The girls were gathered at Anna’s grandparents’ house, where they were conversing in the dining room while doing their mountain of preposterous homework. The girls grew rather tired, so they decided to take a small break except for Anna, who wanted to make tea for everyone. Both Veronica and Sarah headed into the living room to relax their brains before they exploded from the complexity of maths and literature too comprehensive for their minds.

As they both sat down, they couldn’t help but sense some sort of uneasiness that was happening throughout the city lately. The one incident that had happened a few days ago in front of a hospital near downtown Flint was especially the case. Yet oddly enough, the mysteries grew more complicated, yet no one remembered that incident except for the girls. They felt a web of complexities was wrapping around them and only them. Something strange was going on and they wanted answers. But no one wanted these answers more than Sarah, whose interest had more mystery behind it than anyone else’s.

“I still can’t believe no one remembered what happened a couple of days ago!” Veronica exclaimed.

Anna, who had finished making tea, walked into the living room, set the platter down, and looked at Veronica while pouring the hot fluid into her teacup. “Yeah, it’s quite strange.” Anna said, while stirring Veronica’s tea. She handed Veronica the cup.

Veronica blew away some steam. “Thank you, Anna.”

Sarah had her arms and legs crossed, thinking deeply about the strange occurrences. “What’s worse is the fact that we’re the only ones who remember?”

Anna handed her a cup of tea as well. “Yeah. Freaky, isn’t it?”

Sarah blew on her tea. “Thank you. But yes, freaky indeed, huh?” She sipped on her tea and stared into the cup.

I have to ask Mom about these occurrences, Sarah thought.

Veronica looked at Sarah, who was staring into her tea with mysterious red eyes. “Yeah, how bizarre… By the way Sarah, why are you staring into your tea so intensely?”

Mom might know a thing or two about these strange occurrences. I’m still learning these insecurities, and who I am as a person. Sarah’s tea swirled on its own, and the heat inside it mysteriously vaporized. It blew small tendrils of steam so she could sip her tea without burning herself.

Veronica waved, but Sarah’s deep thinking had blocked the world around her momentarily. Sipping one more time, her tea of golden honey transitioned to black. Sarah smacked her lips softly and continued sipping.

Veronica sighed. “Nevermind. That reminds me, I haven’t asked Danny if he’s seen it as well. Should I?”

Anna sighed and sat beside Sarah to try and break her out of her trance. “Well, I guess. Just to make sure we’re not the only ones who remember.” She noticed Sarah’s intense staring at the black tea. “Oh no. Is it bad? Did I burn your tea? I’m so sorry!”

Sarah looked back up and chuckled nervously. “No, no! It’s fine. I’m just, uhh… observing the color!”

Anna smiled. “Freaking weirdo.”

Sarah smiled back at her. “Right back atcha, buddy.”

“Hee, hee. Well, back to the subject, remember that girl, Veronica? You know, the one in the incident. Wasn’t she the one we spoke with that day?” Anna sipped loudly on her tea, which annoyed Sarah.

“Yeah, you’re right. And to think the same guy who killed Danny’s sister held her hostage!” Veronica said, looking down and seeming a little upset.

“What’s wrong, Veronica?” Anna asked.

“I thought he was a pretty nice guy when I met him, but now that we’ve seen what he’s done, he’s a monster.” Veronica sighed deeply and set her tea down.

Sarah sipped her tea loudly to get back at Anna. “Why am I feeling left out here? You guys have been experiencing these strange, supernatural things, right?”

Sarah paused for a moment. Wait… there was that one time when we all walked on the trail. I do recall experiencing something strange…

She felt anger building up inside her. “I do remember that experience alright.” She gripped the handle of the tea so hard that it broke off, spilling the last of her tea on her elegant gothic outfit.

Anna glared at Sarah. “Whoa! You have some grip there. Hopefully you can put it to good use and pay me back for the cup you just broke.”

Sarah raised a brow. “Quite cold of you, Anna, when my beautiful outfit has been ruined by your charred tea.”

“Hohoho, hahaha… very funny.”

Sarah dug into her black bag. “Here. Sorry, I just got carried away about something.”

