Where The Trouble Began

“Come on, just let us have a peek!” One of the brutes harassing the woman yelled out, snatching at her coverings.

The woman continually yanked away, until eventually she had her arms locked by the two lankier men who accompanied who one would naturally assume was their leader.

“Now, let’s see that pretty face of yours first… before I make sure nobody sees it again!” The man thrusted his large arm towards the wrapping of the woman, but soon found his arm blocked by a metal pipe that had manifested out of nowhere. Behind the pipe stood a young boy looking as if he was holding him back effortlessly.

“Trying to undress a lady in public? I knew we had some scum in the streets here, but you’re quite the nasty one, mister.” Slater opened his eyes and gave the man a mocking stare and smirk.

The man drew his fist back and tensed up. “Who the hell are you?!”

“Oh? New here? I guess maybe I’ve been slacking in the advertising department!” Slater rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. He wasn’t in that position long though, as a blow from the large man’s fist whizzed by as Slater ducked. “Fine then! I’ll give you a small self introduction!” Slater smacked his pipe against the man’s arm, then swung around and slammed his weapon into the heads of the two smaller men. “I’m the guy who drove the Razorbike Gang out of this part of town singlehandedly!” For his next move, Slater hit his pipe on the chin of the larger man, seeing the woman slowly slinking away out of the corner of his eye.

The two smaller men slumped onto their feet, charging at Slater.

“Tch- Who gives a damn, kid?!”

“I never even heard of any ‘Razorbike Gang’ anyways!”

Slater dodged the strikes from both, slipping between them and banging them each on the head once again from behind. As they slumped over, he kicked each of them into the larger man, knocking the trio into a pile of stacked garbage bags. “Why do you guys think you were getting away with what you did? The police don’t patrol here because they know I can handle everything already.” Slater tossed his pipe into the air, continuing his taunts.

The larger man started trying to push his knocked out men off of him, slowly getting to his feet. “That’s it- I’m done with your games, kid.” The man’s face was burning bright red, but his attention was diverted by one of his underlings slowly coming to.

“J-just give it up boss, he’s too good…” The goon got out before passing out once again. Scoffing, the larger man turned back to Slater, who had completely disappeared. That is, until he noticed his feet dangling in front of him.

“I’m glad you think so! I’m flattered, really!” Slater’s hands had wrapped around his pipe which he had lodged into the fire escape above the group of men when he had thrown it earlier. “Just for the record, the name’s Slater Ferruccio, please don’t forget it!” With one tug, he collapsed the rickety fire escape onto the men and pinned them between the rusted metal and the garbage bags that cushioned their previous fall.

Checking the men, seeing they were totally unconscious, Slater now turned to what he was really after. “We should get going, just in case they had buddies waiting until they were done with you.”

The woman emerged from around the corner. Slater still couldn’t make out any features, but knowing she was a woman from what the brutes had said earlier helped at least. She brushed off her wrappings, walked up to Slater, gave a brief bow of thanks, then began running off.Slater was flustered for a moment, before trying to salvage things. “Wait! I promise I’m not trouble!”

The woman stopped for a second and looked back at the white haired boy, who gave a nervous smile in return, now having to figure out where to go from here.

“Right… Fine,” He started pushing his fingers together as he looked to the corner of his vision. “I may have… made up everything I said to those guys except my name…” Despite her complete lack of viewable features, the sudden sulking of the woman made Slater realize, without a doubt, that she was disappointed in him.

“I just saw someone in danger, and I couldn’t stop myself from helping out!” This was a lie, just as his remarks during the fight had been.

“I try to help make this little area a nicer place, that’s all.” He just wants money.

The woman, clearly not buying Slater’s poor attempts at extortion, gave a quick sigh, before removing her head wrapping and letting it flow in the wind at her side. Her black hair fell down over the light gray bundle she held on her back, heavily contrasting her tan attire.“We’ll get nowhere if we don’t talk.” The woman let out with exasperation.

Now seeing her face, Slater noticed some clear signs of aging around her eyes and mouth. From her appearance, she couldn’t have been any younger than forty. Despite that, she only stood slightly higher than Slater’s stature. However, the most interesting thing Slater noticed was a strange feeling he had inside.

“Have we— met before?” Slater let come out of his mouth.

“I’ve never seen you before in my life, kid. Honestly, my life might’ve been better if we never had.” The woman looked away from Slater and looked down the open streets on either side of them, seemingly checking for enemies. “Look, I don’t have time to spend hanging around here, I need to—“

“Uh, lady, if you wouldn’t mind, could you at least give me some compensation?” Slater interrupted, as he completed ignored her remarks and only had his wallet on his mind. “I mean, I did save you, so—“

“Ugh, can you please just buzz off if you’re not going to be helpful, kid?” The woman scoffed as she turned away, bringing her wrapping cloth back up to her face.

Slater kicked a stone out of depressed frustration. “Well, now Lillian’s really gonna tear into me when she finds I don’t have the rent for this month yet…” He muttered under his breath.

The lady spun around and placed her hands on Slater’s shoulders, bending her knees slightly to meet his level. “What did you just say, kid?!” A distinct tinge of shock and panic dyed the words she blurted out.

“That… my rent is due?” Slater looked puzzled before his eyes turned to stars. “Are you going to pay our rent this month?!”

“No! Kid, what I’m asking about is—“

“Spread out! She’s bound to be in one of these surrounding streets!” Came a voice from behind the woman.

“Crap! We don’t have much time.” The woman bit her lip, hesitating, then removing the light gray bundle from her back and forcing it into Slater’s hands, pushing him back slightly before he lost his balance and fell onto his rear. “Whatever you do kid, don’t let anyone take that from you! Consider it my payment for your help earlier.” She took her head wrapping and concealed her face one more, kicking up dust as she launched into the street and quickly disappeared from Slater’s sight.

He gazed down at the bundle before him. Slater could at least discern this thing in his arms would bring him and Lillian nothing but trouble. The disguised woman was gone, nothing was preventing him from just leaving it in the alleyway, but…

“Don’t let anyone take it from me, huh?”

Slater looked upon the bundle in his arms, a warm feeling of assurance falling over him as the woman’s words echoed. His mind was filled with that fiery hair, the last time he had seen it, contrasted by the surrounding snow as he fell backwards and passed out. Maybe if he had been stronger then, Elio wouldn’t have been taken… So, why not be stronger now?

Feeling resolved, Slater pushed himself to his feet, bundle in hand. Noticing the decent weight to it, he took one of the light gray bandages wrapped around it and slung it over his shoulder to carry it easier. Grasping his trusty pipe, Slater took a step out of the alleyway’s darkness and into the uncertain future.

One foot in front of the other, the boy made his way back towards his house. He couldn’t let himself relax, knowing there were people out here looking for the woman from earlier, and now, by extension, him. He kept his arms close to his sides, swinging back in forth with each step. His goal was to blend in with the crowd. His plan only had one flaw: he was so preoccupied with trying to seem inconspicuous, it had completely slipped his mind that it was so late at night now that he was the only person on this street. This only came to his attention moments later, as his demeanor was completely shattered by a simple question aimed at him from behind:

“Hey, you! Why out so late, kid?”