Asazi
Chapter 14
Huh?
'Atone' must've seen the shock/confusion on my face. He smiled again and said, "You were thrown from the vehicle you were in. You're a very smart girl, you know. I saw you bust out the windshield—," he paused, then leaned forward and asked, "Did you know you were going to fly out of the vehicle?"
I stepped back, shaking my head. "No—no, of course not…I—I simply—''
He sighed and leaned back into his chair. "Damn. Oh well…where are your parents?"
"I have none," I replied, no emotion or fear in my voice.
"Okay…um…do you have any guardians?"
"No."
He frowned and studied me. "Where's your home?"
"What home?"
His eyes widened. "Ah-ha! So you're a runaway, eh? Didn't think so, after all, you are young…" I didn't say anything. This guy was an idiot. He acted as if he knew everything about me just because he saved my screwed up life. Bullshit.
"I'm not a damn runaway. I don't have parents. I don't have a home. I'm alone and the fact that I've been shot at, molested and the fact that I've watched the one person that I've cared about since my parents death is dead, I don't really care what you say or do…and a few things that some people have done to me I've done right back. I've killed, Atone. Four people on the day that the car wrecked. You won't be any different."
Atone nodded and seemed to study me again. "Well, I hope that that voice in the back of my head is also in your head." I frowned and he glanced thoughtfully at the wall, then turned back to me and said, "Everyone has a—''
"Do NOT give me that 'conscious' crap. It's not true. The only voices I've heard have told me to pull the trigger…and I listened."
Atone closed his eyes for a few seconds. "Then let me help, let me—''
"No." I said it quietly, threateningly.
He sighed. "Okay. You may stay here as long as you want or need. I will supply you with food, a bed…a home."
I hesitated…I was unsure. This man seemed like a good person. A nosy one, but a good person. Like Xynan. NO, I mentally yelled at myself. Xynan was a gang member, not anyone special. He was chopped in half and…but he offered me a home… Slowly, my own thoughts betrayed me. Then they turned back and said Xynan was bad, then they turned around and gave reasons as to how Xynan was a good person…so was he? Or could you be both?
Could you be a good and bad person? A little of both…So many questions but not enough answers… I looked up at Atone and studied him carefully. He had a small belly, he was short. Nothing like Xynan. He reminded me of a teacher at school. The teacher was the nicest one but he didn't look good at all.
Yes. I would stay here for maybe four—
"Since you'll be here for awhile, I think I might need to know your name…so, uh, what's you name?"
I thought for a second. Did he…read my mind? I then considered telling him my real name, then realized that that name was gone, abolished. "Asazi," I replied.
His eyes widened. "Well, Asazi, welcome to my humble home. I live, as you can see, in a nice neighborhood, no one here to disturb you as long as you're here…there are a few rules…"
He started telling me a bunch of bullshit about rules and…I started getting tired…suddenly, "—I can see you're tired," he said, then, "Why don't we just go over this stuff tomorrow, eh? You, I think we both know, could use some rest."
I nodded, rubbed my eyes and walked back into the room I had awaken in. I hit the bed and was asleep a few seconds later…
-_-
Sunlight streamed through the windows when I awoke. I—voices! Two…no, three—four…four. Four voices. One was Atone's…and the other three were younger, more brutal sounding…
I got up and walked over to the door, pressing my ear against it. It was a very thick, solid wood door so I could make out bits and pieces of the conversation.
"So—named Brink. He was—guy, a leader…it seems he died—sterday, a—with him. We need this little girl." My head came crashing down, my mind swimming in confusion. Who's out there and how did they even know there was someone with Brink? I killed everyone there and Brink died so how could they possible know? Too many questions and too little time to answer them. I had to get out.
Atone's voice! "I do recall a girl at the scene…," temporary silence, "…and I believe that she flew out of the vehicle and a man scooped her up and took off with her." He's gonna turn me in to them! He's a—
Atone's voice continued. "I don't recall what the man looked like. The scene was so sudden…so very dreadful…I fear for the girls' safety…"
One of the younger man's voices…they were obviously part of Brink's gang. Part of 'Miami United' or whatever Brink had said before Xynan was killed. I smiled as I recalled what Xynan said: "Miami United? What the hell kinda name is that…"
Well…it was something like that. What gang were Xynan and Asazi with? Something like 'New World' or other…I frowned. Maybe—
"WELL MAYBE WE SHOULD LOOK AROUND TO MAKE SURE," one of the gang people suddenly yelled. A half-second later there was a bang, not a gunshot but a crash of furniture falling and crashing around. A few seconds later it stopped and the same man's voice said, this time calmer but out of breath, "We know you have her. We watched you take her away from us. She killed four of our people."
Atone's voice came into the picture. "My God! That little girl has…killed?"
I smiled. You had to admire Atone. He sounded honest but he knew I had killed—I told him. He was brave too. Like I said, you had to admire Atone.
