A/N: Following is the rewrite of my first fanfiction, "I Tried". It got such great reviews that I felt it deserved another look at, the result is much longer, with far fewer mistakes and more details about the characters. Enjoy, let me know how this one reads now.
I Tried - Chapter 1
Then It All Falls Apart
Within the bowels of Midgar a young redheaded prostitute leaned against the slimy cement wall. As far as street walkers went, she didn't look much different; far too thin, overly made up. Two things alone set this young woman apart from the others. The woman had bright, almost unnaturally red, hair. That wasn't as amazing as the fact that she actually smiled, something that was rare in the slums and rarer with women like her. "Hey baby need a date?" she called out to a tall lanky passer bye. He stopped, nodded and then followed her into the dank alley.
"No way in fuck'n hell" The redhead stared at the brunet man with a disgusted look on her face. "I don't care what the fuck yo sick ass boss lets you do to girls. Not with me, weasel face." She backed up as far as she could in the narrow space, trying to get away.
"I never said you had a choice, slut," he growled. The man licked his lips and rushed her. The woman side-stepped him and brought her knee to his stomach in the same graceful movement. "Bitch!" he wheezed. Winded, the man crumpled to the cold, paved ground of the ally. Before he could get back up the red head turned and ran for all she was worth.
She stopped to catch her breath outside of the motel she called home. Battered, broken, leaking in more holes then there were actual tiles; it beat her alternatives. She had wanted to slip in quietly, however, the door complained loudly as she entered erasing any chance of the manager not noticing her entrance. "Suzanna, can we talk?" the bulbous man lumbered up to her. It was evident that they would be talking whether or not she cared to.
"I have to .." The young woman started, looking over her shoulder at the door.
"Yo late on yo rent again", the fat man cut her off. As he spoke spit dribbled down onto his sweat-stained wife beater. "I don't really care what yo excuse is. And you can't work it off this month. 200 gill, or I send Don Corneo's men in to clean you out. Get it?"
"When do you need it?" Suzanna bit her lip and waited. She didn't need this, she was hungry, tired and still shaken from her last john.
"I'll give ya a week. Now get outta my sight before I change my mind."
Suzanna suppressed her tears and pushed open the door to her room. "Reno, you here baby?" As she spoke a thin five year old boy with the same red hair his mother had peeked out from the bathroom. His aqua eyes scanned nervously about the room. "It's ok baby I'm alone." She sat down on the bed and pinched the bridge of her nose with one of her thin hands.
"You're early." Reno said flatly. He crawled up on the bed and sat next to his mother. "You ok Momma?" He wiggled his way onto her lap and hugged her.
Suzanna clung to her son. "I'm ok now." She brushed a piece of flame colored hair away from Reno's face. Strange, how little things made larger problems melt away. It was bitter sweet, holding her son, she knew life in the slums was short, and what small protection she could offer was fleeting. They couldn't risk going back up to the plate and it wasn't better here. It didn't matter how much she wanted to be strong, she cried anyway.
"Then why you crying?" He mimicked his mother by brushing the hair from her face. "You're too pretty to cry all the time." Suzanna laughed and Reno lit up the room with the smile he got from his mother.
"You're too sweet to be here." she replied. Standing up, Suzanna walked to the closet with Reno. Sitting him down on the moth-eaten, stained love seat Suzanna removed her oversized hoodie. She touched the faded name stitched into the navy blue fabric. "You never came back Vic..." Then the door flew open.
Without thinking Suzanna shoved her son into the closet and slammed it shut. She turned to find the john that tried to attack her earlier, only this time he wasn't alone. Two other men were with him. One was absolutely huge with died green hair. The second- shorter with dirty blond hair- had a brand across his left bicep that read "Tony". Looking at the tattoos on their hands Suzanna realized that they were all Corneo's men. "You thought that I was sick earlier, wait till we get finished with ya. I got pissed off chasing your ass." The weasel faced man sneered. The three men began to surround her. Apparently they hadn't seen Reno.
For the next two hours it sounded like wild animals were slowly killing something. Reno cowered in the closet, to afraid to look out. One loud smack seemed to end the noise, silence crept around the room. He looked though the closet to see two men without their pants and their backs turned to him. A third was straddling Suzanna, one hand around her delicate neck, the other slashing down at her with a box-knife.
