Author's Notes: First and foremost, let me thank all of you for your patience during this crazy time in my life. I appreciate it more than any of you could imagine. Secondly, I actually have something to post. So let's get into it, shall we?
Chapter Warnings: The following chapter is rated T for Teen for swearing, the use of the "N" word, and a small side of violence.
The Markings of a Hero
Chapter Three: Fist Party
Two days later, Eli found his sleep being disturbed by the obnoxious knocking of his mother.
"Elias!" Leila called from behind the door. "I need you to get up!"
"I'm up!" Eli shot back, annoyed already at seven in the morning. "What is it?"
"I need you to keep an eye on Sam today. If you go to your dad's you're going to have to take him with you, alright?" Eli groaned as he stared at the ceiling. "Elias, don't let him out of your sight or our deal is off of the table, understood?"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Eli replied as he grabbed his pillow and smothered his face with it. "Just go already!"
"What?" Leila asked, unable to understand her son through the pillow and the door.
"I heard you!" Eli called louder through the fabric.
Eli lied in silence. He was tired and rightfully so. For the past two days, he had dissected the boxes that were at his father's place, reading the information there as if he was studying for an exam. As one would imagine, it was very time consuming and he found himself going to sleep during the early hours of the following mornings and waking up in the afternoon.
Or he would have if his mom had not have knocked on his door at seven in the morning!
Worse, despite his tiredness, he could not go back to sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he would have images of the text that he read from the papers and laptop that charged under his bed. He saw pictures of the heroes that had died trying to fight crime and the places that the criminals that Malcolm knew about would hang out.
Information kept his mind and body from resting. He was running on four hours of sleep and yet, despite the exhaustion, felt capable of reading and learning more.
Rolling out of bed, the tired teen knelt beside his bed and reached for the laptop. After a few blind grabs, he managed to feel for the object and pull it to him. The small white light on the front of the computer indicated that it was fully charged which led him to unplug it and lie back in bed.
You're just like your mom!
Eli sighed as his father's voice played in his mind. Eli had undoubtedly adopted his mother's work ethics after the first box opening. Everything but meals and showers took a backseat to his research. A part of Eli despised the fact that he had this characteristic but did not stop it. It wasn't like he could leave his kid behind for a better life with a richer woman…
Rubbing his eyes due to a combination of the screen's brightness and fatigue, Eli logged onto the computer and began where he left off. Navigating through the files, he found the next one on his unread list; Tobias Whale.
Malcolm had stumbled upon a shift in the gangs of the New England and Mid-Atlantic States during his time as a masked crime fighter. It was rumored that there was a new crime lord that was unifying previously rivaling families and ruling the new group with an iron fist. This man was Tobias Whale, a resident of Metropolis. From what was gathered, Whale had a rather intricate drug ring and weapons stash in various places and it was rumored that he was in a three-way gang war with Gotham's notorious crime lords Black Mask and the Penguin. Malcolm assumed that Whale had ventured into New Camford for business and precaution measures and Eli felt the same way.
Tobias was using New Camford as a safe house, which had its pros and cons to Eli's understandings. The Falcone and Maroni families of Gotham City, as well as the Bertinelli crime family of New York, did not have a hold on New Camford as the two aforementioned cities. However, there were still mobs and mafias within New Camford, such as the Russian Mozgov Family.
"Oh boy…" Eli said as more information of Tobias Whale came up. "Male. African-American. Albino. Born in Metropolis, Delaware." Eli read quietly before pausing. "Wanted for the murder of Earl Clifford. Who the hell is that?"
Realizing that this was another name that he would probably have to remember, the teen rolled out of bed again, this time heading for the small work desk located in his bedroom. Grabbing the yellow notebook and pen on top, he came back to bed and opened it up to new page.
"Earl… Clifford…" Eli muttered. "Dad probably knows more about you but at the moment, I need to find out about Whale."
He had no idea why though. In the back of Eli's mind, he knew that learning about Whale or any drug lord would be completely useless to him. It wasn't like he could do anything about it other than turn this evidence in to the police and pray that they make good use of it.
Eli continued to go through the files, jotting down information every so often in his notebook while absorbing all that he could. Before he knew it, Eli could hear Sam's footsteps outside his bedroom, heading for the bathroom.
Frowning, Eli checked the time on the laptop. "Nine thirty. I really am turning into Mama."
Sighing, the adolescent sat the machine safely in the middle of his bed, his notebook next to it, and exited the bed. Stretching his arms upwards, he released a yawn and trudged for his door. Unlocking and opening it, he was met with the sight of his stepfather, Robert Nolan.
"Oh, Eli! I wasn't expecting you up so early!" Eli just glanced at the taller bald Caucasian male. "Your mom said you wouldn't be up until noon."
"She was wrong." Eli deadpanned. He so desperately wanted to point out that it was Leila who stopped him from sleeping till noon, but chose against it. "I'm going to my dad's later on and I have to take Sam with me."
"To Cheshire Square…?" It was no secret that Robert, a Harvard graduate born and raised in the luxurious part of Metropolis for most of his life, had a problem with the life style of Cheshire Square. And while Eli took some offense to the man questioning his home, he didn't necessarily blame Robert.
"Yeah. Is that okay?" Eli asked.
"Hmm," Robert stroked his black and gray beard in thought. "I don't have a problem with it. Not unless something happens."
"It's Cheshire Square. Something always happens there." Eli returned. "But I'll keep an eye out for him. In fact, I don't think we'll leave the apartment."
Robert sighed. "Alright Eli, I trust you. Do you need some money for lunch?" Eli shrugged. "I'll leave some cash on the table. I won't be back for dinner, so make sure you have him back before Lily begins calling. That won't end well for any of us!"
Eli only nodded his head, not smiling at the attempted joke about his mother. The thin man then sighs and gives Eli a leveled look, one that prepared the boy for some form of lesson or lecture.
