You've never been hungry before, there have been plenty of times you were just SURE you were starving to death and you threw a temper tantrum and your parents told you that you surely were not starving to death. You know now that they were right. This, this right now is real hunger. Crazy hunger. Your stomach feels like its on fire, but the thought of food is actually making you a little sick. Water is easy to find, food is not. You don't know how to get food out here, you don't even know how to keep your coat. It was stolen the first night. Your shoes the second.
The only reason you had shoes on your feet now was because you had another pair in your backpack. Your backpack that had all the granola bars and pudding cups you could possibly ever need in your entire life. You were wrong about that too. You've seen people stealing, you get how it works. You stole a comic book once but your mom caught you and made you give it back.
There's a whole group of kids that hand out where you sleep nights. Something about being around kids helps, even though they're the ones who took your coat and your shoes. It's better than being in the park with the old people. They're terrifying. The kids are just bad. You think you could go to a friends house, but you know the bad guys are watching everyone. The only thing that keeps you alive, the only thing that keeps your friends alive, is that you stay far away. You're walking and your legs are shaking, everything smells good. You're in area with a lot of restaurants just waiting for someone to leave. There are a couple of street markets, it's New York on a Saturday. There are markets everywhere.
You have no idea what you're doing as you make your way through the stalls and the booths and the carts. You think everyone is looking at you and they all know what you're planning. But you have no choice. You have to eat. There is fruit and vegetables and cooked food...You pocket an apple and no one notices. Okay. You can do this. And you do the same thing when you walk by a stall selling bread. It's a bit harder, but you get a small treat and put it in your pocket. If nothing else, you will eat today. You're feeling proud of yourself. You walk up to a crowded stand and order a hot dog. Once it's handed to you, you run like you have never run before. You run, and your legs are burning and people are hollering after you but you're getting lost in a crowd. Thats the ticket. Get lost in the crowd and you dart behind a building. You don't know how long you ran but they gave up. Not worth it to chase for a three dollar hot dog. A three dollar hot dog that is now almost ripped in half, the bun an unrecognizable mess. You know it was wrong, you were raised on things like this being wrong. But your parents had never been hungry either. They didn't know what this kind of desperation felt like. You take a bite and it is the best hot dog you have ever had in your life.