"Yes," replied the leader of the three-man group. "She killed four of our people. They were all rookies. In fact, for two of them, it was there first time to even pick up a damn gun…Brink thought that it would be a good target practice…guess he got a little more than a screaming, moving target."
Silence. The fact that a six-year-old girl, about to be seven, killed four young adults is a little on the wild side…but certainly not impossible. No wonder I won that fight—almost won the fight. They were rookies. I had hunted with Grandpa last year so I did have a little experience…they didn't. No wonder… More silence. No one spoke for awhile; their own thoughts probably on me or their dead friends…the ones I killed…
"We know you have the girl, somewhere. You—and maybe even her—aren't dumb enough to leave her here the day after she kills people so we'll be back. And next time you might as well have a will ready." With that weak, pretty damn pathetic threat, the little group left. I waited until I heard them get into their cars, slam the doors and drive off…and then I waited for a few more minutes.
When I left 'my' room, Atone was closing all the window blinds. Wouldn't blame him. The second those assholes see me walking around, they raid, I die, Atone dies and they're a supposedly happy bunch.
But killing doesn't make a thing better. How could it? I mean, you kill someone that somebody else loves…creating a whole sphere and pattern of love, hate and revenge because then the person that loved the person that you killed will come after you and, of course, somebody loves you and…yep…Earth is just one big fucking ray of sunshine.
But then again, nobody's perfect. Brink certainly wasn't. Atone isn't—most likely anyway…I'm not. Never will be, either. I've already killed, cursed…been cursed at, been cruelly touched, and many other things that I will never, EVER, forget.
Atone noticed my presence and smiled. "We had visitors," and gestured toward an overturned table and couch.
I nodded. "Yeah, I, uh, listened with interest…" Say it…might as well… "Thanks."
Atone stopped what he was doing and gave a look that almost asked, "Emotion?"
I helped him out with fixing up the room. The people made quite a mess. Most of the time I was quietly wrapped in thought. I did only what he told me too and only talked when he asked me something. I wanted to think…to close my eyes and think about the past few days…the past…week? How long has it been since my parents died? A day? A week?
I shrugged. It shouldn't matter. They're gone, Xynan's gone…and judging by today's performance, Atone will be dead soon too…the people that tried to kill me are dead, Shawn is dead…
It suddenly occurred to me. The question that I would ponder over for the years to come. Do I leave death everywhere I go? Is death to follow me in my wake everywhere I go? Will everyone I meet die because of Shawn, Xynan and Brink? Will the people I befriend die because of a car wreck two thousand miles away…or is it me? Just my talent?
After helping Atone fix his furniture, he said, "Looks like you're in deep thought." At first, I didn't even here him. It took a few seconds to realize he had spoken. "Huh?"
He smiled and repeated what he had said.
I looked at the floor, then up into his eyes. "You're going to die," I said.
Atone's eyebrows shot up and he said with a laugh, "Hopefully not by your hand…" Seeing that I wasn't laughing with him, he said, "Asazi, I know that that gang is going to be back tonight. I won't be here but there is a park a few blocks away. I want you to go there through my backyard. Hide way up high in a tree, okay?" His face was somber, honest. And sad. "I'm going to be gone for the night so I won't have any…uh…unpleasant encounters with the people you seem to know."
I nodded, silent. Then I turned toward the back door and started toward it.
"Hold up Asazi," Atone suddenly said. "Let me get you a backpack with some food and things, just in case I'm gone for a few days. Judging by how you've killed a few people, I think that if I gave you food and water for…say…three days that you would make it."
"Where will I stay," I asked.
He went into the kitchen and said, "The Park. You can sleep in a tree. Don't worry; there are no ants or nasty critters in most of the trees. Just avoid the ones with the sticky stuff on them." He snickered as he made a whole bunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He made fifteen of them, then got into his fridge and pulled out ten bottles of water. "This enough?"
I greedily nodded. It was more than I had ate the in the whole since my parents were gone…my parents… I angrily shook the thought from my head.
Atone put the sandwiches and waters inside a backpack from his room and strapped it onto my back. "Take care now," he said. He seemed touched, moved by my role in his life. What had I done? I had gotten his house ransacked, his life suddenly ruined by gangs and he was wasting all his food on me. What good had I done?
A few minutes later I left his house through the back door. I went through some bushes and a few blocks of people's backyards. Some dogs barked at me but I ignored them.
Eventually, I reached the park. It was beautiful. Trees with pink flowers everywhere, a few kids running around here and there, a couple basketball and tennis courts and a whole grove of tall trees. I took a deep breath, enjoying the first sight of peacefulness since the rainy day at the beach…suddenly my world flipped upside down when I noticed three men looking at me thoughtfully…as if they were considering…
They were leaning on a car, probably theirs, a few hundred feet away. But they were definitely looking right at me. They were, without a doubt, the men that were at Atone's house this morning—the point proved when they started walking toward me…hurriedly…
I turned to run and smashed into a wall. I fell back and looked up. Nope. Not a wall. A huge Chinese man, his arms wider than my body…he stared at me and grunted.
I was captured.