After the chaos was over
for the day, David and Donavonn made their way to David's apartment.
It was a four room apartment, not much to look at, but an improvement
from what David had been living in, and a monumental upgrade from
what Donavonn had to deal with. "There is only a single bedroom
in the place, and it will be a little cramped, but you are welcome to
stay here. You saved my life against those gang members, that is
worth a roof over your head and then some."
"No
problem, it is a huge improvement over where I have been living. At
least we don't have to worry about getting killed here."
Donavonn had changed clothes en route, and sat down on the couch. "If
you don't mind, I'd like to just relax here."
As Donavonn
went through what few belongings he had, a picture fell out of the
jacket he wore. David bent down to pick it up, and saw a picture of
Donavonn, with three others. One was a red kangaroo, another one, an
older woman, a grey kangaroo, and the little girl Donavonn was
hugging was a yellow-tailed rock wallaby. This piqued David's
curiosity.
"Donavonn, who are the people with you in the
picture?"
Donavonn sighed as he took the picture back
from David. "Three of the people I have been the closest too in
my life. The woman in the middle is Sonya, who is my adoptive mother.
The red kangaroo you see in the picture was Lonnie, my lover."
David
put the clues together on that one. "So you're…"
Donavonn
nodded. "Yeah, I am gay." Chesh shrugged his shoulders. "I
don't see the big deal from-"
"You would if you knew
Markus Hedgehog's position on that matter. It is what got Lonnie
killed" Now David understood why Donavonn spoke of Lonnie in the
past tense. "He was killed, beaten to death. And I ended up
adopting his sister, only to fail her too."
"Donavonn…"
"Her
name was Lilliara. And I adopted her not long after. I was going to
pick her up from school. I was only 10 minutes late. 10 LOUSY
MINUTES! And when the police pulled me over…I had to be sedated for
several days." Donavonn slammed his fist hard against the table
when he said that. "But now you know one reason I left. I
couldn't look Sonya in the eyes, not again! Not after I cost her the
lives of two of her family!"
Donavonn continued. "I
had to run from my old gang too. In fact, they almost got me on the
tarmac before I could board the plane."
David put a hand
on his shoulder.
"Not like mine was much better."
Donavonn looked up as David continued. "I was never able to
locate my parents after all that had happened. I had to assume they
were dead. It took every ounce of my savings just to get me here, and
to get my own apartment, and even now, I am not sure how I am going
to hold onto the apartment. I still need to find work."
"Do
you mind getting your hands dirty or bloody?"
David shook
his head. "Why do you ask?"
"As you and I both
know, David, some people don't deserve to live. I know this may seem
repugnant, but I am doing a murder-for-hire operation. One that
specializes in taking the true scum of this planet out of the game
permanently."
David nodded, as he pulled up the shikome,
that he wielded. "So we keep the same sort of scumbags that
killed my parents and your lover and sister off the streets for
good?" Donavonn nodded. "We get paid a good bit for it, but
that is just a formality. The real payoff comes in making sure that
the bastards who have no regard for life never walk the streets
again."
David thought about it a moment. He thought about
his parents, and his own past, as well as Donavonn's. He then made
his decision. "When can we begin?"
Donavonn smiled.
He and David were indeed a lot alike. "We begin as soon as
possible." But deep down, Donavonn wished he could tell David
something else.
End