Chapter 32

The morning after the fight.

Saturday

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-Part 1-

The morning was quiet and more humid than usual. Kit had been awoken by the sounds of the city in the distance rousing from its nightly slumber, the echoes of citizens going about their business floating in through his bedroom's open window. Kit stood in front of his antique and somewhat stained and filthy mirror analyzing his reflection. It was dressed only in a pair of his cargo shorts and it was judging him harshly and disapprovingly, Kit gazing back more than happy to return the unkind favor. Back and forth the wordless argument continued over what was, what had been, and what could yet be. Memories and reruns played in his mind, their causes, effects, and consequences under a cross-analysis with each other and his already twisted, distorted, and confused moral compass.

Whatever actions he had taken in life he had always been firmly decisive on. Self-assured that he was making the right choice. Had he been wrong before? Sure, that went without saying; one look at his back was evident enough that everyone, even he made mistakes. However, when he corrected those missteps, he had always been confident in his advancement toward an unclear but undoubtedly brighter future. And now, as he stared at himself in the mirror, the one thing he saw missing as he peered inside himself was his ironbound and immovable conviction. In its place he found only conflict. He was unsure about what he was going to do today. He knew what he had to do, what needed to be done to insure his unblocked path toward Clement, 'The Exchange', and his ultimate rightful ascension. But something felt wrong; broken.

A fluttering dust bunny caught upon the top corner of the mirror's glass drew Kit's eye and roused him from his self-cast spell. He reached for and fitted the dark brown leather sheath and the blade it tightly and snugly held across his bare chest and when he felt it secured properly, he stood straight and examined his image once more.

For a flash of a fraction of a second, he swore he saw his older-self dressed as he had always seen in his dreams and imaginations stand before him tall, proud, and accomplished smile down approvingly at him with his arms folded before it morphed back into the tween child standing in the mirror before him. He reached his hand to grasp the handle of the dagger just to feel the comforting curves of the super smooth wood in his hand. He was responsible for the deaths of more people than he could count. The displacement of families, the pillaging of goods and treasures, the destruction of towns and cities. Granted he was indirectly responsible and completely blameless as far as quite literally everyone else was concerned, he still felt that weight somewhat on his shoulders, even if he had come – more or less – to terms with living with it. But this was different. He had never outright directly killed anyone before; in this aspect his hands were unblemished. Now here he stood, plotting and planning to murder the first one who ever loved him. Kit leaned forward placing his hand against the glass of the mirror, he thought he was going to be sick. He loved Baloo so much. He so longed for things to go back to the way they were, but for that to happen he would have to go backwards and thinking about what all he had overcome, survived, and lived through, the mere thought of returning to such hardships made him shiver. Besides, what was the alternative? His days with 'The Exchange' would be over, his dreams and aspirations would all die, no empire to command, no world-renowned fear and respect for which to rule; not to mention the money, though that was the least of his concerns, little more than a means to an end. The money was the gravy, a prize for playing a game he so desired to master and control. All of this lost, for what? Just so Papa Bear could come home, laze around, do the bare minimum while getting yelled at by Ms. Cunningham while he and Molly played the early evenings away? He didn't even realize he was smiling as he considered that thought for a moment and how happy those days had made him. If he went through with this, he would no longer be able to see Ms. Cunningham, and that also meant Molly would be gone too. Was he really prepared to trade his freedom and family for the promise of power?

Kit looked over at his bed and suddenly the dream he had had had become so clear. His pushing Ms. Cunningham away, his walking toward Clement and becoming older with each step, his older-self placing the pistol to his younger-self's head, and even his older-self shooting Molly in the back as she was held by Ms. Cunningham, the bullet passing through them both whilst they both wept.

"Kiiit! Breaaaakfaaaast!" he heard Ms. Cunningham yell from downstairs, her voice disturbing him from his meditative trance of hesitant indecision. He shook his head, inspected the straps of the sheath for security, reached for his green sweater and white undershirt, and made his way downstairs after stopping at the mirror one last time. He performed one last inspection. He needn't make his choice now, he still had some time to delay it, to think it over and consider as many realities as possible. He pulled the bottom of his sweater to his waist, the garment's thickness successfully concealing his blade beneath.

He stared at his now fully dressed reflection in the mirror and as it stared back at him, he found his ironbound conviction. He would not hesitate or falter, he would do what had to be done. All that remained now was the opportunity to set foot down his desired path. He reached toward the corner of his mirror and pulled the dust bunny off and blew it out his still open window, taking just a small moment to watch it float away.

-END Part 1-

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-Part 2-

"Morning Kit" Molly stated between bites of her scrambled eggs. Ms. Cunningham turned off the stove, picked up two plates, and sat down at the table, placing what was obviously Kit's plate in his designated spot.

