Anguish in resonance

by The.Fictionist-2077

Have you ever wondered what the catalyst to rise of the Joker was? This is a story about how the laughing man became who he is today, and how he got there. But be warned, it doesn't have a happy ending.

4. Chapter 4: Coddle

Chapter 4 – Coddle

Two days prior to Arthur's return

Lucy was awoken by a gentle slap to her left cheek. She moaned and fluttered her eyes open; she was confronted by the concerned face of Asilia. When Lucy made it clear that she was awake, and she did so by bobbing her head at Asilia, the woman in her sight sighed in relief and slumped back in her chair.

"Oh thank God, you're ok."

Lucy sat up on the couch and looked at the woman, puzzled "Why wouldn't I be?"

Asilia cocked a brow and leaned forward, "Kid, you suddenly showed up at our work place, with an injured foot, barely clothed, and you were with one very sleazy man."

Lucy's temporary amnesia quickly died and she jumped in her seat, "Where's Aashi?"

Asilia smiled reassuringly, "She's here. She's getting some stuff to patch you up with. Say, what was your name again?"

Lucy blushed, "Oh, I, uh, I'm Lucy."

Asilia nodded, "Nice to meet you, Lucy. I'm Asilia. I'm Aashi's friend."

"I know. You told me last time." Lucy looked at the Asilia with curiosity, "Where are we? What time is it?"

"You're at my apartment and it is…" Asilia looked around for the clock, "Well, I don't know what the time is but I know its late." Apprehension grew on her face, "Where are your parents? They must be worried."

Lucy frowned deeply, her chin quivered, "My daddy is not home and my, my…"

Asilia was taken aback by Lucy's reaction so hurriedly stated. "Oh, don't worry. You don't have to tell me. It's ok. Aashi said she's going to be looking after you for some time so I was just wondering…"

Lucy sniffled, "Ok. OK" she nodded miserably, "Hey, A… asilly"

"Asilia" she corrected, grinning.

"Asill...ia"

"Yes. Asilia."

"Asilia, why do you sound so funny?"

Again, she was taken aback by Lucy, but she did not take offence in fact it made her chortle, "Oh. Oh. English is not my mother tongue. French is my first language, then Swahili and then English."

Lucy scrunched her brows, "What is Swahili?"

"Swahili is a language spoken in parts of Africa like in Kenya, my home."

"Oh" Lucy understood.

A door was heard being opened and shut, then from behind the wall Aashi appeared. She perked up somewhat when she saw Lucy conscious, "You're finally awake, child."

She then looked to Asilia pointedly, who nodded and took her leave, going to the bedroom.

Aashi set the first aid kit on the coffee table and dragged the chair that Asilia was on forward towards Lucy. She gently grabbed Lucy's left foot and raised it; Lucy hissed as the wound began to throb but Aashi was not deterred. She set the foot on her knee and turned to the box.

She opened the box before turning around and carefully peeled off the now filthy sock off of Lucy's tiny foot. Her toes were bruised and her bug toe was almost black. Lucy began to cry at the sight of her injured foot but Aashi shushed her, "Don't fret, child. It will heal if it is taken care of properly."

She assessed the wound, in which she made Lucy turn her foot side to side, and finally concluded, "It's not broken, fortunately-"

"Why do you always use big words!" Lucy complained.

Aashi huffed, "In this case, fortunately means luckily-"

Lucy interjected again, "So why can't you say that!"

Aashi raised both her brows, "You need to read more so you can learn new words. Now, as I was saying, your foot is just bruised. There are some lacerations, cuts I mean, but they're not to bad."

She set Lucy's foot down and headed towards the kitchen but it caused great distress to Lucy nonetheless, "Where, where are you going?"

Aashi called from the kitchen, "I'm coming!"

Lucy shook as Aashi had never raised her voice, and although she raised her voice now it was not from anger but to ensure Lucy heard her, it still surprised Lucy. When Aashi returned she had a bowl and a small white towel. She set the bowl on the coffee table and took Lucy's foot on her knee again.