"Eli, listen for a moment," Robert stated. "Lily… She loves you so much and it kills her that you want to put as much space between her as physically possible. Now I know that things between her and your dad didn't end well, but please, can you make it right?"
"Sure. Just let me revive the guy she left, tell him that she's sorry for putting us last, and give him a gun to shoot himself in the head for listening to such BS." Eli sardonically responded. "Is that what you want?"
"No! No, I… I don't want you to be angry at me or Lily. I want you to-"
"You will never be my dad, got it?" Eli's tone had a clear threat to it, one that forced Robert to momentarily retreat.
"Fine Eli, I'll step back." Robert said. "But Lily is your mother and she deserves you to be there. I feel as if you're the only one that can help her through this."
Eli shrugged. "It's not really my problem. She's my mom, not my wife. I get in trouble and you buy her things to make her happy. Those are our roles, right?"
"You're a bright kid, Eli. Just think on it, okay?" said the slender man as he stepped away.
Eli followed the man with a hardened gaze. In his mind, he knew that Robert was not the cause of Eli's parents' split nor was he the reason that Malcolm was murdered. However, Robert was a sure patsy for the two angering thoughts that clouded Eli's mind.
After Robert was out of sight, Eli followed suit, moving for the steps. Descending said stairs, Eli completed his journey to the kitchen to fix him a bowl of cereal. He wasn't in the mood for some big fancy breakfast that Leila would have prepared if given the time and he doubts that Sam would complain but so much.
"Morning Eli." Sam cheerfully said as he walks into the kitchen. "Dad says that I'm going to hang out with you today!"
Eli spared the eight year old a glance before fishing the gallon of milk out of the refrigerator. He just knew that it was going to be a long day.
"So… Are we going to the park?" Sam half-way asks, half-way suggest.
"We'll see." Eli answered.
"Cool, cause I want to join a team like you but Coach Madison says that I need to work on my jump shot and since you can help me I figured-"
"Sam, calm down." Eli cut off. "You're giving me a headache."
"Sorry…"
Eli completed his bowl and stared at his brother's downcast expression. Like Eli, Sam had a lot of his respective father's physical characteristics as well. Sam was thin and his skin was barely tanned at all, easily passable as Caucasian despite his mixed heritage which contrasted Eli's tanned complexion that was only slightly darker than their mother's. Sam's curly hair was always quite the mess yet, despite Leila's clear dislike for long hair, was never cut to Eli's shaven lengths.
In hindsight, Eli could see that Sam was the America that his mother wanted while Eli and his darkened mind and body was the Bialya that she so hopelessly attempted to leave behind.
"I need to look for some jobs," Eli voiced to Sam as Eli walked towards the small circular table located in the kitchen. "But afterwards, we can go shoot around if the court isn't packed, alright?" Sam's blue eyes- also inherited from Robert- glimmered with glee and he nodded vigorously. "Alright. Eat a bowl of cereal and get freshened up. It's a long bus ride to the Square."
"Alright!" Sam cheered. It was at the moment that Robert came in to check on the boys as well as hand Eli some money. "We're going to Crinkly's Dad! Eli's going to help me shoot better!"
Robert gave his son a warm smile. "Well aren't you lucky to have a brother like that? My brother's normally gave me a wedgie and left me to be!"
Eli silently watched the interaction between father and son, anger slowly boiling inside of him again. In another world, it was Robert who decided to be a masked vigilante and died while Eli got to play the role of the son with a dad.
"Eli?" Eli's eyes snapped up to meet Robert's blue ones. The man was currently extending forty dollars towards Eli. "For lunch."
"Thanks." Eli said quietly as he grabbed the money.
"Sam," Robert gained the younger boy's attention. "Don't forget to take your phone with you. Just in case."
"Okay!" Sam answered while Eli glowered at the man. Once more, Eli did not blame Robert's caution but he certainly did not like that it was voiced.
"I'm gone. If Lily calls, tell her it'll be a late night." Robert said as he exits the kitchen.
Eli sat quietly, silently eating his cereal while watching Sam carefully make a bowl of Frosted Flakes like his older brother. There were no words to explain why, but Eli felt like telling Sam everything the boy was doing wrong before making another bowl just to set an example.
Instead, Eli simply watched quietly, even after Sam spilled quite a bit of milk.
"Crap!" Sam was heard whispering, a laugh coming from Eli. "Um…"
"Fix your bowl Sam." Eli instructed, a grin on his face as he thought about the times that he had failed to make a bowl of cereal and his parents- normally his mom- would be the one correcting his elbows or not to pour too fast like Sam had just done.
Sighing Eli, looked down at his cereal to bury those thoughts.
It was going to be a long day.
Crinkly Park was always crowded in the summer for all the right and wrong reasons. It was the ideal place for children to go to play but was also the most common place to find some illicit drug deal going down. And while most gang brawls in Cheshire Square occurred at this particular recreational center, it also housed the promising youth team, the Crinkly Sabers.
Stepping onto the caged concrete basketball court, Eli looked around before dribbling the ball he had brought with him. There was a game going on, on the court next to him which meant that he and Sam would have to be careful not to interfere in the slightly intense game.
"Hey! Eli!" George called from the metal bleachers. Eli gave Sam the ball while George flanked by two others approached him. Eli did not necessarily know the two taller teens with George, just noting that while they were both taller than Eli, one was noticeably thin and the other along the chubby lines. "What's good bruh? We missed you the other day."
Eli sighed. "I had to do something."
"Right, right, straighten shit up and all that," George stated before eying Sam. "Moms got you watching the other brother, huh?"
"Do you think he'd be here if she hadn't?" replied Eli, watching Sam miss a shot. "Damn boy has no hope in this game, you know? I'm just going to shoot around a bit, tire him out, then head back up to the apartment."
