"Stay in the Lot! Don't leave the gate!" Vince called out to the others.
All the boys quickly became restless at the Sanloft to where even Mekhi struggled to contain them. Vince knew he was the only one they truly listened to. Helping him regain some of that control was the least he could do. Rather than keeping them inside, he allowed them to play at the desert field with a scrappy playground in the middle.
On the edge was a basketball court Kevin took the twins to play on. Amiire sat with Jack and Cori on the playground as they continued to work on homework. Though Cori knew before hand about Jack's dyslexia. He wished to help Amiire teach Jack as well.
What astounded Vince was witnessing Mekhi play tag with Kit and Alex to keep them distracted. The two possessed the most energy out of the rest of the boys, energy only Mekhi could out-rank. For the first time in years, Vince could see he was really having fun.
"He's like a completely different kid," Yama commented, for he caught Vince's consistent stare. "Salem sure did lower his wall."
"All he did was show Mekhi he wasn't dangerous around others. That none of us saw him as a threat. But his walls are still very high. I doubt even this kid can lower them so easily."
"Are you really scared he'll take Mekhi away?"
"Not at all. I'm scared he'll influence Mekhi to follow a path away from the one thing keeping him anchored. How I found him all those years ago, I will not let him return to that state."
"Even you can't prevent that as long as your brother remains in his life.... If you really think about it, that Salem kid might be your best chance at protecting him."
Vince sighed as he turned his attention back to the boys. As much as he wanted to send Amiire back to his land, he could not help but notice how quickly the others warmed up to him. How attentive he became with helping Jack and how grateful Cori was to spend time with someone interested in school-work like him.
Mekhi was not the only one Amiire had an influence on. He found Kit asleep on the kid the night he went out looking for Mekhi, which really surprised him. Kit adored all the boys in the Sanloft, but he only ever let his guard down around Mekhi.
He had been Kit's protector since he first arrived at the Sanloft, fully aware of what he was. He knew Kit could protect himself, but he also knew what lengths the kid had to go through to do so. In most ways, Vince saw a lot of Mekhi in the kid.
"I didn't think using a ruler would help so much," Jack said as he highlighted the next few answers.
"That, and any assholes at school who might give you a hard time will think you're just using it for tracing....oh no."
"Amiire? What is it?" Cori asked, catching Jack's attention.
Amiire's eyes were wide with fear, fear Jack recognized all too well. Each of them had the same expression whenever their past came back to haunt them. He saw nothing yet, but Amiire made it clear something was coming and coming fast.
"Core, get Kev and the twins. Tell them it's a DV."
"Got it," Cori said as he darted to the basketball court. Jack quickly put away their books before gripping Amiire's shoulders, snapping him out of his trans.
"Come on man. We need to get back to the Sanloft."
"They'll find me there. They're tracking my energy.... You guys need to go. If they figure out I've been living with humans, they'll wipe your memory. There's no telling what kind of damage their powers will do."
"Incase you haven't noticed, we're already damaged. And we're not letting them take you against your will. Sky Boy! DV, let's book it!"
The minute he heard Jack, Mekhi rounded up all the kids and dashed them to the van. Vince and Yama always assumed their code word stood for some other danger, and consistently followed through on their escape plan. They were soon in the van before the kids got in. Amiire grabbed Mekhi's arm, stopping him.