She dipped the towel in the bowl and brought it back up, squeezed the excess water and was about to clean Lucy's foot but she flinched and attempted to retract her foot but Aashi had a hold on it, "What are you gonna do?" Lucy asked in a panic.

Aashi replied, coolly "I'm going to clean the wound so I can have a look at your foot properly".

Lucy relaxed momentarily, but tensed again, "Will it hurt?"

Aashi leaned her head to the left slowly, "Yes, most likely, but I will try to make sure it doesn't."

Lucy gulped and gave her permission to continue. Aashi was quick to act on her consent knowing that Lucy might take it back but like she had said, which shocked Lucy to a great extent, Aashi had made sure not to cause Lucy much pain.

There were moments where Lucy hissed in pain but the majority of the cleaning session went by without much pain. It allowed Lucy to examine Aashi up close.

Her sharp brows were furrowed slightly in concentration. Her large almond eyes were filled with what looked to be a great pain that Lucy did not understand completely. It was like her eyes were on the verge of crying in that moment but she was holding back tears which gave them a glassy look. There were also sparks of anger every now and then in her large black eyes but her coolness returned to ensure her anger didn't flare. Her mouth was in a stern line but grew even sterner as more skin was cleaned. It was like she was upset with the wound itself and wanted to make it go away. Her nostrils would flare on occasions as if she was lost in a deep discourse with herself in her mind and she was agreeing with herself.

The light from the attached kitchen had cast a shadow on the right side of her face but instead of creating a monster like it did sometimes in Lucy's eyes, it only confirmed Lucy's image of Aashi: she was a mysterious woman. She was a bit like a superhero to Lucy as she had saved her more than once now and had given more of a damn in those few months than her biological mother ever did.

Moreover, the shadow highlighted how the muscles rippled on her upper torso with each movement. How she had not noticed the muscles before was lost to Lucy though it explained why her shoulder wasn't very comfortable.

There were specks of blood on her, on her nose, her eye lids and some even on her sweaty forehead. Her body was more bruised than it was before; there was a bruise on her left shoulder, large bruises on her ribs and some on her elbows but her face was untouched which was strange to Lucy as she would have though boxers or any fighter would have gone for the face.

Despite all this, being covered in blood, sweat and bruises and having a body Lucy thought only men had, Lucy found Aashi to be one of the most beautiful woman on the earth.

"Aashi" Lucy tapped her hand holding the foot, "Why is your face so pretty?"

For the first time in half an hour, Aashi looked up with mild confusion, "What?"

"Your face" Lucy pointed.

Aashi misunderstood though, thinking that Lucy was asking why her face wasn't bruised, "I protect my face in fights and let my body take the hits more because my body is tough and my face isn't. I practiced Iron Body when I was younger, you see, so I have a lot of stamina."

Lucy was about to correct herself but her curiosity got the best of her, "What's that?"

"Iron body is when you train your body so that your muscles are as tough as metal, Iron, and stamina is how long you can take something. Unfortunately though with Iron Body one cannot feel anything. Anything. Both pain and pleasure… so I stopped." Aashi finished cleaning her foot and began to apply a medical glue to the cuts on her big toe.

She continued to let Lucy talk so that she was distracted from what she was doing.

"Isn't that good? That you can't feel anything."

Aashi hummed in consideration, "Not always. My fighting days are over."

"But you were fighting before in that ugly place."

Aashi genuinely chuckled, "That's not fighting, child. At least not real fighting, that was child's play, that's what that was."

"What do you mean?" when Aashi didn't reply soon enough, Lucy tugged her wrist, "Hey, Aashi. Hey"

"I have travelled to many places, child. I have fought many fights and even wars and let me tell you, what I do now, what I do now is nothing like the real fights. It's too easy. If I was serious…" She looked Lucy dead in the eye "I wouldn't even let them touch me. But, like I said… what I do now is not real fighting."

"But… you're not old yet."

"So?"

"So, most people only retire when they become old."

Aashi's eyes clouded over and Lucy didn't like that look on her face, "Hey Aashi". When she didn't even react Lucy took her now bandaged foot off of her knee and put her small hand on her cheek, "Aashi."

