Charlie is a godsend for Clark. Then, again, I guess Clark was the same for Charlie.
I'm glad Charlie is treating Clark as a equal and not some kid who needs to be turned in. It's good to know that Clark isn't alone on the streets of Metropolis, and there's someone out there willing to teach him what he needs to know to survive.
Charlie looked serious suddenly. “They don’t need a gate. Nobody steals from Costco.”
I think you meant CostMart here.
“I don’t understand,” Clark said. “How would they know?”
“They’d know.” The older man leaned forward. “Don’t even think about taking as much as a stick of gum from them.”
There was something almost frantic about the expression in the older man’s face, and Clark wondered if this was the first signs he’d seen that the man was crazy. He didn’t run around talking to unseen figures like some of the men
Clark had seen in the shelters, but there were other, more hidden kinds of crazy.
“It’s not like CostMart is the mafia,” Clark said. He laughed uneasily, eyeing the older man and wondered if this was the moment he’d show how crazy he really was.
“They’ve got ties to some really dangerous people,” Charlie said soberly. “People on the street know not to mess with them. It’s a good way to disappear permanently.”
This must be the same universe as Nan's "Vampire Murders". People might live on the streets, but don't make the assumption that they don't know what is going on in the world. Charlie isn't only going to teach Clark to survive, he's going to teach him how to investigate. The more I learn about him, the more I like Charlie.
Interesting thing about the alcohol, toilet paper, and coffee can stove. I thought he was going to use the alcohol to clean off the canned goods they'd saved. Silly me. I guess something Charlie has in his bag is a can opener.
