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Bro, I miss you. Please come back.It was a warm summer afternoon in Kansas. I was sitting on the front steps of the house of my best friend, Lightning. I just had to get out of my house. Things are pretty rough at home. And by “rough” I mean “horrible.” My stepdad, Oscar, got drunk again. Whenever my mom’s not around, he tries to make me his slave. I have to cook for him, clean up after him...today he tried to make me get on my knees and apologize for not greeting him when he walked in. That was the last straw. I picked up one of the empty beer bottles that he left lying on the floor and chucked it as hard as I could at him and it barely missed to shatter on the wall next to his head. When I say he got mad, that's a big understatement. So here I am, sitting here waiting for my friend to answer her damn doorbell. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my brother’s old ID card. It was the only thing I had that belonged to him. I brushed my thumb over the name printed on the plastic: “Du-Shaunt Stegall.” Everyone in the streets knows him as Fik-Shun. It's been two years since I've seen Fik. As I looked at his tiny picture that was beaming up at me, tears started to brim in my eyes. Then I heard the door open and I quickly wiped them away. “Hey, Kida,” I heard, “What’s g--” she stopped talking when I turned around to face her. I already knew where this was going. I put my hands out in front of me. “Look, just stay calm...it's not as bad as it loo--”“WHAT IN THE DEVIL’S NAME HAPPENED TO YOU?!” Well, I tried. She continued, “A black eye?” I scratched the back of my neck and looked at the rose bush to my left. I forgot about my eye. It was no doubt swelling up by now. Before I knew what was happening, she was lifting up my shirt. She gasped. “Kida, you have gashes all over you…” Her voice was soft and she had that worried look in her eyes that I didn't like. She honestly looked like she was about to cry but I felt like I should be the one crying here. Suddenly her sympathy turned into anger and she punched me in the chest. Which hurt. A lot. “Agh, now how does that help anybody?!” I said, incredulous. I tried to hit her back but she dodged. Her stupid self defense classes are paying off. Her eyes went back to that sympathetic look and she hugged me. “Did your father hit you again? I'm so sorry, Kida...are you okay?” At that moment, all I wanted to do was melt into her hug. I wanted to hold her and cry and let all my anger go so that maybe I wouldn't be in so much pain. But as the picture of my brother’s smiling face flashed in my mind, I was reminded to never let anyone see that I was hurting again. If Lightning tries to help me, I may just lose her too. I can't let anyone fight for me. Not again. So instead of returning the hug, I shoved her away.“Man, get off me,” I said, “And you really need to get some professional help for those mood swings...witcho bipolar lookin self.” When I saw the hurt look in her eyes, I had to look at the goddamn rose bush again. It's sad to say, but she's used to me hurting her like this. I use the fact that she'll always come back as a means of keeping her at a distance…because it’s better that I hurt her and still have her than I let her in and she leaves me...right? “Look, I just want to make sure you're straight...you don't look like it…”“Chill with the interrogation! Yes, I'm straight. Just don't trip out, that's all I'm sayin…yo, are you gonna let me in?” I asked, gesturing to her open front door with my hand. Lightning looked at her door as if she was contemplating it. I clicked my tongue. “Man, you buggin,” I mumbled and let myself in. She walked in after me. “Well, as long as you're here, let me fix you up--”“I told you I'm fine. Ain't like this never happened before.”“No, get over here and take off your shirt.”“Nah, fam, I'm good!”“Don't ‘nah, fam’ me! Boy, get over here,” she said in her “end-of-discussion” voice and dragged me over to the bathroom. She made me take off my shirt and sit on the floor while she iced my gashes. Like a mother, the more she looked at me, the more worked up she got that I got hurt. She started grumbling, “Out here gettin cooked. I swear, the next time I see you tryna get killed, I'll kill you myself. And why do you have to start something all the time. I mean who do you think you are, Mike Tyson? Maybe you should learn how to fight. Better yet, don't start trouble in the first place!” I rolled my eyes. Lightning always did worry too much. In that sense, she's pretty much the opposite of Fik. He was always a lose cannon. If he thought of something crazy, he would always just go ahead and do it. He used to take me on his crazy adventures. One time we went all the way up to New York City with nothing but a couple hundred dollars and some Kellogg's snacks. We did a street performance for the passerby's of the city and they loved us. By the time we danced through the first song, a huge crowd of at least a hundred people had gathered around us. Everyone gets captivated whenever Fik dances. He's like real android. It's hard to believe what you're seeing because the way he moves is so unreal. That's why they call him Fik-Shun, after all. He taught me everything I know about hip-hop. That night with my big brother was the best night of my life. And only a week later, I experienced the worst night of my life. The night he left. The night my stepdad forced him to leave. Like I said, Fik was always a free spirit. He did what he wanted when he wanted. And no matter what life threw at him, he always smiled. And he didn't care if our stepdad had power over us, Fik was constantly battling him...for me. Our stepdad hated us, but he hated me especially. I don’t know why, but he just did. He would beat me all the time and I would cry and run to Fik like a little chump. And when Fik saw me he would get so angry that he would go right up to Oscar and try to fight him. Keep in mind that Oscar was a grown man in his 30s and Fik was only 17. I was 10. I always stopped the fight before things got too bad. But one night...this one night, Oscar got a little too drunk and Fik-Shun was not in