Aashi blinked rapidly and then looked at Lucy who was standing in front of her with some effort, "I didn't retire. I just stopped real boxing because it's bad for one's health and I may not look like it but I'm really old."

Aashi stood and looked at Lucy with a look of sympathy, "Your physical age does not mature you but your experiences do. You may not understand this yet but you will one day, child. You are one such person who has aged far too quickly." She affectionately patted her head which made Lucy blush.

No one had shown her affection like that in a while and the only one to have done so before had been her father but he was distant now because of his work. Maybe she might even do what her daddy does sometimes…

Lucy held her arms above her head and pouted up at Aashi who in turn cocked a brow, "No, no. You must walk by yourself so that you don't rely on me too much. Come on, child." She began to head towards the kitchen but paused when Lucy whined "It hurts!"

"Child, many things in life will hurt not just physical wounds but that doesn't mean you should just give up. You should do things by yourself so you become independent and strong. Now come here so we can feed you."

Lucy groaned which Aashi responded to quickly as well, "No, no. No matter how much you huff and puff, I'm not going to help you. You're going to have to do it yourself. Come on."

Lucy giggled slightly at Aashi and slowly limped her ways towards Aashi. Once she was by her feet she pointed to the stools, "Ai, look they're too big for me, and I can't reach."

Aashi gave her a knowing look but lifted her to one of the bar stools anyway which made Lucy smirk in childishness.

By this time Asilia returned, "The guest room is ready!" she said overjoyed at having that done.

"There, you have a bed now too, see everything's going to be better" Asilia exclaimed as she joined Lucy at the island.

Lucy nodded but didn't say anything becoming slightly shy in front of Asilia. Aashi took note of this and asked Lucy, "Child, do you want a peanut butter and jam sandwich?"

"Uh, no. I want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!" she bounced in her seat at the thought of it.

Aashi gave Lucy a playful angry look, "That is exactly what I said. You Americans" she sighed, shaking her head. "Asilia, I assume you're alright with your left overs?" Asilia nodded.

As Aashi got to work, Lucy asked "Are you not from here, Ai?"

Simultaneously, Aashi and Asilia guffawed, "No, no. Child, I wouldn't even dream of being an American!"

"What? Why? Asilia what about you?"

"No, kid. I'm Kenyan, I've only been in America for about two years but like she said, I wouldn't want to be an American."

"But" Lucy became to stranger noises as she was at a loss of words, "Why?! Where are you from then Ai?"

"I don't consider any country my own nation. I was born in Mumbai, India but like I said, I travelled a lot. As for the 'why', well I don't like any nation but I hate America."

"Why? You can't just hate a whole country like that"

Asilia patted her on the shoulder in comfort, "Oh kid, everyone hates America. We can't help it. I even met some Americans who hate America too so" she shrugged.

Lucy still couldn't process what these woman were telling her, "But why?"

"For so many reasons" they both replied simultaneously. Asilia then was quick to add, "but that doesn't mean we hate the people. Just the country and its government."

"Then why are you both here?"

"Money!"

Lucy looked at Asilia and was about to protest but Aashi set the plate full of three sandwiches in front of her. Lucy's eyes bulged out of her head at the sight and began to stuff herself.

"Woah, calm down, kid, Remember to chew as well!" Asilia nearly shouted when Lucy began to choke. Aashi handed Lucy a large full glass of milk.

Next Asilia's plate was handed to her but Lucy didn't care enough to see what she got – she was too concentrated on what she had on her own plate.

There was some chatter between the two women but Lucy only listened in when she heard Aashi claiming "I won that one. He lost all bets."

"What?" Lucy piped in.

Aashi and Asilia exchanged looks but Aashi gave in, "Tonight's match – I won it."

"Oh yeah, I saw Ai in the ring. How did you do it? That was amazing, that man was so big. Weren't you scared?"

