"Does it still hurt?" Judas asked, looking down at me as he gestured his head towards my abdomen. I tried to avoid touching that area where Brandon had kicked me, leaving my hands away by holding some of the grocery bags we had gotten after school.
"A little, it hurts to breathe" I responded honestly, taking slow little breaths; the two of us continuing our walk towards the apartment.
"I'll have you take some pain killers when we get home". Judas stayed silent after that, his eyes staring forward while he clutched the grocery bags tightly; two bags in each grip. I couldn't help but look down at his hands holding the bag; the sight of his bare knuckles covered with small cuts and dried-up blood from the fight made me cringe.
"I don't know how you do it" I began; this making Judas turn his gaze towards me. "You're so tough and able to fight your own battles — especially mine".
Judas chuckled under his breath, "Other twins are different from each other, too, Ky. I'm practically your big brother in this take, I'm supposed to fight for you and be the strongest".
"That doesn't mean I have to be the weak-link forever…" I bit my tongue for the moment, "I just want to feel tough and brave like you, be able to fight my own battles and avoid having you get into trouble because of me".
"You're worried that I might get into deep trouble, just because of what Mrs. Stone had said earlier?" Judas couldn't help but laugh a bit, bumping his arm to mine, "that woman doesn't scare me, and neither does Brandon. I can't intentionally teach you, but I do know that you have the toughness in you—just need to figure out a way to let that part of you out, is all. But if I were you, I wouldn't worry about me. You just worry about uncle Shin and yourself, are we clear?"
Hearing what my brother had to say, I kept it all noted, and gave Judas a definite nod. Though, it wasn't going to stop me from worrying about him, too; aside from uncle Shin, Judas is practically the only family I've got in this world after momma and papa had passed away. "Yeah"
Walking just around the block to where our apartment was located just across the street, I then remembered a task that I had to do for uncle Shin; mentally telling myself to give Miss Helen the money once Judas is inside the shop. Walking inside, uncle Shin looked up from his reading, a pipe between his lips as he watched us come inside to set the groceries down.
"Kyle, what happened to your face?"
"It's a long story, but I think I dropped something on the way over here—I'll be right back" I said to the two, giving them a nod before walking backwards until my back hit the glass door, and pushed myself forward to step outside and walk along the sidewalk. Finally passing the window of the shop, I quickly ran across the street and went around the corner where Miss Helen's place was located. On the first floor of the three-story high apartment complex was an old wooden door, a single light from above the door was lid up, and the smell of a nearby dumpster lingered in the air. I dug into my pocket to take out the black metal cube, and knocked on the door.
"Miss Helen?" I called out, "it's me, Kyle".
It was silent for a moment, only until the sound of the lock on the other side was heard, and the front door opened just a bit to reveal two eyes looking down at me. The only sound she made were light breathes coming from her opened mouth; behind the door, she was completely drowned in darkness, yet the light from above the door illuminated her eyes. Hazel yellow…the type of eye color she never had before.
Blinking a bit, I lifted up my hand to her and showed the cube, "uncle Shin told me to give this to you" I explained, holding out the cube to her. I couldn't see her face entirely, but from the look in her eyes, she seemed shocked to see money being held before her. Opening the door a little more, I noticed that the brown tapestry was still wrapped around her, covering her up entirely. Looking down, a shaky disfigured hand with scales and dried blood cautiously moved closer towards my hand; the tips of her fingers touched the cube as if to make sure that it was real, before she had suddenly snatched the cube away from me. "Does anybody else know you're here?" she asked, her tone of voice sounded raspy, as if she were sick.
I shook my head at her answer. "Miss Helen…did you get mutated?"
"Shush! P-please don't say that around here" she snapped in a whispering tone, laying her scaly finger dangerously over my lips. The smell of dry blood and rotten flesh slithered into my nostrils from her finger; I could almost gag at this moment. "…please Kyle, for your sake and mine, don't tell anyone about what happened to me. Don't even tell Judas—if I get caught by the Foot force, I don't know what I'll do. Just please promise me you won't tell anyone about this, and about our encounter today".
"I-I won't—I promise I won't" was all that I could even say, before Miss Helen had then knelt down to my level, and placed both of her hands over my shoulders as she came a little closer. The light illuminated over her, revealing her entire facial features once she put down the tapestry a bit from her muzzle. The sight of her terrified me, eyes widening from seeing how that mutagen had transformed this once beautiful middle-aged black woman—into a humanoid scaly reptile. A lizard, to be exact, and there was no way of denying the fact that she didn't look like one at all. Her large hazel yellow eyes looked at me, glassy—as if she wanted to cry.
"Listen to me, Kyle" she began, "the Foot Empire ain't what they say they are. What they said about those aliens being destroyed all those years ago—they're lying. The Foot force ain't what they are—you keep your distance from them, you hear me? And whatever they do, whatever they say to you…do not trust them. Matter of fact…I wouldn't bother trusting anyone in this damn city".
My wide eyes stayed glued to Miss Helen, not saying a single word, but gulping before giving her a quick nod in agreement. With that, Miss Helen made a low grunt, and gently touched my head before standing up and quickly stepping inside to then slam the door shut. In all my years of living, never have I seen a mutant close up—especially that close in general. Blinking a few times, I shook my head and slowly made my way back towards the shop, where uncle Shin was waiting for me inside.
He stood there behind the counter, the pipe still in his mouth while puffing some smoke, hesitating for a brief moment as he looked towards the stairs that led to the apartment. "Did she take it?"
I stayed silent, sitting myself on one of the antique wooden chairs in the center; my hands clasped each other in between my legs, eyes not blinking as I continued to think about what I had just seen.
"Kyle?"
I shot my head up quickly, my voice sounding shaky, "y-yes". We didn't speak for a moment, the sound of ticking from some of the Grandfather clocks were heard from the corner of the shop. Uncle Shin moved himself away from the back of the counter, and went towards my direction to kneel down to my level, and placed a gentle hand over my shoulder. "…you knew about it…didn't you?"
"You're the only person I could trust to have helped me do her a favor—"
"Uncle Shin, it's too dangerous to help mutants, especially in this area!" I responded in a whispering tone; my tiny hands grasped his wrinkly wrist gently. "I know you just want to help, but it's not our place. Who knows what the Force might do to us if they find out that we're helping out a mutant. They can easily take Judas and I away, just like what happened to Miss Helen when they took Cecilia!"
"I know it is a risky situation, but you should not worry about it too much, Kyle"
"Why does everybody keep saying that?"
"You worry too much—and that is what makes you vulnerable enough for others to notice that something is, indeed, wrong. Just keep this between you and me, okay?"
I didn't know exactly what to say at that point, the information that was being told was suffocating me from within. Breathing heavily for a second only made me grunt, and place my hand carefully over the bruised area on my abdomen. Seeing my reaction, uncle Shin carefully picked up my shirt a bit, revealing the dark bruise that had already formed. He sighed, settling my shirt back down, and gestured his hand for me to follow him upstairs. "Come now, let's see if we can help that up".