a good mood at all. Fik was at a memorial for his friend that had died in the crossfire of a gun fight that day. Oscar had gotten home earlier than Fik, drunk as helll, of course. And he came into my room and promptly started knocking stuff over and spilling out my drawers. He was looking for his pack of “special” cigarettes. I just stayed silent and let him do it. I was not my brother. I was so ashamed of that fact, but I was too afraid to move. Too afraid to do anything. Until I saw him reach out to knock over the glass baseball which Fik got me as a souvenir when he visited the Cardinals Stadium in Missouri. Then I got up and pushed Oscar away. I grabbed the baseball and hid it behind my back. A stupid move, but there was no time to hide it anywhere else. As soon as Oscar got his bearings again, his furious eyes glared at me with dark, malicious intent. He grabbed my wrist which was the arm I held the ball in. I can still clearly see Oscar’s clammy, pale hand wrapped around my wrist. He held my hand high above my head and I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for some kind of hit. Then he grabbed the ball out of my hand and smashed it on the wood flooring and I watched it shatter into a million pieces. I stayed silent because I was about to cry. At that moment I hated my life. I hated Oscar. And I wanted to die. He was still holding my wrist above my head. He was holding it so high that I had to strain on my toes to keep my shoulder from dislocating. Oscar picked up one of the broken shards of the baseball and pressed it firmly to my trapped wrist. “I'm gonna kill you, you insufferable little nigger,” he slurred in my ear. His breath reeked of alcohol. He dragged the glass shard through my skin from my wrist down my forearm. Now because Oscar was a bumbling idiot at everything he did, his cut didn't go that deep but I wasn't about to tell him that. He let go of me and I fell to the floor as blood started to pool around me. “Shoulda done this the day I met you...I hope you suffer as you bleed out,” he cackled. That was when Fik burst through the door. When he saw me lying on the floor and bleeding, I could've sworn his eyes turned red. In a flash, he slammed Oscar into the wall. He kept hitting him over and over again. Oscar kept trying to block and hit back, but Fik was way too fast. Finally, Oscar yelled out in frustration and shoved Fik away. Then unsurprisingly, Oscar pulled out handgun from the back of his pants. He pointed it straight at Fik. “I'm getting real tired of your insolence, boy,” Oscar growled, “As long as you live under my roof, you're gonna follow my rules, you understand me? Now it's clear that you don't wanna live by any rules and give me the RESPECT I deserve! So pack up your shit, and get out of my house. Or I'll cap you right now!” Oscar shook the gun to show that it was fully loaded. Fik was about to take a step forward, but I screamed, “Fik, just do what he says!” Fik stopped and looked down at me with, for the first time, fear in his eyes. But he wasn't afraid for himself. He was still worried about me. He looked like he was being torn apart. I had never seen him like that before. He's never been worried about anything. But I had don't that to him. I made him feel that way. And for that, I'll never forgive myself. “It-It's better if you leave...you can't die here. Please, Fik...do it for me…” i watched as tears started welling up in Fik’s eyes and my heart wrenched so hard I winced and had to hold my chest. “You'd best listen to your brother there, boy. Don't want to end up like him,” he said, waving his gun at me. Fik-Shun glared at Oscar with hatred in his eyes then he looked at me. He sighed and put his hands up. “Fine,” he said. I let out a deep breath of relief. “I'll leave by tonight. But I don't care what you say, I'm taking Kida to the hospital. Right now.” Fik made a move to pick me up, but Oscar stepped in between us. “Now we don't need the government gettin involved in this. Remember who has the gun here. If it'll make you leave faster, then I'll call up a family doctor to come here and patch him up, how's that?” Fik-Shun just looked at him with disgust but stayed silent. “Look, you have my word. Besides, the kid’s gotta stay alive for me to get my free meal tickets, hehehe.” Even though it was a despicable reason, that seemed to convince the Fik. “Imma go stop the bleeding while you call him then,” Fik said. He picked me up carefully and turned to go. That night, he was gone. Now I was silently lying in my bed and staring up at the ceiling as I ran my fingers along the stitches and the bandage wrapped around my forearm. Then I heard a knock at my window. I turned my head to see my brother smiling with a duffel bag hung across his torso. There was still blood on his shirt from when he picked me up. I scrambled over to the window and opened it. “What are you doing here?” I whispered. He gave me a look as if that was a dumb question. “Had to say goodbye to my favorite bro!” He said cheerily. It looks like he was back to his normal self. Then suddenly his eyes lost their spark. Spoke too soon. “Listen, Kida, I don't have much time...I just wanted to let you know that you're not gonna see me for a while--”“How long is “a while”? Where are you going??”“Somewhere...I don't know yet. But listen--I'm gonna make it big, okay? And then I'll come back to get you. No matter what, don't think I forgot about you.”“Fik, let me come with you! We could do it together!”“You can’t. Oscar will come after us. He’ll say that I kidnapped you or some BS like that. But hey, take this. Sorry, it’s not much, but it's all I have to give you right now.” He dug in his pocket and brought out his ID card. He handed it to me.“Your ID? But won’t you need it?”“Nah, I know someone that's makin me a new one that's up to date. So hey...don't forget about me, okay?”“How could I, man?” I punched him.“Haha...okay then.” He sighed. “Looks like this is it…”“Hey, promise me something, Fik...don't die. And don't give up.” Fik smiled. “...I promise. And…” he put his hand on my shoulder, “I love you.”