junkyard // ghost meghan [ lifeismelody ]
2216 – ghost in the shadows, learning all your secrets. 2215 – Junkyard gets a new name when he passes the work of taking care of the kids to one of the oldest in his care – they call him ghost, and he becomes one, appearing only once in a great while to make sure that the money he gives them is being spent properly. 2214 – Another child dies of what Junkyard now knows is the Turbinis Strain of the VA disease – She is past the point of cure, withering away, twitching violently and unable to breathe properly. He can’t stand to watch her suffer, so he injects her, mercifully. She passes away in his arms, under his blankets, and she is not the last child with the disease that he will put out of their misery. 2213 – The Bitch and Junkyard are two of the worst troublemakers around, and Junkyard is careful to keep his two lives – the one where he works for Na, and the other where he’s just some bum – to himself and separated. He also picks up smoking, thanks to The Bitch. He still obsessively brushes his teeth. 2212 – The Bitch walks into Junkyard’s life and, perhaps against his will, he likes her. She’s spunky and strong and beautiful, and when she’s not paying attention, he calls her nee-san. Not that she knows that it means – and he has no intention of telling her. 2211 – Junkyard gets his ribs smashed in by someone who wants information on Na. Junkyard doesn’t say a goddamned thing, and when they finally give up, he’s a bloody, pulpy mess that he stitches back together on his own. No fuckin doctors for him.
Junkyard doesn’t have VA or TS. But he knows people who do. And sometimes the cops come around – and once in a while the cops who are bigger and meaner and scarier than the regular beat cops who hit him with their billy clubs come around and they are much worse when they grab him around the skinny neck with their big hands and choke him. He strangles out that he don’t know nothin, and they let him fall back down and leave him there. Maybe they break a few bones, but that doesn’t matter. They could kill him and it wouldn’t matter, he’s just a piece of shit homeless teenager anyway. He don’t know nothin. And if he does he ain’t tellin.
2209 – Key dies, under Junkyard’s watchful eye, on ‘Christmas’ night. Not that there is such a thing as Christmas, but Jun would have said anything to keep Key smiling, even as he twitched and struggled for life until his body gave out and lost the fight. 2208 – One of the children moves into the shack with him. A little boy, who has seizures and can barely move, save for his twitching. Junkyard can’t stand to watch him suffer. He calls the boy Key. Slowly, he names the other children that pass under his eyes and through his life like ghosts. He takes a job from an “old friend” that gives him the money to buy food and medicine and clothes and a gun. 2207 – His shack becomes a point of interest for other kids – they’re always stopping in. Always, there is someone else in the shack with him – kids of all ages and races. He laughs with them, puts stolen bandaids on their cuts and sends them on their way. 2206 – He moves into the shack in the junkyard when he realizes that the owner isn’t coming back, and the car is really getting too small for his legs. He decorates it with stolen sparkles and gadgets, and hides his stash of books under a floorboard. 2205 – One of Junkyards’ friends brings a kid into their fold. A few nights later, both of them are gone. Junkyard looks for him, for a while – but gives up after six months of fruitlessness. 2204 – He gets into his first fight, with a boy three years older than him, who runs with a different group of kids. He called Junkyard a chicken – Junkyard breaks his nose and gives him two black eyes for it. He’s not sorry. 2203 – He discovers toothbrushing. He likes it. It feels good to have not-fuzzy teeth, and he makes a promise to himself to brush his teeth every day for the rest of his life. He has to steal brushes and supplies, but whatever. Who cares?
HEY JUNKYARD Yeah, you, the skinny little shit with the mean look on a babyface. You’re coming with us. Oh, no reason – some people just wanna run some tests on you, you know? They’ll feed you--- WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING— Stupid little motherfucking bitch, I’ll KILL YOU— Three gunshots later and the boy, only six or seven, is still running, darting through the cars and scrap metal and trash, laughing like a crazy man at the thought of a nine inch nail stabbed into the hand that tried to grab him. TAKE THAT, MOTHERFUCKERS.
2202 – He meets a gang of boys his age, some older and some younger. He remembers their names and their faces, and, although he wants to call them things like brother, he never does. It’s too weird, y’know? Even though he’s the baby. 2201 - Junkyard’s first memory: waking up cold and alone in his namesake, shivering and crying, crawling underneath a car until the sun rose and he goes walking, looking for his family. He never finds them. 2200 - ??? 2199 - ??? 2198 - ??? 2197 - ??? + streetsmart +/- can actually sing. -has trouble with shades of grey.
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2217 – ghost in the light, learning all your secrets and just as invisible as he was yesterday. 
2210 – Junkyard does his job for Na, and he does it well. He’s inconspicuous enough, although there are a few people who suspect him. He melts into the background when they come around. 