"Fo sho'," George said before putting an arm around Eli's shoulder. "Nigga, lemme holla at you for a sec. See, today is Friday so tonight is Friday night. You and I will be at a party, see?"
Eli shrugged George's arm off. "Can't. Need to find a job and then return him home before my mama finds a way to make my life any worse."
"She ain't one of those Al-Qaeda niggas, is she?" Eli, once again, gave George a warning glare. "Right, right, I forgot. No one disrespects your mom but you." Eli stepped away from the trio and neared Sam with George following. "Anyway man, Eric says that there's something going down on Saints Row. The way I figured, I could get you and your stingy friend to show up."
Eli snorted. "Hannah won't show up just because I'm there. She hates your brother." Eli then sighed at Sam's fourth missed shot. "You're not following through with your shot."
"Okay!" Sam replied as he chased down his missed shot and quickly ran to set up another one. "Like this?"
Eli sighed as he watched Sam miss again, this time getting the rebound before Sam could. He spotted George shaking his head while twisted a small lock of hair.
"Look," Eli said as he lined up a shot. "Get your feet set. Already have it in your head where you're at and don't over think the shot. Remember that your hips and legs are needed as well for the perfect jump shot. Most people think it's all in the wrist, but trust me, I've blocked a lot of shots when guys want to stay planted on the ground."
"Nigga you sound like Coach Mack!" George joked.
Eli let the verbal jab about his old coach rub off of him and eyed Sam.
"Once you feel comfortable, shoot." Eli said before taking a shot, banking it off of the backboard. "See how easy that was?"
George scoffed. "You used backboard. Your shot ain't shit."
"Coming from the guy that didn't make the team," Eli joked back. "I'd say my shot was ten-times better than yours on an off day."
"Yeah, yeah, speaking of that," George continued, dropping his hand to his side. "Now that you're up on the other side, you playing for them now or us?"
Eli only shrugged. Once more, he had no idea why his brotherly instincts always seem to kick in at odd times, but he really did not want Sam to feel inferior to him due to racial issues. While they were both half-Bialyan, they were literally black and white opposites of each other. George, and quite a few others, pointed it out every day. Eli on the other hand never seemed to bring it up around Sam to avoid Leila from growing angrier at him.
"Hey Eli!" One of Eli's former teammates called out to him from the other outside court. "We need a fifth. You in?"
"Yeah," Eli replied before eying Sam. "Stay here and work on your shot alright? I'm going to play this game and then we need to head back to the apartment, got it?"
"Okay…" From his response, Eli could tell that Sam was a bit saddened at the fact that Eli had chosen to go play with the other teens there.
Eli grunted. "Stop pouting already and make a freaking shot." Eli turned before adding, "Mama's made you so soft…"
He did not check to see if Sam heard him or not, and honestly, he could not have cared less. Sam lived a luxurious life and had never gotten into a serious fist fight in his life while Eli was nearly the opposite. In Eli's mind, his brother needed to toughen up some times.
"Alright, game to sixteen." Eli heard. "Ready?"
Eli simply nodded. He needed this. He needed a break from death and costumed men and women trying to make a difference. He needed a break from his rich stepdad and always annoyed mom. For once this summer, Eli just wanted to be Elias Jackson, seventeen year old boy from Cheshire Square, New Camford.
However…
"Hey!"
Eli stopped midway through the game when he heard Sam shout in distress. Looking over to where his brother was at, he found the two guys that were with George earlier cornering Sam with George standing nearby.
"Fucking hell," Eli grunted before he made his way over to the teen grabbing Sam by his collar. "Hey! What the hell's going on?!"
"This don't concern you man," George began as he stepped towards Eli. "This is between-"
"Shut the hell up George." Eli snapped before forcefully turning one of the other guys around. "What the hell do you think you're doing picking on the kid? Leave him alone."
"He called me a nigga." Eli's eyes widened. Once more, it was no secret that Sam was half-Caucasian and thus using the "N" word, especially in Cheshire Square, was highly problematic.
"He called me that word first!" Sam protested, being shoved against the fence. "Ow!"
"Alright, alright," Eli said pulling the second, and larger, guy away from Sam. "He's just eight, okay? He doesn't know what that word means. So just back off and-"
"Who the hell is listening to yo bitch ass? Why don't you be like your pops and jump off a roof or something?" The larger male shot back.
Before Eli had time to process his next action, he had swiftly punched the larger male with a quick right jab. More punches were thrown, each of them landing on the larger boy's face. Eli could feel it, every time his fist connected with the larger guy's jaw or chin, that the original aggressor was slowly losing his balance and probably consciousness. However, before Eli could go in for the proverbial kill, a pair of arms wrapped around him and Eli found himself being slammed by the second, scrawny guy.
"Not so tough now, huh bitch?!"
Eli covered himself as heavy fists rained down on him. Again, this was not Eli's first fight. He knew that he just had to endure the blows until the guy grew tired and then react. Of course, in order to react to a tired opponent, Eli first had to make sure that he was alright enough to last the blows. Again, this was another lesson he had received from his deceased father.
"Ay man, get off of him." George finally steps in. "Your beefs with the kid, not Eli."
If ever there was a moment that Eli legitimately hated George, it was now. Despite the punches stopping, Eli now how to worry that his half-brother was about to receive the beating of a lifetime.
"Leave me alone!" Sam was heard again, causing Eli to groan.
Earlier he thought that Robert was the perfect fall guy to take his anger out on. Now he was certain that he had found a better target.
"Hey asshole," Eli said as he rose to his feet. "You forgot something."
Sam watched in awe as his brother charged the tall skinny teen and leap into the air. With one solid superman punch, a move used by one of Sam's all-time favorite wrestlers Roman Reigns, Eli had effectively knocked the other guy out causing Sam to gasp.
Eli spat some of his blood on the ground, staring at the on-looking crowd.
"Anyone else want to fight my brother?!" He was angry and was nowhere near releasing all of it. "Huh?! Anyone?!"
