<strong>Susan Cochrane<br/>A homeless shelter<br/>Tending to a child.</strong><br/><br/>"Paco, what are they doing, though.  What's different?  Are they hurting people, stealing?  More than usual, I mean."  She handed a small bottle of multivitamins to the boy's mother.  Adult strength, chopped into quarters.  "Give him one a day."  It was far better than nothing.  He'd probably get it as directed, he was lucky, his mother gave a damn about him.  You could tell by the way she tried to keep him clean.  "For pain one every four hours, and he will feel it tomorrow, oh yes he will."  A small bottle of adult extra strength Tylenol, cut into halves.  It wasn't enough.  But it would have to do.<br/><br/>Her phone buzzed, she checked it while Paco chattered on, lighter stuff about what he and the other shelter kids were up to, then tucked it away and packed her bag.  "No more climbing walls."  A useless warning, a waste of breath.  "You got some nasty bruises, but not even a cracked rib.  Blockhead."  He just laughed, gave her a sincere "Yes Ma'am" - which he would forget in an hour, and dove into a mass of kids watching TV.  His Mom gave her very little money, but  more than Susan had expected, and that was a stretch for the woman.  But Susan always took something, even if it was only a dollar bill.    It was simple respect.  If they didn't pay her for what she did, they would never respect what she did.<br/><br/>She packed up, slung her bag over her shoulder, and left.  Paco had been her last real patient here, she took another look at her message as she headed out the door - and was careful to be seen looking around, the last thing she wanted was to be marked as easy prey.<br/><br/>A street race, she was willing to bet.  Some real money to be made.  Enough to pay off people who expected the usual tokens of appreciation.  Enough to buy some supplies better than what she could get at a drug store.  Maybe enough to get that alignment done on her car.  She hadn't eaten, but there was always a taco truck at a race site<br/><br/>She walked up to her car studying reflections in the glass to check who was behind her, climbed in using the twist of her body to scan the street, and belted in, turned over the ignition, and took off for her new job site.