-The shortest story that I'll write Please enjoy, people!

Kitty was that simple, cheerful young girl which took everything simply as it came. Her father was deceased and her mother was a elementary school teacher of her late 40s. Kitty, who was to earn a living, had to run a drink stall near the streets in Illinois to help her mother and to support her University fees, which was no small sum of course.

It was like an ordinary night, until a bunch of no-good gangsters came. Kitty looked out her stall window. She didn't care much but since there weren't any customers and it wasn't closing time yet, she decided to be a little nosier than usual. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen such a scene before. Gangsters pushing, beating up and cursing at another gang of gangsters. It was, like, ironic.

No, this was a gang without an opponent. Yet. The gang leader appeared to be in a pretty good mood for the night. With rugged good looks and a gang of at least 20 behind him, they seemed as if they owned the streets or somethin'. The leader looked about and seeing Kitty's stall still open, he went up to her.

"What do you want?" Kitty asked rather quietly.

"25 cans of coke," the guy said and shoved a fifty on the table. "No need to change", he said.

After that, it seemed like he would drop by everyday afternoon. Sometimes with or without his gang.

Kitty got to know him more and more. He didn't seem like a gang leader at all, once you really got to know him well enough.

"So, which school did you go before?" Kitty asked, placing the drink in front of him.

Lance was his name. "Never been to any. No family either."

Once, Kitty was serving a customer. He was a lusty guy, at least 35 already. He reached for Kitty's hand when she gave him his drink and he won't let her hand go, until she wriggled free from his grip. Worse, Lance was there.

Lance stopped drinking and without a word, he stood up and elbowed the guy in the face. The guy toppled on the ground, his nose-bleeding non-stop.

"What the…"

Lance didn't care much, "Try it again and I grantee you'll be waking up in the hospital and you'll stay there for life, you asshole."

The guy struggled to stand before running off his nose still bleeding. Kitty was clearly quiet. "Why did you do that? I wasn't hurt or taken advantage of."

"He touched you. I didn't like that." Lance said. "Next time, don't do it. Let me handle it, okay?"

"Yeah, like there'll be a next time. If there was, that guy is dead."

Once, when Lance came up to Kitty. "What happened to you? You got beaten up?" Kitty asked, filled with concern.

"Nah, I let him get away. He is dead the next time I see him, that motherfu-ker", Lance said clearly.

Kitty sighed. She got out of her stall and sat in the seat next to him. "Silly, you'll get infected. You didn't clear the wound properly. How could you let it just, like, stay there?"

Kitty was careful at this. She helped Lance disinfect it and place gauze over it. "See, it's simple. Doesn't take much, huh?"

Lance smiled for once. And that was the first Kitty saw him do that.

"Look, don't look at me like that." Lance mumbled.

"You look great when you smile. You should do that more often. It's really good."

"Really?"

"But of course. And stop fighting already. You can't do that all your life. If you continue, I'll stop selling you drinks."

"You can't do that, Kitty."

"I run this stall. I can do what I want."

Remember the guy Lance let him get away?

Lance didn't feel good. That guy was shit. And he will be today. Lance had his guys check him up and he appeared to be at a karaoke session with the ladies.

Lance didn't care. He stormed in with his guys and that place was his battlefield.

His way of living.

Until the cops showed up. And there was no way to run, and no way to hide.

Lance stayed in jail for the next 5 years, his life at its worse of all.

When he came out, he wanted to start life anew. To be someone he could be proud of. He wanted to do a simple stall selling drinks. Just like what a girl was doing when he met her.

Lance was running his stall. It's been a few months and they passed fast.

One day, Lance was sitting at his stall waiting for customers. When he saw a young lady. She was cradling a young toddler in her arms, her lips curved into a sweet smile.

Lance couldn't help but smile as well, but to himself.

I've changed, but it was too late.

Short, wasn't it? (If you haven read my other stories, please do. Don't forget to comment! Thanks!