“I love you too, bro. See you soon.”Fik gave me one last smile and then jumped off the side of the building and into the darkness of the night. And I haven't seen him since.***“Hellooo? What's gotten into you, Kida?” I looked up to find Lightning snapping her fingers in my face with one hand on her hip. I was still in her bathroom. I guess I had zoned out. Lightning pushed her large-framed glasses up the bridge of her nose. She must've put those on to work on me. She looked at me with her big brown eyes that sparkle when she smiles. Her mohawk of box braids was put up into a neat bun at the top of her head. “Sorry…,” I said, “I was thinking about my brother.” Lightning straightened up. “Oh…” she said. She sat next to my on the floor and held my hand. I smiled. “You know, you're awfully touchy-feely today. Don’t tell me you got a crush on me now,” I teased. She gave me a flustered look and pulled her hand away and scoffed. “Ah, the tables have turned, hahaha” I said. She rolled her eyes. “Ugh, you play too much, Kida.” I looked at her. She's funny when she's annoyed. She crosses her arms and gets all sulky. It's cute. I honestly used to have a huge crush on her. I tried to ask her out once but she turned me down. She said that it was too soon for her or something like that. I was too depressed to hear the full explanation. As a matter of fact, I was depressed for a week. But she kept coming over to assure me that we were still friends. Lightning is really something else.Suddenly I started feeling a sharp sting all over my chest. “Ow! The hell did you do to me, Lightning?!” She grinned. “That must be the peppermint oil and hydrogen peroxide kicking in! Don't worry, the sting just means it's working.” Of course. Lightning wants to be a doctor one day. She also doesn't believe in real medicine which makes no sense. She's always concocting some new remedy that she claims will cure one illness or another. If you saw her room, it would be like a science lab in there. “Dammit, are you a witchdoctor or something?!” I said and winced as the sting started growing stronger, “How many times do I have to tell you not to test your potions on me?!”“You're the only person who’ll let me though,” she smiled again.“That's the thing, I'm NOT letting you. You just do what you want!”“What can I say, it's a gift.” She bowed dramatically. I couldn't help but laugh. I shoved her playfully. “Man this is abuse. You owe me now.”“What?! I don't owe you jack diddly squat! Witcho ungrateful self...didn't I just spend the last half hour fixing you up? If anything, you owe me! Matter fact, we're going to the ice cream store right now. Your treat.”“Hey, hold on now--”“Too late.” Lighting slung her arm around my neck and started dragging me out. “Abuse!” I yelled, but in the end I let her walk me all the way down to the ice cream store and I bought her a seven dollar cookie dough milkshake.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
I've known Lightning since I was in 2nd grade. She's always hung out the with boys more than she hung with girls, but she actually used to be a much bigger tomboy than she is now. You would never catch her in a dress. The first day I met her, I thought she was a boy, in all honesty. It all started early one morning when I had gotten to the basketball courts. I walked in dribbling my ball and noticed some kid shooting 2’s by himself. He was wearing white basketball shorts and a black tank top. The kid turned to me and the first thing I noticed was his haircut. He had a short mohawk with a skin fade on the sides and his hairline was sharp, too. His hair looked like it was combed all the way through. I was impressed. I never combed my hair when I was little. If you know anything about curly hair, you'll know that it's hard to comb out. But I'm sidetracking. The kid grinned and called out to me, “What’s up, homie? Wanna pway one on one?” he asked, mispronouncing the “L” in “play.” We were all like 6 years old back then, so both boys and girls had high pitched, little girl voices. He just sounded like any other boy to me. The only thing that was different was probably his accent. I didn't know where he was from, but he definitely was not from around here. But I was shocked. That boy had the smoothest skin I had ever seen. As he got closer, I noticed how his eyes sparkled when he smiled and my heart skipped a beat. “He’s kinda pretty,” I thought to myself. As soon as that thought surfaced, my eyes widened in shock. See, out here in the streets, if you're gay, you're a wuss. It's unfortunate, but your life would be a living hell just from all the ridicule you would receive on a day-to-day basis. So that's why no one around here was gay, even if they were. And honestly, I had always liked girls, so I didn't know what was happening. So before that kid with the mohawk could get to my side of the court, I bolted. “Hey!” I heard him call. I ran out of there as fast as I could and didn't stop until I got home. School started up again later that week, and I must have had the best luck that day because guess who I ran into in my classroom on the first day? Yep. Mohawk boy. As soon as I saw him, my heart skipped a beat again and I remember telling my heart to stop doing that under my breath. The kid saw me when I saw him and immediately got up and ran over. I tried to escape, but I was standing in the corner with bookshelves on either side. I was trapped. Why, second grade? Why did you put him in my class? “Hey. You’re the kid that wan out of the court the otha day, wight? What’s up, fam, if you didn't wanna pway, you could've just said so.” I looked around for an exit. “Um, I...had to go. My mom was calling me.”
“Oh okay. Let's pway after school today then! Are you fwee?”
“Um…” I couldn't think straight. When he was that close, I could pick up the scent of oranges and peaches which I guess was from the soap he uses. “I'll take dat as a yes!” he said smiling and ran back to his seat to continue coloring in his notebook. If my melanin permitted it, I would've probably been beet red. During snack time, he came over again and sat next to me with criss-crossed legs. I was just about ready for the day to end. “Hi, kid,” he said, “I just wealized I don't know your name! What your name?”