Anna grabbed the money and slapped Sarah’s face with it, aggravating her. They both laughed and then she returned her cash. “Like I was saying, maybe you have experienced something strange? This includes all of us… something’s happening around Flint and Detroit. And for some reason, we’re the only ones experiencing it.”

Anna took her phone out and browsed the internet for potential answers. There has to be something in boggle, right? Come on… Wait! Oh damn it, not an ad about ghost hunting… How lame!

“I agree, but you won’t find any answers in that phone of yours. Trust me,” Sarah said, taking out her mysterious black book she always read during her lunch breaks.

“Well, to be honest I haven’t really been experiencing any paranormal weird stuff like you weirdos have.” Veronica took out a familiar cross pendant from beneath her shirt. “God always looks after me!”

Sarah slammed her book shut and walked over to Veronica and snatched the cross, almost like she was anticipating the moment.

"Hmm…?” She observed it closer. It feels remarkable, not to mention it looks expensive. I knew I’d felt something fishy every time we were around you, Veronica. It’s because of this. But where did you get such a thing?

“Uhh… Sarah, you’re pulling too hard. Ahhh! What’s with you? Oh man, you’re a darn weirdo.”

For some odd reason, she glared at Veronica with red eyes, which slightly scared Sarah. “Where did you get this?”

Veronica sweated a bit. She played a finger on her chin. “I-I don’t really remember all that well. The only thing that I can recall is…”

Anna chuckled. “You two are so dumb, and Sarah, you should chill.”

“Mmm, okay, I think I might have an answer for you, weirdy weirdo. One day I went to church and some woman in red came up to me asking who was praying in one of the benches. And then she handed me the necklace.”

Anna stopped browsing on her phone and looked up. “Did this woman ever say anything to you after she gave you such an expensive relic?”

Veronica started thinking. She gripped her chin and closed her eyes. “Now that you mention it she did tell me something.”

Sarah suddenly jumped forward and got into Veronica’s face, raising her suspicion towards Veronica. “Then what did she say?” Sarah asked in a very scary tone.

Veronica didn’t like how scary Sarah was currently acting. “Why are you so serious about a necklace?”

Sarah realized her actions were rude and apologized.

Veronica went back to thinking about what that woman had told her, then it finally clicked. “She told me—” she cleared her throat to imitate the woman’s voice, “‘wear this, and no evil shall ever touch you. Even the ones you can’t see.’”

Anna giggled at Veronica’s imitation. “Strange? Was her voice that gentle and lovely sounding?”

“Sorry! I tried, but you should’ve heard her voice. It was like an angel speaking and it was relaxing to the ears. Not to mention what she was wearing too. God was she gorgeous!”

Anna stopped her giggling and got serious again. “She’s probably just another religious nut, and if she were, then whatever she was wearing must’ve been pervy or showing too much skin.”

“What was she wearing, if I may ask?” Sarah asked as she got some tissues nearby and wiped at her skirt.

“Oh, she wore a red dress, had some black flower designs on them, and wore a see through-ish type hood. Ooo, ooo! And her eyes were, excuse my language, fucking astonishing!”

Anna grabbed her jaw, tilting her head. “Hmmm, I take back what I said about her being a religious slut.”

Red dress, black flower design, glamorous eyes… “What more can you remember, Veronica?” Sarah asked.

“Uhh, her skin was like yours, Sarah, but more holy and elegant. Ooo, she was tall, like maybe 5,10-ish. Oh, lastly her hair was black but shiny, curvy, long beautiful hair.”

Anna groaned, rolling her eyes and bringing out a grin. “Ooo, she sounds mesmerizing. I like her descriptions. Got me all, well, never mind.”

“With your descriptions and what she told you, I wouldn’t believe in anything she said,” Sarah said.

“Well, I believe it.” Veronica stood up and walked up to Anna, poking her face. “Boop! You’ll believe again too, my friend. Someday!”

Sarah’s eyes were narrowed, a vertical wrinkle showed while she was lost in thought in the moment. She checked the time and had to leave, telling the two she was leaving for the day. She said goodbye to Veronica and Anna as she left out the front door. Veronica and Anna couldn’t help but wonder why she got so confrontational towards Veronica about her necklace. They assumed she was just a closet atheist.