The boy's eyes narrowed on a small six-shooter that was laying on the floor just two feet away. The butt of the weapon was bloody with strands of red hair matted into it. Reno crawled over to it. The slums made violence common place, he had seen guns used many times. The weapon felt oddly heavy in his small hands. He lifted the gun, looked down the barrel, then fired.
It was a lucky shot, in one sense. The man with the brand that proclaimed "Tony" fell to the ground with blood gushing out of his back and chest. However, the kickback of the weapon caused it to hit Reno in the head stunning him.
The sudden noise caused the other two men to jump up and backwards. They blinked at the boy for a moment. "What the fuck? Hey Joey, look what we have here!" The man with the green hair stepped over his dying companion and picked up Reno by the back of his neck.
"No... ple" Suzanna tried to speak, but Joey didn't allow her to finish. He brought the box-knife forcefully across her throat, leaving her silenced forever.
"Now what do we have here?" Joey got off the blood drenched bed and looked at the now dead man on the floor. "Damn good shot dont'cha think Tucker? Now what to do about 'killer' here?" they both laughed.
Tucker turned to Joey and smiled, "hand me the knife, we can't just let him get away with killing one of our guys like that." He pushed the half conscious boy down next to his lifeless mother. "Wake up kiddo." Tucker joked like a parent waking a lazy child and pushed the box-knife's edge into Reno's cheek to the bone. Reno suddenly screamed awake, but Tucker maintained a strangle hold on the boy. Reno's screams were silenced by the back of Tucker's hand. The boy stopped struggling and began to whimper.
"Oh now that was cold Tucker." Joey scolded his companion. Then he added with more laughter, "do the other side". Reno's cries started up again desperately. No matter how hard he struggled, five year old Reno was no where near strong enough to help himself. The blade scraped the bone on his other cheek, blood from the first cut was pouring into his mouth and nose causing him to cough and sputter. "Now then" Joey picked his belt up off the floor. "Let's find something else for this kid to do with his mouth."
Reno awoke four hours later. Numerous other cuts made it painful to even breathe. His dried blood had caked his cheek to the pillow. Reno opened his lips to speak but was overcome with nausea. Ripping his head off the pillow he gagged up semen and bile. The blood from his cheeks plastered his hair to his face. Reno rolled back onto his back, reopening many of the razor cuts along his body. He moved his head to see what was left of his mother.
Suzanna's eyes were open and glazed over. One of the building's roaches was crawling along her parted lips. Horrified, Reno jumped to the floor. His legs didn't have the strength to hold him and he fell. Tony's body was no longer in the room. Reno curled into a ball and started shaking. He began to cry. The tears made the cuts along his thin cheeks burn. The will to just live took over, he struggled to his feet, using the loveseat to steady himself. He then noticed the hoodie his mother was putting away when they were attacked.
She said it belonged to his father, she would tell him constantly what a great man he was. That he was protecting them. Anger flooded Reno. No one was protecting him, not anymore. He grabbed the hoodie anyway, it was far too large on him, coming past his knees. He staggered to the doorway, then he realized that he had no idea what he was going to do. Putting a hand in his pocket, Reno felt a smooth, almost glass feeling, ball. He pulled it out and peered at it, a blue orb, the word "fire" etched into it. Reno was trying to think of where it came from when voices down the hall caused him to jump.
"Hey he's alive!" Joey yelled. Reno turned and ran with the slightly inebriated Tucker and Joey in hot pursuit. Forgetting how badly he hurt, he just tore in the opposite direction from the men- to sector four.
"Get back here you little whore son!" Tucker was getting winded by the time they finally cornered little Reno just outside of sector four. "Damn you can run can't ya?" He popped his neck and started to walk to the boy. Reno was scooting into the wall as hard as he could, willing himself to become part of it.
"Get away from me!" He yelled helplessly. "Or you'll be sorry!"
"Oh will we? I don't think you are in the position to say anything brat." Joey's dull eyes gleamed with pleasure. "I think you liked what we did to ya. Obviously you ain't had enough."
Reno gripped the orb again, running his thumb along the surface. He knew how to use it, from stories he had heard, but those stories also said only certain people can use it correctly. The boy figured at this point, anything was worth trying. He pulled the blue orb out and closed his eyes, mostly hoping something would happen. He mouthed the word "fire". Reno felt heat escape the orb, he heard a scream then everything went black.
FF7 © Squarenix
content © Drakonlily