave you alone!” The man’s face expression didn’t change at that request.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “But make it quick! You interrupted a great dream just now!” Tom drew in a deep breath. Okay, here goes nothing for the million dollar prize.

“When Brandon and I came here playing hunter and bear,” Tom began. “Did we come down here with a sandwich bag full of smack? Think hard and remember; this is really important for all of us!” The homeless man thought about that for a moment. The boys all waited with their hearts pounding wildly. The homeless man gave them a scary-looking smile. (He had most of his teeth missing. The ones that he did have were blacker than coal. Enough to scare the crap right out of a seven year old.) The boys tried their best not to look at his mouth at all.

“Ah yes!” he called out loud. “Yes you did! Your friend here ran after screaming at you in rage. You hid with me in my house of vodka bottles. And while you were high, you were mumbling about how this Lisa girl and your friend, Billy, were all…”

“Do you remember where they went with the drugs?” Billy cut in quickly to save himself from a world of hurt later. “Please, I really have to know or else Butch will kill me!!!” Miguel looked on at the homeless man slightly confused. What the devil was he about to say about Billy and Lisa? He would have to find that one out later. Ugly or not. The homeless man pondered that question for a long moment. The boys waited on in desperation once again. Billy waited on nervously. The man suddenly remembered something once again.

“Oh yeah!” he called out loud. “The police came along to do a trash sweep. Your friends took off as fast as you could when you saw the flashing lights up ahead.”

“And then what?” Brandon asked the man. “Where did Tom and I run away to last night?” The homeless man grinned at them boldly.

“You went all the way to the cemetery!” he announced out loud. The boys all went pale at that one.