In a foggy mirror I see a young child no older than few years, light brown hair and dark brown eyes. A face I see everyday and will continue to see for days to come. Not a man in his 20s with dark hair and blue eyes, but a young child who has yet to see horrors thisworld has to offer.
Exiting bathroom and checking the time, it was still early. The sun had not even risen yet. But this was my schedule, wake up early every day to set a habit, do basic exercises. Which surprisingly was not as hard as one might think, it was like playing on a new save file. Being in a child's body meant that I did not have store of fats to weigh me down. I was even able to handstands sometimes, although it was hard to maintain balance. Which I hoped I could learn to do before my body grew and my center of balance changed.
I would do exercises in the hall room when Ambra was not present, which was this morning. She hadn't come home yet, it being normal for me to spend my time undisturbed. And there being Axel to do my chores only helped me make efficient use of my time.
I pick up my tablet given to me by Brian, it was his gift when I turned 4 years old. This tablet being the only thing I owned.
***
The ring of the bell breaks my concentration. I look up from the screen toward the door, frowning. Axel opens it. When I see Brian step inside, I wave and smile, only for it to fade as I notice the person behind him.
Ambra enters looking for worse, like she hasn't slept in days. A strong smell of alcohol pervades the house as she staggers, only held up with Brian's support as he passes her to Axel. He asks it to take care of her. As Axel takes her to the bed.
I get ready to leave standing next to Brian, only for her to drunkenly speak, "Where are you taking him, to an amusement park? *Hic* You never took me anywhere, when I asked. Hmph, you are just like other men, use woman like me and then throw us away like a used tissue.*Hic*"
Brian stood straight, eyes steel from hearing her speak. Only to give me a sad smile and motions me to quietly come.
"That twat will also grow up to be like you, *Hic* atleast you are teaching him to be worth a damn, might as well take that scourge from me. Useless that kid." *Thud* as she pounds her fist against the bed, "*Hic* Haha, what will Mrron think when his kid turns out to be junkie like him as well, haha trash both of them, all men are trash."
She drunkenly laughs, feeling anger rise in me. But what could I even do, shout at her? call people from child protection to give myself up for adoption? Nothing, I can do nothing for now. Only for something to come in my view, a closed fist. Brian looked real angry, like he was about to kill someone, just as he is about to shout. I grab his fist, grabbing his attention and shake my head. It is not worth it, atleast not now.
He reluctantly swallows whatever he was going to say and closes the door so both of us can't hear anything that could come out of her mouth. We both get into elevator, my hand still grasping his fist. "I am sorry kid, that you had to hear that. No mother should ever say such things." he says with a sad and guilty expression.
"No, I am ok. If I become sad every time someone says mean shit to me then I will always be thinking about it and never have the time to improve upon myself."
Brian nods in agreement, as he pats my head, "Good mindset to have, but you are too young to cuss."
I simply nod, as I get into the vehicle and we pick kid Brian on the way.
"Um-m sir, I have to go home by 12pm. If I don't the-then my mother would get suspicious. S-so if you could dr-drop me to the garden, I would be th-thankful.", said kid Brian hesitantly.
"Ok kid, and when should I come to pick you up in the afternoon?"
"I-I... sir you don't have to-"
I quip in between, "Nonsense, you should come back with my uncle in the afternoon. If you don't then you will fall behind me in what I am learning."
He immediately turns to me, shock on his face, "Wh-what are y-you talking about?"
"Don't you want to learn together?" I ask, turning to face him, "It would be better if both of us could learn together and make money to run away from out home. And before you say no, atleast try it, you might like it." Better to just do it and then ask for permission, I am pretty sure Brian will be able to convince him.
"I-I can't, what if sir-Mr. Ant-Antonio says no?"
"Nah, kid. That's why I am here, I will convince him to teach both of you. And don't say no, you might not know but learning under someone is a rare opportunity. As long as you show promise and stay dedicated you will succeed in life, away from the dangerous parts of this city. Well, he offered you food so yeah he is already half convinced to take you in, so don't worry and don't waste this once in a lifetime opportunity, not many people get it." said Brian.