"To be frank, Bane was a worthy opponent but unlike most people I'm not afraid of him despite his… imposing figure. The difference between him and I is that he fights like a young man with nothing held back. That was his mistake and for underestimating me. He was no experienced fighter... but if he trained himself then perhaps he could have a chance in the future in besting me."

Asilia gave her a weary look, but didn't want to speak about her issues in front of Lucy. "Hey, Lucy. I think you should get to bed now, oui?"

"Ok" Lucy slid off her stool and waited for Asilia to lead the way, but Asilia was much more kinder than Aashi and instead took her hand rather than letting her walk all the way. Without a second thought, Lucy asked "How did you become friends with Ai?"

Asilia smiled warmly, and looked ahead "We met in Madagascar briefly and then by pure coincidence we met again. That's when we hit it off-" Asilia abruptly cut herself off but Lucy had already heard, "What does that mean? 'Hit it off'?"

"Uh, we basically became good friends."

"That's cool. It sounds like a movie."

Asilia heard Aashi grunt with mirth at her response so Asilia shot her a look which expressed her need to yell at Aashi to shut up, but Aashi's smug smirk didn't falter.

When they reached the guest room, Asilia rubbed Lucy's back and grinned, "Good night, Lucy. I hope you have sweet dreams" as Asilia left she glanced at Asilia with concern but as they both shut the door Lucy began to whimper.

Aashi waved Asilia off and leaned on the threshold, "What's wrong, child?"

"Can you, can you stay here… with me? I don't like the dark… or being alone." Her hands were trembling and she was sitting on the bed with wide watery eyes.

Aashi left without saying anything that caused the tears in Lucy's eyes to stream down her face and her heart began to palpitate. Yet, just as the dark shadows began to circle around Lucy, a figure emerged from the light and entered the darkness.

Aashi sighed inwardly, stepped inside with a chair but didn't close the door for the sake of allowing the few rays of light to enter the room.

She set the chair beside the bed and sat down with her arms folded but unfolded them again when she saw Lucy's shivering body. She sighed lightly, reached into her pocket and pulled out a tissue. She held Lucy's face with her left hand and wiped her face with the right hand.

Lucy groaned and held her left hand. Her eyes scrunched together when the tissue swiped over near her eyes. Aashi then made Lucy blow her nose twice before she was satisfied. She nodded and leaned back in her chair, folding the tissue and placing it on the floor.

Lucy shakily lifted the duvet up to her body but when it kept slipping from her shaking hands; Aashi leaned over and tucked Lucy in and then ran a hand over her cheek, "Relax, child."

Aashi's hand was warm and brought some solace to Lucy. Not only had Lucy feared the dark but now she feared her mother would return in the dark to finish her off. When she was taken by that sleazy man she had not forgotten what her mother had done but she had become preoccupied with the immediate situation, however as the two woman were about to leave, all the worries came back to Lucy. She didn't want that.

She didn't want to be alone in the dark.

"You were right, Ai. Mommy is not my real mommy."

Aashi pitied the child but didn't say anything. She patiently waited for Lucy to finish speaking.

Big waterfalls began to cascade down her face and to her ears because she was lying down facing the ceiling, "Mom- Harleen tried to hurt me real bad. She was trying to do awful things to me. She took a hammer and tried to hit me with it."

Aashi's hands clenched painfully tight but still remained silent. Lucy looked at her then with a desperate look "You were right!"

Lucy blubbered without constraint, pulling the heels of her hand on to her eyes. As her world began to deteriorate there was a sudden warmth on her face and when she had her breathing in control she removed her hands from her eyes to discover that Aashi had put a hand on her forehead.

She was just resting her hand on her forehead, not moving it, just holding it there to anchor Lucy back to her.

When Lucy looked at Aashi's face she nearly choked on her tears. Aashi's eyes, now a dark brown, looked like they were glowing, "Lucy, don't cry."

Lucy sniffed twice, "Ok, ok."

A tissue was on her face cleaning her face again. The second tissue was thrown on the floor as well but this time Aashi did not remain silent.

"Believe me when I say that I know it hurts. You can't change that but that doesn't mean you need to mourn over that loss forever." Aashi closed her eyes and inhaled sharply, "What I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't let that pain control you or keep you from living."

