"MUM! DAD! You're finally home!" Gage's younger siblings all screamed. He had one little brother, only a year younger, and two much younger sisters—Irish twins.
"Wow! The whole family's awake?!" Dad said, surprised, though he couldn't wipe the huge smile off his face as he looked at his children.
"Why aren't you asleep, Gage?! Didn't we say you must be in bed by 9pm? And it's now 11pm! What have you been doing? You're so full of energy!" his mum scolded, annoyed.
"Erm… I did try to put them to sleep, but they wanted to wait for you too," Gage explained.
"Yeah, Mummy! I can't sleep until you do my makeup!" the youngest daughter piped up.
"Oh darling… I'm too tired for makeup," Mum replied.
"Yeah, Mummy just came back from work—let's see what she brought us this time!" the older daughter said, holding her younger sister's hand as they rifled through the bag.
"Hey, Mum, can I help you make breakfast?" the younger brother asked.
"You guys should be asleep," Mum said.
"Yeah, but you were going to have breakfast with just the three of you earlier. How come Gage gets to have breakfast with you guys and I can't? I always knew he was your favourite—it's not fair!"
"Oh baby, don't say that. You know that's not true—it's just that Gage is the oldest," Mum explained.
"So he's the oldest, so I get treated differently? Treated like a lower version?" his younger brother said, eyes welling up.
"Okay… you know what? Help me make breakfast, baby. Is that okay?"
The tears vanished as quickly as they had appeared, and when Mum wasn't looking, he wore a devious grin, as if everything he'd just said was an act.
This guy just guilt-trips Mum… and she always falls for it, Gage thought, watching his brother with a mix of disappointment and amusement. His younger brother even gave him a thumbs-up.
"Gage, come over here," Dad called from the living room.
"How was your day today?" he asked.
Before Gage responded out loud, he thought to himself. I'm not stupid. I know my parents don't have "real" jobs… and what they do is steal from others. Who they steal from, I don't know. But whatever comes in those bags they carry back every night—expensive items, food we can't afford, some even exclusives—they always get their hands on it.
When I first realised what they were doing, I was shocked… angry, even. My parents, who always taught me to do good, never lie, never steal, were doing the exact opposite. For a while, I hated them for it. But then I realised… every night they come back, thinner, sometimes hurt, yet the moment they see us, they force smiles and hugs so we don't worry. They steal so we can eat. And finding that out… I felt so hurt and angry at myself for being mad at them in the first place.
I can tell they don't want to do this, but they've had to adapt to what makes sense to feed us. I just wish they told me, their oldest son. Why don't they tell me? Do they not trust me? Do they think I'll tell someone?
So every night I play dumb, poke around at what they do, hoping they'll give in and tell the truth… but they never do. All I want is for them to tell me, so I can just say, "Thank you!" Because they're doing what they hate… because they love us.
"My day was good, Dad. What about you?" Gage finally said.
"You know how it is… just a long day at work," his dad replied.
"You always have long days at work," Gage said.
"Well, if I don't, how will we have money for you guys to eat and have fun?" his dad replied.
"True," Gage said.
"Anyway, Gage, I just brought you over to tell you that I love you," his dad said suddenly.
"Argh! Dad, that just came out of the blue!"
"Huh? Of course! Or do you want me to say it… in a sexy way?"
"Eww! No! Do that with Mum!"
"Aah… so you know I do that with Mum, hehe," Dad teased.
"Can we change the subject, please? This is getting weird," Gage said, groaning.
"I'm doing this so that when you get a girlfriend when you're grown up—and eventually a wife—you'll know how to act with her."
"Ahh! You always say that, Dad!"
"It's true. Anyway, how was watching the house today? Did anyone come by?"
"No… why, was someone meant to visit?"
"Nah, just asking."
"Well, don't worry. Like you always say, when you're not around, I'm the man of the house," Gage said proudly.
"That's right! If me and Mum are out, then you're the dad in this house. That means you'll have to look after your siblings."