"Yo man, chill out. You just knocked out-"
"Shut the fuck up George!" Eli snapped as he stepped towards his longtime friend. "You've been bitching about my mama and brother for a long time and I've been itching to punch you in the damn face for it!"
There was an eerie silence that followed; one loud enough that caused Eli to look around at the damage he had caused. The larger teen who he had been punching in the face prior to being slammed was being checked on by some of the guys he had been playing basketball with moments earlier. The skinnier boy was desperately trying to pick himself off of the ground, gasping and moaning in agony, while others attempted to keep him down to regain full consciousness.
Gazing at Sam, he saw his startled brother wiping some tears from his eyes. Staring at him, Eli was thrown back to the conversation he had with his mom days ago.
Did he have that monster inside of him that Leila had seen inside of Malcolm? No. Firstly, it didn't exist… Right…? No, it didn't. It couldn't. He lived with the man and saw nothing, just an ordinary man going about his ordinary day.
…But Malcolm wasn't ordinary, was he? He was secretly the Army Ant and had done so right under Eli's nose. He had information on villains and heroes that resided within the city and then some. So maybe Leila was being honest? Maybe there was a different side to Malcolm that Eli was better off not seeing?
"Get the ball, let's go." Eli said to Sam.
Sam immediately moved to do just that leaving Eli to believe that he may have indeed inherited something that was not genetically inheritable. Eli then glanced at the others who were slowly moving away from him.
He was not crazy.
He was not a monster.
He was not Bialya.
"Come on, let's get out of here." Eli muttered to Sam.
The two brothers left the area with Sam doing his best to keep up with Eli's quick pace. Both continued to look around themselves to see if they were being followed by any more of George's friends. Eli knew that Mil Santos Boulevard- better known to the residents of New Camford as Saints Row- was simply a street over and was home to the gang that George and his older brother, Eric, were a part of. Sam did not know the severity of his and Eli's actions earlier, but Eli did and was now on high alert.
Saints Row was not the most pleasant street in New Camford, or even Connecticut in general. It was the gang that this street produced combined with the failed vigilantes that originate in the area that gave Cheshire Square its bad reputation.
"Eli," Sam said quietly as the two crossed the street, Eli barely stopping to check for any traffic. "I'm sorry…"
Eli paused once they were safely on the sidewalk and turned on his brother.
"What the hell were you doing saying that word anyway?!" Eli burst. Sam meekly shrugged his shoulders, his eyes signifying that he was about to cry once more. "Christ Sam! You just pissed off the entire block!"
"I'm-"
"What? Sorry?" Eli angrily interrupted. He lowered himself so he was glaring directly into his brother's blue eyes. "Sorry doesn't change what you said. Sorry doesn't stop them from having a problem with me for saving you! And I swear to God if we didn't share the same mom, it'd be you lying on that court getting help to stand up instead of them!"
Sam seemed to flinch with each spiteful word that flew out of Eli's mouth, but the teen could not have cared less. Today should have been a rather smooth day with him searching for jobs and relaxing. Instead, he now had to find some way to get the Saints Row Children, the gang that ran Saints Row and pretty much all of Cheshire Square, off of his back for the remainder of the summer.
But seeing Sam's torn expression made Eli realize that his brother probably didn't understand any of this. Then again, the boy was eight and not all too well versed in street knowledge.
"Just keep quiet and don't say anything to anyone, got it?" Sam nodded at Eli's words. "Let's go."
The pair continued their trek back to Eli's apartment without speaking to one another. The silence did its job in calming Eli down a bit as well as giving him time to think about his next move. He figured that he would have to do George a "favor" later on to make things right, though that did not necessarily mean that Sam was going to be welcomed back into Crinkly Park without some resistance.
Again, not that Eli necessarily cared.
Soon the journey was over and Eli led Sam into the apartment building he called home. After hastily retrieving the mail, Eli traversed up to the third floor and practically dragged Sam into the apartment before slamming and locking the door behind him.
"Go in the back and play a game or something. I'll order a pizza." Eli commented. Sam, however, did not move. "Go!"
"Why?" Child logic, Eli told himself. Every child that he had dealt with in history had used the "Why" question to get a better understanding of the world around them. And every child that he has dealt with that had used this logic- which would be all of them- has annoyed him greatly with it.
"Because I said so." Eli barked. "Now go!"
"It's because I'm white, isn't it?" Sam said quietly, viewing the floor in front of him as he spoke.
"What? No. Where'd you get that from?" Eli was genuinely concerned now. Not because he thought Sam hated him, but because if this conversation got anywhere near his mother's ears, there would be hell to pay.
"That's what George said." Sam still refused to look his older brother in the eye and was now cradling the basketball in his hands as if it was a support line or something. "George said that no one wants my white A-S-S around."
Eli huffed heavily. "Sam, you're not just white, alright? It's like I'm not just black. Mama makes us both half-Bialyan."
"That's not better," Now Sam's voice held some of his inner anger, something Eli has rarely heard before. "They're terrorists!"
"No they're not," Eli said before adding, "Not all of them at least." Realizing that there was something much bigger than what he originally thought, Eli stepped towards Sam. "Has anyone ever said that to you?" Sam stood frigid. "Sam, has anyone given you a hard time because Mama is Bialyan?"
"They said…" Sam began. "They said that she was going to blow our house up."
"If she does, believe me, she's just mad." Eli replied. Seeing Sam's eyes snap up to him in horror, he realized that that may have not been the best response. "I'm kidding Sam. Mama wouldn't blow our house up- or anything else for that matter. Now go back there and play a game while I try to find a way to make this better for all of us."
"Why," Sam said again, now looking directly into Eli's eyes. "Why can't I say that word but you and George can?"
"…" Eli figured that there was no real way to explain the double-standards to an eight year old kid, especially considering that said kid was his brother. "Because…"
"Because you're black, right?"
