Chapter 21

The deluge had receded. The drains bloated with the copious liquid they had swallowed. Puddles lingered, the lasting remains that they couldn't digest.

Kyle stayed some way behind Babi as they ascended out on the streets, feeling strangely self-conscious at the possibility of being seen with the dwarfish, misshapen brute.

His own fair-weather friends had always pulled the eyes with their numerous tattoos and piercings, not the mention the coarse vocabulary they weren't afraid of using. But he had always blended well, it was a way of life and none of them were strange enough to belong to a sideshow, whatever his grandmother might have said.

The humiliation of being put down was still strong also, slowing his step as he seethed.