“Um...I-It's Kida.”
“Kida? Haha, the kid named Kida! Isn't that funny?” he beamed. I gave a small smile back. “Yeah, that's funny.”
“I'm Wightning.”
“Lightning?” I repeated, amazed, “That's really cool, man.”
“Yeah, thanks! I get that a wot.” He bowed dramatically. I laughed. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to just be friends with this kid. He’s kinda funny. And he's got a funny accent too. “Hey, where are you from? You sound funny,” I said. I wasn't a very smooth talker as a kid. Still, Lightning just answered the question. Maybe because social innuendos flew over his head too. “I'm from Nigewia,” he said and raised up a peace sign with his hand. “Nigeria? Where's that?” I asked. He looked surprised. “In Africa!”
“Ohhhh,” I said, kind of embarrassed that I didn't know. “So why'd you move here?”
“My dad got accepted to Harvard so we moved to Massachusetts but he finished school so now we're here in Kansas.”
“Harvard?! If you have money for Harvard, you coulda gone anywhere...why did you move to Kansas?”
“We have family here so we thought it would be nice to move down here close to them. My Grandma is visiting too so it's like a little family reunion. My Grandpa would've come too, but he's the chief of our village back in Nigeria so he had to stay.”
“Chief of the village? Wow. So does that make you a real African prince?”
“I dunno. Maybe.”
“Wow, you got a crazy life, bruh.”
“You know, I guess I do.” Lightning grinned. And that’s how Lightning and I got to be friends. We played together on the court almost every day. We were like a two-man team. We got so good that people started calling us Kid Lightning. I guess that was supposed to be both our names mixed together. I liked it. You could hear people say stuff like, “Is Kid Lightning playing? I heard they were good,” and “Hey Kid Lightning’s on the court! I got next game!” We would hang out at each other’s houses all the time. “Hey, it's the dynamic duo!” Lightning’s mom said as we walked through the front door of his house. “What’s good, Mrs. Abiona?” I greeted. “We're about to head out to the pier, but we just stopped by for a snack,” said Lightning. “Well you're just in time. I made smoothies!” Her mom reached across the counter and picked up two cups with colorful straws in each. “Aw, yes!” we both said in unison. Lightning’s mom’s smoothies taste like a piece of heaven broke off and fell to earth and landed in a cup. We took the frost-covered cups in our hands. “Thanks!” we said and ran out to sit on the porch. I took a sip. Mmm, strawberry banana. My favorite. I looked over at Lightning and watched him sip his smoothie. The gold studs that were pierced into each of his ears reflected the sunlight and shined even brighter than they usually do. Since the day I met him--which was about a month ago--I thought those piercings were so cool. I couldn't believe his mom let him do that. Then again, his mom is hella chill. “I can't believe your mom let you get your ears pierced already. That's savagery,” I said. Lightning touched his ear. “Oh, these?” He started chewing on his straw as he spoke, “These weren't even my choice, haha.” I gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?”
“Well, in Nigeria, they pierce your ears as a baby to tell the girls apart from the boys.”
“They give the boys earrings? That's pretty wild.” Lightning looked at me silently for a few moments like he thought I was going crazy. “What?” I asked. He spoke, “They don't give the boys earrings. They give the girls earrings!” My eyes widened as everything suddenly became clear. “Hold up!” I yelled. “You tryna tell me that you're a girl?!”
“You didn't know?!”
“No! So then...that means you're not an African prince...you're an African princess!” Lightning put a hand on his--uh, I mean her hip. “I guess so,” she said simply.
I stared in disbelief. “I thought you were a boy for a whole month, Lightning. So when I called you a prince that one time, why didn't you say anything?!”
“I thought you were playing around!”
