Joan coached Nomura into telling her more of the Stricklander story. She learned he gave up his life as a troll to marry Jim's mother. But though Nomura gave her a lot of facts, the story seemed shallow and filled with half-hearted jabs at Stricklander.

Twenty minutes into the conversation, Nomura ended it and put on music instead.

Gentle piano tunes lulled Joan as she lay in her corner. It was hard not to think about Chris. Her eyes stung from unshed tears as she remembered her brother's blood covering the street. She hugged her pillow. What about David? And Mom? I can't go back and check on them. That'll just put them in more danger, and Josh will never forgive them now.

She lay still as the music eroded her worries just enough to let her sleep.

"Joan…" Someone shook her. "Hey, Joan."

She opened bleary eyes. "Jim!" Joan shot upright. "Chris – is he –?"

Jim smiled. "He should be fine. But, if he gets an infection, we're taking him to the hospital – no objections allowed!"

Joan hugged him. "Thanks."

"He was lucky," said Jim. "The bullet didn't hit any organs."

"Thank God." Joan rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"He's still out, so you can see him later. I thought knowing he was okay might help you sleep better."

"Yes, definitely. Thank you." Joan hesitated. "So, I hear your stepfather tried to kill you too."

"Huh? Oh, you mean Strickler. Yeah. We… worked through it."

"I don't think I can do that with mine…" Joan studied the ceiling.

Jim shook his head. "People who don't want to change won't."

"But, if they do want to, they can." Joan hugged her knees to her chest. "Maybe this was the wake-up call Chris needed."

"I hope so. He really cares about you."

"Yeah, I'd say so. He just took a bullet for me." Joan gave Jim an unsteady smile. "You look tired. You should get to sleep."

"Hope you can rest better now," he said.

"I think I will. Thanks again," Joan said as Jim left.

Joan entered Blinky's keep. Chris still lay on his mattress, but now several pillows propped him up, and he breathed in deep, even draws.

Chris stirred, then smiled. "Sis."

"Hey, bro." She knelt by his bed. "How're you feeling?"

"Like I spent the night chuggin' expired vodka then got run over by an elephant."

"At least you'll live." She took his hand. "That's a relief."

"You been online?" Chris pulled out his phone.

"No, not really. Why?"

"Josh went viral." He held his phone toward Joan. "Check it out. 'Local gangster on rampage while shouting about a pink monster.'" He scrolled down the page. "'Police were called to talk the gang leader down from his apartment building roof but were unable to approach as shots were fired. Once the man was apprehended, it was determined that his erratic behavior was caused by an overdose.'"

Joan gasped. "After Nomura… he must've been furious. He hates it when people talk to him like that, and now it's happened twice. He lost it! Is… he still in jail?"

"Yep. He shot up the apartment building. Lucky he didn't hurt anybody. They got him for reckless endangerment. No one's going to take him seriously now, anyway." He switched apps and handed Joan the phone. "Watch this."

The muffled video, taken from a fourth-story apartment window showed Josh, gun in hand as he staggered around the street. "It was a monster!" he wailed. "Monster thinks it can trick me – I'll kill you, monster! Kill anybody who dares make a fool outta me!" Josh spooked and shot a trash can. A rat streaked from behind it and Josh screamed, "Monster!" He took pot shots at the rat. "You're dead!"

The video ended.

"Wow. He is going straight to the loony bin for sure." Joan handed the phone back.

"Hopefully."

"Chris… You know that's what gang life will do to you too… right?"

Chris looked away but nodded. "Yeah…"

"You're not going back, are you?"

"You know it's not that simple in our neighborhood. Don't got gang protection – get attacked. I can't just leave Mom and David." He shook his head. "But… things can't keep goin' this way either." He laid a hand over his bandages.

"We could always… go to the police – ask for protection."

"You mean snitch," Chris said.

"What do we owe those people? They dragged us down, never gave us anything, just took. They're leeches! With Josh exposed, this is our chance. We can tell the truth. He shot you. The rest of the gang will target us, and we can get protection. We can leave."

Chris met her gaze.

"We might never get a chance like this again," she said and squeezed his hand. "We can't keep relying on the trolls to fix our problems for us. Come on. Please…"

Blinky's keep fell silent.

Joan could still see pain in Chris's face, and not all of it was from the gunshot.

Her brother nodded. "Okay."

Joan grinned and flung her arms around him as she cried for joy.

"Ahhh!" Chris hissed. "That hurts!"

"Suck it up," Joan sniffed. "I just needed to hug you."

"Thanks, sis…"

Joan let go. Her smile still lit her face and Chris matched it.

Nomura watched from the doorway.

Blinky approached her. "They grow up so fast, don't they? Humans."

"She'll be all right now. That's what matters," said Nomura.

Blinky nodded. "Agreed."

This chapter has been edited by Dtill359