"Yeah…" Eli was unsure that was the right answer to give Sam despite it being the only answer he could give to anyone. "Sam, do you remember learning about slavery in school?" Sam nods his head. "Okay, well that word had a different meaning back then and it was used to make blacks seem like… Less than important."
Sam frowned. "But why does George call everyone that?"
"Because he's an idiot." Eli saw a small smile on Sam's face and thanked God that he was finally breaking the depression cloud that had followed the duo back to the apartment. "Look, that word is bad no matter who says it, alright? It's just that some people- blacks at that- have a problem when anyone but another black says it, especially a white guy, got it?"
Sam seemed to take a moment to digest the information, which caused Eli to mentally cross his fingers. If he could squash this conversation here and now, then the only thing he had to worry about was hiding their scars, which was impossible.
Finally the kid nodded his head. "I think I got it." Eli was literally about to cheer until Sam gave him another interrogating look. "Do you think your dad would have beat them up if he was alive like Batman?"
Eli blinked. Now he really did not have an answer. He had never even heard of Army Ant, let alone knew what the guy did. If alive, would Army Ant have come to their rescue or was he too busy searching for Tobias Whale's contacts? Would Malcolm have come to his son's rescue?
Shaking his head, Eli answered his brother. "I don't know Sam. Now go play."
"Okay. I just wish my daddy was a superhero." Sam commented as he walked down the hall.
"No you don't." Eli quietly responded as he looked at the ceiling. "Believe me…"
Thump!
An hour later, Sam had played himself to sleep, leaving Eli's Mortal Kombat on as he dozed off on his older brother's bed. Eli had ordered pizza as he had promised and set up the dart board that his father kept. Again, throwing darts was one of the bar games that Eli had learned earlier in his life by the man that was currently plaguing his thoughts and it did its job at keeping him calm and collected.
Thump!
"Bulls-eye," Eli muttered to himself when he hit the target.
Eli looked at the circular board that was currently held up against the front door. There was a time that hitting the center was a task that a young Eli always wanted to do but never achieved it. Now he could hit it at will so long as he was within a certain range.
Walking over to the door from his original spot in front of the sofa, Eli's peace was disturbed when someone knocked on his door. Given the fact that Leila and Robert were still at work and the pizza man had already come and gone, there were only so many people who should be knocking on his door. Unfortunately, one of them so happened to be George.
"Eli, are you there?" Thankfully it was just Hannah, and with a breath of relief, he opened the door to see his ex. "Oh my… What were you thinking?"
Eli frowned before he remembered his facial features. The bruise and split lip- which had stopped bleeding- was much too obvious for him to deny. He did find it odd that Hannah had already gotten the news about what happened at the park earlier.
Eli blew out a heavy breath. "Apparently Sam called someone a nigga and George's guys flipped." Eli saw Hannah's shocked reaction. "Yeah, I know. The kid could recite the Declaration of Independence if someone said it."
"Wow… Carla said you beat Mike pretty badly before knocking Josh out with a single punch." Hannah recounted.
"I guess it went down like that. A part of me was worried that Sam could get hurt worse and my dear caring mother would kill me for it." Hannah grinned at this. "I don't know what to tell her though. I doubt the truth will be comforting. Then again, I think I'm all out of bullshit."
Giving Eli a pleasant smile, the short girl replied. "You'll think of something Eli. FYI, I didn't date you just on looks alone."
Eli had a witty comeback but his eyes caught something- someone- else moving behind Hannah. That person was Jade and, from the looks of it, she was quite hooked onto Eli's gaze. Or maybe he was hooked onto hers? Either way, her emerald eyes kept his brown ones locked until she made her way up to the fourth floor, a ghost of a smile on her features.
"Who was that?" Hannah asked. Eli looked at noticed that Hannah was currently eying Jade's retreating figure which raised several flags inside of his mind.
"Uh, Jade, I think," His response gained him an interrogative glance. "She's new. I met her a few days ago." He paused. "I was supposed to show her Venice Terrace but I didn't."
"She's cute." Hannah offhandedly said. Eli only bobbed his head back and forth, already predicting where this conversation was going. "Has George seen her? I mean, you know how you two can be about women."
"No, he hasn't, and no, I don't know how we can be about women." Eli answered in an offended tone.
"Oh, you know. Your little 'slump busters' or whatever." Eli scoffed at Hannah's words. "Don't give me that Eli. Just tell me right here, right now, that I won't walk in on you two screwing in an alley or something."
"First, Hannah, you are the only girl I've had sex with," Eli pointed out. "And secondly, I have an entire apartment to myself. Why would I use an alley?"
"Eli…"
"Fine, fine," Eli relented after realizing that his joke did not go over as well as he had hoped. "I promise that if anything should happen between me and Jade, you'll be the first to know. Are you happy now?" When Hannah nodded, Eli stepped aside to allow her to enter his apartment. "You're something else Hannah, you really are."
Hannah stepped by him and entered the place that was filled with the aroma of pepperoni and sausage pizza, Sam's choice. The girl seemed to look around for something out of place, something she always seemed to do, before taking a seat on the sofa.
"So," Eli said closing the door to remove the darts from the board. "Carla called you and you came rushing to see if I was going for round two with those guys?"
"Or," countered the girl pointedly. "I got worried that you might be the next SRC victim. You might be from Cheshire, but you do not live on Saints Row."
Eli hummed with detestation. "I know. And worse, I have to dumb it down to Perry the Parrot back there."
"How is he? They didn't hurt him too badly, did they?" Hannah questioned with legitimate concern.
"I think I took most of the beaten for him, thanks for your concern." Eli bites back sardonically. "And to be honest, if he had just kept quiet and went on about his own damn business, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"He's just a kid Eli," snapped Hannah. "Do you really expect him to know these sorts of things? Do you remember when my uncle called you a gringo and you had no idea what that was?" Eli waved Hannah off, going back to the other side of the room to throw his darts again. "You can't blame him for this Eli. George and his brother's gang are out of control, you know that."
