Flashback
“I don’t understand why I have to read on a weekend. I do plenty of that at school.”
“I’ve seen the school you go to, Alexei. It’d be easier to get a kilo of cocaine in there than it would be a book.”
Alexei recoiled with heat in his stare. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He had no love for that place, but in front of Cassius, he was strangely defensive over it. It felt as though someone of penurious standing were defending their dingy car, the very one they hated for breaking down every cold morning, to someone of a higher class.
“I-” Cassius opened his mouth to defend his point before taking a breath, his heartstrings tugging at the small boy swinging his short legs off the dining table chair he occupied, a proud glare shooting out of his eyes like laser beams. “How about this, you read the first chapter, and if you give me a good enough summary, I will…” He thought about it for a moment and watched as Alexei’s eyes widened to a glittering spark. “Let you join me in the gym.”
Alexei, who’d been sitting at the edge of his seat and close to falling off, gasped excitedly before picking up the book Cassius had placed in front of him without a second thought. “Really? You mean it?”
Cassius smiled and walked away backwards. “A man is only as good as his word. But–but only if you give me a good summary. I mean it.”
Alexei nodded fiercely but didn’t seem to be listening, already flipping through the pages. “Alright, alright.”
Cassius chuckled before heading into the garage.
Only then did reality settle in.
He walked to the phone he kept in there and dialled the number he’d been meaning to ignore, at least while Alexei was here. But that would make him a horrible friend, and besides, Wind was already closing in on him.
He needed to speak to both of them. Preferably separately.
It didn’t ring for long when he rotated the number in, the crackle of Bow’s voice filling his ear almost immediately. How we knew it was him calling, Cassius didn’t know. “I could kill him, Cas, I could KILL HIM–I could do it, you know? I–I–...”
His voice escalated to a scream before he seemed to realize where he was and lowered it to a whisper. Cassius took a deep breath and recited the words that now came naturally, “Bow… Listen to me, breathe and tell me what happened. You need to tell me what’s going on.”
This happened at least a few times a week, but lately, it was getting harder for Bow to keep his anger below the surface, and Cassius didn’t want to know what would happen if he one day decided not to.
He shuddered at the thought.
His friend took in a deep breath through the phone before letting it out shakily. “I went out with my girlfriend, Cas. My girlfriend. And now he’s threatening to disinherit me because she’s not up to his standards. He’s asking for it.”
Cassius let out a sigh at the state of one of his oldest friends. “You need to get out of there, Bow. I’ve been telling you for ages.”
Bow let out a laugh that was devoid of any amusement. “Easy for you to say. Easy for Wind to say. He’s his father’s only choice, and you have Soren. If I leave, he’ll… turn to Lu and you know I can’t do that.”
“You talk to Wind?” Cassius wanted to see the sight of that.
Bow and Wind were opposites. In high school, they never got along, not until their senior year, and once they did, Bow’s father began regretting the connection he had been forcing.
That didn’t exactly mean they weren’t often at odds, but the stakes weren’t so deadly.
“Yeah.” For the first time in a long time, Cassius’ friend didn’t sound angry, or excited, or anything he was used to. He sounded tired. “Said he’ll talk to some people on his end. Maybe he’ll pull some strings, but who knows.”
They both knew who Wind’s people were, and it was only one. If there was anyone who could straighten another out, it would be Wind’s father. Or, more specifically, his power. But Bow’s old man was a wild card, and that scared Cassius more than his friend’s rashness ever could.
“Why don’t you…” Cassius started but hesitated, thinking back to Alexei sitting at his dinner table. He could sort something out if Bow was willing to accept his offer. “Why don’t you come up to Chicago and stay with me for a while? As long as Harrison’s none the wiser, we’ll be fine.”
Bow let out another sigh that seemed to take five years off his life, and a moment of silence followed before he found the words to speak, “Still keeping an eye on things?”
Cassius huffed out what was meant to be an easygoing laugh. “Uh… Well, nothing yet. But you know I’d do this whole covert operation thing for a friend.”
Bow hummed. “... Okay. Yeah, maybe. I mean, Lu’s away anyways. He wouldn’t…”
His words fell on no reassurances because even Cassius couldn’t lie to him. Bow’s father was the devil’s brother if there was one, and he wouldn’t put it past him.
