Kingdom Come

Chapter 2

Simon wasn't sure that Kerri would show up. He'd had his predictions and he had desperately hoped that Kerri would come with him on this last trip with him, but he couldn't be sure. He'd been bluffing when he'd talked to Kerri the night before. After Kerri had left the train station and was out of view, Simon had gone back to sleep on a bench. He woke up at the sound of the first train in the distance, knowing that the city would be awake soon and that he needed to leave. Or rather, he started to get up when he heard the people. He hadn't gotten much sleep. He'd been too worried about what he was doing. Kerri was right. There would be nothing but trouble when he got back to Jolier.

He was standing on the platform when Kerri arrived. He heard the uneven footsteps first, then he saw the golden mane peeking out from under his hood. Kerri's dirty black jacket was still damp from the last night's rain, and the red scarf around his shoulders looked maroon instead of its usual bright red. Simon let out a sigh of relief and watched Kerri come closer to him.

"I'm here," Kerri mumbled.

"You didn't sleep," Simon said. Kerri usually tried to speak clearly, so it was a giveaway that he hadn't slept when he started to mumble. There were also dark circles under Kerri's eyes. When had been the last time he'd slept at all?

"It was a long night, and the rain was cold."

"And the nights before last night?"

Kerri stared at Simon. "You should know that every night is a long night on the streets."

"Why didn't you go back to the Inn?"

"Too much talking," Kerri mumbled. His eyes were hardly even open.

"Tennika would have given you a place."

"Too. Much. Talking."

People started pouring into the station and, within minutes, Simon and Kerri could barely hear themselves think over the noise. Simon rummaged around in the inside pocket of his coat for a moment, then brought out two train tickets. Kerri eyed them wearily, and Simon could sense his hesitation. Instead of saying anything, Simon grabbed Kerri's wrist and dragged him along to the train entrance. A man in a uniform waited and started letting people onto the train after seeing their tickets.

"Tickets?" the man asked as Simon and Kerri approached. He eyed the boys wearily and then took the tickets from them. "Names?"

"Simon and Kerri Turner," Simon said without missing a beat. Simon knew that Kerri would go with whatever he said. They'd been working together for too long for him to risk a glance of uncertainty. The ticket master looked between them for a moment and then sighed.

"Very well, come aboard."

"Thank you," Simon heard Kerri say behind him. Simon nearly rolled his eyes. Kerri had always been so kind to everyone even when they doubted him or looked down on him.

"Maybe they'll change their minds," Kerri said. "Maybe they'll see that they're wrong to doubt us."

"For being kind?"

"Why not? It's better than intimidating them."

"That's just gaining respect."

"No, that's gaining fear. There's a difference, Sims."

Simon shook his head slightly and scowled as he took his seat. He shuffled a satchel from around his shoulders and pulled out two granola bars, offering one to Kerri. Kerri took it and began to eat it, taking a huge bite right off the bat. "It's strawberry!"

"That's your favorite, right?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Stop being so nice." He hoped Kerri would never change.

Simon looked out the window and watched the train station begin to move. Or rather, the train began to move, and the train station just simply began to disappear as they left. He could feel Kerri's gaze on him. He was expecting Simon to also eat or explain what the plan was. Simon wasn't hungry, and he didn't feel like talking yet.

"So, we're just taking the train out of Eklat to Jolier. That's it?"

"This train doesn't go to Jolier. We'll take it to Mairo, ride a car to Kelivar, and then find another train from there to Jolier."

"Now it makes sense," Kerri said sarcastically.

"What, would riding the train the whole way there have not been satisfying for you?"

"No, it's not that. It just wouldn't have been satisfying enough for you."

Simon glowered at his reflection for a moment then looked over to Kerri. "Then why are you here?"

Kerri's gaze remained even on Simon. "You know why."

Simon did not know why. He could make assumptions, guesses, predictions... but he did not know for sure why Kerri was there. But he would not let Kerri have the satisfaction of knowing that he didn't know something. Simon looked back out the window.

"You should get some sleep. You'll have a few hours to try to make up for last night."

Simon felt pressure on his shoulder and saw Kerri's reflection laying its head on the shoulder of Simon's reflection. His eyes were already closed, and his shoulders were rising and falling methodically. Simon smirked, then forced the smirk off his face. This would be the last few days of seeing Kerri. He wouldn't see him again afterward. He had to get that through his head, he had to understand and accept that.

Kerri wouldn't be a part of Simon's life anymore.

It felt wrong. Simon and Kerri, Kerri and Simon. A troublesome duo, chaos on the streets. Sims and Ker, a couple of kids just trying to live through the day, are complete opposites that completed each other. One was more chaotic and outgoing, dragging the calmer and more polite of the two along with him. Fire and ice, Simon had said. Sun and Moon, Kerri had responded. The two had hardly been apart for the last five years. Only over the last six months had Simon been gone, and even then, they'd met up at least once a week to talk.

And then there was Tennika too. The sister neither of them had before. The one that they'd both desperately needed. She treated them differently, not because she liked one of them more than the other, but because they had different needs. Kerri needed someone who taught him to do his hair, who taught him life skills, who treated him kindly, but was also able to protect him. Someone who would be a constant support. But Simon was different. He was defiant and needed someone who would be able to give back what he served. Someone who wasn't afraid to put him in his place.

Simon didn't want to think about Tennika now. He hadn't even said anything to her. He'd left without even saying goodbye. Simon had assumed that Kerri would say something to her. Kerri would've told her they were leaving, and that Simon wouldn't be coming back for a while. If ever. But instead, Kerri hadn't gone to the Inn. He hadn't told Tennika what was happening. Soon, she'd realize that something was wrong, but she wouldn't know what. Would she panic? Would she think that they had died? Or that something else had happened to them?

But there was nothing to be done now.

Simon watched the last of the houses disappear, replaced with miles of nothing but trees and fields. He leaned his head on Kerri's and closed his eyes, thinking. Years ago, this sight of fields would have made him yawn. He would ask his father why they would travel so far away to the middle of nothing. Now, all he could think of was the weeks leading up to harvest season, where he and Kerri would ask for jobs to help on farms. He could imagine the two of them working themselves in the field for money, food, or whatever the farmers would pay them, until they were red from the sun. Fresh corn had quickly become a favorite of Simon's.

"Haven't you ever had fresh corn before?"

"I lived far away from fields. Corn was transported as quickly as possible."

"But it wasn't this fresh. Yours was days old at best. The stuff straight from the field is the most amazing kind of corn you could ask for."

Simon would miss the fresh corn after he went home.