"They haven't bothered me so-"
"Because you're black!" Hannah shot at him, throwing her arms in the air. "It's a different story for you. They think that you're one of them or will join them later." Once again, Eli ignored her outburst as best as he could and lined himself up with the board, now tossing the darts over the coffee table in the living room. "Eli, you know that I'm right. Carla and I? We have to deal with their BS every other day. You? You get by with nothing but a nod of their heads."
"Well I can't change their opinions, now can I?" Eli asked as he lifelessly tossed a dart at the board with his left hand, hitting the double ring beneath the number four. "Huh. Not bad."
Hannah sighs. "Look, all I'm saying is that the SRC is twisting the whole Black Lives Matter movement and turning it to a new level of racism. To them it's not just black lives matter, it's now everyone else's don't. And that's not what the movement is about."
"You know, for a Mexican, you know a lot about American black politics." Eli jokingly commented.
"I'm from New York." Hannah bitterly replied.
Eli smiled. "I know Hannah. But I seriously don't know what you want me to do about. Talk to Eric? Get George to talk to Eric for me?" Eli pauses and snorts. "Listen, I'm as fearless as the next idiot you can find, but I'm not challenging the entire SRC because they throw a few words your way. Ignore them and keep going about your day."
"Right, right, I'll ignore the ten guys that have me cornered in an alleyway that wants to rape me. I'm sure that'll work perfectly." Hearing her clearly now, even while trying to ignore her, Eli looked to see Hannah lean back on the couch with her left leg crossed over her right and her arms crossed. "You're a real piece of something Eli. I just wished that you weren't."
"Hannah, Sam broke the unsaid rule about the 'N' word and I stopped him from paying the consequences. Those guys on Saints Row aren't just looking for him, but me as well. So I don't know why you're all pissy like they're coming for you, but this is how I deal with it." Eli stated. "Besides, black or not, they'll come to make evens with me. I know that much about them."
"And why is that? Because some kid said something that they didn't like?" Eli gave up trying to argue with her and went back to his darts. "If this was a white officer gunning down some black kid you'd care."
"Haven't cared yet." Eli honestly replied as he took aim for the triple ring.
"He's your brother." Hannah pleaded.
"My half-brother and if it was up to me, he wouldn't be that." Eli responded as he prepared the throw.
"Malcolm would have stopped them." Eli's throw was misaimed, hitting the door above the board.
"Why'd you say that?" he all but bellowed to the girl.
"Say what?" Hannah innocently asked.
"That!" Eli shouted. "You know, you know, how I feel about my dad being some costume freak and you're just throwing it in my face. I'm not him, alright! And I damn sure never want to be!"
"Why?" Hannah quipped. "If you exclude yourself, who or what do you have to live for?" The comment caused Eli to gape at his ex girlfriend. "You're never thinking about your future or anyone else but yourself, so the way I see it, it should be you out there putting your life on the line. At least you'll mean something to someone else other than Sam."
"That's the dirtiest shit I've ever heard from you." Eli told her.
"It's true." Hannah said as she sat up. "You are, to Sam at least, the greatest thing in the world. Even I see how he looks at you. But you treat him and me and everyone else like crap. Even before your dad died, you were training so you could be the best on the basketball team. You've never asked me if I needed help studying, only coming to me when it was convenient and beneficial for you. And now you walk around like you're the only one that misses Malcolm and you're not."
Eli bit his tongue as this was the third time he had heard something like this. Mallory had said it first with his mother being second. The difference between the three times was the people behind the statement. Mallory, being Eli's closest living relative, was known to pal around or joke to him. Her statement, no matter how sincere, could be taken as a lie, even though he knew it wasn't. Leila was someone who Eli only listened to because she was his mother. When she said it, he just brushed it off as an annoying concerned mother.
But Hannah has never lied to Eli, well never on this level. She was always quite open about her feelings to him and has always given him the best advice that she could. So that left him with one thought in mind:
Was he really that selfish?
"Sit," Hannah said patting the seat beside her. Begrudgingly, Eli did as she requested and found himself being pulled into a tight embrace. "Lie here with me, okay? I don't like fighting with you. Even if you are a bit thick."
"At least one of us is…" Eli joked, only to be playfully pushed by the girl. "I'm only kidding Hannah. I like your small curves."
"Oh? Are they better than, say, Jade's?"
Eli only laughed with his friend. This was how their relationship was. They could be close from practically beating each other one moment and then laughing it off a minute later. It was an odd thing, especially after the pair had called a quits to their romantic affairs, but it worked well for them.
The two shifted on the couch in the midst of their laughter, ending up on their sides with Hannah safely in Eli's embrace. Eli figured that to every other normal person in the world, this was a sign of physical affection and nothing more. To any other guy that lived in this area, holding Hannah like this would be a sign that she was ready to go to the next level of intimacy.
But it wasn't.
This was simply Hannah comforting Eli and Eli accepting it. It was how it was supposed to be- in his opinion of course- considering that Hannah was the only one who would selflessly try to understand Eli whenever she calmed him. His dad was now deceased, Leila was too blunt and formal, and Mallory had her moments where she just did not care enough to comfort anyone.
Thus, regardless if sex was ever on the table or not, Eli would always enjoy moments he shared with Hannah like this one.
"Hi Hannah!"
That is, he would enjoy moments like this with Hannah whenever Sam would stay asleep.
Leila was pissed. Eli knew she would be and he was only glad that she was making dinner at the time when the two boys arrived home. With the food on the stove forcing Leila to stay near the kitchen, Eli was able to go into his room, turn on the laptop, and pretend to be listening to music with the headset that came with it.
Once again, bullshitting had its moments of usefulness.
