This is a companion story for the novel I'm writing with my wonderful friend and beta, ShebasDawn - A Crow, a Rat and a Sparrow: Freedom's Shadow (the link is on my profile page). One of the main characters there is the 'street rat', a homeless young thief, Mario. This story happens two years before the events in CRS. Mario is 16, his little brother around 8.5.
Brother
Mario groaned and pulled the pillow over his head. The only effect that had was that now he suffered the ruckus from outside and the sweaty stench of the pillow. What were those brats doing? Yelling like idiots, as if they didn't know the burglars had only returned from their jobs a few hours ago. Annoyed, he jumped up from the bed and stormed to the window. He slammed the blinds open and leaned out, glaring at the group of kids below.
They all turned their faces to him - and started to laugh again.
"What the fuck-"
"Hey, Mario! Your lil' bro joined the Lizards!" One of the kids snickered, nodding towards the noisiest cluster of brats. In the middle of it all was a boy who was a pint-sized version of Mario, but in clean clothes and shoes. His Sunday clothes, in fact.
Mario pressed his lips together. It was a miracle the fool had gotten this far without being robbed blind, beaten and left to die. Not bothering with doors and stairs, he jumped onto the windowsill and climbed down.
"I told you it's true!" the little fool said proudly. "I told you Mario is my bro-" But he didn't get to finish it, his last syllable turning into a pained squeak. Mario had grabbed him by his ear and pulled until he had to stand on tiptoes
"Gettoffme!" The boy squirmed in pain.
"Gettoffme, gettoffme," Mario imitated him in a mocking, squeaky voice. "Stop that, or your ear will let go." Everyone around laughed and the little boy blushed, but he stopped squirming.
Mario glared at him. "What are you doing here, Cory? Aren't you supposed to be in school?"
"I ran away. I want to be one of you!"
"Oooh, you decided to run away to be one of us rats! And you put on your best clothes for the occasion. How clever."
Cory beamed. "I know," he said smugly. "And I also took food and all my pocket money."
"Wow, you came really prepared. And of how much money are we talking?"
"A whole silver!" the kid said proudly. Everyone roared with laughter again. Cory bit his lip, confused.
"Now, now, kids. Don't be mean to your new comrade," an amused voice said.
Mario stiffened. Boss? Why was he here? If he decided to recruit Cory… this was not fun anymore. "Jasper. I don't want him here. I don't want this clumsy fool attached to my heels. No. If he's in, I'm out and that's that."
The boss laughed. "Don't get so worked up over it," he said, patting his shoulder. "And let the poor kid go, before his ear starts bleeding."
"I'm not holding him that tightly," Mario muttered, but obediently let go, smirking at the Cory''s expression. All new kids looked like that when they first met the boss. Tall like a human, with broad shoulders and a strong jaw, he looked scary. And he could be scary, when he wanted, but not unless you pissed him off. Most of the time he had a wide smile on his face.
"Sorry, kid. Can't afford to lose my best and dearest for a recruit," he told Cory, then turned to Mario again. "Though if your brother is as talented as you, it's a real loss for me."
"Don't you worry," Mario said. "He's just a half-brother, anyway. Half the age, half the size and half the brain."
Cory gasped. "You! Stupid Mario!" He kicked Mario's shin. "I hate you! I wouldn't want to live with you anyway!" he yelled as he whirled on his heel and ran away, followed by laughter and the mocking of the other rats.
"That was too much," the boss said. "I think you should go after him."
Mario frowned, watching the fool running away. "Who cares," he grumbled.
"You should," the boss pointed out, looking in the direction Cory ran off to. "Unless your aunt moved to Buck's Row?"
Leave it to the little fool to run off to the most dangerous street around.
oOo
Cory hated to admit it, but he was scared. Finding Mario was an adventure. He had met some kids and asked about Mario, and when he said he was his brother, they showed him the way. But there were no kids on this street. There were strange women with painted faces and bells on their belts, leaning on the walls of buildings. And men, frowning and angry, watching with suspicion everything that moved.
Especially him.
He swallowed. He wanted to go back, but he didn't dare to. The moment he turned his back on these men, they would jump at him and rip him to shreds. So he moved forward, one hesitating step after another.
One of the men peeled himself from the wall and started to go towards him, at the same time as he heard running steps behind him. Cory's heart beat loudly. Dear Maker, if he would be saved now, he would never disobey aunt Dinah again-
"Got you," a breathless voice said, as a pair of arms wrapped around him and turned him around.
"Mario," he sobbed, burying his face in the brother's belly.
"Hey!" the scary man called. "You Jasper's rats? Get lost. Go sneakin' someplace else."
"Yeah, we're going," Mario called back. He grabbed Cory's hand and dragged him away, scolding him under his breath the whole time. "What the fuck you think you're doing, running away like that? And here, of all places? Idiot! You wanna be killed, you tell me, and I'll do it nice and quick. Understand?"
Cory nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't know… I just wanted to get away from you."
"...Idiot," Mario repeated, but his voice was definitely friendlier.
They didn't go back to Aunt Dinah. Mario took him to a little bay at the beach, surrounded by the trees. Cory liked it here, but Mario wasn't in the mood for playing. He sat down on the bank and patted the place next to him.