“No, Lightning, I was definitely NOT playing around!” We looked at each other in silence. Then a small chuckle escaped my mouth. I saw a smile slightly break out on Lightning’s face. In a few seconds we were both cracking up. I was laughing because I thought I was gay. She was probably just laughing because she thought I was stupid. She playfully socked me in the arm. “You silly boy, open your eyes next time!” And that's the end of the story. We're both 13 now. She's lost her accent and she figured out how to pronounce her “L’s” and “R’s” but she's still the same old Lightning to me.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
KIDA POV
I went back home that night after treating Lightning to some ice cream. I scaled the side of my house like Fik-Shun taught me all those years ago. I slid the thin end of my crowbar (which I keep between two conjoined branches in the tree next to my window) under my windowsill and clicked the lock open. After I replaced my crowbar, I tuck-and-rolled into the darkness of my room and shut the window. I sighed as I lay down in my bed. My body still ached from today. The swelling in my eye had gone down, though, thanks to Lightning. I closed my eyes and tried to get some rest. Suddenly a loud noise made me sit up. What was that? It sounded like something broke downstairs. I should probably check it out….nah. I flopped back on my bed and decided to go to sleep. What? I was tired. I wasn’t tryna go all the way downstairs in the middle of the night. Ain’t nobody tryna investigate nothing this late, don’t even lie. But after a minute, I heard more noises and a thud. Someone could be breaking into our house again. What if they steal mom’s stuff? I sighed. Looks like I was gonna have to go down there. I crept to the staircase to investigate. When I got to the bottom floor, I peered around the corner. It was just drunk-Oscar. He was chuckling and leaning over what could only be a street hooker. They had knocked over a vase with all their commotion. A vase which I was gonna have to clean up later. I rolled my eyes and turned to go when I felt something grab my arm and yank me into the hallway. You’ve got to be kidding me.“Well, well! Look who decided to come crawling back. Tryna sneak a peek at the grown-ups, you little perv?” Oscar sneered, still choking my arm out. I swear, if I lost any more circulation, they were gonna have to amputate it, straight up. I hated when Oscar talked to me like this. He acted like I was the intruder. Like this was his home. Like I didn’t have a right to be here, to be anywhere. To exist. He was always making me feel like literal dirt. Quite frankly, I was so done. I tore my arm away. I looked him dead in his soulless eyes.“This is my house, Oscar. Stop acting like it ain’t,” I said steadily. I walked closer until our faces were an inch apart, “If it weren't for you precious child support, you’d be on the streets.” I glared up at him and he stared incredulously at me. I never spoke out against him like that before. It was exhilarating, seeing him at a loss for words. I couldn't help but grin slightly at the sight of his ridiculousness. Finally, Oscar seemed to collect himself and his bewilderment turned into rage. Uh oh.“What is wrong with you? You slow, boy?” he questioned, stepping closer until our noses touched. He towered over with me. My heart was beating hard but evenly. I swallowed, but kept my determination as I looked him in the eye. Ain’t no way I was gonna back down. Fik never did.“Show some respect!” he yelled and shoved me into a table which caught me right in the spine of my lower back. I crashed to the floor. Oscar gave a triumphant smirk as I got up slowly, bracing my hand against the wall behind me. I never took my eyes from his, which seemed to unnerve him. “You finished?” I asked. I raised my chin up. “You ain’t nothin’ without me, you know.” He moved to wrap his hand around my neck. This was my chance. I jumped and kicked off the wall, swinging my other leg as fast as I could, hoping it would make contact with any part of Oscar. My foot rammed into Oscars throat, pushing in his adam’s apple. Instant KO. I landed, out of breath from the surge of adrenaline. I looked at Oscar’s unconscious form sprawled on the floor. “After all...you’ve done,” I said, taking heavy breaths between my words, “you’re lucky I’m leaving you alive.” I looked up at the hooker who was staring, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, at the whole ordeal. She had her phone in hand, ready to call the police. I bent down and reached into Oscar’s pocket, taking out his wallet and counting out a hundred dollars as I walked over to her. “Here,” I stuck the money out to her. “Sorry you had to see that.” She blinked. “Nah...it’s cool...,” she mumbled, sliding her phone back into her bra. I looked away and scratched the back of my neck. She eyed my outstretched hand. She started, “I--”“Don’t bother trying to not take the money, I’ll just sneak it in your bag before you leave,” I stated plainly. “Huh,” she said stunned. Reluctantly, she slowly took the bills. I watched her as she turned to go and I couldn’t help myself. “You know…” I called out, “You shouldn’t do this anymore. It’s dangerous. These guys...people like him,” I gestured to Oscar with a nod of my head, “They don’t care about you...what’s your name?” She stared at me in what I interpreted as disbelief. That was the sad thing. It was like simple courtesies were foreign to her. “Comfort,” she said. I smiled. “Wow, pretty. Well, Comfort, take care of yourself, okay? Don’t give up.” She smiled and let out a small laugh. “Such a grown little kid, aren’t you? Well...thank you.”“It’s no problem.”“So what’s your name?” If she hadn’t asked, I would’ve forgotten to introduce myself. “It’s Kida.”“Ah, Kida the kid. That’s cool.” My eyes widened. “You’re the second person to tell me that…” I chuckled. “To call you Kida the kid?”“Yeah. But I prefer Kida the Great,” I grinned. This time, she full-out laughed. “You’re funny, Kida,” she glanced behind me. “Hey, is he gonna be okay?” I looked back at Oscar’s limp body for a second. Then I turned back and flashed a devilish smile, “More or less.”“Oh! Haha, Kida stop playin'!”“I ain’t,” I said with a mock-serious look on my face. She smiled. “Aight, then...I better go.”