While Veronica waited for her parents to pick her up, Anna thought it’d be a great idea to watch a movie to kill time. Veronica agreed, so they both cleaned up the table and sat back down. Anna turned the TV on and loaded a random comedy film from a streaming service to brighten the mood.

Veronica set her feet on the coffee table and turned to Anna. “Say Anna?”

“What’s up, Veronica?”

Veronica fiddled with her fingers. “Do you think it’s strange I still have feelings for a dead person?”

Anna laughed. “What are you? A necrophiliac?” she exclaimed, playfully pushing Veronica.

Veronica pushed her back. “No, you jerk! For some odd reason I still have feelings for Jack.” She stopped talking for a second, leaving the movie to play in the background.

“Huh.”

Veronica sighed and turned back to the TV. “Do you find that strange?”

Anna scooted over to Veronica and hugged her. “Not at all. You know what’s strange, though?”

Veronica turned back to Anna. “What?”

Anna turned her soft grin into a full fledged smile, giggled, and looked into Veronica’s eyes. “For some odd reason I don’t believe he’s dead either.”

Veronica’s eyes glistened. “Well… that’s really hard to believe, but I hope you’re right.” She smiled, knowing that she wasn’t the only one who missed Jack that much.

Though hearing Anna’s words really brought out a hindrance in Veronica, the mountainous amount of envy she’d had towards Anna for years because of their relationship only proved how close the two truly were, no matter how much she loved the guy. But hearing Anna be that confident and truthful in her words made her happy, knowing that something as crazy as him being alive might be true.

The world is unpredictable, you’ll never know what it might throw at you. Perhaps enough to surprise you for eternity.

Veronica giggled. “But don’t dismiss that fact now. I might think you’re freaking crazy, Annabelle.”

They both smiled and continued watching the movie until it was time for Veronica to leave. Veronica’s parents arrived and honked their horns. Veronica heard them and got up, thanking Anna for the tea and for the wonderful talk. Anna accompanied her to the door and huggeding Veronica and said goodnight. She entered her parents’ vehicle and then they left while Anna waved goodbye. Anna then turned and stared at the haunting sunset over the horizon as Veronica’s fancy car drove off.

Anna stood in the yard. The grass on her feet bristled against her shoes, a soft wind fluttered her clothes as the sun’s glare shone on her wondrous hair. In watching the sunset, Anna wondered if her theories were true, that Jack was possibly alive or perhaps like what Veronica had just said, that she might just be delusional. To Anna, she didn’t mind both answers, she just hoped one of them could come true, so she could truly move on and live her life without worry.

***

Angela hadn’t talked much in the past couple days because she’d been in her room more than usual. Jack and Randolph were getting worried, which Jack blamed himself for. If she didn’t witness what he’d done to the monster Brandon, then she would still be the excited girl she usually was. Jack didn’t try to put in any effort to talk to her let alone attempt to see her. He would ignore or look away whenever she would leave her room for just a little bit. His ego wouldn’t allow him to do so, but the aspect of his broken state prevented him from expressing an ounce of emotion.

Jack couldn’t help himself. He felt terrible about the entire ordeal. Son of a— Goddamn myself, fuck!

The only people who still talked to her, even if she barely said anything, were both the self proclaimed uncles. Even then, they could both tell she wanted to talk to her brother, but he was so dense it’d be a wasted effort trying to convince him to do such a thing. His current pride wouldn’t allow it.

Randolph walked up to Angela’s door and gently knocked on it. She didn’t answer at first, but he’d prepared himself for that. He had a box of donuts in one hand to crave her taste buds. This was a method he liked enforcing if he wanted answers out of her.

To force her out of her cave, Randolph rattled the box of donuts, making sounds of tempting hunger. He let out a relaxed breath. “Ooo, Angela, got donuts sweetheart. They’re delicious.”

No response, his only answer was silence. Randolph cleared his throat and pretended to express anger. “If you don’t open this… uhh.” He snapped his fingers. “Goddamn door! Ooo! Ahem, I swear Imma give you a spooky ass whooping!”

