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Chapter 2 By Punkerslut
Gunner and Spike are talking while Freak, Lily, and Kevin talk, Kevin leaning against the store wall. GUNNER: What the fuck, man... SPIKE: Hhhmmmm? GUNNER: Look at that shit. That guy's driving a fucking Mercedes. A non-homeless person passes by. SPIKE: Spare any change, ma'am? She ignores him. GUNNER: He probably got a deal from his brother at the dealership, who works 4 hour days sharpening pencils, so he'll have something to write a convincing letter to his wife that he's not really going to fuck his secretary on the next business trip to Cancun -- of course, he doesn't say anything about... Another non-homeless person passes by. SPIKE: Spare any change, sir? MAN: Get a job. SPIKE: Thank you, any way. GUNNER: Of course, he doesn't say anything about how the Mexican countryside was ravaged by American commercialism and how they struggle using ancient technology to make rice grow out of the ground. And nobody says anything about... Another non-homeless person passes by with a dog. SPIKE: Aaaawwww, cute puppy... Nice dog. Spike pets the dog and the person keeps walking. GUNNER: How come you didn't ask? SPIKE: Well, she had a dog. Like, she has a responsibility. GUNNER: Anyway... And nobody says anything about the Guatemala factory workers who die from suffocation because their 12 hour days in a poorly-ventilated work place. Fuck. SPIKE: I know how you feel. I use to work at McDonald's. GUNNER, VOICE OVER: Now, if anyone else said that to me, I'd tear their fucking head off. Anyone who wasn't a gutter punk, anyway. Another person walks by with a child, trying to ignore us. SPIKE: Excuse me, ma'am, can you please spare some change? We're very poor! GUNNER: Can you please spare your child? We're very hungry? I haven't had anything to eat in 36 hours! KEVIN: I want some baby-back ribs! Gunner stands up and starts shouting at her. GUNNER: Come on! You're only going to spend it on your seventh martini and you won't remember it anyway! FREAK: We'll spare the head so you can have an open-casket wake! The woman comes back, somewhat scared. She hands Gunner a half eaten roll of breath mints, as he turns to his friends and starts laughing. He turns back to her and she's holding out a handful of change. GUNNER: Thank you very much. (almost apologetic) I wasn't really going to eat your child. Thank you for this. (she starts walking away by now) Now I can get some crackers or some pretzels to fill up my stomach. She keeps walking, but turns back to them and yells out faintly, "You do that," but still somewhat scared. Gunner comes back to the gathering, dropping the change into Spike's hand. Spike furiously counts it. SPIKE: All right! Spike runs into the convenience store. LILY: I'm glad my baby works hard for his money. GUNNER: Well, it's not like he's a mugger or car thief. Lily (as she wraps her arms around Gunner and puts her head on his chest): He's up for a promotion next month. GUNNER: He'll probably have to sleep with his boss for that. Lily (completely calmly): Then I'll cut off his dick, shove it up her twat, and duct tape it shut. GUNNER (in an affectionate tone and caressing her hair): Aw, you're so cute. Spike comes running out of the store with a plastic bag that has a bottle in it. As he stands in front of the bench, Lily lets go of Gunner and wraps her arms around Spike as he sits down (he doesn't care that they hug like that). SPIKE: Everyone get ready to feast. He pulls out a bottle of mouthwash, opens it, and starts chugging it. SPIKE: Aaahhhh, now that's the shit. He pours some in the mouth of Lily and then passes it to Gunner. GUNNER (laughing): Get that nasty fucking shit out of my face. SPIKE: Hey, man. Fifteen percent alcohol. KEVIN (smiling): By volume. Spike passes it to Kevin who chugs a little. He then gives it to Freak. She chugs it a lot, shaking her head once she finished. Then she passed it back to Spike, who went back to swigging it. FREAK: I use to use mouthwash, like a normal yuppy. But that's when I was a human being. GUNNER (turning from Freak to Spike): Yeah, anyway... Freak grabs Gunner, with one hand on each side of his face and pulls him closer to her. She kisses him passionately as they both close eyes. Then she