“Okay. Maybe I’ll see you around.” I waved goodbye and watched her leave. As I started to close my front door, she turned one last time. “Hey,” she said, “thank you.” I smiled. I watched her until she disappeared into the night.I sighed and leaned against my closed door, looking at Oscar. My legs gave out and I slid to the floor, arms dead at my sides. For a while, I only stared at him. It was silent in the hallway except for his breathing. Right then and there, I made up my mind. I’m gonna find you, Fik. I can’t take it here anymore. I looked at my phone. 1:49 AM. Not the most ideal time for a trip, but I wasn’t tryna wait around until Oscar wakes up and probably kills me. I got to my feet. Aight...this is happening. I took a deep breath. Running past Oscar, I hopped up the stairs. I threw the necessities into a bag. My headphones and charger, a minimum amount of clothes for a week, toothpaste, soap, food, a water bottle, three thousand dollars in cash, an umbrella, and, most importantly, my crowbar. I was ready to go, only problem is I don’t know where I’m going. Okay, new plan: I need a plan. There was only one person that I could think of that might be able to help me right now. Twitch, the computer engineer. Before he left, Fik-Shun had told me he had a friend that would make him a new ID and Twitch was the only guy in the government ID business in this town. Twitch never actually mentioned talking to Fik-Shun, but if you put two and two together, Twitch was my only hope. So I left my house without looking back and jogged to his house, using my phone as a flashlight. I arrived and started banging on his door. “Twitch! Open up, it’s important!” I kept banging until I saw the lights come on in his bedroom window.“Man, Jesus better have risen from the dead again if you wakin’ me up at 2 in the morning--” I heard him grumble before he opened his door. He looked around with a confused look on his face. Then he finally looked down. “Oh, sweet mother of God!” he stepped back, holding his chest. “Oh, it’s just you Kida. Nearly gave me a heart attack, little man!” I stepped into his house, kind of irked. “What is it with people? I’m almost 14, I’m not that small!”“Well I didn't see you! Make a noise or something, next time, damn! What are you even doing here so late, Kida?” He rubbed his eyes, “And who said you could come in?!” he asked, as if just now realizing that I was in his house. “Just listen, man. I don’t have much time. I need your help.” He closed the door and gave me a concerned look. “Why, what’s up?”“I’m 'bout to bounce, bro. I’m gettin' outta here. I can’t stay with Oscar no more.”“Oh yo, your daddy--”“Stepdaddy.”“...Yeah. Your stepdaddy’s got some issues, man. You should see the way he come around here actin’ like he own the place. I was finna put him in his place, but I can’t have another strike on my criminal record, ya feel me? Haha, so you finally got enough of him, huh?”“Shoot, you don’t even know.”“Haha, I don’t blame you! So what you need?”“I need a favor. You remember Fik-Shun, right?”“Of course! My main man, Fik! I hope he still doin’ aight.”“He is,” I said without hesitation. “Anyway, look, you were one of the last people he talked to before he left. He came to you for a new ID, right?”“Yeah, you want one too?”“Maybe some other time. Right now, I need to find Fik. Do you know where he said he was going?”“I can do you one better,” Twitch grinned. “I can find out exactly where he is.” I was surprised. “Really? How?”“I installed a tracking device in the chip of his card.” Twitch’s expression was deadpan. Silence passed between us. “Dude...why--”“Look, do you want his location, or do you wanna sit here and run an interrogation?” he quickly cut in. I just let it go and decided to move on from that strange exchange. “Yeah, so c’mon, show me where he’s at already!”“Alright, alright. Yeesh. You’d think that a fella’d be polite to someone who’s doin’ them a solid,” he mumbled as he shuffled over to his computer. He started it up and immediately went to work. He had a really nice monitor. The state-of-the-art professional kind whose name is so long with all the unnecessary “X2’s” and “Q60’s” that no one can ever remember it. For real though, he doesn’t call himself a computer engineer for nothing. He was flying through numbers and letters. He sorted through data and typed in codes. His eyes scanned what seemed to be countless latitudes and longitudes. How many tracking devices has he planted? "Hey, is this legal--"“You know, I’m really glad you’re just goin’ for what you believe in and gettin’ out of that house. I’m tellin’ you, Oscar’s no good. He stole ten dollars from me right in front of my eyes!”“I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.”“You better believe it, though! Then--no lie--he complains that I got too little in my wallet to steal! Meanwhile, he ain’t got no job! At least, I get payed. It’s only thanks to your mom who’s grindin’ halfway ‘round the world, that he got money at all! Oh, by the way, say hi to her for me the next time ya’ll talk.” My mind drifted to my mother. I wonder how she’s doing. She’s been gone for a month, but I don’t blame her. The first time she left the house for this long, I got angry at her. I thought she didn’t care about me and Fik-Shun. I was ready to shut her out of my life. But when I saw her after she returned, I hated myself for ever thinking that. She looked utterly exhausted from working night-til-day for the whole month. She flies around from country-to-country, working as an on-call nurse for private planes and American airports. She doesn’t even like that job. She wanted to be a doctor for a hospital, like Lightning. But she had kids before she was ready and gave up her life to care for us. Ever since we were born, all she’s ever done has been for us. That’s why I never understood why such an honest lady like mom could marry such scum like Oscar. She--“Found him,” Twitch’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I got up and speed-walked closer. “You did? Where is he?”“Damn, looks like he’s livin large! He’s in The Lyric. A high-end apartment complex on the Upper West Side. Of Manhattan.” I should’ve known. Of course he’d go to New York City. That’s where his heart has been drawn to for as long as I’ve known him. “You got the address?” I asked. “Yeah, 255 West 94th Street, New York, NY 10025. Second floor. Apartment 207.” Dang, Twitch was good. I took a picture of the info with my phone. This is it. I’m coming to find you, bro. I looked at Twitch. “I gotta hurry...thanks for all your help.” Twitch swiveled around in his chair, “Don’t sweat it, man. Feel free to come back any time. And, hey, tell Fik he better come back sometime, too.”