Behind the closed door, he heard Angela chuckle softly.

“Come on now, open this door and let your goofy uncle in.”

It worked and she opened her door wearing an overgrown hoodie way out of her size. The hood was over her head. “Hello…” she said adorably.

Angela welcomed Randolph in, but quickly stopped him in his tracks. “Before you come in... where’s the donuts?”

Randolph opened the box and leaned it close to her growing face of astonishment. “You mean these glazed beauties alongside sprinkles and chocolate, I presume?”

She smiled and fully welcomed him into her domain. “You better have had them or else I would hate you for life, Uncle. Hee hee.”

When Randolph set down the box of donuts on her drawing desk and started grabbing one, the sight of her wearing something huge trifled his eyes. “Uhh, baby girl… where’d you get that thing? And why are you wearing it? It looks ridiculously huge on you.”

She glanced around and seemed nervous. “Oh-Oh… it’s uhhh, got it from… the Internet!”

Randolph crossed his arms, observing the black hoodie she seemed fondly suspicious of. “Wait… I feel like I’ve seen someone wear it before.”

She tapped her index finger and blinked erratically. “You… you must be dreaming. Or seeing things!”

He stroked his chin. “Hold up! Isn’t that Jack’s old hoodie?”

Her face erupted into red, and she cowered while chewing on her donut. “N-n-n-n… o!”

Angela felt regret letting her uncle in. Inside her mind she shouldn’t have, but her stomach chose to speak and take action. Feeling ridiculous, she dragged the hoodie more towards her face and covered herself. Randolph chuckled and removed her hood, patting her head instead.

Randolph hugged Angela as she continued devouring her donut. “Aww, that’s so sweet… Wa-wait a second?”

Something very noticeable caught Randoph’s eyes. It was a change in her appearance which drastically transformed her look. Observing the change in a worried parent-like manner, he grabbed her hair gently and examined the change.

Randolph couldn’t believe his eyes. He wanted to cry because what she did to her hair in his parenting mindset and how females do in the streets would be out of rebellion.

In an upset dramatic tone Randolph said, “Angie sweety, d-did you dye your hair?! Oh lawd… my little princess is growing up and she’s already rebelling against us? No Lord, why? Why?!”

Angela tilted her head at first, but seeing her uncle’s reaction made her burst out laughing.

She grabbed the end of her hair away from Randolph and waved it around. “Uncle, stop. I didn’t dye my hair. I just woke up the next day with the ends of my hair pur—” She paused in shock.

“Angela, you okay? You were about to say purple, right? Why’d you cut yourself off, baby girl?”

She made sounds of fear and clenched her hair, as her eyes of ocean blue started creating waves. The bottom of her lip trembled, her hand shook, and the edges of her eyes were swelling with water.

Randolph saw her shaking. “Is everything fine?” he asked, feeling worried.

Angela let out a long breath, softly blinking to ease the fear she’d shown to her uncle and wiped her eyes. Flinging her hair to the side, she brushed it with a pale hand. “Sorry for the worry… I’m not com-com… complaining though I’ve always wanted highlights. Ha, ha… ha.”

It was too late to make her uncle brush the feeling of worry aside because Randolph’s parenting senses told him something was not right. Something was bothering Angela, so Randolph thought if one of their homeboys did it, or if any of their hoes or his ladies came upstairs one night and pulled a prank on her. At first he was about to make some phone calls in rage and jump to conclusions until he quickly came to the realization that everyone in their gang loved Angela. They would never dare do such a thing to her.

For now, Randolph decided to push everything to the back of his mind and store it for later on. Scratching his head, Randolph sighed. “Well… whatever mystery is going on, at least it looks good on you. Suits you very well. Let me take a closer look.”

Angela obliged. Randolph grabbed Angela’s hair and examined it.

“Strange…” Just from examining and feeling her hair closely, something felt off about her new strange highlights.

“What?” Angela asked.

“Hmm, your highlights feel weird compared to your actual hair, like it’s more silky, softer. That’s some spooky shit.”

Angela forcefully giggled. “It’s fine. I like them any-anyways, so it’s not that big of a deal.” She took another donut out and began munching on it.

“Hmm, I guess so.”

