26

Sonic

Me: Hey, we're leaving the hospital now. Do you still want to hang out later?

Amy: Sure.

Amy: Can we just cuddle and watch movies, though? I'm not feeling super great.

Me: What's wrong?

Me: Are you okay?

Amy: We'll talk about it later.

"Who are you texting?" Manic asked, glancing at me from the driver's seat.

When I came downstairs around one o' clock, still wincing and grimacing from the pain in my muscles, Manic took one look at me and told me he was taking me to the hospital. I tried to decline, but he wasn't hearing my bullshit. He grabbed me by the back of my neck and dragged me into the car. Luckily, our mother was still working her shift. She was able to take a quick look at me and redress the wounds on my face.

"These matches are getting more brutal, mi hijo," she spoke quietly in Spanish. "I don't like it."

"I'll be eighteen next week, mama - they're only going to get worse since I'll be a legal adult."

A deep frown appeared on her lips. "Maybe you can find a different sport. I know you and father bonded over mixed martial arts, but -"

"It's not about him," I assured her. "I like MMA; it's a good outlet for me."

"But look at what it's doing to your body," she said, motioning over the array of bruises on my body. "I don't want you to get a serious injury."

"You know Knuckles wouldn't let that happen."

"Knuckles told me the two of you have been talking about larger tournaments and matches outside of the neighborhood gyms. Those referees and organizations have their own agendas. Knuckles won't be able to protect you then."

I opened my mouth, ready to tell her that I was more likely to get seriously hurt in one of my fights on the street than in the octagon. Within the cage, my opponents were required to fight by the rules. On the streets, there was no referee holding anyone accountable for fighting dirty. But, I didn't want to deepen her concerns. Manic hadn't told her about my fights with Shadow and Jet - or my recent interactions with my father. If she knew, I doubted she'd even let me out of the damn house. At that moment, I just needed to nod my head and promise her I'd be fine as far as my organized fighting went.

I glanced at Manic as he repeated his question, this time looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Calm down; it's not dad," I replied.

"Has he texted you at all?"

"No." I leaned my head against the window. "I haven't seen him since Shadow and Jet's punk asses jumped me."

"Good," Manic muttered. "Have those boys bothered you since then?"

"No. I should catch my fair ones, but they're not worth the energy."

A smile tugged at my brother's lips. "Well, look at that: you're letting things go."

"Yeah, don't go telling the whole world. I've got some dudes still scared I'm gonna punch them into the next week"

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. What do you want for your birthday?"

"For you to get off my case for a whole twenty-four hours."

"Not happening. Try something else."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't really want anything."

"Well, I was thinking about buying you one of those Jeeps you've been eyeing over at Deemer's dealership. Benny told me you've been saving up all these years for one. I figured maybe you could keep adding to that pile until there's something bigger that you want."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why would you buy me a car? I can't even walk down the street without you wondering where I am."

"Because I'm proud of you," he said sincerely. "You'll be graduating in May, and you're starting college in the fall. Those are huge deals! You deserve something nice to celebrate."

"You're proud of me?" I asked quietly. "Why?"

"Because you're trying to get your shit together. All of the petty fights aside, I see you've been working hard in school. You're smart, and you've got a lot of potential to do something great with your life. It's time you finally start acknowledging that."

"You think I have potential?"

"Yes. Jeez, why do you sound so surprised? Am I really that hard on you?"

"Yes," I admitted. "The only time we talk is when we're arguing with each other."

He frowned. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to be this way. I just…I didn't want you to turn into our father - and you were really close to it a few times." He sighed. "Look, I know you think I've been pretending to be this father figure since dad left, but I'm really just trying to be a better male role model for you than he ever was for me. I only want the best for you."

I finally looked over at him. "You do?"

"Yeah." He stopped at a red light and turned his eyes to me. A small smile played on his lips. "You're a pain the fucking ass, but you're still my baby brother - and I love you."

I rolled my eyes. "Hm, I guess I like you too."

He chuckled. "So, what do you think about this car thing? Would you like that?"

"Yeah…yeah, I'd like that."

"Good. Just one condition, though."

"What's that?"

"If you smoke any weed in that car, I'll beat your goddamn ass."

I scoffed. "You'd have to catch me first."

He laughed, reaching over and ruffling my hair with his hand.

When we arrived at home, I told Manic I needed to run some errands before heading off down the street. I ignored all of his questions, asking where I was going. He was probably going to put a damn tracker in that car since he couldn't sneak one into my sneakers.

I walked down to Amy's favorite Chinese food restaurant and picked up her favorites: sesame chicken, pork fried rice, and shrimp egg rolls. On the way home, I stopped by one of the corner stores and grabbed a carton of cookies and Blazeice cream.

I should've knocked on her front door like a gentleman and spoken to her fathers. But, I didn't have time to waste. I needed to make sure she was alright.

I hurried to my room and climbed down the fire escape. Peeking into her window, I saw her sitting at her desk, wrapped in a blue fleece blanket. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and her eyes were fixed on her computer screen.

I knocked gently on the glass.

Her shoulders flinched from the sudden sound as her head snapped towards the window. A small smile bloomed on her lips at the sight of me. She waddled over to the window, still wrapped in her blanket and opened the window. "Hey," she greeted.

I swung my legs into her room and slid the rest of my torso inside. Wrapping my free arm around her waist, I pulled her into a tight embrace. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm better now that you're here," she mumbled into my chest.

I held up the bag of food. "I brought dinner."

"Oh, thanks!" She took the bag from my hands and set it on her desk. She shuffled through the contents.

I followed her, turning my attention to her computer screen. A news article was pulled up with a blown-up image of a smiling African-American man in a navy blue suit holding a glass award. The top of the article read "Sterling Davis Wins Innovator of the Year Award." I raised an eyebrow at the fakeness in the man's smile and the arrogance in his eyes. "Who's Sterling Davis?" I asked.

"My biological father," Amy answered quietly.

"No offense, but he looks like an asshole."

"None taken - apparently, he was."

I glanced down at her as she lay her head against my arm. "How did it go with your mother, anyway?"

She shrugged. "About as well as expected. According to her, she and Sterling had an adulterous affair and then he proposed to another woman right in front of her after promising to take care of her, Wyatt, and her unborn child."

"Damn."

"Yup. Then she told me I was a 'worthless, wretched waste of space' and we left."

I raised my arm and hooked it over her shoulders. "I'm sorry," I whispered into her hair.

She shook her head. "No, don't…don't apologize." Her arms looped around my torso, careful of my bruised ribs. "Can you just hold me for a while?"

"Sure, but you've gotta eat for me first."

She frowned, but she didn't argue. We ate our dinner in a peaceful silence, watching The Lion King on her television.

When we finally lay down, Amy lay on her side, content with listening to the Disney classic rather than watching it.

I lay down behind her. My hands trailed over her arms to find her hands. I squeezed her small fingers between mine as I pecked a soft kiss at the back of her head. I held for the rest of the night, quietly gluing together her heart's broken pieces.