“Heh, I will. Yo, dap me up.” I said offering my hand. We did our intricate, too-long handshake and when it was all said and done, I still had to bear-hug him. “Woah, I’ll miss you, too, Kida,” he said laughing and returning the hug. I pulled away. “See ya!” I said. He waved as I ran out. There was only one last person I had to see.I got to the house I was looking for and set to work. I climbed the side of the building and kept going up until I found my targeted window. I pulled out my crowbar (already proving to be useful) and pried the unlocked window open. I had to go slowly since the window creaked. This window had a screen. Unfortunately, I don’t have many options when I’m hanging off the side of a building. So I gripped the top of the window frame, one hand after the other. Then I hoisted myself up and swung my body with just enough momentum to kick the screen in. It landed on the carpet with a soft thud. An imperceptible sound. Everything according to plan. Stealth should be my middle name. I shoved my crowbar back into my bag and slid in through the window. “Mission succe--AAH!” I found myself falling several feet to the floor, consequently making a lot of noise. The lights turned on. I groaned as I rolled onto my back. Wrong window. I heard a familiar voice, “Kida?! What on earth are you doin’ here?” I struck a pose on the ground as if this was all a part of the plan. “I came to see you, Lightning.” She was gripping her pink, metal baseball bat so intensely that I stopped smiling. She really looked like she was about to use that thing. She had shown me that bat (which she hides in her closet) before when I asked her what she would do to defend herself if someone ever broke into her house. I didn’t actually believe that that bat was her real and only contingency plan. I even ended up laughing at her and that’s actually what drove her to start taking real self-defense classes. It’s just funny to see that after all that training, she’d still resort to her metal bat for protection.I got up with much difficulty. “Kida, my window!”“Did you not just see me fall seven feet? I could have a broken back right now, and all you care about is your freakin’ window!”“Oh calm down, your back is fine. You’re walking aren’t you? Nothing’s broken but my window.”“Chill out with the window, already! And put down that bat! Dang girl, who you tryna hit?!”“Why’d you come in through that window in the first place?”“I thought it was your lower window! It’s hard to see in the dark. Honest mistake.”“No, I mean, why didn’t you just use the front door like a normal person?”“Because your parents can’t know that I was here.”“Well, why not?”“Look, I’ll explain everything, just relax.” She sighed, FINALLY putting down the bat. “Finally, man. What do you even need that bat for? You had to register your fists as legal weapons, for Pete’s sake.” She shrugged. “It’s comforting,” she concluded. I looked at her sideways with one eyebrow raised. “You’re scary, bruh.” She slapped my arm and I pulled away, laughing. “Listen...I have to go. Like in a few minutes,” I told her. She nodded. “Here’s the thing, though,” I continued, “I may not be coming back for a while. Maybe months...maybe years.”“Wait, what? What are you talking about?”“I’m leaving Kansas--”“You’re leaving Kansas. By yourself?”“Yeah. What? Not used to the idea of me gone?”“No! It’s just...well, first of all, you’re a minor. There’s no way they’re gonna let you fly alone.”“That’s why I ain’t flying nowhere. I’m gonna be on the road.”“Where are you even going? And why?”"NYC, baby! It’s time for me to spread my wings. Also, I can’t take another second with Oscar. I need to find Fik.” Understanding suddenly filled Lightning’s eyes. “Ah, I see,” she said, nodding slowly. “You know, I had the chance to kill him today,” I said. Her eyes widened. “But I didn’t,” I added. “Didn’t have it in me. It’s a good thing. I can't stoop as low as Oscar ever did. But...Lightning, I was close. That’s what scares me.” Lightning opened her folded arms and held my face, squishing my cheeks together. “Stop it. You ain’t like him. Never will be...and I’ve got your back.” I stared at her. After a moment, I took her hands away, “Heh, thanks, man...hey, I met someone that reminded me of you today.”“Really? Who?”“Her name was Comfort.”“Wow, pretty.”“That’s what I said. You would like her, she was a street hooker,” I grinned down at her. Lightning’s eyes widened. “Ugh, stop playin’!” she yelled, moving to hit me. “Haha, you talk just like her,” I teased. She swung her leg to roundhouse kick me in the gut. I brought my finger up to my lips, “Sshhhh,” I whispered through my laughter as I ran away from her attack. “I remind you of a hooker?!” she asked sharply. “Nah, nah, you don’t understand. She was so pretty and smart and intellectual, like you.”“So you got jokes now, huh?” she said stepping closer, bat in hand. “Aight, aight!” I surrendered with my hands up. “It’s just that she was sweet, like you, that’s all. She called me Kida the kid. Remember when you did that?”“Hmm...I guess so....hold on, though, Kida, DID YOU HIRE A HOOKER?! I misjudged y--”“Shh!” I covered her mouth with my hand, “No! She was in the house when I got there. If anything, I pretty much saved her from Oscar! Have a little faith in me, Lightning.” She relaxed, finally understanding. She pushed my hand away. “Ugh, Kida, one day your shenanigans are gonna get you killed.” I shrugged. “I ain’t dead yet.” She just looked at me, amazed. “You crazy,” she told me. “Thank you very much,” I bowed.When I straightened, I smiled at her. “It’s time for me to go.” She nodded. “Let’s use the front door this time, shall we?” she said. “Hahaha, so funny.” I said as mechanically as I could. But I did end up using the door anyway. As I was getting ready to leave, she gave me that worried look that I didn't like. I looked at her and knew exactly what she was giving me that look for. But I didn't want to talk about it. Thinking about what was waiting for me on my journey out gave me too much anxiety as it is. And I didn't want