"Don't worry, I've got you," Gage replied.
"That's my son. Now, let's go help Mum and the others with breakfast."
"More like dinner," Gage muttered.
"Nope, that's wrong. Me and Mum haven't eaten, so the first meal of the day is…"
"BREAKFAST!" the whole family shouted in unison.
"Shhhh! You'll wake the neighbours," Mum scolded.
"But Mum, you just yelled 'Breakfast' yourself!" the younger brother chimed in.
"Oh, shut it," Mum replied, rolling her eyes.
Reminiscing about these memories, Gage came back to the present—and Gadeon was already beaten, lying on the floor.
"You keep saying you're meant to bring me back? Why are you so eager? I'm even surprised someone like you cares about the others in detention,"
"If you don't come back, then we all have to suffer. It's that simple." Gadeon replied from the floor, trying to get back onto his knees.
"There's no way Sir Judah is going to keep you guys that late. Your parents wouldn't allow it."
"He already contacted our parents before detention started, and they were fine with it… gave their permission."
Huh?! He told Grandma?! Shoot! Gage thought, panic flashing across his face.
"You look scared."
"I ain't got time for this. I need to leave."
"No! You do have time, or you wouldn't be chilling around the Dojo," Gadeon said as he finally got to his feet, still a little unsteady, irritating Gage.
"This technique that can counter flexors… was it a lie?"
"I'm here to bring you back, not kill you."
"What?! Are you trying to piss me off?!" Gage snapped.
"Maybe," Gadeon said coolly.
"Why are you like this?" Gage asked.
"Like what?"
"An asshole! A big asshole!"
"An asshole? Are you forgetting that day you approached me, questioning me because I'm on your territory?" Gadeon countered.
"Yes, you were. But what really pissed me off that day was the way you were acting!"
"The way I'm acting?" Gadeon asked.
"From the way you behave, it's difficult to see that you and Mr Zebulun share the same blood. Why do you show your dad so much disrespect?"
"Huh?" Gadeon looked completely confused.
"That day, the real reason I confronted you was because you pissed me off. The way you spoke to your dad was flat-out wrong! A child should never talk like that to their parents!" Gage said.
"What the hell? Where does this lecturing come from?"
"Do you know how much your parents sacrifice for you? You'd be shocked! But when I tried to bring that up that day, you attacked me!" Gage said.
"What are you talking about?! We never had such a conversation!" Gadeon exclaimed.
"What?!" Gage exclaimed, though in his mind he was screaming louder. Is he lying again?! Doesn't he remember that day? He embarrassed his dad in public because he didn't want to go home with him. Then I found him around my area, and one of mine approached him—something I never instructed—but I confronted him about the way he spoke to his dad. The moment I mentioned he was lucky to have a dad, and that not everyone has parents… he switched and immediately started attacking us. Since then, we've been enemies.
Does he really not remember that day… or is he lying? Is this on purpose? Is he sick?
"Do you really not remember?" Gage asked aloud.
"Of course I remember. You kids tried to approach me with your stupid gang violence, and I didn't have it… and you attacked me," Gadeon said.
"What?!" Gage muttered. In his mind, he seethed. He doesn't remember—no, he's lying! He's remembering it the wrong way!
"Okay, at this point, we'll just keep going back and forth. So… let's make a deal," Gadeon said.
"Deal?" Gage asked cautiously.
"Yes. If I win, you have to come back with me to detention. But if you win, I'll apologise to you and your whole gang in front of the entire Dojo. Humiliating? Yes. Worth it? I think so. Deal, yes or no?"
Huh? Does he think I care about that? Gage thought.
"How about this… not apologising to me, but apologising to your dad," Gage proposed.
"WHAT?!" Gadeon shouted.
"If you accept those terms, then we have a deal," Gage said firmly.
WHAT?! He wants me to say sorry to another man?! Submit to Gaedric?! Why?! Are they… close? Like how Ami is close to him? No. I doubt it. But why? Why do these kids care about my relationship with Gaedric? They should worry about their own!