Little Game

Benjamin: Rebelle/King

It's nightfall now. Actually, probably a bit later.

I pull my phone from my track shorts and glare at my screen seeing that it's now long past 10pm. I look around the sketchy alley that I stood silently by, a bit spooked by the fact I wasn't seeing any cop cars slowly sleeping by these rough parts of town. I peered around the corner, in view of the street and was surprised to see no incognito cars parked around the lot.

Maybe they'll branch out after midnight. I moved away from the LED lighting of the street, down the dark alley. The ground was wet from leaking A/C tubes and vents, and it reeked of sewage. Not even the homeless junkies stayed near here.

These alleys were between old small businesses that are so local that they only draw in four loyal customers. The others are just those who got bankrupt before they broke even. They aim to make money in a short amount of time. So, in these parts, it's usually dead after 5pm.

I flashed my phone torch on the uneven asphalt and tiptoed around a lone duffle bag and a random pile of wet clothes. Out of sight, out of mind.

I make another turn in this labyrinth alley and reach the back of an abandoned drug store. On its grey stone wall was a metal ladder, scaling all the way up to a balcony also made from metal.

I turned off my torch and pull up my hood from my sleeveless jacket, and started climbing. As soon as my hand felt the consistency of the bars, I immediately regretted forgetting my gloves.

I quickly climbed up and swung myself up as hard as I could to land on the balcony that was adjacent to the top of the ladder. The platform shook rather violently, but it stopped when I myself was stable. I slowly rose up and glanced down from the height that I was at. Of course, I couldn't see anything past the fourth bar from the top of the ladder. I turn towards the window, peeping to check if anyone was inside. There was only empty lager glasses in a room with torn up carpet. I think someone even looted the curtain rack that was supposed to be attached to this window.

I ignored the room and looked up. There was approximately 12 feet until I reached the roof. I was mistaken earlier, thinking that this ladder reached the very top. But there was a protruding edge from the window that will help me reach the the fire escape from there.

I pulled myself up on top of the window and slowly squatted over to the left side of the sill. I looked up at the distance between myself and the second ladder step. Probably, 3 feet. I stood at about 5'11", so reaching the fourth bar would be easy. I quickly stood and as I stretched my arm towards the ladder, the brick sill crumbled, making me lose my footing.

"Shit!" I outstretched my arm hoping my hand would grasp something. I clenched my right hand so hard and saw that my hand was around the second bar of the ladder. I quickly swung my body so my left hand could latch on too. I tried to make my mind still as I pulled myself up to at least the fifth bar so my body wasn't dangling anymore.

As soon as my feet touched the steps, I scurried up the ladder until I reached the roof. I let out a huge breath and sat still, waiting for my hands and torso to stop shaking. Once I had calmed down, I looked down from the ledge and flashed my torch down. Even if I did fall I wouldn't have died. But it would be an annoying call to Tike though.

Like usual, I'm not supposed to be out. Tomorrow we are planning a mission to finish this phase. It's quite complex and requires for us not to leave any sign of Rebelle activity within Los Angeles and Hollywood. Tike had organised for a huge clean up of the warehouse with a few members willing to take on the task. We even had Kriss and Lizbeth burn all their Rebelle-related stuff back at the unit.

A lot was going to change after tomorrow.

I stood up and walked to the middle of the roof. Nothing of interest lied up here. Just some unused pipes and poles, a door that I'm guessing was used as an emergency exit of some sort, and an old and giant vent for air conditioning. Even though this was a roof of a building that has seen better days, it had a killer view.

Behind the rows and rows of suburban homes and local landscape, I could see the skyline of the city. Tall government buildings and agencies were illuminated in dull yellow and white light, that were accompanied with the vibrant colours of their company's name. Some of the lower leveled lots were glowing in a blue light or just highlighted by the orange street lights. Some of the decorative tress that planted within this scape were lit with changing colour patterns of white, blue, green and red. Even from a distance, I could hear the slowing traffic within the city roads.

It was a Thursday night, so nothing too crazy was happening tonight. I pulled out my phone and took a few photos of the sight, since that was the only reason I'm out here. I'm a true believer that one major shift in the city can even change the way a city can look at night. I look at the few shots that I got, and with a satisfied grin, I walked further towards the other end of the roof, past the vent.

It was quite chilly tonight so I kinda regret wearing shorts. It rained a few nights ago and the weather stated that it might do so again before summer vacation starts, but I highly doubt that's gonna happen. The cold weather is welcome though. I'm sick of staying indoors and constantly being mothered by Tike. As far as he's concerned, I'm at the new house that we got as our hideout.

I took off my hood and scratched my hair in boredom. I yawn and turned back towards the alley side of the roof. As I did, I immediately stopped and saw a person wrapped in a grey tarp and a dirty white bucket hat covering his dusty blond hair. He looked up at the sky and I saw his eyes shaking vigorously, red and wet. I stayed very still but he didn't notice me.

With the moonlight, I saw the rest of his unshaven face as he opened his mouth. "I saw her...attic space...I need a tow," he mumbled. He was definitely off his mind on something and he still didn't take full notice of me so I slowly pulled my hood up and quietly step towards the other.

As I aligned with him, he shouted at me, or maybe something else, to stop. I did and notice that he was still looking at something in front of him. I followed his gaze and there was nothing beyond us than the view. Instead of walking off I chose to stand and stay, waiting for his next string of inaudible words.

The man shaped his mouth to form a sentence, but a heavy sigh just left his mouth. Before I decide to leave him, I saw him try again. "Do you believe in destiny?"

I rose my eyebrow in surprise. What an existential question for a crackpot. I sighed and gave him a quick answer. "Yes,"

I stared at the skyline with him and after a few minutes he gave me a sobering nod and went to ask me another question. "Now, do you believe in karma? That the choices or big bad things that happen in the world were because of the decision of someone else? Like, do you believe in change?"

What he said triggered me for some reason. Maybe because it was hitting way too close to home. I felt warm in my stomach and I felt my eyes sting with both passion and anger as I remember how and why I was here today.

"Hell yes," I replied, starting to walk away again.

I heard the man laugh and ask me stop. I turned as he lifted his right hand out of his pocket. "Here," he muttered, holding out what looked like blow in a small sandwich bag. I waved him off and headed back to the exiting roof edge.

Karma is a bitch. I mused. And if anything else, a huge game changer.