The cake was a welcome treat and Beninga ate it as slowly as possible to savour the taste. It was hard to say if and when she’d get something sweet like it next. She had scarcely finished the final bite and was brushing off the crumbs when she overheard the loud shouts of some boys. She couldn’t understand what they were saying, but she did recognize their voices. The voices were also incredibly close, perhaps at the end of the narrow alley. Maybe even closer. Immediately her heart started to race and she could feel her the blood pumping her ears. She rose to her feet and picked up the soggy, broken box and carefully moved it across to the brick wall of the building that divided the alley from the main road.

Kneeling she crawled alongside it until she found the ventilation grate and with great effort began to tug at the lid. The owners never be bothered to put screws on it, but the years of neglect left it increasingly rusted. Eventually she was able to pry it off and turned back to the box, holding within everything she owned, and slowly slid it into the vent. It had barely fit, scraping the sides and crinkling a bit as it went. Placing the cover back over the opening Beninga got back up and slowly worked her way to the edge. From there she listened the shouting match and against her better judgement she peered around the corner, just in time to watch one boy to get knocked around by the others. For several minutes she stood there, watching, as the small boy was kicked and punched and flinched with almost every hit. She stayed there a few minutes longer after the others left, to be sure they wouldn’t return before walking towards the fallen kid. Her heart was hurting on his behalf. She knew all too well how it felt to be the one laid out afterall she had more than once been the victim of the very same group, among others.

When she got close enough to see him she saw that his face swollen and bloody and almost couldn’t tell that his eyes were open. Cautiously Beninga walked around until she was in front of him and bent over to look into his,

[color=#c89594]”Are you ok?”[/color] She stood there for a second with her hands on her thighs, just staring at him when she decided to put a hand out for him to grab. [color=#c89594]”Here, let me help you.”[/color] When he didn’t grab it Beninga bent over and work his arm around her shoulder, lifting him slowly off the ground. Once she had him up and his legs were stable, with her assistance, the two of them hobbled their way back to Beninga’s ‘home’.