“So Uncle, what’s up? Watcha wanna talk about besides my new mysterious look?”

Randolph walked over to Angela’s precious figurine collection sitting on a shelf. He knew that Jack hated it, mainly from how it drained his wallet every time she wanted one.

He grabbed one, examined it, and started playing with it. “What’s up? More like what are these and most importantly,” he grabbed a female one, “why’s this bitch’s titties so big? You’re too young to be having these things.”

Angela laughed. “Well if that’s the case, then you shouldn’t be saying such bad words around me!”

Randolph was a little stunned and raised his hands. “Damn! You right…”

“Of course I am. Bad uncle, bad.”

Randolph cleared his dry throat. “I wanted to ask you something, sweetheart.” He sat on the floor and Angela sat on her bed.

“What is it, Uncle Randy?”

“Angela, you want to talk and see your big brother, don’t you?”

Angela looked down feeling upset, still munching on the donut. “Yes… I want to talk to him, but he hasn’t even tried to talk to me or acknowledge my existence.”

Randolph chuckled. “Trust me baby, he wanted to talk to you too. He even blames himself for everything.”

She raised her head. “Re-Really?”

“Yes really! The big doofus is being a puss… I mean baby to even come face you! Like, come on man, he’s being a bitch!” Randolph laughed and apologized for cursing.

Hearing that brought out a gentle grin on Angela’s face. She felt happy knowing her brother tried his damndest to push aside his new ego to apologize to her. Knowing him though, she knew he’d been battling many demons on his shoulders for the past few years, and in doing so he’d become a real hardass. Beforehand, he’dd made it easy to read his attitude and emotions, but now he was impossible to read.

All that thinking about her brother made her chuckle. “Thank you for telling me, Uncle… Could you uhh, go get my bro-brother for me?”

Randolph sighed. “Okay… Let me just stretch for a quick second here if you don’t mind.” He stood up and took his time doing stretches.

Angela wasn’t born yesterday. She knew her uncle all too well, realizing he was goofing around and purposely killing time. She got up from sitting and pushed him playfully. He gave in to her demand and left, heading downstairs and spotting Jack taking a nap on the couch like the slouch he’d become.

Randolph didn’t like the fact that Jack slept on their couch not giving a care in the world. Doing that made it appear as if Jack didn’t want to talk to his sister again or try any effort in apologizing for his ruthless actions. Randolph had an idea, while slowly approaching Jack, which made him express a sinister face full of revenge.

Getting close, he stopped and rubbed his hands together. “Ooo, you about to get it now, muthafucka! Payback, you freakishly tall bum!” As soon as Randolph took one more step, his phone went off.

Jack’s eyes widened and they were bloodshot. “You ruined my nap, you bitch!” He rushed off the couch and tackled Randolph. Both men started wrestling on the ground.

Eric walked in through the front door and spoted them wrestling. He shrugged it off and headed upstairs, deciding to stop by Angela’s room, but her door was open already. He welcomed himself and walked into her room.

Angela heard her door slightly creak and saw her giant, muscular uncle walk in. Getting off her bed, Angela ran up to him and hugged him. He had a huge smile on his face and noticed that she appeared to be happy after being soaked in sadness.

“Princess, why are you so happy all of a sudden?”

“It’s because of Uncle Randy. I had a good talk with him so I’m in a much better mood if I say so myself. Mmhmm.”

“Whatchu guys talk about?”

She blushed. “He told me that Jack wanted to talk to me and apologize for his actions against the creepy guy who tried touching—”

Eric stopped her by raising his hand. “Don’t. I don’t want to be reminded of that mother—! I mean the bastard who tried getting his dirty fingers on my princess. Yes, I think he deserves a beating, but killing him makes you no better than his actions. It only makes you look like a bigger sicko than what he was.”

Angela looked down at the ground. “Yeah, I agree.”

Eric patted her shoulder. “It’s okay, princess. Hey, your big dumb brother may be a little off now, but at least he’s trying, right?”

“Ha, ha, you’re right, but I think his current ego won’t allow him to try it anyways, like apologizing upfront.”

He agreed with a nod. “Perhaps… Or he could be a big ol pussy!”

