After reading the note I opened the fridge to find an empty pizza box and
about 30 cans of Pepsi. Sighing I grabbed a can of Pepsi and walked over to
the couch, flipping through some comics to pass the time.
A knock on the door came a few moments later followed by the over weight waitress from the café last night barging in, her arms full of food. I smiled at her and she set everything down on the kitchen table.
"I figured he wouldn't have any food, he never does." She said as if I cared why she was here. "God damn, it's freezing in here! How are you not freezing to death?"
I suddenly realized that my body temperature probably never changed. So instead I shrugged and let her find the thermostat to warm the place up. She fixed me a sandwich as I sat in silence, not really wanting to say much. Even though I felt completely safe with these people I wasn't too sure I could trust them.
"Here you are darling, eat up now. You're far too skinny for my liking." She said and I thanked her before sitting across from her and eating the sandwich. It wasn't until then that I realized that I was so hungry. When I devoured to sandwich in approximately one bite, the waitress laughed and made me another one.
"You not workin' today Madame?" I asked while I bit into my second pastrami sandwich, taking my time to chew this one. She nodded and checked her watch.
"I don't have to be there until five today. So I thought I'd come and keep you company, if you're planning to stay that is..." she asked.
"I t'ink I could stay fo' a while." I said smiling. She smiled back at me. "If dats okay, Madame."
"Now, don't go callin' me 'Madame' this entire time! I have a name for a reason. And that name is Nancy. You can call me that." She said as I finished my sandwich. She poured me glass of milk and then carried on. "What can we call you?"
I panicked. I didn't know if I should tell her my real name or make up a name or something. I just didn't know what to do. So I decided to use my initials, minus my last name of course.
"Dey call me Kaos." I said after I thought it through. The lady gave me a sympathetic smile.
"Honey, I sincerely doubt that you're parents would give you Chaos as a name." She said as I drank my milk. My mouth split into a sly grin as I leant back in my chair.
"Touché mon amie, but dats de only name you're getting'." I said. She laughed and nodded.
"Okay, that's fine." She said and set my dishes in the sink. "What do you say that you gather up all these comics for me so that I can vacuum before Bobby has a chance to object?"
I hopped out of my chair and ran around the house collecting the hundreds of comic books and stacking them on the coffee table in the living room.
As Nancy vacuumed and cleaned up the living room, I did my dishes, and the stack of dishes that had accumulated beside the sink and put away the food that Nancy had brought over.
It took pretty much all day to clean up Bobby's apartment but I didn't mind. It wasn't like I had anything else to do really. Plus it kept my mind off of home. Or what I used to call home.
"You're awfully quiet." Nancy said. We were both collapsed on the couch watching the old television that Bobby had set up. "Are you okay?"
"Oui. Jus' thinkin'." I said tossing her a smile. She nodded, not pushing me to tell her anything. I appreciated that more than she knew.
"Well, I better get to work. Tony has a fit if I'm late. Bobby should be home in about an hour, knowing him, he'll bring home a girl too, so don't be surprised." Nancy said before going back out the door.
I lounged around, playing a few random James Bond games on the Xbox, reading a few random comics mostly just trying to keep my mind off of Papa and everyone else. It wasn't easy I'll grant that, but how could I stay somewhere that the only things I ever believed were lies. It wasn't fair for me or for them, but mostly just for me, and at the moment, as selfish as it sounded, I was the only one I was concerned about.
"Hey Runaway!" Bobby said as he burst through the door his arms full of pizza and Pepsi. "Nancy been here?"
I grinned and nodded making him laugh. I liked his laugh; it was almost childlike but not. It's hard to describe.
"Well, that doesn't surprise me. Anyway, food's here don't be shy. I didn't know what kind you liked so I got a pepperoni, a cheese, a meat-lover's and a vegetarian." Bobby babbled on. I smiled and went to sit down with him at the small kitchen table.
Grabbing a piece of pizza carefully I took a small bite.
"I didn't spit on it if that's what you're wondering." Bobby said locking his eyes with mine. I watched the color slowly drain from his face and downcast my eyes. Giving myself a firm mental lashing for forgetting about my eyes. "Your eyes..."
My mouth split into a grin. "Contacts."
He gave a sigh of relief and nodded. "They scared me for a second. You teenagers and your trends."
Inside I also gave a sigh of relief. I knew better than to let just anyone know I was a mutant, there were some people out there that thought that mutants were freaks and wanted to rid us from the world. It led to some interesting conflicts between us.
I was lost in thought when Bobby began to babble again.
"So runaway, what's your name? I mean you know my name... or do you? Well, my name's Bobby, Bobby Drake. I have a whole lot of nicknames, most of which I believe that you're too young to hear. So what about you?" I laughed at him. I thought it was funny that he was trying to protect me from a couple words, when in truth he had no clue what I was capable of. But in retrospect, neither did i.