Aashi spoke as simply as she could, "The world is vast, it's big, you should see it and who knows you might find a mother. You might even find something what you weren't expecting to find like a friend. Even if you never have a mother, at least you still have a father. He may not be around but he still looks out for you. Where ever you may go he will still be with you." Ironically, he just wasnt there yet.

Aashi paused, "It's your life, Lucy so you decide what to do with it. It's up to you to be a strong person or a weak one. To live or to just survive. To be either lonely or to create your own family. Your life may not have had a happy beginning but you can choose to have a happy ending but that depends on you."

For once, Lucy completely understood what Aashi was saying.

"Lucy, everyone can exist, everyone can die but few people actually live. To live is to suffer, you cannot avoid that in this world, and to suffer is to give your pain a purpose."

Whenever Aashi spoke she always inspired such awe in Lucy. From what Lucy had observed, Aashi was a strong and wise woman. She was strong both in body and mind. Lucy didn't know much about Aashi's life but she had a feeling she had gone through a lot of suffering as well. Maybe that's why she understood Lucy unlike most people.

What she liked most about Aashi though was that she wasn't a bitter or cold person either, and like Asilia said she was just misjudged. It was the little things like the hand that was still on her forehead that truly revealed what sort of person Aashi was.

"So, Lucy, what will you do?"

Lucy sat up so Aashi retracted her hand. Lucy's breathing increased in pace as she came to a conclusion, "I want to be like you!"

Aashi blinked rapidly twice in shock, raising her brows "Like me?"

"Yeah, tough. So I can protect myself and my daddy when he gets old."

Aashi chuckled, her eyes wrinkling, "Alright. You want to be tough? Then I'll help you along the way, child."

Lucy blushed, coming with a thought, "Hey Aashi, can I touch those?" she said pointing to her abs seeing as she was still in a sports bra.

Aashi straightened her back like a board. "Uh, ok."

Lucy poked her upper abs, "WOAH! That feels like a rock!"

Aashi chortled, "They're supposed to be like that. Now, come on, child. Go to sleep, you have a long day tomorrow."

As Aashi moved to stand, a tug brought her back, "Can you stay?"

An affable look set in Aashi's eyes, "Very well, child. If it helps you sleep."

Lucy lied back down and let Aashi tuck her in again; she was not used to it but it was nice. She slept with a smile.

As Aashi heard her breathing slow she took this as her que to leave. She quietly took the chair and left the room with the door still open.

After she replaced the chair, she went to Asilia's room where she sat reading 'A tale of two cities'. When Aashi entered Asilia's eyes slowly travelled up to her body as she closed the door.

She set the book on the side table, and got out of bed. She sauntered up to Aashi and weaved her arms around her neck, Aashi in return held Asilia by the hips, "Asilia, dear. Lucy may be a child but she is no idiot."

Asilia tutted and tried to divert the topic, "Look at you being all motherly, and here I thought you hated children." But Asilia knew she wasn't going to get away with it especially when Aashi cocked a brow at her, "Besides, I doubt Lucy knows about us and if she did I don't think it would be a problem. She seems like a nice kid."

"Even if she did, I don't know how she would react. That girl has only ever seen straight couples and whilst I don't mind her know it would be better if she didn't. She is quite open and like any child she may accidentally let it slip and I don't want it to cause you any problems."

Asilia gazed at Aashi adoringly, "What about you? Wouldn't it cause you problems to?"

Aashi looked to the ceiling, "I can get by and besides I don't care what people think of me. My main concern would be if people begin to terrorise you. You know I won't stand for anyone getting physical with you."

Asilia grinned, "I know. Tonight you almost broke that cochon's hand even though you know you've trained me well in self-defence."

Aashi's right hand travelled from Asilia's hip to the back of her head, "I know you can take care of yourself, but I'd rather take care of you when I'm around so you don't have to."

The gap between the two closed as their lips met but Asilia quickly broke the passionate embrace, "About tonight, Aashi, or should I say Ai. Why do you let her call you that anyway?"