She pouted and pointed at her uncle. “Uncle Eric, language mister.”

“Ha, right, right. Say princess?” Eric asked as he sat on her bed.

“Yes uncle Eric?” Angela walked over to her figurines, removing dust off them with an air duster she got that’s placed on the exact same shelf.

Something was fighting inside Eric’s mind. He wanted to ask her how she could love a dangerous person like Jack. He didn’t want to make it sound as if he was trying to divide them, he only wanted a clear answer on why she was so devoted to him. Eric knew people could change, but never had he seen someone change backwards in such a drastic way like Jack.

Letting out a deep sigh, Angela continuously dusted off her precious treasures. Eric watched her, biding his time until he was ready to ask.

“Angela, why do you love that messed up fool so much? I know I’ve asked this before, but I’m still curious. Why?”

She softly giggled, dropped the canister, walked up to Eric and grabbed his hands. “I know you guys don’t know much of our past, but the truth is that he’s the one who saved me from complete isolation.”

Angela stared at his huge knuckles while Eric stayed quiet.

“He’s the only person who’s ever treated me as a proper human being in those times of dark torment, and he didn’t see me as a freak of nature.” She gently let go of his hands and walked back to her collection of figures again, then grabbed her favorite one. It was a guy with spiky black hair, scary eyes like her brother, an open mouth smile, and wore an orange and black tracksuit.

“I knew you gave me some hints of your dark past, but not the full context of it. I won’t ask how people saw you in that way, but they’re dead wrong about you. And that’s for certain, princess.”

Angela grinned and turned round with her favorite prized figurine, showing it to Eric. “You see this collectible.”

Eric stared at it. “Yeah, what about it?”

She gently touched the figure. “This character reminds me a lot of Jack.”

“How so, when he’s wearing an orange tracksuit, has white skin, has black spiky hair, and looks weak as hell?”

Angela laughed. “No, not in appearance, Uncle, but through their actions and attitude.”

“Oh, alright, then. Go on, explain.”

“This character, even though he can be a complete jackass at times and makes horrific mistakes, he can still fix those mistakes, respawning and willing to redo the past just to save the people he loves so they can be alive and happy.”

Eric crossed his arms. “So what you’re saying is... Jack’s got no brain and he’s fragile like plastic?”

She giggled. “Uncle, you’re always joking.”

He laughed too. “Sorry, sorry. I can’t help myself, you know?”

She placed the precious figurine back in its place, then walked up to her uncle in a relaxed manner, and stood in front of him with her arms crossed behind her. “Where’s my brother?”

Eric groaned. “The dumb fools wrestling with Randolph. Sometimes they can be so stupid! But they my home boys, so I care about them.” He stood up and lifted Angela off her feet. “No matter how messed up your bro is, I’ll always watch his back, baby girl.”

She felt even better hearing that from Eric, and on the fact that her brother might be mentally ill, yet he still trusted and cared about him was enough for her to accept him for the person he was today. She felt relieved knowing that despite the fact her brother messed up, there were others who cared about him besides her, her uncles, and some people in their gang.

Eric carried her piggyback style and took her downstairs where Randolph and Jack were still wrestling. Seeing them still wrestle and tussle, to attempt them to stop he raised his voice at them. “Ya better stop fighting or ima whoop both ya asses!” As soon as they heard his threat they stopped their pointless fighting and sat on the couch.

Jack lay back and yawned, resting his feet on the coffee table. “What now, boss man? Do we have a new mission or something?”

“Well, you aren’t wrong about the mission part, but I have a surprise for you, bitch ass fool!”

“Wow, if it’s coming from you then I’m not interested, especially with that tone.” Jack sighed, which annoyed Eric.

To make Jack instantly regret his words, he moved aside. Angela stood there behind him, looking rather sheepish and wearing her brother’s old hoodie. “So you’re saying you wouldn’t want her as a gift?” He pointed at Angela who looked adorable.

Like Eric planned, Jack immediately took back his words and became nervous. Angela stood there quietly while being adorably shy. She was as red as an apple, and she felt the butterflies in her stomach growing crazily. She was so wrapped in her blanket of embarrassment that she kept making cute, funny noises. Jack scratched his head, took a deep breath, got up and slowly crept towards her.