This convinces the hesitant kid to accept that he is allowed to learn, as he mutters "Thank y-you" with tears in his eyes.
We finally reach Antonio's workshop, I prepare myself by repeating the possible answers to his question of 'Why should I teach you?', a seeming simple question with multitude of answers. A question whose answer changes depending on who is asking, and the only way to answer it correctly is to understand the person who is asking. Why are they asking? What has he seen in me, that he is asking.
I feel the car going up in the elevator, feeling ready and childlike nervousness flowing through me. As I exit the car and politely greet him, kid Brian mimicking me. His room looked a lot cleaner than yesterday, with boxes with labels in the corner of the room.
"Come kids, have breakfast with me. I was working on a project and didn't have the time, so don't feel ashamed. Brian-" both of them turn to him on being called as Brian looks with annoyance, "Oh come on, it was fun at first. I am sorry kid, I meant Brian Noose, you know what I will just call him Noose and you Brian, so both of you don't get confused. Noose outside with me, you said we need to talk."
After sometime they come back inside, as we start eating. I ate smaller portions, and wait for others to finish eating. I breath in and out waiting for him ask me questions about what I knew, or he could start me from the basics.
He hands me a USB drive, "It contains basics of software and hardware, from definition to types of hardware used in all kind of technology. Once you finish that tell me, ok?"
I puzzlingly look at the USB drive he just handed to me, and nod confusingly, "yeah?"
"Great!" he immediately gets up and searches one of the boxes and takes a board and metal box containing something as it made clinking noise.
'Oh, is he going to go over the basics. I wonder how is he going to teach us, wait does he has experience in teaching? I mean-' my mind just pulls a full on break when I see what he had bought over, he spreads it over the bed. A table top board. A fucking table top board game with the metal box containing fake paper money and pieces to play with.
I look incredulously at him and then at Brian, expressing my concern if he was pranking us.
"Oh, don't look at me like that. I gave you things to learn and when you complete it, you can just come here and I will give you the next task to complete. Oh! don't tell me, you thought I would coddle you, didn't you? Haha." he replies, all too pleased with himself.
I turn towards Brian, he ignores me, and starts to take pieces out, "Brian, do you know how to play this game? Arwin? If you don't know, we will teach you."
Both me and kid Brian nod, although it was hard for me to follow what games both these adults were playing, I took it as a test and a chance to take time contemplate on his question.
At first kid Brian lost hard, unable to understand how to play. By the time he understood basics, he played good for a beginner but would try to buy every house he came across bankrupting himself. Rookie mistake. I on the other hand played strategically, analyzing what Brian and Antonio would buy so I could defeat them. But Antonio was unpredictable, buying or making deals with kid Brian at a very low price always ganging up on me and Brian to clear us out of the game early, only to then lose to kid Brian. Brian also played like me strategically and both of us made quite a good team.
Antonio was the only one who picked the weight on the opposite team, but goddamn he played good. He would always get number he would want on his dice, to the point I started thinking he had rigged the dice somehow.
I lean close to Brian, whispering, "Hey do you think he is cheating or something?"
He looks at me and then at the board, most of his buildings were in mortgage. The one responsible? Antonio. "No, he is just that good at rolling the dice. He said there is similar trick to tossing a coin to make land on the side you want."
"What! Isn't that cheating at that point?", I whisper too loudly as the cheater responds with the most obnoxious reply.
"Cheating? Nah just git good boi." as he continues, "If you think I am cheating? then you haven't met scrooge crook, hey Br-Noose you remember that old crook?"
"Yeah that old man was a monster, that goddamn scrooge would strip you down to your underwear if he could. He made many men cry tears of blood, it got to the point that small time gang started hunting for his hidden stash or just for payback."
