The Street Fighter

Past Talk

"Come on," Jay says impatiently, we have to move quickly."

"I'm sorry," I roll my eyes, "You think I really feel like moving fast right now?"

We've been walking for an hour or so but we still have a while until we get to the southern part of the wall. Jay's been just a nightmare. Do this, do that, hurry up, and so on. If I remember correctly, I was the one who agree to this.

Jay stops and looks back, "Can you walk any slower?"

I sigh and stop, "Look, Jay. I'm the one that agreed to go do this. Stop bossing me around, and everything will be okay."

"Let's just go," he murmurs and continues walking.

"What's the rush?"

"The group moves around a lot to avoid the eyes of the government. I think they'll be there but we have to hurry."

"Whatever," I scowl and fall in time to Jay's stride.

We walk in silence for a bit until Jay of course opens his mouth, "Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"What happened to your parents?"

I stop walking for a second, "I thought you knew."

"They just told me a story but I want to know what you say."

"Fine," I sigh, "Well, it happened when I was six years old..."

***

"I love you, Hayden," Mom whispers as she kisses my forehead.

"I love you too, Mommy," I giggle.

Those times were special. It didn't matter if we were dead tired and all our food funds were gone. Dad tried as best as he could to pay for a hungry family.

"We need to go now if we're still going to try," Dad says.

Mom stands up, "I don't know about this anymore, Kevin. What if something goes wrong-?"

She's stopped by a kiss on the lips from Dad, "Don't worry, Hazel."

"Ew," I wrinkle my nose.

Dad grins, "Someday, Hayden, some boy might do that to you."

"Never!" I shriek and everyone laughs.

"Ready?" Dad asks Mom.

She nods and we start walking to the looming wall. It wasn't completely finished yet so a small portion didn't block the rich from the poor. I didn't know this at the time but Mom and Dad were planning to sneak over to the rich side and stay there.

When we reached the part of the wall where it wasn't built yet, you could see the lush green fields of the rich.

"Let's go," Dad murmurs and he and Mom walk quietly on to the other side. They're standing in a healthy field, with no one else in sight.

"Come here, Hay-" Dad is stopped by something that is shot down and into his chest.

He looks down at it in shock and falls to the ground.

"Run, Hayden! Run!" Mom shrieks before more bullets are fired down.

"Mommy!" I cry, "What's happening?"

Mom looks up at me and tears are streaming down her face too, "Run, Hayden. Just remember this one thing, we love you so very much."

A bullet hits her and she falls to the ground, her eyes wide open.

"Mommy! Daddy! I want to go home right now! Get up! Please! I'll do all my chores and go to bed on time!" I beg.

"Get the girl!" someone shouts and people with red government uniforms seem to come out of nowhere.

I take one last glance at my parents and take off. The ground is hard on my feet but I ignore the sharp pain. I hear a bullet but I don't look back.

"All offenders of the law must be eliminated!" I hear someone scream and the footstep behind me get louder.

My foot lands wrong and I fall to the ground. A young women catches up to me first. She takes off her helmet and looks at me. She is stunningly beautiful with pale blonde hair that could easily be mistaken for white.

"Just lie here, okay? They'll think you're dead. You don't deserve to die this young. You have your whole life a head of you," she whispers to me and puts her helmet back on.

She walks back from where I was running from and no one comes for me. After a while I sit up. My whole body hurts and my feet are caked in mud and other materials.

"Mommy," I sniffle, "Daddy, you said not to worry."

***

"So that's what happened," I sigh.

"How do you feel about it?" Jay asks.

"You told me to tell you what happened, not give me therapy sessions."

"No, I'm just curious," he answers.

"I don't know," I look at my feet, "The past is in the past."

"I can see the south wall," Jay suddenly says.

"Really?"

"Race you!"

Jay takes off and leaves me walking there.

"No fair!" I shout and run after him. I catch up to him and he looks at me in surprise.

"You're not half bad," he pants.

"You too."

"But I'm better!" Jay speeds up but I don't miss a beat.

"You're not going to lose me," I smirk.

Jay slows down, "Okay, there's about a quarter mile left until you get to the wall. Let's race and put something down for it. Like a bet or something."

"Okay," I stop, "What do you want?"

"Ten coins," Jay grins.

"Well, I want your pistol."

His hand flies to his pocket, "This isn't cheap, you know."

"Neither are ten coins."

He sighs, "Fine."

"Ready."

"Set."

"Go!"

I charge forward and Jay doesn't fall behind. We surge forward, not letting each other take the lead. That is, until Jay trips over a rock. I don't realize I lost him until I reach the wall.

I look back and see Jay stomp towards me, dirt covering his body.

"Hand it over," I grin.

"I tripped."

"So?"

"It's not fair."

"You should've been watching where you were going."

"Really, Hayden?"

"C'mon."

Jay grumbles and pulls the gun out of his pocket. I take it and feel it in my hands.

I slip it into my pocket and smile sweetly at Jay, "Thank you so much."

He scowls and looks up at the wall. He squints and looks back at me, "The group is still here."