"Lucy doesn't just nickname anyone, she wants me to be her friend. That's why."

"Well, about tonight, Aashi" Asilia stepped out of Aashi's arms and left her looking disheartened, "I don't… you knew I didn't want you to fight that man, but you still did."

Aashi tucked her chin to her chest, "I need the money, darling. You know I wouldn't take on an opponent if I knew I couldn't handle them."

Asilia waved her arms around Aashi, "But you have enough to settle and live comfortably! I don't understand" her voice raised, "That brute could have killed you! He was from the Pit you know! From what you have told me they don't just send anyone there! What would I have done if you died? What would…" she trailed off.

Aashi took Asilia in her arms again. She moved towards the bed and sat down with Asilia in her lap, "Sh, sh. No woman, no cry." Asilia stood back and laughed heartily which gave Aashi a chance to wipe Asilia's tears "You know I wouldn't take that risk. I have you depending on me and now the child as well."

Asilia's hands went from her mouth to Aashi's shoulders, "What?"

"Lucy, she needs help. If I don't help her…" Aashi shook her head, saddened. "Then no one will and she will drown. She's all alone on a dingy boat that is waiting to be sunk. I can't let that happen." Aashi then leaned down and looked at Asilia in the eye, "And I never said I needed the money for myself. I need it for you… and now for Lucy as well."

"Me?" Asilia's brows furrowed.

Aashi gently stroked Asilia's face, "Don't think I don't know about your hospital bills… or the fact that in recent times you have been struggling to pay the rent. I've taken care of that by the way."

"What? Which one? When?" Asilia's hands migrated from her shoulders to her face.

"All of the them. So, you don't have to worry."

Asilia laughed hoarsely and kissed her on the cheek in appreciation.

"Come on, let's sleep. I need to take Lucy home tomorrow."

"What is the problem?"

"Her mother is neglectful, abusive and her father is never home and she most probably gets bullied everyday by the whole world." Aashi hesitated, "Her mother tried to kill her today, Asilia, I'm just grateful that she managed to get to me before she was truly harmed."

"Ma chère, you're not going to give her back to her mother, surely."

"No, I'm going to take her with me. I won't let Lucy be near that woman without her father. However, we have to make sure he doesn't find out. He's not all there, you see."

Asilia narrowed her eyes at Aashi, "How do you know so much?"

"Firstly, I'm observant, I'm insulted to think you didn't already know that." She was jesting of course. "Secondly I make it may business to know the people around me."

"So you stole his files?"

Aashi smirked, "I already knew most of what read."

Asilia shook her head, "You're terrible"

"Yet, you still love me." Aashi's lips connected with Asilia's in a harsh kiss.

;-;-;-;-;

The next morning after Asilia helped Lucy around and aided her in getting ready for the morning, she led her back to the island in the kitchen. Behind the island, Aashi was cooking something but Lucy could not make out what it was.

For what she could smell, she guessed it was eggs and toast.

True to her senses, it turned out to be eggs and toast. Lucy got two eggs, both had their yokes perfectly raw and her toasts were buttered and crispy. She was given water initially but Aashi had said after her water she could have juice. Lucy often had cereal for breakfast so she didn't know if she could stomach all this food.

She had finished her eggs and was moving on to her toasts when Aashi said, "Lucy, I'm taking you home with me."

Lucy near choked on that bread when she heard her, "What? What do you mean?"

"You can't go back with that woman still there so you're going to have to stay with me until your father returns."

Lucy looked at Aashi with uncertainty but Aashi ignored it. Somehow, when Lucy was getting ready to leave Asilia came to her with a large pink shiny bubble jacket and a pair of Air forces 1s.

"Aashi got them for you" she murmured in her ear, "But she didn't want you to know."

Lucy giggled, "She's a big softie."

However, their giggling came to an abrupt halt when Aashi stepped into the hall. She had her piercings back on, which she had taken off for the fight since she didnt want a torn ear. Her eyes were adorned with black eyeliner, her lips were painted a deep burgundy colour that neared the colour black and her usual attire had returned.