"Dey call me Kaos." I answered. He laughed and shook his head.
"For the record you don't' have to use a codename with me. I'm safe as safe can be." Bobby said laughing.
"Kaos ain't a codename mon ami, dey my initials." I said relaxing a bit more around him. Bobby nodded then came up with like three hundred possibilities of what my name could be. Some of them were pretty interesting I must say, things went on like that for about ten minutes.
"Christine Hannah Annabelle Oscar Smith?" Bobby said causing me to go into a fit of giggles.
"Oscar?" I asked after my fit. Bobby nodded with dignity.
"It was obviously your grandfather's name." He said as if he was sure of himself.
"Non mon ami, dats not how you spell it. It's K-A-O-S." I said, tears streaming down my face from laughing so hard.
"Okay smartass, let's see who can beat who at Xbox, huh?" Bobby said. I accepted the challenge only to get my ass kicked. We were strewn on the couch after a few rounds of some fighting game when he finally asked the question that I had been waiting for him to ask.
"Why did you run away?" he asked. I turned my head to look at him. "If you don't' mind me askin'."
"What would you do if you found out dat evert'ing you believed in, everyt'ing dat you were told was a lie?" I asked, trying to maintain a straight face. I really wasn't ready to face the flood of emotions that my calm façade was holding in, but it didn't really seem like I had much of a choice.
"I'm not sure." He answered honestly, I appreciated that, no many adults are honest with children these days, I should know. "But I do know that they probably did it for the best."
"Dats probably true. But I can't really see dat right now. All I know is dat one day someone who I don't like showed up one day and den de next thing I know my entire life is gone. 'Cause I don't know who I can trust or believe anymore and I don' like dat feeling." I said wiping a few stray tears that had began to run down my cheeks.
The next thing I knew Bobby had gathered me in his arms. "I promise you runaway, I won't lie to you. You can believe and trust in that okay?" I nodded against his shoulder, and that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
For the next few weeks Bobby and I hung out all the time, even though he annoyed me about forgiving and how 'home is where the heart is'. We went shopping, it turns out Bobby is a better shopper than I ever was, he blamed it on growing up with a lot of girl's. We went to a couple Broadway shows, much to Bobby's protests. Nancy and I convinced him to take us. I got a small part-time job, just at a comic book store; Bobby had a few connections on that one. It was perfect, just like living with the older brother I never had, and sometimes never wanted, but as I have learned from my past all good things have to come to an end.
A knock on the door came a few moments later followed by the over weight waitress from the café last night barging in, her arms full of food. I smiled at her and she set everything down on the kitchen table.
"I figured he wouldn't have any food, he never does." She said as if I cared why she was here. "God damn, it's freezing in here! How are you not freezing to death?"
I suddenly realized that my body temperature probably never changed. So instead I shrugged and let her find the thermostat to warm the place up. She fixed me a sandwich as I sat in silence, not really wanting to say much. Even though I felt completely safe with these people I wasn't too sure I could trust them.
"Here you are darling, eat up now. You're far too skinny for my liking." She said and I thanked her before sitting across from her and eating the sandwich. It wasn't until then that I realized that I was so hungry. When I devoured to sandwich in approximately one bite, the waitress laughed and made me another one.
"You not workin' today Madame?" I asked while I bit into my second pastrami sandwich, taking my time to chew this one. She nodded and checked her watch.
"I don't have to be there until five today. So I thought I'd come and keep you company, if you're planning to stay that is..." she asked.
"I t'ink I could stay fo' a while." I said smiling. She smiled back at me. "If dats okay, Madame."
"Now, don't go callin' me 'Madame' this entire time! I have a name for a reason. And that name is Nancy. You can call me that." She said as I finished my sandwich. She poured me glass of milk and then carried on. "What can we call you?"
I panicked. I didn't know if I should tell her my real name or make up a name or something. I just didn't know what to do. So I decided to use my initials, minus my last name of course.
"Dey call me Kaos." I said after I thought it through. The lady gave me a sympathetic smile.
"Honey, I sincerely doubt that you're parents would give you Chaos as a name." She said as I drank my milk. My mouth split into a sly grin as I leant back in my chair.
"Touché mon amie, but dats de only name you're getting'." I said. She laughed and nodded.
"Okay, that's fine." She said and set my dishes in the sink. "What do you say that you gather up all these comics for me so that I can vacuum before Bobby has a chance to object?"
I hopped out of my chair and ran around the house collecting the hundreds of comic books and stacking them on the coffee table in the living room.
As Nancy vacuumed and cleaned up the living room, I did my dishes, and the stack of dishes that had accumulated beside the sink and put away the food that Nancy had brought over.