Antonio explodes with laughter, "Oh! that month was the best." he looks at us and explains, "You see this old man would gamble with anyone and won most of them. There was this criminal gambler's den where he would always visit and constantly took big winnings, to the point that the ones he robbed clean, started a rumor that he had stashed his winnings in some place. Because anyone who tried to follow him would always lose sight of him. So a whole goddamn crooks, criminals, and wanna be treasure hunters started a hunt for his stash."
Brian joins in on laughing, "Yeah, to the point even the city officials got alarmed since the city started buzzing with criminals hunting down for treasure. But none could find his so called 'hidden cache'. He sent all the criminals and small time crooks dancing around this city."
"Wait, then what about the old man? surely people must have tried to kidnap him to get the location." said Arwin.
"He? well he just up and disappeared, went poof like a magician's magic trick. No one knew when he slipped, but I guess he wanted to cause trouble before passed away. He cleaned up the city, by causing chaos." said Antonio.
"You knew him, right? Both of you sound like you knew him personally, wait don't tell me... teacher Ant lost to him and so you decided to copy his tricks, given him a beer or two to get the secret out. Did I guess correctly?"
"Hah, yeah you got most of it right. Just, it was not me who lost to that scrooge, it was your old man. He was so arrogant back when he was young, you should have seen him back then, he was a different guy altogether. Then that scrooge stripped him of his dignity and money that night, he even took B-Noose's clothes, left him in his underwear in the middle of the night. He got nicknamed 'Stripper Brian'.", only to then choke on his own spit as he continued to laugh gleefully, reminiscing those days.
Brian scowls at being reminded, but then lets out a smiling sigh. Shaking his head, "It was not that bad actually. That old man humbled me, and showed me that there are other ways of defeating a person other than muscles. But this guy lost so much money that he was in debt trying to copy that scrooge, that he caused another wave of loan shark trying to hunt him down."
We play a bit more, as even kid Brian had relaxed to the point of being almost casual.
"I ha-have to go now, my mo-mother would not let me in if I didn't reach home by 12pm." said kid Brian.
I turn to search for any wall clock, that could tell the current time. Seeing no clock, I turn to Brian, he replies "We have half an hour we can get there in 15 minutes. Well I guess that's it for today, good game kids especially you Brian. You played really good."
Antonio gestures to Noose to pack the game, and then faces me, "So tell me, why should I personally teach you Arwin? What would I get out of it?"
Immediately the comfortable atmosphere vaporizes, as I think carefully what answer I should give. It was basically advertisement about why someone should invest in him, and to do that he had to give response in half truth manner, to promise for a better return on investment. He decided on the curated answer he had thought of, "Brian never talks about his friends and he then mentioned you, so I want to learn under you. I am still young and of learning age, I am dedicated to learning as much I can and it doesn't matter if I get a structured education. I could be of help to you when I grow up and become capable, working as your assistant."
'This was the best interview answer I could come up with a child could answer without sounding too much like we are having a transaction, even if he disagreed to teach me, I could always ask Brian for support to self learn... What can I even reach with self study? Strength and money is what matters in this world, the world of human rights is long gone.' I mentally sigh as I question whether the reason we played games today is so I wouldn't think bad of him when he rejects me.
I gaze up, swallowing my expectations.
"Yeah... good answer kid, too mature coming from a 5year child but Noose did say you were a precocious one. Well I guess that's it and what about you Brian? wanna learn together with your friend."
Kid Brian freezes up, unable to answer or rather he is too scared to answer.
"If you don't want to learn, then I might have to reject Arwin as well. I mean I can't take your precious friend, if he goes away then who would play with you." said Antonio, laughingly.
Both me and kid Brian look at eachother, I could see the nervousness in his eyes at hearing it and him being the reason I could be rejected, but also from agreeing to learn, 'What! what kind of option are these? its like asking a kid whether he wants to eat a chocolate or broccoli. Choose the chocolate! What does he fear so much? His home? his mom? look at me kid, I don't give rat's ass about Ambra, be like me.'
He opens his mouth only for him to be interrupted, "What the hell Ant? is this how you ask a kid?"
"Oh come on, I am giving the kid options."