“Hey, Angela!” he said nervously.

“H… i…” she replied.

Jack noticed what she was wearing. It was an old relic of his troubled preteen past, a black hoodie he used to treasure. He felt happy, but he couldn’t express it.

“Whatcha wearing there?” ask Jack.

Angela’s nervousness rose. Her eye movements were erratic and she kept shaking her shoulders, and didn’t say anything else. Eric gently pushed her with a hand and tickled her a bit to force her to talk.

She squinted, closing her eyes for a second. “You’re… hoo—die!” she said with a shaky voice. “Does it look… bad?”

Jack, for once and in front of everyone, shocked both Eric and Randolph by smiling. “Nah. You look adorable, well…”

He observed her knee high socks and how incredibly long the hoodie was on her and her hair, notably how there’s purple on the end of it.

“What now?” Angela asked.

Jack scratched a cheek. When did she dye her hair…? Eh, I’ll ask her in a bit. “To be honest, you should try wearing some jeans or something. It almost looks like you’re not wearing anything besides the hoodie and socks.”

She smiled and stepped closer towards him with her arms crossed behind her, regaining her calm composure which defeated her nervousness. “Whatever you say, big bro!” She then shrugged all cute-like.

Jack stepped closer, took a knee and opened his arms out to her. “Come on, give your bro a hug.”

Hearing that put a huge smile on Angela’s face. The need to grasp his essence made her so eager to jump into him and embrace the love she missed. She did, jumping right into his long arms. He rubbed her head while apologizing for everything, especially the incident at the hospital.

“Hospital? What do you mean?” she asked with a tilted head.

Jack became worried and began to feel uneasy. “The hospital. Remember when we were escaping and I pointed a gun towards your head to bribe the police?”

She narrowed her eyes and rose the edge of her lip. “No I don’t. Did you dream something bizarre again?”

Jack’s face turned white. He stood up without saying a word and walked out the front door. Eric and Randolph were shocked again and upset that Jack said he’d pointed a gun to her head.

Randolph shook his head. “I’ll get him back inside, you two just wait here.”

Eric nodded. “You better cause I need to explain the mission for later to the two of you.”

Randolph walked out the front door and spotted Jack sitting on one of the porch chairs. “Yo Jack! You aight?” He sat next to Jack. “Yo! You heard me, right?”

Jack stared at the cars passing by. His eyes were empty and he muttered words beneath his breath, “She doesn’t remember. She doesn’t remember.”

Jack began to laugh erratically. Randolph lifted the edge of his lip in revolt. “What the…?”

“Ha, Ha, Haahaa! Am-Am I… crazy?”

Randolph felt uncomfortable, so he smacked Jack’s back without hesitation. “You scaring me goddammit! Chill!”

Jack snapped out of it, but lowered his head and looked at Randolph. “What man… Can’t you see I’m trying to relax here?” He scratched the spot on his back where Randolph had smacked him.

“Relax! What do you mean relax? You was saying some scary shit like, She doesn’t remember! or Am I crazy! Bwhahaha! Come on man! Stop with that weird ass spooky talk!”

“Then what do you want?”

“I wanna talk about Angela.”

Jack pulled a cigarette out. “Ugh… Enough about her, we’ve made up so lets change the topic. Let me guess, you want her to go to school too? Is that what this is about now?”

Randolph stood up and gazed at the cold, clear blue sky. “Of course, but there’s more to it than that. I want her to go for her safety. I don’t know if I told you this already, but…”

The wind blew a cool breeze. Randolph’s clothes fluttered slightly by its soft blows. “Believe it or not Jack, I was a dad at one point in my life…”

He reached into his pocket and took out a wallet, along with a small necklace, then he stared at the momentos he treasured so dearly. Jack’s jaw dropped. It was the first time he’d ever heard such a thing.

“I was really happy then. I had a loving daughter, an amazing wife, but most of all,” he looked back at Jack, “I had an actual reason to live.”

Randolph stopped talking for a moment and his smile faded.

