Sacrifices for Progress [Part 3]

“Alright, Mario, cool it!” Izel snarled with frustration. “I’m doing everything I can, you don’t need to act like a dickhead all of the time.” He then criticized.

Mario just blankly stared at Izel, as if he was disappointed at Izel for getting so upset. He then turned around to walk away with his lackey students, Izel leered at Mario with frustration for the needless lecture about something he already knows about. Izel soon turned to Chima and Cash.

“One last thing, Izel.” Mario announced even though the conversation seemed to be over. “Unless you want to end up like those two, it will be in your best interest to stay far away from people like that.” He announced with condescension.

“Okay!” Chima shouted, and quickly walked over to Mario, as Izel attempted to stop him but Chima brushed him off. “Listen here you cocky little prick.” He glared at Mario, surprisingly calm. “You have no idea what our lives are like, what we have to do on a regular basis just to make it to next week.” He scolded.

Mario attempted to show that he is not afraid of Chima by raising his chin as high as he could.

“Let me ask you something…” Chima challenged, as Mario waited for his question. “When was the last time something scared you?” He asked, quietly.

“I don’t get scared.” Mario slowly answers with a mask of pride, sweating slightly from the tense air.

“And that’s exactly why you’ll never understand how the real world works.” Chima explained. “Why don’t you do yourself a favor and mind your own goddamn business.” He promptly ended the conversation by walking back to Izel and Cash.

Both groups quietly went their opposite ways, not before Cash happily raised both of her middle fingers to Mario with multiple expletive gestures. The walk to the train station for the three was silent the entire time. Moments before the train left, Chima seemed rather uncomfortable, shifting slightly in his seat and quick glances at Izel.

“I—I heard that you saw a dead body yesterday.” Chima suddenly spoke up.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, it was the guy that set me up.” Izel remarked.

“That must have been scary?” Chima mentioned with a lowly tone, sympathizing with the sight Izel had to witness.

“Yeah, I guess… It's not the first dead guy I’ve seen, so it wasn’t that scary.” Izel mentioned, casually.

“A classy boy like you has seen a dead guy before?” Cash remarked with some skepticism.

“Uh, yeah, I was actually pretty young, 11 or 12.” Izel recalled the memory. “It was a hot summer day, I was at home by myself. Pops always had good air conditioning equipment, so he was pretty strict with me staying indoors that day.” He announced. “It was just around noon, I went in the living room and looked out of the window and I saw someone just leaning on one of the Street Lights, I vaguely remember seeing some blood on the side of their head and hand.” He continued.

“Didn’t pay much attention, but hours later something began to smell.” Izel commented on his story. “I searched all over the house for the smell, but couldn’t find it, that’s when I heard a small commotion outside… There were a couple of people around the guy on the Street light in the same position.” He mentioned. “Later that day, I found out that the guy was dead, and had just been there for something like 30 hours. Practically being cooked at the same time…” Izel finished.

The three fell silent. Quietly understanding that lives like their own will never be free of such unfortunate sights. Possibly reflecting that horrible reality: Wishing, hoping, or praying that such sights will never be seen for the coming generations and those nightmares may come to an end one day.

“I guess, people like us can never grow up without seeing something scary.” Chima mentioned, with a heavy sigh.

⧮ ⧯ ⧮

“Hello, I’m Tlacaelel. I’m here to work on your cooling unit.” Tlacaelel announced to the homeowner, for his day of work. “This is my trainee, he’ll be assisting me today.” He then mentioned, as Tenoch stood behind him with a boastful yet creepy grin.

“Okay, perfect, right this way.” The homeowner greeted and guided the two to the upper floors to their private Data Center. “Take your time, I’ll be downstairs.” They then smiled, as did Tlacaelel and Tenoch.

“Damn, what don’t you work on?” Tenoch mentioned once the homeowner left the room.

“From Fridges to Androids, if it can get cold we can fix it.” Tlacaelel smiled as he advertised his company's slogan.

“Heh, put that on a t-shirt.” Tenoch chuckled.

“We did!” Tlacaelel smiled, as he prepared to work.

“Right, so how much more do you have to do today?” Tenoch asked, ignoring Tlacaelel’s smile.

“This is the last one.” Tlacaelel answered as he started to work.

“Awesome, now you can help me get some stuff for tomorrow.” Tenoch mentioned, sitting at the nearest chair.

“Tomorrow? What are you doing tomorrow?” Tlacaelel asked.

“One of the local celebrities’ sons was kidnapped a few days ago, they placed a massive reward for their safe recovery.” Tenoch explained.

“Really? Are you going to take Izel to that job?” Tlacaelel asked with some concern.

“Probably… We need a full team damn near every job, so he’s gonna have to at least tag along with us.” Tenoch answered, casually. “You’re probably going to have to hang out with Carmen, while we go on that job.” He then added.

“Right…” Tlacaelel paused for a moment, and slowly went back to working.

“Look El, this isn’t going to be easy for the two of you, but the safest thing we can do is to stay together, as one.” Tenoch encouraged.

“Oh, that was very well said, thanks, Tenoch.” Tlacaelel mentioned, smiling at Tenoch.

“Yeah, Carmen told me to say that to you.” Tenoch remarked, nonchalantly as he ate some snacks.

Tlacaelel sighed with minor disbelief in the fact that Carmen knows him so well, and slowly went back to work. With the hope that their unbelievable situation will soon come to a reasonable conclusion. With himself and most importantly, his son, will be safe with a bright future.