She was wearing black combat boots, black jeans with the bottoms frayed, an Iron Maiden tank top which displayed their mascot, Eddie, and their band name in their iconic font. Surprisingly, Aashi was not wearing her trench coat but her black leather motorcycle jacket instead. Her black wavy hair had been pulled into a French braid which with her volume looked quite good even though it was somewhat messy with a few strands left to hand over her face.

"Let's go, child." Aashi held her pinkie out for Lucy which Lucy gratefully took a hold of. As they left, Asilia kissed Aashi on the cheek and Lucy on the head.

When Lucy and Aashi were out, Lucy queried "Where are we?"

"Near the bridge which goes to the narrows, it's the only affordable place for working class."

The rest of the way was silent until Lucy noticed they were headed the wrong way. She tugged on Aashi's pinkie, "Ai, the narrows is that way."

"I know but we can't walk through the narrows, it's too... risky even in the morning."

Lucy hesitated, her steps faltering, but she didn't fall because Aashi held her close. Soon after Lucy guessed they were going to a garage however, there was one last hiccup before they reached the garage.

When they turned on to a high street, Lucy had accidentally bumped into a woman who had been walking her Chihuahua. The bleach blonde woman had dropped her coffee and had started to screech but Aashi ignored her and urged Lucy forward.

That woman immediately stopped her obnoxious whining when she saw Lucy was with Aashi, however she then began to follow them. She kept calling out to Lucy, who glanced at her every now and then but didn't answer her, and what made the situation worse was that she was exactly the type of woman that Aashi hated.

The woman's makeup made her look like a clown, her skin was a completely different shade to her foundation colour. She was wearing a white fur coat on top of a red and white bandana top, over white jeans and a pair of ugly cream Uggs. Her sparkly fake nails also rivalled that her beloved dog.

After half an hour, Aashi stopped dead in her tracks and Lucy looked up at Aashi with concern. She didn't turn but when the woman reached them, she didn't address Aashi only spoke to Lucy.

"Hey, sweetie! Are you ok?"

Lucy looked at the woman over her shoulder and replied after a moment of examining her, "Yes." Lucy did not like this woman at all, she reminded her of her mother.

"Are you sure? Where are your parents, hm? Where's your mommy? She must be worried that you're out here alone." She leaned down to Lucy's level and held her dog in her arm which was barking at Aashi.

At the mention of her mother, Lucy became uncomfortable which did not pass by Aashi. Aashi did not lose her temper, she kept quite calm in her situation; she let Lucy's hand go and turned around, cocking a brow at the woman, "What do you want?" Lucy stayed next to Aashi and took a hold of the edge of her coat.

The woman began to quiver when Aashi's hard, cold, gaze drifted over her tiny stick of a body, "Who… who are you? What're you doing with this child?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I'm a concerned citizen."

"Well, you should take your concern and go somewhere else. The girl is in good hands."

"Yeah, well, I have a funny feeling about this situation. That little girl isn't answering my questions and I don't think she is comfortable with you. I don't know where you're from but here in America we look after each other. For all I know, you could be a stranger to that girl."

Aashi's cool gaze hardened, her brow twitched but remained high in dander, "Where I come from…" she repeated and placed her hands on her pockets, "Tell me, this 'funny feeling' you're experiencing, it wouldn't happened to have been influenced by your bigoted views that your incestuous parents indoctrinated you to believe in? Or is it because you dropped out of high school that you believe that simply because I am not of European decent or do not have fair skin that I am trying to take advantage of this child?"

The woman staggered back in shock and had the audacity to take offence, "Uh, excuse me, but you're not answering-"

However, Aashi did not let the woman finish, she continued as if she hadn't paused, "As for this girl, she was quite fine until you began to stalk and harass us which has caused her great discomfort and distress. Oh, and if you're such a concerned citizen of America why don't you take interest in trying to better this city by… helping the homeless" Aashi pointed to a group of hobos near a trashcan.

