I Tried - Chapter 9
SEND ME AN ANGEL
Reno's words echoed for a moment while he stood there, as if to reaffirm what he said he turned to the priest. "I'll get it." He repeated.
Padre nodded. "Do what you have to, Reno. I'm going to make her as comfortable as I can."
Reno darted out the old wooden doors, the air hit him, stagnant, fighting for his breath, he ran. He tore through the alleys, not realizing that this was the first time in a long time that he was actually afraid. This was worse then being afraid for himself, this he couldn't control, when he was fighting so hard to keep something in his life in place, it trembled beneath him, leaving him nothing to stand on.
Viper and Tex were going into a bar, both smoking, heads bowed against the air and talking. "Guys!" The other boys jumped around in shock- they hadn't heard him coming until he yelled. "I need a car NOW!" Reno skidded to a halt in front of them.
At first, the older boys gaped at Reno, almost not realizing who he was. They blinked at him and then tilted their heads to look for someone following the red head. Gang leader or no, Reno wasn't exactly a big guy.
Viper was the first to speak up, a bit dumbfounded that Reno was this frightened. "What's wrong, man? You look freek'n spooked."
"Tex, you still have that truck?" Reno ignored Viper entirely.
Tex's eyes widened. Gas wasn't cheap, the beaten down pickup truck that brought the blond boy to Midgar usually rested in an alley behind Fallen's Lair. Its plates- from outside of Junon- weren't even valid any longer. Not that it mattered, it had been forever since he'd even driven it. "Yeah." He responded, not asking questions, if Reno needed that Truck, something was wrong with one of those church mice he lived with. "I'll meet'cha at the church."
"Come on!" Reno yelled at Viper and the two turned and dashed back to the church.
Viper could run the mile in six minutes flat, but Reno left him in the dust. He was out of breath by the time they arrived outside the church. "What" -puff- "the" -wheeze- "FUCK is goin' on?"
"Watch your mouth in here all right? It's Mariah, she just collapsed." Reno pushed the doors open and walked back to the front. Viper followed slowly, sweating in discomfort at being in a church. Reno addressed Padre "Any change?" The bald man shook his head. "I got a truck, He's going to come in and help you with her. I will meet you at that clinic with the money."
Padre nodded, the question of where was on his lips for a moment. He thought better of asking in the next moment, pulling Maria into a sitting position.
"What's up with you Wolf? I ain't never seen ya like this. People get sick alls the time." Viper asked as they stopped outside the red head's door.
Reno didn't respond to him. The older boy huffed at the lack of response and got up to his knees, resting his elbows on Reno's bed and waiting. "How we gonna get any cash man? The supplier isn't ready." He checked his weapon. "Knock over the Liquor store?"
"I'd be easy, but ya really want to risk that? Last time with the ShinRa PD was enough to hold me a while." Reno's voice came from under the bed.
"Then what? These hospitals down 'ere take cash only man."
"I'm gonna sell this." The red head finally popped out on the other end of the bed, holding a master fire materia. The one that had once been his mother's Reno had used it until it matured. Like a bond, every level brought the item up in value. He hadn't mentioned it to anyone, preferring to keep this heirloom to himself. However, now he really didn't have a choice.
"Leviathan in Shiva's hole! Where'dja get that?!" Viper forced his mouth back closed. "Don't sell that man!" he took a breath "Is she worth-" Reno's glare made him shut his mouth.
"She's like a mother to me Viper. Don'tcha get that?" His question was at least an honest one.
"Shit, my motha woulda sold me if she needed crack bad enough." Viper itched his Mohawk and watched Reno walk to his door. "Ya know?"
"What?" Reno turned around impatiently.
After taking a deep breath, the other boy stood. "I know I ain't as smart as you an' Tex. I know the two'a you always was try'n ta one up each other." Viper shook his head. "Shit man, so if I figured this out, you gotta have." At Reno's questioning glance, Viper continued. "That soft spotta yers; It's gonna getcha killed man."
Reno opened his door. "I know."
The doctor looked suspiciously at the gang members sitting with a priest. Viper had been unusually quiet after his talk with Reno. Tex's usual smirk was gone. Reno was the first to speak to the old doctor. "Well?"
The doctor was a portly woman that looked years older then she probably was. Her coal colored eyes were fixed on Reno, she inhaled slowly and then spoke. "700 gil first." Reno dug into his pocket and produced the money.
She snatched it quickly and counted. "She has some sort of muscular neurosis. I don't have the equipment to tell you more. I gave her some medicine for it, but it's still experimental. She may have another attack, she may not." The doctor rattled off in an impersonal tone while tucking the cash into her shirt.
There was silence following the cold report. No one could really blame the doctor; she probably had over ten people bleed to death on her today alone. One more dead person wouldn't bother her. Still, the priest wanted to have some semblance of hope. "You can't tell us anything else?" Padre asked.
She sighed, looking like for an instant, she truly wanted to help at least Padre, but then Professionalism replaced it. "Sorry Father, I cannot." She turned disdainfully to Reno, "I'm assuming that you can obtain cannabis right?"