"Come here. Speak. Why did you run away? Is Aunt Dinah bad to you? Did she or Uncle Mallon hit you?"
"No!" Cory's eyes widened. Mario was almost scary like this, all grim, his eyes cold and hard. "She wants me to be an 'prentice. To a carpenter," he muttered.
"What's bad about that?"
"I don't want to be a carpenter!"
"Then what do you want? Live on the streets, with rats? Eat nice juicy cat stew for a dinner, or a crunchy fried pigeon for a breakfast? Sleep in a flophouse that smells of piss and feel bugs crawling over you?"
"You're lying. You just want me to scare me away, because I'm just a half-brother," he muttered.
Mario sighed. "I'm sorry I said that, okay? Yeah, I wanted to scare you away, because you're my little brother. I don't want you to live like a rat. I'm not lying, Cory - we can go back for dinner, you can see for yourself. It's not as fun as you think it is. Much better to be an apprentice than a rat, believe me."
"Well, if it's so bad, then why don't you become a carpenter! You go and get 'prenticed!"
Mario bristled again. "It's too late for me. Even if I wanted to and tried, everyone knows what I am. Nobody's dumb enough to apprentice a thief. But you, you still have chance."
"But I want to be with you!" There. It was out. Cory felt tears pricking his eyes; he blinked them away furiously. "You never come to see me anymore. Before you'd come every few days, but since Father died, you never come anymore. I… I…" A traitorous tear rolled down his nose, immediately followed by another one. And another one. "I miss you."
There was a moment of silence; he didn't dare to look up at Mario's face.
After a while Mario sighed. "I miss you too," he muttered. "But you know Aunt Dinah doesn't like me coming. It's better for you, if I stay away-"
"Well I'm saying it's not! What does she know, anyway!"
"She's afraid I'll teach you bad things, and then you'll run off to the streets like I did," Mario said. "And what you did today sorta proves it for her, you know? She'll blame me now, you can bet on that."
"I'll tell her she's wrong! I'll tell her everything and then she'll let you stay with us and we'll be together always!"
Mario laughed and ruffled his hair. "I'll tell you what we'll do. When you want to see me, come here. After your school, I mean. When you have free time. I'm often here, in the early afternoon. And if I'm not, I'll leave something for you here. See that big tree - it has a hole in it, that's where you'll find it. But only if you promise you'll never ever run away again."
"Deal!"
"Shake on it? Like real men?"
"Yeah!"
They shook hands. Cory couldn't stop beaming. Mario was the awesomest brother in the world!
He almost changed his mind when Mario threw him into the sea a moment later.
oOo
Mario rolled his eyes when he saw the scene. Aunt Dinah, her husband, the neighbours, and even the elders, all gathered in front of Aunt Dinah's house. She was complaining about something in a shrill, upset voice. Easy to guess what about. The moment they saw them coming, everyone shut up. Eyeing him like he had scabies, like one of them beggars' dogs. Aunt Dinah ran to Cory, pulling him away. She hugged himand shook him and sobbed how worried whe was when she found him gone.
Mario stood there awkwardly, forgotten for a moment. He was grateful Cory didn't have to be on the streets, he really was. But… when he ran away from home, six years ago, nobody gave a fuck. And he was what, a year and a half older than Cory is now? Nobody talked 'bout no fucking searching party back then.
If your old man beat you senseless, that was your problem. Family business. Not proper to talk about it. You kept your mouth shut and suffered. Like Ma did. Besides, you probably deserved it anyway. Look at you: rotten to the bone. A thief and a criminal; you'll be hanged before you're twenty. But if the old drunk finally breaks his neck, falling down the cellar stairs, that's another thing. Orphans are the community's problem and property. The community takes care of you, gives you a new home, a clean bed and proper food.
It's so not fucking fair. He pushed the thought away. No use whining about it now. Besides, he wasn't just a random rat anymore: he was one of the Lizards now. The guild was his family. And Jasper was a better father than the old drunk could ever hope to be.
Cory was his only blood relative, as far as he was concerned. And right now, the kid was looking down, tears welling in his eyes again. Ignoring his aunt, he closed the distance between him and his brother, crouching down to be at the same eye level.
"Hey. What are you crying for now, idiot? Did you forget our agreement already?" When the kid resolutely shook his head, he pulled him into a tight hug.
"It's okay. He won't be running away again, he promised," he snapped at his aunt when he saw her opening her mouth to comment.
She shut her mouth and watched them silently for a moment. "Thanks for bringing him home," she said finally. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"
Mario hesitated. But, she didn't mean it anyway. She just said that to look good in front of the Hahren. "Nah, better not. You know the likes of me - I may lose control and pinch your cutlery." Ah, he was right - look how she was blushing now. With a smirk, he got up and ruffled Cory's hair again.
"You better keep that promise. Next time you come to our home, I'll drown you. Like a rat. Got it?"
When the kid sniffed in agreement, he nodded to aunt Dinah and the others smirking at their resentful glares, and climbed up to the roof. Maker, he hoped he was doing the right thing, and that Cory wouldn't grow up to be one of those pathetic hypocrites.
Dinner, tch. He needed no dinner, no fucking charity. He was good as he was. He had a home, too, now.
He repeated it over and over in his mind, jumping from roof to roof while the last light faded from the sky.
He almost believed it.