It took pretty much all day to clean up Bobby's apartment but I didn't mind. It wasn't like I had anything else to do really. Plus it kept my mind off of home. Or what I used to call home.
"You're awfully quiet." Nancy said. We were both collapsed on the couch watching the old television that Bobby had set up. "Are you okay?"
"Oui. Jus' thinkin'." I said tossing her a smile. She nodded, not pushing me to tell her anything. I appreciated that more than she knew.
"Well, I better get to work. Tony has a fit if I'm late. Bobby should be home in about an hour, knowing him, he'll bring home a girl too, so don't be surprised." Nancy said before going back out the door.
I lounged around, playing a few random James Bond games on the Xbox, reading a few random comics mostly just trying to keep my mind off of Papa and everyone else. It wasn't easy I'll grant that, but how could I stay somewhere that the only things I ever believed were lies. It wasn't fair for me or for them, but mostly just for me, and at the moment, as selfish as it sounded, I was the only one I was concerned about.
"Hey Runaway!" Bobby said as he burst through the door his arms full of pizza and Pepsi. "Nancy been here?"
I grinned and nodded making him laugh. I liked his laugh; it was almost childlike but not. It's hard to describe.
"Well, that doesn't surprise me. Anyway, food's here don't be shy. I didn't know what kind you liked so I got a pepperoni, a cheese, a meat-lover's and a vegetarian." Bobby babbled on. I smiled and went to sit down with him at the small kitchen table.
Grabbing a piece of pizza carefully I took a small bite.
"I didn't spit on it if that's what you're wondering." Bobby said locking his eyes with mine. I watched the color slowly drain from his face and downcast my eyes. Giving myself a firm mental lashing for forgetting about my eyes. "Your eyes..."
My mouth split into a grin. "Contacts."
He gave a sigh of relief and nodded. "They scared me for a second. You teenagers and your trends."
Inside I also gave a sigh of relief. I knew better than to let just anyone know I was a mutant, there were some people out there that thought that mutants were freaks and wanted to rid us from the world. It led to some interesting conflicts between us.
I was lost in thought when Bobby began to babble again.
"So runaway, what's your name? I mean you know my name... or do you? Well, my name's Bobby, Bobby Drake. I have a whole lot of nicknames, most of which I believe that you're too young to hear. So what about you?" I laughed at him. I thought it was funny that he was trying to protect me from a couple words, when in truth he had no clue what I was capable of. But in retrospect, neither did i.
"Dey call me Kaos." I answered. He laughed and shook his head.
"For the record you don't' have to use a codename with me. I'm safe as safe can be." Bobby said laughing.
"Kaos ain't a codename mon ami, dey my initials." I said relaxing a bit more around him. Bobby nodded then came up with like three hundred possibilities of what my name could be. Some of them were pretty interesting I must say, things went on like that for about ten minutes.
"Christine Hannah Annabelle Oscar Smith?" Bobby said causing me to go into a fit of giggles.
"Oscar?" I asked after my fit. Bobby nodded with dignity.
"It was obviously your grandfather's name." He said as if he was sure of himself.
"Non mon ami, dats not how you spell it. It's K-A-O-S." I said, tears streaming down my face from laughing so hard.
"Okay smartass, let's see who can beat who at Xbox, huh?" Bobby said. I accepted the challenge only to get my ass kicked. We were strewn on the couch after a few rounds of some fighting game when he finally asked the question that I had been waiting for him to ask.
"Why did you run away?" he asked. I turned my head to look at him. "If you don't' mind me askin'."
"What would you do if you found out dat evert'ing you believed in, everyt'ing dat you were told was a lie?" I asked, trying to maintain a straight face. I really wasn't ready to face the flood of emotions that my calm façade was holding in, but it didn't really seem like I had much of a choice.
"I'm not sure." He answered honestly, I appreciated that, no many adults are honest with children these days, I should know. "But I do know that they probably did it for the best."
"Dats probably true. But I can't really see dat right now. All I know is dat one day someone who I don't like showed up one day and den de next thing I know my entire life is gone. 'Cause I don't know who I can trust or believe anymore and I don' like dat feeling." I said wiping a few stray tears that had began to run down my cheeks.
The next thing I knew Bobby had gathered me in his arms. "I promise you runaway, I won't lie to you. You can believe and trust in that okay?" I nodded against his shoulder, and that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
For the next few weeks Bobby and I hung out all the time, even though he annoyed me about forgiving and how 'home is where the heart is'. We went shopping, it turns out Bobby is a better shopper than I ever was, he blamed it on growing up with a lot of girl's. We went to a couple Broadway shows, much to Bobby's protests. Nancy and I convinced him to take us. I got a small part-time job, just at a comic book store; Bobby had a few connections on that one. It was perfect, just like living with the older brother I never had, and sometimes never wanted, but as I have learned from my past all good things have to come to an end.