The red head gritted his teeth at her comment. He had been fidgeting in the corner. "You missed your calling; you should have been a mind reader." Reno retorted. "What about it?"
"If she has an attack again it will slow her heart down enough to make her comfortable." She surveyed Reno for a second time, seeming surprised at his retort. "Now take her and get out."
Reno sat at the kitchen table, drinking what felt like his twentieth cup of coffee. He was shaking, trying to tell himself the coffee was to blame and not his nerves. But he knew better. Mariah had been getting sick; however, the idea that he could loose her was something he didn't think he could cope with. All the fighting, the never saying thank you, the trying to push them away, it hadn't worked. Admitting it to Viper up in his room had been admittance to himself also. He loved Mariah like she was his own mother, he couldn't pretend that what he felt was nothing more then a debt owed. If that had been the case, he wouldn't still be at the church, wishing she would get better.
Mariah was asleep; Padre was as well. Fear, exhaustion, bad memories, all of them wrapped around him at once, as suffocating as the air in the slums. It's about 8am in Neibelheim; he thought and walked to the phone. Reno dug out a phone card that Tifa had mailed him for his birthday and dialed.
"Hello?" Reno cursed in his head; of course Tifa's dad had to answer.
He tried to sound jovial, more youthful, maybe he would get lucky and the man would think he was a town kid she hung out with. "Is Teef there?"
"Who is this?" Reno could feel the big man's eyes narrowing, his grip on the phone tightening-
He was too tired to even think about lying, "It's Reno."
"What do you want?" Tifa's father made his adamant dislike for Reno no secret. "I have half a mind to listen in on this."
"Go right ahead. I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of." Reno was as polite as possible. It wasn't easy when every time he spoke to the man he was given a verbal shake down.
"You have plenty to be ashamed of. Don't think that I don't know that much." There was a long silence. "You even think about touching her you-"
Being nice was suddenly the last thing on Reno's mind. He growled into the phone. "I never have or will. As much as you seem to think the contrary I do have the ability to keep my dick in my pants. Do I have to call later?"
"No." The man sighed and sat the phone down. It wasn't that Tifa's father was a bad guy; he was simply over protective of his daughter. Reno couldn't fault him for that, if he had a daughter as pretty as Tifa, Reno sure as hell wouldn't like some street punk being close to her. "Teef! Phone!" There was some light mumbling and then Tifa finally picked up.
"Have a good day Daddy! Hey who is this?"
About damn time. He took a breath. "Hey Teef."
"Re!" Tifa yawned, apparently he had picked just the right moment to call. "You're awake at a strange time, what's up?"
"Mar was in the hospital." He waited as Tifa gasped in shock "She's real sick Teef. I- I" He sat on the kitchen counter. After looking around to be sure he was alone he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm scared. She just collapsed. It's a nervous disorder. They don't know if she'll have another attack or not."
"Are you Okay Reno?" Her automatic response was asking about him. No one else would have asked him that, only her.
And only Tifa got the honest answer. "I- I don't know. There's so much going on, I just, I don't know."
"What else?" She was silent for a few minutes then she let out a groan as realization hit her. "You didn't. I thought you were trying to get OUT of the gang Reno. You told me you wanted out."
And here he had been trying to figure out how to tell her without her getting mad at him. "It's not like I asked for it, and I need the money especially now." He wished that he wasn't always disappointing her. If you weren't such a fuck up to begin with- that voice in his head started. Reno shoved it down. He cleared his throat and in a tone that he hadn't used since he was five he muttered, "I don't know what else to do."
"Don't sound like that Re. You know that I love ya, no matter what you have to do." She thought a while longer. "You could try to fight the freeform competition at the tournament. Those always have big pots. It's a risk, but you can do it."
He hadn't thought about that. In fact, he didn't even think about the tournament at all. "That's actually a better idea then a crime spree now isn't it?"
"Most definitely." Tifa laughed, then in all seriousness, she added "do you need anything?"
"I just really needed to talk to you." Reno pushed the coffee pot back on and continued. "I'm sorry that I yelled atcher old man."
"Hey, I told you to call any time Reno. I- ah- I just forgot to tell Dad that."
Of all the things to go by slowly, particularly with the regard to the previous years, it was the month after they brought Mariah home. Her illness was slowly abating, with every passing day. But she lacked something now; there was a haunted look in her eyes, her thin face not as cheerful as it had been in the past. She would spend whole days in bed, staring at the walls, not wanting company.
Above the plate the leaves had changed color, but under the plate the grey muck had long forgotten how to tell time. The death of the Desperadoes leader went off as Reno planned it, the gang dispersed, many coming to beg for places in Reno's own army. One attempt on his life later, the young red head was becoming a legend in his own time. At least he was among those in the first five sectors.
Padre and the young man held together with that strangely silent male bond. The boy and the older man could sit in the same room for hours, neither making a sound aside from flipping a page. Every once and a while, Reno would ask a translation if the book was in Italian, every so often they would cross reference. All in all, it was peaceable in the old church. But the old man could feel the tension ripple off Reno whenever he moved, it was as if the boy's skin was all that kept him together at times. There was nothing, however, that the priest could do.