Jack was surprised to hear that. He had no clue that Randolph was a father. He looked directly into Randolph’s eyes. The look in his eyes was that of a man who’d lost something.

Silence welcomed itself for a moment until Randolph finally spoke again. “Now, I have nothing.”

Randolph shed a tear. He clenched the necklace and held it close to his head. Jack’s eyes shook, and guilt grew inside his broken soul.

“Don’t make the same mistakes I have. Give your sister the life she deserves, Jack. You too deserve better than this. It’s our fault you became so messed up. So, I’m sorry… for everything.”

Why is he apologizing…! I-I should be the one saying sorry, especially for my actions.

Jack’s guilt started to show. He clenched his fists while his eyes reeked of sadness. He felt horrible hearing Randolph’s small backstory.

What made Jack feel worse was the fact that Randolph apologized and blamed himself for the life they currently lived, especially from Jack’s unnecessary actions. Feeling his guilt soak inside and leak out further, he got up and placed his hand on Randolph’s shoulder. Randolph stared at the sky as the calm wind continued to blow, and Jack at last expressed his guilt.

With a sullen face, Jack’s lip quivered. “It’s not your fault. Or Eric’s. It was I who chose to be this way… Don’t you dare, dare apologize for my actions, Randolph. Don’t say our lives are horrible because of you two. Angela and I are grateful for everything you’ve done for us… but I’m the one who chose to live this way, so please don’t say you’re sorry for me.”

Randolph turned to Jack and saw his eyes had a tiny gleam of life like before his change. It was enough to return Randolph’s smile, but only briefly.

Jack let go of Randolph’s shoulder. “You guys are the closest thing I can call family now. But more importantly, Randolph, don’t ever say you have nothing in life! I know that wherever your families are right now, they’re watching, waiting for your return. So for now, live, live until you can reunite with them someday.”

Surprisingly, Jack hugged him, which confused Randolph but he still relished in the moment.

Randolph smiled. “So? This is the guy Angela spoke of before he became all fucked up, huh?”

Jack chuckled. “Yeah, but just for today.”

Randolph patted Jack’s back. “Don’t worry man. I already have a reason to live now.”

“What’s the reason then?”

Randolph walked Jack towards the window and pointed at Angela. “She’s the reason why I keep going now. If it wasn’t for her or even you, I would’ve probably killed myself a long time ago.”

He looked at Jack, face to face. “Promise me, Jack, if anything were to happen to any of us, you take her to school and make her pursue her dreams. Can you do that for ya boy?”

Jack extended a hand and grinned. “I promise, Randolph. Not just for you, me, or Eric, but for her sake.”

Randolph shook Jack’s hand. “That’s a bet then! She’s special and you have to let her show the world how amazing she is.”

Randolph glanced back at Angela. Yeah, just like my little girl.

“You know Jack, she reminds me a lot of my daughter. I guess that’s why I care about her so much.”

Jack’s grin disappeared. “Say Randolph, if you don’t mind me asking, whatever happened to your family? Because the way you put it, it seems like they’re—”

Randolph looked back at Jack and grinned. “I’ll tell you when you finally have the courage to tell me about your past.” He started walking back towards the door. “Till then, I’m keeping my mouth shut, my guy.”

Jack nodded and smiled. “I’ll reveal everything to you guys someday. You have my word.”

Jack followed Randolph and they both walked back inside.

Angela approached the two as they came in and Randolph closed the door. “You okay brother?”

Jack patted her head and placed his hand on her shoulder. “I’m fine, I just needed some air, that's all.” He turned around to Randolph. “Thanks Randolph for the nice talk, I really needed it.”

Randolph patted Jack’s shoulder, grinning. “No problem kid and my little princess…” He approached his niece and rubbed her head. “I promise to look after you no matter what, even if this buffoon beside me goes berserk one day haha.”

Angela raised her brows, placing her index finger against her chin. “What did you guys talk about? I’m confused…”

Everyone laughed except Eric because he still had to explain the new mission. “You guys better get ready for it because it’s a big one so laugh all you want now but when that shit goes wrong who’s gonna be laughing then?” They both moaned like children.

Angela laughed at them this time, pointing that one finger at the two with a grin. “Hehe, wussies!”