I do not own.
Another Hong Kong Gang story.
Skwydd was walking in the direction of the water tower with his arms loaded with groceries. His hoodie hid his face . People were too busy with their shopping to pay any attention to him. A few young children played in the street. They chased each other in and out of the vendor stalls. They were not looking where they were going. One ran straight into Skwydd before bouncing off onto the ground. His hood slipped off.
"Careful, kid." Skwydd told the shocked child calmly.
"EVO!" Someone screamed. A woman scooped the child up in her arms and ran as all the people scattered.
Skwydd pulled his hoodie back over his head and continued calmly on his way.
"Stop! EVO!" A policeman shouted from behind.
Skwydd heaved a long sigh.
"I said stop!" The policeman shouted again, his firearm pointed at the lone figure.
Skwydd stopped.
"Hands where I can see them and turn around." He ordered.
"And where am I supposed put my groceries?" He asked sardonically.
"Now!"
Skwydd could hear the panic in the man's voice rising. He carefully raised his arms with the grocery bag in each hand. He slowly turned around. Then at the very last second, he sprayed a cloud of black ink covering the area. The policeman fired into the cloud. When the air cleared, there was an empty spot where Skwydd once stood. The puzzled man looked around in bewilderment.
0o0
The door to the water tower creaked open.
"Did you get the WD-40?" Tuck asked barely looking up.
"I'm fine thanks. Just had a cop shoot at me, but no biggie." Skwydd answered sarcastically.
Tuck glanced at him. "Did you get shot?"
"No." Skwydd admitted.
"Then you're fine. Do you have the WD-40?" Tuck went back to repairing the table.
"You're doing the shopping next time." Skwydd growled as he headed into the kitchen. He tossed a can at Tuck who caught it in midair with his bandages.
"Oh, Skwydd, I'm so glad to see you." Cricket said.
"Finally, someone…" Skwydd stopped when Cricket grabbed his bags and began rummaging through them.
"Where's the rice?" She asked.
"It's at the bottom of the bag." Skwydd sighed.
"That's all you got?" She asked disappointment in her voice. "This is barely enough for tonight."
"Well, make Tuck go get more. I've had a rough day." Skwydd said with irritation.
"What's with you?" She asked him.
"Oh, why don't you ask the cops who keep shooting at me?" He asked sarcastically.
Again? What is it with you and cops?" She shook her head.
"Just lucky I guess." He replied sullenly. He left her to make dinner. Going to the rooftop to get some air, he saw Circe.
"Hey, Skwydd." She greeted him. "What's wrong? You look like your best friend got eaten."
Skwydd snorted in amusement. "Just one of those days I guess."
"You know when I have a bad day, I go for a walk." Circe said. "I'm thinking of doing a rooftop tour. Wanna come?"
"Sure, I've got nothing else to do." Skwydd shrugged.
Circe got on the ledge and leapt off the ledge. She landed on the roof of a smaller building next to them. A second later Skwydd joined her.
Together they leaped to another rooftop. Circe noticed that he seemed to be dragging a little.
The next rooftop they visited there was a family living there. A small child saw them when they landed. She shrunk away from them.
"It's ok." Circe told her in her broken Chinese. "We won't hurt you."
"We're just passing through." Skwydd added.
The child looked at them curiously. "You speak Chinese?"
"Just a little. I'm just learning. " Circe nodded. She pointed at Skwydd. "He speaks it well."
"I'm ok but I can do this better." He sprayed some ink cloud into a shape of a panda.
Her eyes grew wide and then she laughed. "Do another."
Skywdd blew another of a cat.
They spent a few minutes entertaining the girl before going to leave.
"Will you come back?" She asked.
"Maybe, but I think your parents might think I'm scary." Skwydd said.
"I'll tell them you're nice." She said petulantly.
Skwydd smiled wryly. "Maybe. But be careful not all strangers are as nice as us."
"Ok." She watched them jump to another rooftop.
"That's nice of you." Circe said to Skwydd.
Skwydd shrugged. Then he spoke. "I guess I understand why people would react badly to the freakish way I look."
"Hey, you're not a freak." Circe protested.
"Nah, let's be honest. If I saw me walking around, I'd be afraid." He said thoughtfully.
"But once they get to know you…" Circe said.
"It's hard to get to know a person when they have a gun pointed at them." Skwydd replied. "I don't like it but I'm starting to understand. I mean people like Quarry aren't the nicest EVO's."
"Well, you made one friend." Circe pointed out.
"I guess that's a start. Hey, it's getting late. Cricket probably has dinner ready. If we don't get back, Tuck will have eaten everything." He said.
Circe laughed. They headed back to the water tower. Skwydd bounded across the rooftops with a lighter step.
"You seem to be feeling better." She noted.
"Eh, I worked through some stuff. Now I'm ready to work through some dinner." He smirked.
"You're disgusting. You must be feeling better." Circe grinned.
They entered the water tower laughing.
It's not a Christmas story but hope you liked it anyway.