Friggin Life

Chapter 1

I swear I’m not a bad person, I’m just… misunderstood. You know what that’s like, right? Ugh, who am I kidding? I want to be a good person, and that guy last week deserved it, right? I did overdo it, though, didn’t I. That was a mess.
    My name’s Kal. I’m a runaway from Detroit and a mercenary for hire, and

me tell you something. Being a kid sucks. At least the adults can get a car and a license legally. Instead, I go around hijacking cars from scum. I memorize the license plates and write them down on a paper that I keep in my bag, for future reference, along with a BB gun. I would be in for a crapload of pain if the cops caught me with a real gun.
    You think you would notice me in a crowd, but honestly, you wouldn’t. A guy like me could walk the streets for years with torn, ragged clothes, and you would be none the wiser. At best, you would think I’m nothing less than an angsty teen.
    In fact, I try to give this aura off so that I can keep my cover. It gives me an air of innocence that I try to keep. I don’t walk around with clothes covered in blood like you might think. The stuff never comes out and it doesn’t help when I need info.
Instead, I try to take my target at night and try not to kill bystanders. It’s too much of a hassle to hide the bodies. It really helps when the target is asleep and I want to keep as many people away from my identity as possible. I never thought that I would enter this business, but it’s actually a lot easier than it sounds.
The death, that is the easy part. It’s the plan of action and the avoidance of the law. The law is overrated and as soon as the cops find out, they go into a frenzy and think of nothing but finding the criminal-me in this case-and forget about the other, more important issues in the world. Honestly, it’s like they can’t think for themselves. Hell, that’s probably true.
    Back to my story. I was walking down the street to the “home” I live in. And honestly, the guys I live with are no better than I am.
    First there’s Aiden. He’s sweet, but not the brightest person. He’s more of a shoot first and ask questions never kind of guy. The perfect tool for… certain jobs that shall go unnamed.
    Then there’s Sherry. She’s kinda like a mother, even though she’s only 17. She’s useful for making plans and not much else. Give her blueprints and you have a point of entry, a goal, and a getaway. She can also pull strings(of which she has a multitude of) and get us the info we need for our job(s).
    Next on this list, I we have a new addition to the family named Tanner. He may be a kid on the outside, but when you look on the inside, he’s the quickest guy you won’t see. He was laying in a pile of garbage, starved half to death, and too weak to move. You could say that I saved him. But he had this weird habit of wearing his “birthday suit”. At least he keeps his underwear on.
    And of course, who can forget the man who brought us all together, Old Man Jinn. I don’t believe that this is his real name, I mean honestly, when was the last time you heard a name like Jinn. He saw something in us that not even we saw.
    You already know me, but I’ll give you the background info now. My name is Kal Jenson and I was taught how to work in the field. I was given my first set of lockpicks a few months after Jinn picked me up. I was ten and of course, very ornery. After a few years, I was taught how to hack into systems, hijack cars… the works.
    I walk in through the door of the house and was met by a strange smell. It was too vivid to tell but I swear it smelled like smoke.
    “Hello?” I say, a sense of dread creeping into my body.
    “Crap,” A voice says quietly, “Uh. J-just a minute!”
    “Sherry?”
    “Maybe”
    I hear a toilet flush and an Sherry comes from around the corner, hair everywhere. Scars on her neck(she doesn’t like to talk about it). She has a tank top on with one strap broken and a fair amount of cleavage showing from under her bra (What? I notice these things.).
    “Uhhhhhh, h-hi Sherry. Whatcha doin’?”
    “Kal? Are you okay?”
    “Oh yeah! Fine. Totally. Nothing to worry about with me!” I reply, probably too quick to be normal. “Anyway. What were you doing? I smell smoke.”
    “Uhhm, I’m going to ignore that first statement and I believe the smoke you are referring to is this.” She holds up her hand to show me a cigarette in between her fingers.
    “You know that Jinn’s gonna kick your ass if he finds you with tha-”.
    “Like that old man’s is gonna do anything to me,” She interrupts and sticking her cleavage into my face she says, “He will do anything I say, if he knows what’s good for him. He doesn’t know what to do with me though.”
    I can think of a few things. God damn she is hot! Sherry and I don’t talk much so I can accept that these aren’t normal thoughts, but they sure feel right.
    “Kal? Are you okay? You seem a little out of it, more than usual I mean.”
    “Sorry. Yeah I’m fine, I just need some water.” I say as I head over to the makeshift kitchen.
    The kitchen had fallen into disrepair and since I had been too busy to do anything and I’m guessing that Jinn had gotten sick again or was on one of his secret trips to who knows where, nobody had gotten off of their lazy asses to do anything.
    I go to the cabinet to grab a glass, just to find it empty of any dishes and mouse droppings scattered throughout it. I hate Mondays. “GOD DAMMIT! YOU DUMB FUCKS ARE SO FUCKING LAZY! WOULD IT KILL YOU TO CLEAN UP ONCE AND AWHILE!”
    “Kal. You realize we are the only two here right?” Sherry says from the entrance. “And I just came back ten minutes ago.”.
    “Sorry, this kind of thing just pisses me off more than you would believe”.
    “I understand completely. You just need to blow off some steam. Why don’t you go to the punching bag in the back room, okay? I’ll heat up something to eat.”
    “Hey, I thought you didn’t pay attention to us. I guess you do have a soul.”
    “Hey! Don’t you dare go spreading that around. Got it.”
    “Fine.”
    We share a smile and go our separate ways.

Chapter 1 End