Chapter 9

"That boy is being spoiled by his mama.” Mr. Roland complains, "I keep telling her he needs to learn some damn responsibility. How is he ever gonna grow up?" He continues and I hope to god Luther comes out soon.

I pretend to be busy so I don't actually have to acknowledge this conversation.

"Here you are Reggie." Luther enters after several pleas to the universe.

I close the hood and walk to the scrap table to get the coffee that's probably cold as ice by now.

"Thanks again Luther. I'm sorry it was so last minute, it's just th-"

"That boy." Luther finishes and I chuckle quietly from behind him.

"It wouldn't hurt attempting to be interested in what they have to say sometimes." Luther says and turns to wave at Reggie as he reverses out the garage.

I see a car pull up on the side at the same time.

"I'm just the mechanic Luther. You're the boss man." I shrug and turn to walk inside.

"Where are you going? Your goonies just pulled up."

"I need to refill." I reply, lifting my mug.

“You better get your damn feet off my table." Luther's voice carries to the kitchen and I know that he's talking to Eddie.

"The table you speak of is on its last legs, literally." Eddie's voice gets louder as I enter the lounge.

"And you wanna help it along!" Luther growls, kicking Eddie’s boots at the same time I pull my jacket from behind him which causes to fall on the carpet below.

"Assholes." Eddie grunts.

Marc reaches his hand to help him up but I see the smirk on his face and when Eddie reaches for his hand Marc pulls away sending him on his ass again and making Luther double over in laughter.

"You guys think you're so damn funny, don't you." He sneers at us as he gets up from the floor.

"Yeah." Marc says, laughing in response.

"I'll just go ahead and makes some new friends that aren't dickheads like you two." Eddie threatens for the hundredth time since I've known him.

"You always say this shit but who would willingly hang out with you?" Luther remarks.

Eddie's glare turns to a smirk and he looks me dead in my eyes.

"Oh I don't know..." He chuckles dryly, "Maybe two pretty girls who just moved into town." He says, reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone.

I glare at him in confusion because he knows better than to play around like this so I'm a little lost as to what the fuck he's really talking about.

"Maybe I'll ask them to uninvite you two to their little party." He says and pulls his phone up to my face to show me a text message and the name on top catches my attention. Sunny Sun with a fucking sun emoticon right next to it. I snatched his phone from him and read that she sent him an address.

"Why the fuck do y-"

"She said she'd let us know their address two days in advance and guess what today is?"

"How the fuc-"

"At Dolton grocery store on Sunday. It was actually her friend that mentioned we were invited to a party," Eddie points between him and Marc, "that you never told us about."

"Oh that lovely girl?" Luther asks from the side.

"No." I growl, throwing Eddie's phone back at him.

"What?" Him and Marc ask in unison and glare at each other.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Why can't we go?"

"Because." I respond and put on my jacket.

I hear Eddie's loud stomps as he follows me out the door.

"So you just decided not to tell me that smokeshow invited me ov-" Marc swallows his words and raises his hands in defense when I turn around to glare at him, "I was talking about her friend."

"What part of keeping her in the dark do you two not understand?" I sigh in frustration.

"Lan's guys almost never enter this side of town minus that Donny asshole, okay? Plus they stay as far away from us as possible so that's an even better guarantee that Sunny and her fr-"

"Sunniva." I spit.

Eddie rolls his eyes and continues, "...Sunniva and her friend will stay hidden with us nearby." He reasons but I can't see it, the possibility of being near here again... The last few times were like a godsend I can't imagine being blessed again.

I've only ever hurt her and made her life that much more difficult so I'll be damned if I add an element of danger in the mix. If Sunniva gets hurt in any way and I could've done something about it I don't want to think about what that shit would feel like.

"Forget it. You're not even gonna think about it so I'll just go, bring a gift and say it's from all of us." Eddie says and walks to where Marc's car is parked outside.

I'm reaching for the back of his shirt when Marc lowers my arm.

"He's gonna do whatever he wants but you know he's not going to get them in any typa trouble. I'll go to make sure of it." He adds with a shrug.

"Oh I'm sure it's just to keep an eye on Eddie." I narrow my eyes at him, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey you refuse to do the obvious thing and hook up with her but I won't deny myself of getting with her fine ass friend." He laughs when I scowl at him.

My phone beeps in my pocket and I pull it out and read the text on my locked screen.

Collections at the house

I forgot that was today. To avoid paper trails fighters get money in cash and the exchange is usually done at their house in the north side since its the one place the cops wouldn't think about getting close to. It's where most of the petty deals are done because Lan's a control freak and has always been convinced that its a little thing that'll trip him up in the end.

"Collections today. I forgot.” I sigh, shoving my phone back into my pocket, "I'll see you guys at gym later." I say and walk towards the bike I keep at Luther's shop since I'm only allowed one parking space at that pointlessly overpriced apartment building I live in.

Ester taught me how to ride a bike when I was 13 while my brother was off doing something criminal. In the time between my mother's passing and moving out to stay with Luther I practically raised myself but there was a year and some when Ester taught me a few things like how to ride a motorcycle and how to knock someone out with one punch and her personal favorite was how to steal shit at the convenient store. She used to be in Lan's gang until she got shot one night and I never quite figured out why and nobody bothered to tell me anyway. I didn't love Ester but I almost wanted to. She didn't care how young I was. She said I couldn't wait for people to teach me shit, I had to do it for myself. I had to become a man even if I didn't want to because one day my brother was going to ask that of me. She popped me at the back of my head when I did dumb shit just like my mom. People come and go, that's one thing growing up the way I did taught me.

