Rat and Mike with a Gun, Seattle, Washington, USA, 1983
(catalog number 300E-027-18A)

WHILE working for Life magazine on the street kids story in Seattle, I was shown an old abandoned hotel where some of the kids squatted, specifically Rat and Mike. They were well-known street hustlers.

One afternoon the writer and I went into the old hotel to look for Rat and Mike. It was really frightening and eerie. It appeared that several homeless people lived there, each choosing a separate room where they scattered their few possessions. It was the middle of the day, so the hotel was empty. We looked for the room where the two boys lived. We finally came across a room with two sleeping bags, remnants of junk food, and a big W. C. Fields poster on the wall. There was a note pinned to the door: BACK IN A FEW DAYS‑MIKE AND RAT. We left a note for them saying we would return.

A few days later, very early in the morning, we came back to find them. It was 7 AM. Rat and Mike were tucked inside their sleeping bags, sound asleep. We woke them up and gave them the coffee and doughnuts that we had brought with us. They had just come back from a trip to Sacramento, where Rat's family lived. They had lots of dirty clothes and wanted to go to the Laundromat that day. We offered them a ride. They were both totally charming and intriguing, especially the smaller boy called Rat. He was 15 years old but looked about 12. They threw bags of dirty clothes in the trunk of our car.

When we arrived at the Laundromat, I offered to help them carry their clothes inside. As I was lifting a bag out of the trunk, I noticed a gun underneath one of the bags. I was very concerned.

When they finished their laundry and carried their things to the car, I asked Rat about the gun. He nonchalantly said, "That's our gun. We stole it last week while robbing a house." Mike picked it up and put it inside his jacket. That's when I took this picture.

As an afternote, soon after Martin finished making Streetwise, Rat was arrested on drug charges. He spent a year in jail. When he got out, we saw him again. He had changed dramatically; I hardly recognized him. He was no longer a small 15-year-old boy, looking young for his age. He was a grown-up man, over six feet tall and seasoned by a year in jail. To be honest, for the first time I was afraid of him.