Reno went to the gym alone; knowing that he was safe didn't make him feel better about walking by himself. Something about the sector Mariah had found him in, with its tall walls and narrow passages put him on edge. The way sounds had a habit of bouncing around to trick a passerby. It was all enough to make him check his gun three or four times before walking down an alley, when he did move, it was in silence.
It was no surprise then that he over heard a man and a woman arguing. "I can't do this anymore Dad! I-" her voice was silenced by a loud smack that made Reno's hair stand on end. He looked into the ally that Mariah had found him in over nine years ago. What he saw made him angry enough to do something about it.
The man was large and balding, the girl he had smacked looked around fifteen and she had crumpled to the floor after his blow. "Get up you little whore! What makes you think you're to good to make some money for me?! After all I have done to keep your worthless ass alive! Sluts like you should at least get paid for it!" He picked the girl up by her strawberry blonde hair and smacked her again.
Maybe it was the location, maybe it was the odd resemblance the man had to one of the people who had killed his mother, whatever it was Reno couldn't walk away. "Hey!" he yelled. The man let go of the girl and she scooted back against the wall. Reno strolled into the one working streetlight and crossed his arms over his chest. "Why don't you pick on somebody who fights back?"
"Like you?" The man rolled his bull-like shoulders.
Reno looked up, not tilting his head much; blue eyes were lost in the shadow of his bangs. He smirked, letting out a short taunting laugh. He knew how to deal with big idiots, it came from experience. "Try me fat ass."
The man lunged, a stupid move on his part, and Reno simply tornado kicked him into the wall. "Get up." Reno said calmly. The man moved quicker then expected. Using a trash can lid, he knocked Reno to the ground. Reno was in a crouch as quickly as he had hit the ground, but the man held a gun to the back of his head.
"Your turn to stand up smart ass." Reno snarled, standing slowly. If this guy had any intention of shooting him, he would have done it. When he felt the angle of the weapon change against his temple, Reno smirked. The man was shorter then he was. "Any last words, Punk?"
Reno ducked to the side. At the same moment he pulled the man's wrist, positioning the shorter mans elbow over his shoulder. Then he threw his shoulder up and the wrist down, effectively breaking the arm. The man dropped his gun into Reno's waiting hand. Spinning, Reno pushed the weapon back into his face.
"Don't hesitate," Reno said and fired. He turned his head, blood spayed back against his neck. Turning his head back around Reno shook his arm down, flinging stray spots across the muck and brick. The man wasn't going to move anymore, and Reno had no use for another weapon. He tossed the gun into a dumpster before turning to face the girl.
"What do you want?" she was still shaking, one of her green eyes was swelling shut. Her face was red from crying, black and purple splotches dotted around the red from being hit. Her green eyes stood out, clashing with the warm colors of her tear streaked face. She was thin, her face puffy from abuse and the drugs she appeared to be on. Dilated pupils burned at him, also heightening the color of her eyes. If she had been well rested or sober, she may have been considered pretty.
He kneeled down next to her and she tired to get away. Her face showed a lot of fear; it made him feel badly, that she was afraid of him. Of course, Reno had no idea why that was. He didn't even know what made him get involved in the first place. "I want to know if you are Okay."
She blinked at him. "Yer s'rious?" she slurred.
He then nodded and sat back on his heels not coming closer to her. "That's all." Reno affirmed.
She stared at him for a few minutes. "You're the Red Wolf aren't you?" Reno shook his head in agreement. Her words came out in a drugged up rush, skipping tracks of thought. "But you don look lika..." She laughed, head rolling to the side. "Not like a wolf, more like a-" She cocked her head at him, eyes trying to focus. "You're cute..." She laughed again.
After trying twice to rise on her own, she extended her hand to him "Could you help me?" She leaned on him and looked at the dead man. "Aren't you supposed to feel sad when your parent dies? I don't feel sad." She looked at Reno, staggering and pulling at him to keep her balance. "I don feel 'appy, but I know I'm not-not sad..." she looked down. "Tha' don't make me a nice person- does it?"
Reno started at the suddenly serious question. He didn't know what to do with her now, he couldn't leave her. He peered at her again; she really could have been a pretty girl. Maybe without the makeup, maybe if she smiled... something made him desperately want to see the girl sober. "Maybe you just need some help?" he suggested after realizing he hadn't spoke for a while.
They staggered again and she tossed her hair out of her face. A moment of fluidness came to her face. "Did you ever need help?"
"I need it more then I let on. What's your name?" Maybe he could just take her home, if he could figure out where home was for her.
"Vixen." Then, her hyped up playfulness returned. "Tell me your real name, I'll tell you mine."
"Reno." He replied without thinking about it much. After all, what could it hurt?
"I'm Bethany." She put her hand against her chest, motioning to herself. "Reno, thank you for helping me." She tried to walk, but lost her footing and would have fallen if it wasn't for Reno's catching her. "I feel dizzy." and with that she passed out.
Reno picked her up and looked about the alley. He did the only thing that he could think of doing, he started home with her. "Padre is going to kill me."