That was hours ago though. Now Eli sat on the back porch past midnight, staring into the starry sky. It was relatively dark in Mancastle Hills which gave him a better chance to see the heavenly balls of gas above him unlike it was in Cheshire Square. Sure, it got dark during the nighttime, but there were literally too many streetlights for it to be the night sky to be this clear.
Hearing the backdoor slide open, Eli prepared himself for a lecture. Robert had yet returned home- something that Leila had also nitpicked about- and Sam was currently deep asleep. This gave the Bialyan woman the perfect opportunity to converse with Eli along and the American boy despised that greatly.
"I don't want George around Sam, understood?" Eli simply nodded, refusing to look at the woman at all. "I can't stop you from making your life into whatever hell you want to, but I won't let Sam go down that same path."
Eli snorted. "Might want to teach him common courtesy then."
"Is this coming from a boy who can't even look his mother in the eye?" The comment caused Eli to turn his glaring brown eyes to meet the same intense stare from his mother. "What were you thinking Elias?"
"I was simply playing a game of basketball with some guys from the team. Your son thought it'd be a great idea to mimic everything he hears and it got me into some seriously sh… Trouble." Eli said. He was sure Leila caught the near slip-up but she chose not to say anything about it. Weird. "Now I probably have the entire SRC patrolling the apartment waiting for me."
The woman of forty-five took a seat next to Eli in an empty lawn chair. For once, Eli could see the exhaustion on his mother's face. Her brown skin, only slightly lighter than his, seemed to sag around her eyes from the hours of work and apparent worry that she endured on a daily basis. He was expecting her to pull a cigarette out of her nightgown- though he tried hard not to think where she could have hidden one beneath- and light up in front of him again. Instead, she just took in a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"I'm worried about you Eli." Leila voiced. "I know earlier wasn't your fault- nor was it Sam's- but you could have gotten out of there without fighting. Truth is, I believe that you wanted someone to take your anger out on."
"I could have just been saving your son." Eli pointed out.
Leila gave him a warning glare. "You are both my sons, Elias. And by saving Sam, you put yourself in danger."
"Well what was I supposed to do? Those guys were pissed and Sam shouldn't have said what he said." retorted the teenager.
"I wanted you to get you both out of their without physical confrontation," Leila admonished. Eli scoffed at her statement and looked away. "But," Eli gave his mother a glance out of the corner of his eyes. "You did what I expected you to do."
"Right, because I'm the son from the ghetto with no home training. All I know how to do is fight and-"
"No, you are not." Again, Leila's voice was very heavy and seemed to force Eli to withdraw into himself out of reflex. "I expected you to fight because you're so angry all the time. It was bound to happen sooner or later."
Eli sat quietly, turning his attention away from his mother at the moment. She was right. He was looking for someone to unleash his anger out on and the opportunity was just too appealing to turn it down. He argued- mentally of course- that anyone would have done the same thing in his position.
"I don't want you to think that I'm not thankful for, not only protecting Sam, but standing up for your brother, because I am," Leila suddenly announced. "But I do want you to know that I do worry about you, probably more than I should."
"Uh-huh…" Eli breathes out. "I guess I should apologize for that too, shouldn't I?"
To Eli's surprise, Leila giggles quietly. "You remind me so much of myself, Elias. It's a wonder how Malcolm was able to keep you under control."
Eli honestly had no idea how to respond. The statement held a degrading meaning to it, making him feel like a juvenile delinquent who constantly got in trouble. However, Leila said it in such a lighthearted tone while comparing herself to her son that Eli found that his mom meant for it to be a joke or a trivial deduction. Either way, he remained quiet until she calmed down in hopes that she would explain.
"I forget, sometimes, that while my sons have a lot of their respectful fathers' physical attributes that you, Elias, share a lot of my mental attributes." Leila commented as she calmed down from her laughter. Soon she took a thoughtful glance upwards. "Maybe that's why…"
"Why what?" Eli finally broke his silence in need of answers. "Maybe what's why?" Leila gave Eli a narrow-eyed glance before closing her eyes and shaking her head. "Why can't you tell me?"
"Because," the woman with closed eyes spoke. "You're not ready. You're still too angry. It's best if you just let it go."
"I can't do that. You know that." Eli pointed out, gaining a small uncharacteristic shrug of the shoulders from Leila. He did not know whether shrug meant that she agreed with Eli or if she did not care altogether. And that annoyed him more.
Eli grunted when Leila apparently seemed to end the conversation right there. Whatever it was that she knew that he didn't was bothering him greatly. He wanted- no he had to know. The fact that Leila knew how badly her son wanted the information and yet refused to give it to him only fueled his fire to find out on his own. That would, not only give him the answer that he was looking for, but also bragging rights that he obtain said answers on his own.
Soon Leila looked back at Eli, the sudden action causing the boy to momentarily freeze up. His mother had always had a somewhat heavy gaze, making the even the strongest of businessmen and women relent to her or her clients' wishes with a simply glance. During the last three years, Eli had limited the number of times that he and his mom made direct eye contact like this for that very reason. She broke him down mentally and it startled him.
However, her eyes at this moment did not break his will and defiance down like they had earlier. They had not stricken him with some unseen blow that would normally cause him to retract a statement or lower his tone of voice. Instead, they seemed somewhat inviting and caring. It was almost as if he was knocked back to his five year old self and was relaxing in the arms of his mother during thunderstorms.
"Are you alright, Elias?" Leila's question caused Eli to blink. How long was in that trance? "Maybe you should get some sleep."
"I'm fine." Eli snapped back in a low tone, looking away from his mom.
"Are you su-"
"I'm fine." Eli interrupted before the woman could finish her statement. Feeling the mood in the atmosphere shift, Eli rose from his seat. "I'm going to go lie down. I'll try not to do anything that causes Sam to get hurt or you to smoke."
