REMEDY [ninjago jaya]

2. Rule Book

• Jay Walker •

Standing up from the sandy ground required more effort than usual. It was scorching hot in the Sea of Sands, Ninjago's largest and utmost vastest desert, and the sun was unbearable during noon hours.

Jay Walker wiped the sweat off of his face with the rag he had taken outside with him, glad it was still somewhat dry from all his previous sweat-wiping.

Taking a step backwards, he admired the fruit of his labor with a proud smile on his face.

The motorcycle looked brand-new, like it had come straight out of a magazine, right out of the factory. All of its parts had been handpicked by Jay himself, all found on the very soil he was currently standing on.

Living in a junkyard had its benefits.

"Are you done, son?"

Jay turned around and locked eyes with his late father, Ed Walker, who owned Ed & Edna's Scrap n Junk together with his wife Edna.

"Almost," Jay answered, taking another look at the motorcycle. "I just need to polish it and test drive it, and then I'll be done."

"You can do that after lunch." Ed walked down the three steps of the trailer and stood next to his son. "Your Ma has made puffy potstickers today."

Jay's electric blue eyes glistened in the sunlight, his mood immediately lifted by the announcement of food. "Really?"

His father nodded. "Now, you better get inside and change. You know how she is when you're wearing dirty clothes at the table."

Jay nodded and made his way back inside the trailer that was his home. It was small but still big enough for him to have his own bedroom, though that was not any bigger than a closet.

The foot of his bed was right against the side of the wall, and his closet was hung up in smaller shelves above his desk. Though that did not look like a lot, Jay was content with the way he was living.

Entering his room, he grabbed a pair of baseball shorts, a tank top, and his bathrobe, which had been hung up on the hanger attached to his door, and walked back out to go to the bathroom. He placed the items on the closed toilet bowl lid, and just as he was about to get undressed, he remembered he had forgotten to bring his underwear, so he rushed back into his bedroom and grabbed a fresh pair.

He tended to forget about his underwear most of the time.

After the shower—which was cold once again because the hot water had been off for a while—he walked out of the bathroom and towel dried his auburn hair as he walked a few steps ahead to reach the dining table. It was a movable one so that more room could be created inside the trailer. Whenever it was time to eat, the table was pulled down from its hinges on the wall.

"Go put the towel in the hamper, Jay," Edna said, a serious look on her face.

Jay quickly did so before returning and taking a seat at the table. His plate had already been filled by his mother, and a glass of orange juice was sitting next to the plate. He thanked her for the food before diving in like a starved man.

Since he had skipped out on breakfast to work on the motorcycle, Jay was ready to devour three full-course meals worth of food, no matter what.

"How's school going, son?" his father asked him between bites. "You got any friends you can bring back here?"

No. He did not. And Jay had already told him why countless amount of times.

"You know I don't like mentioning I live in a junkyard, Pa. They'll make fun of me."