AFTER THEN Suivre l’histoire

" Hey stop"

were the words the guy following me was shouting loud but I could only keep running.

I just bumped into him to get the money he put into his back pocket some minutes earlier.

I knew the streets good by then, where to run and to hide.

He wasn't ready to give up on me and his probably hard earned money.

He kept following me, trying to catch the sleeve of my Hoodie.

I should have kept my eyes on the way instead of looking over my shoulder to check the distance that was slowly decreasing. Just one step later I smashed to the ground, trying to collect my bones to get back up.

He was grabbing my Arm and holding it tight.

"Hey stop, stop running, dang it... why..."

He didn't finish what he wanted to say when we heard another voice.

"Let him go Josh, let him go."

It was an older man's voice that somehow sounded familiar. As he came closer I had my answer, I knew him and he knew me. There was something in his face, I still can't tell what it was and still is.

Instead of just letting go of my arm the guy helped me up on my feet. My head told me to run, take the chance and just run but I stood there like I was frozen.

The old man smiled and said "give me $20 and keep the rest, then get your butt out of here, someone called the cops!"

Still frozen he started pulling on my sleeve until I dropped the money, he got himself his $20 and pushed the rest down into my pocket, before he gently pushed me to run.

"Go, dang it, Danny, go!!"

He even remembered my name while I was frozen and confused to the bones.

Another push finally made my body react and I ran as fast as I could, hiding behind the next corner.

They were slowly walking back where they came from, right into the arms of two cops.

Suddenly the money he dragged down my pockets felt heavy, I did that a lot the last weeks. I had to get money, I had to steal it but I never felt as bad as I felt back then. As if my head wasn't working on other stuff already.

He did remember my name but I couldn't figure out where my head out his name.

Thinking and remembering things got hard the last days. Sometimes I couldn't even remember where I got the food from that I was just eating. Maybe because I wasn't eating much in general, I wasn't that hungry, at least not for food.

Some people were passing by as I was checking my pants and wondering where I got them that dirty. I tried my best to brush off some dust and kept on walking. My mouth and tongue was dry as if I had finished a long run but I couldn't remember running at all.

Walking down the stairs to the metro I tried to remember at what time I wanted to meet up with someone.

Was it 5pm or 6? Was it even today?

I couldn't even figure out what day it was and when I asked an older lady about the time and date, she rushed out as if she didn't see me.