Following him across the small town he saw the jock boy enter a junk yard, he slowed down making sure the boy didn’t see him. Jock boy entered into an old run down house with a crooked porch and leaky looking roof. Fox noticed the lettered jacket was thrown on the ground in front of the house. Intrigued now he stood up straight and went up the porch and was about to knock when the door opened.
“What do you want?” A man asked, his silver hair sticking up everywhere. Fox smelled the distinct scent of beer, it permeated the man’s breath. His left eye was scarred up bad with one of those glass eyes with a hazard symbol on it. “Well kid!”
Fox was so stunned by the man he didn’t know what to say. “It’s alright dad he’s from school.” Fox heard, the man sniffed irritably and went back into the living room off to the side as the jock boy came to the door. “What do you want?”
“I thought you were a jock.”
The boy snickered frowning. “Hah! I took the jacket from a jock earlier and wore it as a souvenir. Their my favorite prey.”
Fox laughed. ”Mine too.” Taking the boy in he noticed the leather boots and black outfit he didn’t see before. He only noticed the jacket. “Name’s Fox.”
The boy eyed him up. “Sake. Come on in.” Fox went in hearing the television blaring on some news channel and his dad slumped on a chair drinking a beer. There was something strange about his dad, Fox couldn’t put his finger on.
“Look, sorry about today…like I said I thought you were a jock.”
Sake shrugged taking two beers out of the fridge. “Whatever…To tell the truth I was impressed, not many people have the kunai to stand up to me.” He threw him a beer. Looking tentatively at it he shrugged, he’d done everything else he might as well.
Taking a drink he looked over at Sake’s dad, he looked like he was spaced out. “Yo what’s up with your dad?”
Sake stared for a moment then waved Fox into a room. It was small and clean, probably the only clean room in the house. He saw a shelf on the far wall with pictures and medals. “My dad was in the war. He was the Captain of an entire platoon trapped behind enemy territory.” Fox looked at all the medals and pictures of his dad standing with men all saluting and smiling. “He was the only one who survived that mission.” Sake picked up a picture and handed it to him.
It was Sake when he was a kid and his father and mother. “He’s been given every medal there is…the Medal of honor, the distinguished service cross…. honor and bravery… above and beyond the call of duty.” Sake laughed indifferently. “When he came home I was three, my mom got sick and died six months later.”
“Harsh.” Fox said staring at the pictures and medals again. It took allot to impress him but he was impressed. “That how he lost his eye?”
“Yep…now come on he doesn’t like when I come in here.”
“My dad died in the war. I don’t remember him much.” Fox shrugged his black jacket off and flopped down on the couch.
“Where did you come from?” Sake asked leaning on the window sill.
Fox laughed. “Everywhere, Chicago, the big apple, Philadelphia. You name it we’ve lived there. We don’t stay around too long.”
“Why?”
Fox closed his eyes relaxing, the grime of this house made him feel at home. “My mom likes to find men then when she’s done with him we move so she can find another sucker to drain dry.”
“Wow, I thought I had it bad.”
“It’s not so bad…I don’t stay long enough to get punished for anything.”
Sake laughed drinking down the bottle. “That sounds nice. Though it’s not as if my dad cares.” They both looked at the man sitting like a statue in the chair.
An alarm went off that made Fox jump. Sake got up and kicked his dad’s foot. “Hey dad get up it’s time to close the gates!”
He looked up at Sake as if seeing him for the first time. He stood without a word and ruffled Sake’s hair. “I’ll be right back.”
Sake shook his head and Fox got up. “I should probably be getting home.” He put his jacket back on.
“See ya tomorrow?” Sake asked walking out onto the porch.
Fox shook his head. “Tomorrow’s my traditional second day of school skip.” With a fist bump they said goodbye.
It’s strange I’ve never had a friend before. There’s something weird about this place, like it’s a whirlpool of people that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. He pushed the thoughts away, this place was just another stop… nothing more.
