Chapter 19: Vengeance and Fear
Nothing got in Aladdin's way.
Not Babkak throwing stuff with his shitty aim.
Not Omar huffing and puffing behind him.
Not this damn king-of-the-hill mosque.
Nothing.
Not anymore!
Aladdin pounded across rooftops, leaping from one building to the next. He outpaced Omar, avoided Babkak's projectiles, ignored his insults, tight-roped across several clothing lines, and climbed up the one rickety ladder that led to the mosque's roof.
When Aladdin pulled himself up onto the flat ledge of the roof, Babkak wasn't there to meet him. The coward remained with his ammo horde at the very top of the mosque dome, clutching the mosque's crescent moon spire with one hand and already throwing a clay dish with the other. While Babkak attacked Aladdin from afar and shouted words that Aladdin refused to hear, the street rat kept dodging and charging his way up to his former friend.
Aladdin was only a couple of yards away when a bowl came flying at his face. However, this time, Aladdin didn't try to get out of the way. This time, Aladdin caught the piece of clayware and threw it right back at Babkak.
Babkak's eyes bulged. He used his grip on the moon spire to spin out of the way, but Aladdin wasn't done.
The street rat ran up to Babkak's pottery pile and swung his foot at a round vase. It surged towards Babkak, hurdling right for a vulnerable spot.
Babkak yelped and spun back to his original position and right into Aladdin's waiting fist. Each of them could hear the sound of Babkak's large nose breaking on contact.
Babkak screamed and grabbed his nose with both hands. He tried to get away, but Aladdin's foot was firmly on Babkak's. The fool fell to the ground instead.
Aladdin stood tall and sneered down at the whining sniveling coward before him.
Aladdin had let himself be tormented by this sorry excuse of an older brother for 5 years.
Why!?
The street rat who always had a quip for every situation said nothing as he kicked Babkak with all his might.
While the coward shrieked and curled up into a ball, Aladdin pulled back for another kick.
That's when a deep voice called out, "Hey!"
It was Omar. The sweaty oaf had finally made it to the roof.
Omar was only jogging toward them, so Aladdin managed to kick Babkak two more times anyway, earning himself another scream and a whimper from the coward. Then the street rat scooped up a large cup and turned to his other target.
But before Aladdin could throw the cup at Omar, Babkak's right foot lashed out and hit Aladdin's calf.
The street rat stumbled. The thick cup fell from his hand. Instead of breaking, it quickly rolled away from Aladdin and out of sight.
Aladdin whirled on Babkak again, ready to break more than just his nose.
Babkak who was trying to get up just sneered right back and said, "You mother—"
But he was cut off by Omar's shout.
Both of them looked over at the other boy. Unlike Aladdin who had dodged every piece of pottery thrown his way, Omar had more than a few bruises and cuts from the afternoon's brawl. The oaf had always been slow to react and after trying to chase down Aladdin today, Omar had been far too tired and sluggish to avoid a single stray clay cup.
To everyone's surprise, the large boy had tripped on it and fallen forward. Now, he was sliding down the slick dome tiles fast.
He tried to stop himself, but that only made things go from bad to worse. Omar's clumsy flailing feet completely missed the flat ledge and instead kicked aside the ladder that led up to the mosque's roof. Soon, the only thing Aladdin and Babkak could see were Omar's hands desperately gripping onto the ledge.
Omar was strong, but he was also big and his hands were sweaty from all the running he'd done. It happened as quick as a blink and as slow as a sermon. One moment, Omar was hanging onto the ledge and life. The next his hands had failed him and he was falling.
A/N:
Well...
This is quite the monkey's paw, isn't it?
Thank you again to all my writing buddies for helping me with this climax. I hope everyone is enjoying it.
See you all soon!