stops and looks at him. FREAK: You ever blow me off again, honey, and I'll fucking kill you. Gunner smiles as she was going to go back to lean back against the bench, but then he put his hands around her head and pulls her close to him, kissing her again. GUNNER: You shouldn't threaten me. Violence gets me hot. She laughs a little and leans back. KEVIN: She's a hot number, ain't she. Kevin looks on to the ground and sees a broken nail file, releasing a high pitched, quick "ooo," and he picks it up and begins filing his nails. SPIKE (looking to Gunner): I will eternally detest your miserable soul, if you don't take a shwill of this mouth wash. Before he can respond, Spike takes a quick shwill himself. GUNNER: Man, that shit is fucking nasty. Don't you guys have respect? SPIKE, Lily, and FREAK: Drink... Drink... Drink... GUNNER (looking to Kevin): Kevin, don't you... What the fuck are you doing? KEVIN: Filing my nails. SPIKE: Quit stalling! (long burp) And chug! GUNNER: Give me the fucking mouth wash.... Gunner takes it and begins to chug it, but then stops and spits out a small out, obviously horribly disgusted. Everyone cheers a little. SPIKE: For he was a jolly good fellow... GUNNER: Man, as I said, that shit is fucking disgusting... LILY: Though tingly and refreshing. GUNNER (looking back to Kevin, who had stopped filing his nails and had his hands in his pocket): Hey, Kevin, what's with the... where'd the nail file go? KEVIN: I ditched it. It became boring, so fast. GUNNER: A life of disappointment, huh? KEVIN: As usual, yes. FREAK: Life is disappointed in me. A yuppy passes by. FREAK: Just like this fuck... Hey, yuppy! Can you spare some change? How about you give me a dollar, anyway... Or take off that fucking Abercrombie shirt and give it to me before I call Satan to make your stocks plummet! LILY: Thanks for your time, anyway! A yuppy couple passes by. KEVIN: Hi, I'm with the Salvation Army. Your small donation of spare change will help feed these kids... GUNNER: I appreciate the tact of your tone. KEVIN (smiling): Yeah, I thought it was pretty good, too. The couple stops, and the woman comes back, giving Kevin a dollar. Everyone in the group, except freak, says "thank you," or "much appreciated." The woman smiles and is back on her way. Kevin disappears into the store. Another person walks by. SPIKE: Excuse me, sir. Spare a cigarette? The person (a non-yuppy, non-homeless) stops and gives Spike the rest of her current cigarette. SPIKE: Thank you! The cigarette is then passed around the whole group. Another yuppy passes by. LILY: Can you please spare some change? YUPPY: How about you change your fucking life. GUNNER: Fucking cunt! Come back here and cover my face in your saliva, so you can know I taste like trash, too. SPIKE (sympathetically): It's a war every day, friend. FREAK: (looking down, agitated) War... Die for your leader who you didn't vote for anyway, war. (looking up to the others) Let me get the next one. Two business men talking to each other pass by. FREAK: Excuse me, kind sirs, we're very hungry and have nothing to eat. They ignore her. GUNNER: Don't you know you're fucking garbage, Freak! They won't even look at you! You don't exist! FREAK: (pretending to cry with her face in her palm) I'm nothing to them! The two business men stop and look at the scene created. GUNNER: You see what you did to this poor girl. (Gunner wraps his arms around her) To you, she doesn't even exist. FREAK: (stops crying) Oh, yeah? (she spits on one of them and they both scurry away fast) Kevin comes out of the story with a package of jolly ranchers. KEVIN: Now this is good shit. Here, you guys have some... SPIKE (over dramatic): No! Must save.... valuable.... stomach space... for only... alcoholic items! GUNNER: Yeah, I'll take one. (he does) Queen comes up... QUEEN: Hi, everyone. She's decently well dressed, clean, with makeup. KEVIN: Eh, hi, Queen... I'd share my jolly ranchers with you, but queens don't eat jolly ranchers. QUEEN: Shut up, my name is Beth. KEVIN: Eat shit. QUEEN (shrugging off the last comment): I got some job listings if you guys... Freak starts crying with her face in her palm again. GUNNER (putting his arms around Freak): You see what you do to my family? Now she's gonna be like this all day. You