His friend let out another deep sigh. Lately, it seemed it was all he was made of. “Well, this just got depressing. How are you, anyway? Wind says it's hard to get a hold of you these days. He almost took a plane over there when a week passed without a word from you.”
Cassius chuckled and let out a groan as he leaned his back against the wall and lowered to a crouch, his legs aching from standing so long. “I’ve been in Chicago, where else?”
He spoke as though it were obvious, but Bow didn’t take the bait. “Oh, don’t give me that, Cas, I haven’t seen you in I don’t know how long. The least you could do is keep me updated–”
“I finished the first chapter.”
Cassius jumped at the small voice next to his unoccupied ear. “Jesus!” He turned to Alexei, who he hadn’t noticed sneaking up on him. The young boy only looked at him with wide, blank eyes. “Alexei, how many times have I told you not to–”
“Cas?… Cas, who is that?” Cassius hung up before Bow could continue hounding him, pressing the handset back into its place with a sharp crack.
He lowered his head between his shoulders and wondered when Wind would show up at his doorstep off Bow’s words alone and whisk him away to the world he was born in and could never seem to escape.
“I’m sorry.” Alexei whispered, and when Cassius lifted his head, he found an animated, convincing look of guilt gazing back at him. “I finished… and you were taking too long. Who were you talking to?”
Cassius pursed his lips in a smile, going to ruffle Alexei’s unruly hair. “Just a friend. And it’s fine, just… don’t come in here again, okay?”
Alexei’s eyes roamed around the space, skipping over the familiar car, and moving to the shelves. When he didn’t answer, Cassius spoke again, “There’s not much of interest here, but the door jams sometimes, and you’re too short to lift up the garage door to get out.”
Alexei looked up at him with a look devoid of any thoughts, before he blinked, and a quickly assembled grin spread across his lips. “I’ll be taller than you one day.”
Cassius groaned as he stood and stretched, guiding the young boy out of the garage and back into the house with a large palm around the crown of his head, steering him like a game. “So, are you going to give me that summary?”
Sending a lopsided grin up at him, Alexei tugged on a loose string on his shirt. “I thought you’d forget.”
The older man scoffed out a laugh, letting him go and walking past, acutely aware of the tiny steps following close behind. “Not in your dreams.”
They walked down the stairs leading to Cassius’ gym before the latter stopped at the door and turned to Alexei. “The summary?”
Alexei looked to be trying to roll his eyes before bringing his shoulders up and dropping them with a deep groan. “It’s about a stupid boy who tries out for the stupid football team, and he’s wrongfully proud of getting his butt beat into the ground.”
Cassius wanted to laugh, but he knew that would only egg him on, so he tilted his head and fixed him a look with a raise of his brow.
Alexei was silent for a few moments, trying to win the battle of wits–he had a long way to go.
“Jerry Renault is trying out for the football team, and he gets beaten on the field, repeatedly and brutally. He gets tackled and thrown down, but somehow the coach doesn’t see it as a weakness, but a strength of will.
So… he asks Jerry to return the next day.
The practice makes Jerry sick, and he throws up in the school’s bathroom, but when he dreams, he dreams of making the team. ”
Alexei matched Cassius with a tilt of his head and a shoulder of attitude, but Cassius only smiled widely.
He knew the young boy was smart, clever, and intelligent.
He just wasn’t treated well because the teachers on his side of town couldn’t give a damn about another poor kid pulling on the last string of their sanity; and Cassius didn’t blame them.
When you work in a barely functioning school because the city doesn’t like providing for that side of town, why should one put in any effort to care about the children more than necessary? More than their paycheck would allow.
But Alexei… He deserved someone who saw that intelligence in him and was willing to foster it.
The boy who barely made it past Cassius’ hip danced closer to the invisible line separating the gym from the hall, toeing it in excitement. “Can I go in now?”
Cassius raised a finger with what he hoped was a stern look.
“You will be allowed if and only if… you read a chapter and give me a proper,” Alexei groaned and threw his head back, but Cassius only pressed his open palm over his head and tilted it to meet his eyes, “summary every time you want to come back.”
The young boy grumbled, but it didn’t take long for him to agree. The rose-coloured glasses that seemed to occupy his vision whenever the gym was mentioned told Cassius enough about the answer he would be getting. “Fine.”