"…" Leila seemingly had no response. Eli figured that he may have caused this gentle moment to go sour but his mother spoke before he could apologize. "Get some rest Elias. We'll talk tomorrow, I suppose."
He knew it. He fucked up. That was the only way to word this situation. In this rare moment where Leila Rassan had actually laughed, Eli would ultimately find some way to screw it up. Why? Because he was caught staring? Because Leila had recommended him to get some sleep? Or was it really because he was as angry as she said he was; angry for almost no reason at all.
"I'm sorry." The apology was almost inaudible for even Eli and it was him speaking. Thankfully, his mom seemed to hear it as she gave him a small nod of acknowledgement.
"I know Elias. Just get some rest."
He hadn't meant to snap at her. He badly wanted to tell Leila that as he reentered the house. He hadn't meant to snap. It was a reflex, honestly. Years of growing distance- distance that she had started mind you- between the two of them had just cultivated an uneasiness that was always best avoided. Motherly statements such as "I love you" were never outright said by Leila and son responses such as "Goodnight Mom" were never thought of by Eli. For nearly ten years, this was the norm.
So what had happened outside? Eli figured it was her closing in on him. Affection was something Leila only showed Sam, and at times Robert too, but Eli was an obligation. He was not used to her being thankful or her laughing. Sure she's been proud of him before, but she only said it, never really showed it like she was closed to doing just now.
Therefore, Eli concluded, this was her fault. Leila knew that Eli was not used to seeing her on a daily basis, never mind her laughing. How did she expect him to respond to her laughter or her staring at him? Of course he would have a problem with it, he wasn't used to it. And she knew it. She always knew it.
Returning to his bedroom, he closed the door and rested his back against it.
"Work," Eli said to himself. "I need to continue working."
He was becoming like his mother, something he reminded himself again as he grabbed the notebook he had been writing in, one of his father's notebooks that he had obtained the previous day, pen, and finally the laptop beneath his bed. Work was beginning to be his escape from real-life events. At one point, sports and video games held this honor. But now, it was diving into his father's findings and trying to solve a problem no one else seemed to be interested in doing.
He, Elias Jackson, was becoming exactly like his mother, Leila Rassan. Worse, he liked it.
It was an odd revelation at first. Eli had never been one to particularly like studying nor was he one to do it as often as others like Hannah, but this was different. He could only metaphorically compare it to finally finding his way out of a cave. With each new piece of information, the light at the end of the tunnel became clearer and brighter. The trek to finding out who killed Miles and why would soon be over and Eli would finally be able to rest easier.
He paused in his thoughts.
Leila had asked him when he first arrived. She had clearly asked him if there was anything to she could do to make this easier on him and he, in rage, outwardly shunned her for it.
"Focus," Eli told himself, his brown eyes meeting the screen again as he opened another file. "Sapphire Stagg, daughter of Simon Stagg. She's the Chief Operating Officer of Stagg Robotics as well as a board member of Stagg Enterprises. Dad's former boss." Eli paused as he wrote down the woman's name and occupation in his notebook. "Why was she a person of interest?"
Much like Tobias Whale, Eli figured that there was something about Sapphire or her activities that garnered Miles's suspicion. However, it was much easier to figure out why a known drug dealer would draw question from a hero- a wannabe hero- instead of thinking of the multiple ways of why a COO of a company owned by her father would make this list.
Maybe she was a hero or aiding Army Ant somehow? He did have some Stagg equipment.
Eli marked Sapphire's page with a giant question mark in the upper left-hand corner and continued with the next file.
"Alexander Wyvern, alias, the Bookworm," Eli read quietly before jotting the information down on a new page in his notebook. After he finished with the man's name, he continued reading the screen. "Says he's from Gotham City. A serial killer that escaped from Blackgate and ending up living somewhere in New Camford. Has already killed fifteen people ranging from fifteen to forty-eight. Rumored to have killed more."
Eli took a break from reading and jotted down the man's height and weight. He scanned through the information presented on the laptop before opening his father's bulky notebook. Flipping through the pages, Eli soon found a picture matching the one on the screen and read on.
"Dad apparently thought Bookworm lived somewhere in Venice Terrace. The guy must have some money." Eli noted. "His MO seems to be against people against reading? What a joke." Eli then came across another fact that caused his eyes to widen. "He killed over a hundred people in Gotham, two while in prison? Maybe he isn't a joke after all…"
Eli continued reading on Alexander Wyvern, finding out more and more about the serial killer from Gotham City. However, the more he read into this Bookworm character, the more he could hear his mother reading to him as she did when he was a child. And pretty soon he was reliving the Friday nights when his dad would rent a VHS from the old Blockbuster down the street and he and his parents would watch the movie. Normally, said movie was the adaptation of a book the Leila had read to Eli such as the Jungle Book or Aladdin.
Eli shook his head.
"Focus Eli, focus." he scolded himself before taking in a deep breath and looking back at the screen. "You need to finish this."
Those were the words that returned his attention back to Bookworm and Tobias Whale. That was the mantra needed for him to read up on everything his father had on Sapphire Stagg. This was the diversion he desperately used to once more bury the happier times of his childhood until they resurfaced again.
Author's Notes: So here is chapter three, I hope you liked it. Hopefully you can't tell that it was rushed too much (I know the fight scene shows it) but other than that, I hope it is up to par. Anyway, about Eli's physical attributes. I want more about Eli to be revealed as more about the city is revealed. In other words, the more you learn about the city, the more you learn about Eli and vice versa. This will help establish both before midpoint of the story. Again, Hannah and George play quite the role in Eli's character development as well as Sam and Leila (not so much Robert). Next chapter introduces one of the two men that train Eli (one trains Eli's mind, the other his body), who just so happens to be Jade's mystery god-father. Can you guess who it is? If you do, or have any other questions, comments, or thoughts, leave a review or PM and I will respond to it during the next review corner. Until then, peace.