"Options? you are giving him an ultimatum, you choose to learn then you can stay with your friend, say no then your friend will be heartbroken. You are not giving him options, Antonio." he says exasperatedly.
"Bri-uh goddamnit. Noose, people don't have options from which they can choose from, we all are trying to do whatever we can to survive the 'today', we didn't have thoughts about our future. You remember what it was like in orphanage, don't you? Living? We were surviving day by day on scraps, and only those who dared to look ahead, survived. We! survived! Brian." said Antonio without taking a breath leaving him to breath heavily, "The kid needs to know that he doesn't have an option, there is no option. It is either he takes my hand today or die someday in future starving, or worse stabbed by crooks when he gets kicked out."
He turns to kid Brian, "Look kid, life is shit in this part of city and you know it, atleast understand it. If you don't becoming daring when you are young then you become a coward for the rest of your life. And its not like everything magically fixes itself, it just depends on which side of die it lands on."
"I-I, wha-what if I cou-couldn't learn anything. Ar-Arwin is smarter than m-me, so he wou-would leave me behind any-anyway." he asks on the verge of tears.
"Then atleast you tried goddamnit. *Sigh* Look, kid. Arwin didn't learn everything just by being born, he worked hard for it, he pushed his natural talents to survive and now he is here. And its not because he is a genius but because he met Brian Noose, who took a liking to him. If it weren't for him you two wouldn't even have met, forget me. And now you have once in a lifetime opportunity to take your own fate in your hands, and we are here to teach you how. Even if you fail, you atleast have a knowledge atleast that is something worth."
Kid Brian looks at old man Brian then at me, and nods.
Antonio continues, "Brian, everything in this world has a price, and how you can sell or buy it depends on you. Remember that."
"S-so, I have a ch-choice to cho-choose something priceless?" he asks. To which Antonio gives a solemn nod.
"I-I also wan-want to learn with Arwin. Si-sir Anto-Ant-"
He finishes off his sentence, "Antonio, good choice kid. You won't regret it. and be more confident in yourself."
"Well thats it I guess, Arwin you can come visit me anytime for a game with Brian, Noose will take responsibility for both of you being a personal driver. And Brian I understand the problems you have going on, so you can come here and learn. I will give you a tablet, and if you don't understand something you can ask me, ok?" said Antonio.
Kid Brian nods, I ask accusingly, "That's it? Uh no more test? You would have taught him, no matter what he chose, right?"
"Yes , but its good that Brian himself agreed. Even if he didn't agree, that old man of yours would bring him here everyday and bug me off on teaching him. Better the kid agrees to be taught rather than to force him. Also quite keen Arwin, I hope you continue to second guess any conversation you had. That is an important skill you have, develop it and it may take you far in life." said Antonio.
"Yeah, yeah. Come on kids, let me drop you guys off. It is getting late, but we can still get to Brian's home if you guys get in." said Brian.
Kid Brian bows his head towards Antonio, seeing that I mimic him. As he gestures us 'no worries', we get into Brian's car as he speeds up once we get out Antonio's garage.
We barely make it in time, as kid Brian opens the door and exits. He bows and shouts 'Thank you' and waves us goodbye, smilingly. As he turns around and walks up to his home, in a decrepit looking building.
'Well that's the first time I have seen him go home smiling. Good choice kid, you won't regret it. Choose your own fate. I couldn't help but think about what Antonio said, yeah I am keen but that is only for a child. That is common sense, I am not an amazing observer but I think he knows something regarding that topic. Well I can ask him to teach me, when I show I am capable enough.'
Feeling the car stop, I turn towards Brian and give a nod, but before saying, "Thank you, Brian. I don't exactly know why you care for me, but thank you for everything you have done. I will not disappoint you-"
"Hah kid, you could never disappoint me." he rubs my head caringly and pats me on the back, "Go kid I believe in you, learn and live a good life."
I nod at him, starting to feel a lump in my throat. I had only ever heard those words twice in my entire lifetime. I give him an awkward hug and exit while whispering, "Thank you."