Warnings: Angst, death, foul
language
Rating: R
Pairings: None
Summary: A memory from a
pilot’s past comes back to haunt him.
******
Ab-Use Me:
“You lousy piece of shit! I hope you die! I hope
you get so much crap you can barely walk for a week!”
“Shut the fuck up, you whore! And don’t come
showing your face here any longer!”
The sound of a door slamming filled the silence but
it was soon opened up again and something heavy was flung out. It made a loud
‘thud’ upon the pavement – barely inches before the small dirty pair of feet.
Clothes – mostly flimsy underwear spewed out from it. The feet walked towards
it and knees made contact with the cold stones on the floor. Grimy, greasy
hands ransacked the box searching for something edible…or if he was
lucky…money.
“You sonofabitch! You think sleeping with some
whore’s gonna get you somewhere?!”
“Fuck off! And don’t come back neither!”
The boy barely dodged the large glass vase that
soon shattered into a million pieces beside him. He stepped back to avoid any
other things being thrown at him and then winced as a piece of glass embedded
itself into the sole of his foot. He winced, but did not cry out in pain. He
straightened to his feet and began to hobble away from the scene. But not too
far - he had to hope that the arguing couple would be nice enough to throw some
more things out – valuable of course.
More curses were flung. The woman shrieked a
little. Probably she was being slapped or beaten. The boy stooped to his
haunches and placed his hands over his ears. He began to recite a hymn he had
heard from his infrequent visits to the Maxwell Church as he rocked back and
forth. He closed his eyes and imagined he was in the chorus and he was singing
to the heavens –
“ASSHOLE!!”
…except that the heavens
were no longer here. There was no God here. This was hell and he was living
proof of it.
The sounds of uneven footsteps filled his ears as
he removed his hands to peer warily down the corridor. Sure enough, the woman
came stumbling out, still cursing and ranting over her stupid-ass boyfriend.
There was a cigarette butt dangling from the corner of her red smudged lips.
She had on too much makeup and although the boy was sure she was in her early
twenties – if not in her teens – the application of color only made her look
like a gnarly old hooker from the South.
She was dressed in a see through negligee and the
boy – who was immune to the naked body – noticed that her nipples were rosy and
quite perky beneath the cream-colored cloth. She was struggling to put on a
pair of red high heels, while shrugging into a black worn out jacket at the
same time. Her hair was a tumbled mass of chestnut and to the boy – it was
beautiful. No, she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen.
“What da hell are you looking at?” she snapped in
irritation as she noticed him standing within the shadows. “Damn kids! Get the
hell out of here and go beg someplace else!”
He remained
standing and staring. Her hair color was just like his. Her eye color was just
like his. He had seen his reflection many times from the puddles that had the
tendency to form after the rains came, so he knew.
“Didn’t you hear me, kid?! Get the hell outta
here!”
She was crying now, but she was still trying to
pick up her clothes from the street. Her fingers brushed against a few pieces
of glass and the thick redness of her blood began to coat the pavement.
She ignored it.
“Damn bastard! He thinks he’s all that and a bag of
chips!” She stood to her full height and bellowed towards the apartment
upstairs. “Well, you ain’t nothing!! You hear me! You ain’t nothing! I fucking
paid all you bills, you jerk! And this is what I get?!”
The door opened up again and the boy heard the loud
angry voice of the man. “You had better get out of here before I blow your
fucking brains out, you cunt! I told you to get the hell out!”
“Make me!”
“You’re pushing it, angel!”
“I ain’t your fucking angel! You stupid bastard!
You come out here and make me leave!!”
Stop talking momma. Go…run…come with me!
The door slammed shut again. The woman was
breathing heavily now. She suddenly spun around to glare at the boy again.
“What the fuck is it?! You want money?! Huh?!”
The boy could not move. He could already see it and
he was going to be powerless to stop it.
The woman shook her head impatiently and began to
pick up her clothes again. The blood from her cut was beginning to stain the
flimsy outfits, but she didn’t seem to care or want to.
“Fucking L2!” she began again. “Damn fucking
colony! I hate this place! I’m going back to Earth! I hate this place! This
shitty, godforsaken hellhole!”
She laughed bitterly and pinned shimmering violet
depths on the solemn boy. “Listen to me, kid,” she muttered thickly. “You get
out of here. This colony. It kills people, you hear me. Find a way to get the
hell out of here. Go to Earth. Go to the fucking Sun if need be!”
She spun around to glare at the apartment building
again.
“You asshole! You hear me?! I said I’m leaving this
godforsaken place!!”
The door opened up again. The boy’s feet began to
move – but it was stuck in mud. It felt as if it were stuck in the
thickest of mud. Everything seemed to move so slowly – ever so slowly.
He could see the muzzle of the shotgun. He could
see the leery, greedy, hungry, wicked look in the man’s crazed eyes. He could
see the woman’s eyes widen in terror. She stepped backwards. The heel of a her
shoe broke. She fell to the ground and tried to scramble away.
But it was too late. It was going to be too late
again.
“Run, Duo!!!” she screamed. “Run away from here,
Duo!!!”
And finally, he found his voice again.
“Momma!!!!!!!!!!!”
Her blood baptized his small form. It was the last
gift she would ever give him.
__
“Duo? Are you okay?” came the soft question that
broke him out of his reverie.
The can of beer had unconsciously been crushed
within his hand. He eyed the small droplets of water on the wooden surface and
gave a small but weary smile.
“Yeah,” he muttered softly as he nodded towards the
bartender for another can. “I’m okay. I’ll be just fine…”
He would have to be - for the sake of the mission and for his friends.
~Owari~