Lightning to convince me to stay the night. I refuse to let anyone sacrifice anything for me again. So I pretended I didn't see her and went back to tying my laces without saying a word. Finally I straightened up. “Aight, I'll see you,” I said, giving her a small smile. She said nothing and just pushed her large-framed glasses up the bridge of her nose. I turned to go and hopped down her porch. I stuffed my hands in my pockets and started my journey to the concrete jungle, but as I walked, all I could think about was the image of her worried face. I could feel her eyes still watching me leave. I stopped walking. I wasn't really sure what I was about to do, but I turned around anyway and walked back to her. Still standing on the porch, her shoulders were slumped and she was looking down at the ground. She looked up at me right before I used one hand to pull her to me by her arm and place a kiss on her forehead. I stayed like that for a while before pulling her into a hug. “Quit it with that face, already. It's mad depressing...I'm gonna be fine,” I mumbled into the crook of her neck. My heart was racing and I could hear my pulse in my ears. She could probably hear my pulse in her ears. I closed my eyes and my eyebrows furrowed together as I tried to calm down. Then I felt her arms slowly wrap around my torso and hug me back. It's funny. I didn't realize how drained I was until I felt how much energy she invigorated me with. In all honesty, I probably needed this hug more than her. I pulled back to look at her one last time. Her brown skin sparkled like gold in the moonlight. As she stood there in my arms, I noticed how much taller I am than her now. There were tears in her eyes. But she was smiling. “There it is,” I said grinning and playfully tugging the bun of box braids that sat on top of her head. She swatted my hand away and laughed. “Ugh, Kida! Always got me feelin’ some type of way...” She wiped her tears away. “You go find him, okay? Fik needs you.” I nodded and squeezed her hand quickly before turning around and breaking into a full sprint without looking back again. It was a lot harder than I expected.As I leaned back in my seat on the train, I took out Fik’s ID from my pocket. My eyes softened at the sight of his beaming grin. “Imma see you soon bro.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
I got off the train at Metro center, about 20 miles out of Kansas City. I stretched out my arms in an attempt to shake out the sleep. I checked my phone. 1:47 am. The whole trip was most likely going to take an entire day, but if I made an all-night commute, I wouldn’t have to stop anywhere for sleep. I chewed a granola bar as I walked down Southwest Boulevard to the next train station. Google told me that my next stop was at McGee and then I took my third train over to Broadway/Blue Ridge Crossing. I finally made it to Kansas City Station at 2:09 am. From there I went from Union Station to Pittsburgh Station to Saint Station until, finally, I found myself in Ohio. I was halfway there. As I walked down the dusty roads of Ohio farmland, I watched the cows bow their heads to crunch the dry grass.“‘Scuse me, sir!” A voice called behind me, “You lookin’ for cheap speakers?” I turned around to see a skinny man maybe in his mid twenties wearing all black. Even his backpack was black. The guy liked a theme, I guess. “You want a speaker?” He continued, “I got a state-of-the-art, never used, Beats pill and it lights up.” He held out the speaker to me and showed me the lights. So he was a street vendor. They used to come into my barber shop all the time when I went for a haircut. “Nah, man, I ain’t got nothin,” I told him and was about to turn around again when he spoke again, “If you don't want that, I got other stuff.” He opened his backpack. “You like cologne? I got all kinds. Just say the word, lemme know. Hey, I know you said you're short on cash, I’ll knock down the price for ya, how's that? Name your price, homie.” He continued to walk next to me.“I really ain’t got nothin, man, sorry.” The vendor zipped up his bag again. “Aight, that’s cool. I already made hella cash today anyway, I’m just pushing my luck, haha. Jack, by the way,” he said, sticking it out for me to shake. We shook hands. “Kida,” I said. “Ah, nice to make your acquaintance, Kida. Hey, what’s a kid doing walking around this late? Going home?” I smiled. “I guess you could say that. I’m going to see my brother. He’s in New York.”“Wow, New York, huh? Seems like your life’s pretty crazy, man. You know what we should do? We should head to a bar to celebrate. We’ll commemorate a new friendship and congratulate you for making it this far without giving up.”“Aw, nah, I don’t drink...plus I have to stick to my schedule.”‘Aw, come on! It'll be good. Only a half-hour detour...I mean how bad can that be, right?’ I scratched the back of my neck. I was pretty tired. Maybe a little break to catch my breath was just what I needed.“...Yeah, I guess you’re right...aight, let’s go.”We had only been at the bar ten minutes, and I was already furious. I put my glass down and looked at him. He, on the other hand, couldn’t hold my stare and looked down at his drink, stirring the ice with his straw. Silence passed between us which was filled in by the background noise of the bar. “And what do you mean by that, Jack?” He finally met my gaze. “Nothin’ really...just that if you’re dad wasn’t an asshole, then he wouldn’t have left, and you wouldn’t be in this mess, would you?” After he said all that, I wanted to get up and clock him square in the jaw. My blood was boiling. I hadn’t been that angry in a really long time, but my violent urge subsided as I remembered what the purpose of my whole journey was in the first place. I took a deep breath. “Don’t ever speak to me about my dad. You hear me?” He only stared at me as if he wasn’t sure what to say. I slid off from my chair, shoving my hands in my pockets as I walked out. I thought that would be the last time I ever saw Jack. I happened to be dead wrong. But I continued on my route to New York. I got a half mile down the road when a speedy red van pulled up with a screech next to me. It stopped, the side door swiftly slid open, and a guy was crouching there inside. He had a gun pointing directly at me. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it. “Get in,” he said.