"Excuse me, but you're being so rude-"

"Perhaps, you don't understand me, ma'am. You are creating an issue when there is none because your narrow-minded beliefs will not allow you to believe that a woman of colour may be the mother or guardian of a Caucasian child. So, your already miniscule brain has led to jump to the conclusion that I have questionable intensions for this child. Now, if you will excuse us, we need to be getting home. Sod off, and do the world a favour by not polluting this world with your disgusting spawn."

The dog began to bark loudly but one growl from Aashi and it began to whimper and attempted to retreat.

The woman snuggled up to her dog and exclaimed, "Ugh, you're so rude. I can't let you take that child. I'm calling the cops. Come here, sweetie."

Lucy hid behind Aashi, whimpering, as the woman reached for her. Aashi grabbed the woman's wrist in her deadly grip and said in a near animalistic voice, "Don't touch her." She then shoved her away and began to walk but the woman persisted.

"Imma call the cops!" the woman called.

Aashi glared daggers at the woman and said in a demented voice, "If you dare cause any more discomfort to this child, I will kill you."

The woman took one look at Aashi and began to cry. She then scattered off with her dog behind her heels.

Lucy looked from behind Aashi's legs to find the woman was gone. She then tugged on Aashi's trousers, "Did you really mean that, Ai?"

"Of course, I don't spout nonsense, child."

They carried on their journey to the garage and when they did arrive, Lucy hid behind Aashi's legs once again in angst. There were terrifying bikers swarming the garage.

There was a common trend among the bikers attire: doc martins' boots, leather black motorcycle jackets, and tattoos.

Aashi glanced at Lucy and patted her head, "Don't worry, they're good people."

After they entered the garage, they were approached by a middle-aged heavy set man. He was bald and had a grey goatee and tattoos on his hands. She couldn't make out what it said on his knuckles but it looked rude.

"Well, well. If it ain't the great Aashi steppin' in to my garage." He cleaned his hands smirking.

"Chuck, it's always a pleasure. You still have my baby?"

"Of course, anything for my good ol' friend." When he heard a scuttle, he found Lucy hiding behind Aashi's legs, "Oh, who is this now?"

"Chuck, this is Lucy. Lucy this is my friend, Chuck. He won't hurt you." Aashi patted Lucy on the head to encourage her.

Chuck kneeled down, "Oh, it's alrigh' little miss. You don' need to come out but it's nice ta meet you. I didn' think you were the motherly type, Aashi"

Aashi grunted, irritated "I'm not!"

"Really? She looks like she takin' a likin' to you."

Aashi huffed and walked off with Lucy running after her, "Ai, wait up!"

Aashi's beautiful baby was indeed in mint condition. It was a great pleasure for Aashi to finally gaze at her Big Bear Choppers Sled 300 prostreet for the first time in a year. Lucy was absolutely gobsmacked. She had never seen such a customised motorbike before and it looked like the ones from those cool movies her daddy watched. The motorbike had extremely raked forks, a long reclined seat and a lot of chrome to show off. It was black with small dark blue waves.

"Your kid likes it, Aashi"

"Well, I doubt any child wouldn't like it, Chuck." She seated herself and the bike purred to life. Lucy stepped beside it wanting to follow but was unsure how to.

"Cute kid you have there, Aashi! Is she yours?" a passing engineer asked.

"What do you think?"

"Well, she's got your passion for bikes!" one joked.

The adults chuckled at Lucy which made her blush and try to hide behind Aashi again but Aashi picked her up and placed her behind her. Lucy hugged Aashi's back so tight that Aashi was afraid the blood circulation in them would stop.

"See ya 'round, Aashi! Lucy, come back to visit!"

Hours after Aashi has sped off, talk of Aashi and Lucy ramained in the garage.

"Hey, so was that really her kid then? I thought she didn't like kids" an older gentleman asked Chuck.

"Lucy probably is her kid. Though she most likely adopted her or something. What I do know for sure is that she likes that kid, otherwise she wouldn't have allowed the girl to come so close to her. Did you see how she looked at Lucy when she held her? I've never seen her look before."

To be continued…

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