Meeting Charlie has certainly been good for Clark, showing him the ropes of how to survive in the big city without means. I'm glad Charlie is showing Clark whom he can trust and who he shouldn't.
Interesting analogy between Clark's situation and young gay runaways. I'm always shocked at how heartless and cruel some people can be to their own children. A friend of my sister's had been kicked out of his house for being gay, and we took him in until graduation so he wouldn't end up on the streets.
I hadn't realized (or recalled) that Clark had given his full real name to Charlie. I can see why he's afraid that someone will try to connect the dots. Although, I'm sure back in the 70s and early 80s, the communication between children services of different states would be less than it is today. He probably doesn't have anything to worry about in that respect unless Kansas has put an APB on him or are actively looking for him out of state, or they stick his photo on a milk carton under the guise of searching for a Missing Person.
$10 for a weekly bus pass seems pretty steep for the late 1970s though, since it was probably about $0.50 a ride back then. A "reduced" 7-day bus pass (probably for senior citizens, students, and children) currently runs about $15 in NYC. I'm surprised that they got $5 for recycling, but not that they had to lug it across town. You'd be hard pressed to get that much for a whole bag nowadays. Keep in mind that you can still buy a fast food meal nowadays for $5 (well, maybe not in the city) and this was 30 years ago when a $1 stretched a lot further. /Sigh. I remember back in a time, the golden days of early 1990's, when you could buy a gallon of gas for $0.50./ Keep in mind, back in 1980, minimum wage in NY was still fairly low. According to
NY-State it was only $3.10/hr (not that it feels much higher now). I'm not trying to be nit-picky, but these are the type of details which jump out at middle aged folks like me.
I love your story and the realism, just keep in mind the era in which it's set.