make things very stressful. SPIKE: Covey kids are dead kids. Get the fuck out of here. LILY: You tell 'em, shnookums. KEVIN: Do you get any satisfaction at staying at a homeless shelter? QUEEN: Okay, I'm going to leave these job listings on the ground here and leave. FREAK: (looking up from crying) Where will you be when we find the rotting corpse of your soul? GUNNER: (leaning in closer to Queen) She's right, ya' know. QUEEN: Well, I'm outta here. Bye... She leaves, leaving the job listings underneath a rock, so it wouldn't blow away. KEVIN: Let me see this fucking shit. Nice, nice... Cleaning toilet bowls, 3 hours a day, minimum wage. GUNNER: Read the good ones, man, the good ones. KEVIN: I just did. And that's under 'high school education requirement.' Everyone moans. FREAK: I was expelled for bringing a switchblade in for show and tell. (frowning) I only got to open it once. GUNNER: Awww, did they give it back, at least? Freak shakes her head sullenly. A punk comes walking up. KEVIN: Hey, Paully... How's the fucking house? PAUL: It's fine. Got a bed and food. GUNNER (smiling): You fucking shameless housey. PAUL: Hey, if I was ashamed of it, then you'd beat the shit out of me every time you saw me. SPIKE: That's true. Here, kill this mouth wash. He does. PAUL: Gonna go spange and buy some burgers. LILY: Why spange? Don't you work at Hot Topic and then spend your paycheck at the mall every weekend? KEVIN: Sssshhhh.... His girlfriend doesn't know he works at such an exotic place. PAUL: Fuck you. SPIKE: And if you weren't so agro, I'd beat the fuck out of you... for being a non-agro punk. LILY: He would, too. GUNNER: He's still a housey. PAUL: And if any of you need a place to sleep, feel free to knock on my door. KEVIN: Thanks, motherfucker. FREAK: Here comes a fucking rat! A female gutter punk walks up. Her name is Rat. RAT: Hey, beautiful. GUNNER (smiling): Hey, bitch. They hug and kiss. GUNNER: We had some mouth wash, but the fucking useless housey killed it. He kisses her again. She has long hair, but most of her head is shaved, except for those few spots of length. She is a gutter punk. RAT: Don't worry, handsome... I'm glad to see you. Want to go to the spot? GUNNER: Hell yeah. They walk off together. GUNNER (a bit way now): Later, guys! I'll see you at the squat! SPIKE: Later, you fucking bastard! FREAK: Save some loving for me! I'll show you the power of sanctified snatch! KEVIN: Kill all the yuppies you see! GUNNER, VOICE OVER: Yeah, so we headed over to our spot... It was where we went when we wanted to be alone. And in this cold dark world of ours, everyone needs to have a spot like that. Even if they are without a lover. The camera fades away from them walking away from the gang to them together on a roof top, as the sun sets in the background. They kiss for a moment, and then admire each other. Gunner takes over Rat's spiked, studded, neck collar. Once done, he kisses her neck. GUNNER (with an affectionate smile): So, how was your day? Rat shrugs and kisses Gunner on the neck, then moves back, looking down, and looks up at him with a similarly affectionate smile. RAT: Mmmmm, so-so. Some guy downtown tried to touch me, but I beat the fuck out of him. See? Rat pulls out a pair of brass knuckles from her pocket with blood on it. GUNNER: You're so beautiful. (admiring her) I... RAT: (putting her finger over his mouth) Ssshhhhhh... Don't speak it to me. Show it to me. Gunner bites Rat's neck, and the camera moves up towards the sunset. The camera rests there. GUNNER, VOICE OVER: She was sixteen years old, three years younger than me, but that didn't matter to us. I know guys who are older and fuck kids much younger than sixteen. It doesn't bother me. It never bothered any of us. But if someone tried to rape someone, they got their ass beat. I felt like I loved Rat. We weren't monogamous. Monogamy was for fucking yuppies and cast iron business men who couldn't spell the word. Besides, monogamy on the streets led to way too much drama. Some of us loved it. Others hated it. I couldn't bear to stand it. These are the days we were gutter punks. I'll forget most of them because I was drunk all the time, like everyone else, but I won't forget what we found here.
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