I don't stop at the red lights as I'm entering my old neighborhood because these assholes are always trying to take chances and they'll try to steal my bike and pawn it off for a quick buck.

Looking around at the murders and robberies waiting to happen I'm glad I got out of this shithole when I did and moved to Dolton.

Before going to school there I used to laugh with the guys at home when they'd dog on the people from Dolton or Lowback , the high class of Finridge, until I met Sunniva and her parents. I realized that maybe not all of them were uptight snobby pricks.

"Little Woo." Captain greets me when I turn off the engine.

I nod in acknowledgement but don't make conversation. I don't ever stay long enough to talk to anybody.

Entering the house I walk passed the three unconscious men in the living room and walk to the first room down the hall.

I'm taken back when I see Knives sitting on the sofa inside. It's more jarring now that I've seen Sunniva in the past few days to see the other version of her I've been used to all this time.

"Oh hey, little Woo. Come, come." Freddy ushers me into the room and moves behind his desk to open a draw, "Been a minute, Little Woo. I hope you didn't miss me too much while I was on vacation but I heard you've been absent from the ring as well." He chuckles and places a brown envelope on the desk as I enter the room.

I try not to look at Knives. Its too freaky.

"Thanks." I reach for the envelope.

"Your brother says you did well at the last fight, maybe we should stick to heavy weights since those are your better nights." Freddy says, flicking his wrist watch.

I don't respond and exit the room.

Entering the living room again I notice the new sofas. Must've been a bloodstain because cause those sofas haven't changed since before mom died and I noticed Lan kept things the same minus the photos for obvious reasons.

The front yard brings back a memory that's been resurfacing since she got to town and on the faded green grass I see an image of a younger version of Sunniva.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." she whispers.

"Just leave Sunny!" I grunt, desperately wanting her to get the fuck out of here.

I shake my head and snap back to reality. There's no reason to recall that shit.

"Hey."

I turn around to see Knives. She reaches inside of her cotton, yellow shorts and holds something out for me.

"I found this between the sofas and your brother said it was yours." She opens her hand and drops a small, green, plastic figurine in my hand.

We didn't have much growing up and the house I'm standing in front of right now is much bigger than the one I remember. I don't know what my mom did for a living but I remember her having to wear a lot of blazers to work. I don't remember our dad and she never spoke about him so I didn't realize we were missing something until I got older.

She seamlessly managed two kids, a job and the role of being a single mother that I didn't want for anything and the moments I did she just taught my brother and I the act of sharing, whether it was our bike or the toy in Happy meals. One in particular Lan gave to me to keep because he knew the Hulk was my favorite.

The memory flashes back to me as I stare down at the small mutant man in my hand. I want to dump it on the stone paving but I pocket it instead and look up at Knives just staring at me expectingly.

I see the black dyed hair and lack of a beauty spot that separates her from her sister and I turn away a little upset that's its not Sunniva I'm looking at.

On my way to The Nest I stop at the gas station and watch as a bunch of snobby dicks don't even try to hide their obvious distaste of me and my bike as I'm filling up. I'm used to this shit by now since I graduated here and moved here a few months ago.

Releasing the pump I hear a shuffling and turn to see legs hurrying into a front seat and Sunniva desperately rifles through her bag in search of what I'm guessing are her keys. She lifts them then glances over in my direction and the panic on her face turns into defeat immediately.

"I swear I'm not following you." She explains desperately and I don't even realize that I'm smiling.

I walk towards her and she hesitantly gets out of the car. She's wearing a long blue dress that covers her chest and back completely but exposes her arms.

"I swear-"

"I know." I say, trying to calm her frantic state.

She sighs heavily and nods her head. I see her eyes trail over my tattoos and I welcome the ogling with a strange pride. I'm garbage to these people but she's not like them.

"I.. uh just came from school actually." She says, looking up at me.

"Is that why you look like you got mauled by a bunch of 2nd graders." I point at her hair in braids facing every which way and she giggles melodiously and pats her hair.

"I'm trying to win over this one class. They’re stubborn but I'll get there." She explains and smiles brightly in thought.

I'm still for a moment just looking at her smile.

I can't believe she's fucking here right now. Whatever god she believes in must not care for her that much if they keep putting her in front of me.

"So..." she begins and fidgets with the material of her dress. I must've been staring at her too long.

"It's nothing formal or anything and uh it's only going to be a few extra people besides you and your friends."

She frowns up at my obvious confusion.

"The party. You friends and you are coming, right?" She explains.

"Yes.” I decide because how am I supposed to tell her no when she looks at me like this, "I'll be there."

"Great." She smiles at me like I just told her that she won the lottery.

"Yeah." She stays smiling up at me. We stare silently like that day in the garage and it's probably the only peace I've had in a while.

She looks strange with her hair styled a mess and wearing this obviously steam pressed dress. Two polar opposites much like a middle school teacher and an underground cage fighter having a conversation at an empty gas station.

Her phone chimes and tears away the silence.

"Goodbye Sunniva." I smirk at her startled expression.

"Bye bye. I mean bye Leo... to you too." She fumbles adorably.

Before taking off I look over my shoulder and see her waving me off with a small smile on her pretty face.

Maybe Eddie is right about being able to keep her further in the dark because without even intending to, I can't keep away from her.