"Hi Molly" Kit nonchalantly returned, the fatigue clear in his voice, "Mornin' Mom". Kit looked around and took in what appeared on the surface to be just another normal day but the serene view belied the overcasting undertones which denied the proverbial elephant in the room and maintained the now ever present universal tenuous strain on their thoughts and minds. The atmosphere was one of bittersweet joy, a war between the imminent unveiling of a hinted miracle and the denial of an impending eternal punishment just waiting to claim a righteous innocent and the ignorance of a child who was yet unaware of any of it. Kit approached the table, pulled out his chair but upon noticing he was lacking a drink made his way to the sink but stopped when he felt a tug on his sweater.

"Why didn't we walk home yesterday?" Molly wondered; the question itself telling Kit that Ms. Cunningham had told her absolutely nothing about all what had transpired over the past twenty-four hours since he had last seen her.

Kit turned and hugged her, his actions catching her off guard, holding her tight so as to not let her see his face, buying time to regain his composure. She was his only weakness and for right now he was perfectly fine with that. He wanted to answer her question, to explain the reason for his absence, but one look at Ms. Cunningham shaking her head and quietly mouthing the words "NOT YET" kept him silent. Still, he decided to tell her the truth, even if she wouldn't understand it. "I wanted to, but some of my teachers held me up on the other side of the school. Mom had to pick me up and I didn't get home until really late." Kit then released her, making his face a mask as he often did when he needed to hide it, this time to hide it from her.

"Oh." She accepted, looking up at him, releasing him to get his water. "Some teachers held me up at school too" Molly added, continuing to speak between bites of breakfast. "Mom had to pick me up from the Extended Day. We had a snack, played some games in gym, but then Mom came to get me."

"Did you have a good night at Wildcat's?" Kit asked returning to his seat, allowing the conversation to casually flow back and forth until they had all finished with their meal.

Ms. Cunningham had been listening the entire time but eventually she spoke up and when she did it was all business. "Kit, Molly, there are somethings you both need to know. First of all, Kit," she paused for a moment before continuing, "Basically, you're grounded until further notice." She watched Molly's jaw drop and Kit's face predictably contort into one of questioning what he had done this time and why she was mad at him now too. "You didn't do anything wrong as far as I am concerned, but as far as the Court is concerned you did, and as Dr. Lawson clarified, part of the deal of your being allowed to come home last night and stay here until your court date next week is that you have to be with me at all times. Wherever you go, I go. Wherever I go, you go, period. No exceptions, no second chances; this is a one-strike-your-out deal."

Kit was working to wrap his mind around the new order, and like any other kid, he had questions. "What does this mean for school?" he inquired; as if he had any plans to return there anyway.

Ms. Cunningham folded her arms, "You can't set foot anywhere near that school right now, not until this all blows over."

Molly's bites of breakfast slowed as she listened in an attempt to make sense of all that was going on.

"What about work, like, working here?" Kit asked, his tone noticeably shifting to one that displayed concern. This could be serious. The more details he found out the better he could plan for his great escape.

Ms. Cunningham raised her shoulders and eyebrows and leaned forward slightly, "Kit, from what Dr. Lawson told me, you can't even go to the bathroom without me watching you!"

"WHAT!?" he shrieked in dismay as Molly brought her hand to cover her mouth in a failed attempt to stop herself from laughing.

"Yes Kit, it is that bad. I didn't tell you last night because I didn't think you were going to run off anywhere like you sometimes do at night with how tired we were, but you are basically a prisoner here and I am your warden. But" Ms. Cunningham turned to Molly for a moment before returning her attention to Kit, "honestly, I've had my fill of "potty-training" so we're going to use a little bit of common sense here. Just know that if you get caught too far away from me then you will immediately end up in jail and I will have to pay a ticket. Any questions?"

Kit clearly wasn't any happier about the situation than she was but shook his head 'no'; she had been very clear. Molly on the other hand couldn't have become more distraught with what she saw as an unfair and unwarranted punishment and simply not yet knowing all the details but shut her mouth when she was told to do so.

"Good." Ms. Cunningham uttered with relief. "I was hoping that was clear enough. Um, I'm sure this goes without saying, but, this also means that neither you nor I can leave Cape Suzette." Ms. Cunningham looked at him expectantly.

"That's what you think..." he thought to himself before answering her, "Mom, where am I gonna go?" He let the question linger in the air before folding his arms on the table and letting his head and face fall into them.

Ms. Cunningham shrugged, left the question alone and moved on. "As soon as we are done talking here, we are going to visit Baloo in the hospital."

Kit held his arm in the air like a student in Saturday detention with a 'thumbs-up'.

"And Molly" Ms. Cunningham turned all her attention to her daughter who sat patiently waiting. "There was a lot that happened yesterday that Kit and I both need to discuss with you…"

-END CHAPTER 32-