Tales From New Jump City

10. I Thought the Genre was Humor

The old worn out door began to move forward, some of the white paint chips feel to floor at Emi's feet. The smell of old garbage wafted its way into Ronaldo and Emi's nostrils.

    "Jeez", Ronaldo said while waving his hand in front of his face with his nose wrinkled. The light from the hallway seeped its way into the dingy apartment, which was only lit by the sun making its way through the cracks in the blinds. There were various dirty clothes strewn about as well as various dishes and Tupperware containers. "What's the story with this girl?" Ronaldo asked.

    "Well," Emi began. "Her name is Lawan. Her family in Thailand is pretty big when it comes to Muay Thai and she used to run the Muay Thai club. She even modeling on the side, but she kinda fell off the map.." Emi didn't get a ton of information from Marcus since he ended up losing touch with her, and nobody knew why she hadn't shown up to school and she also cut ties with her modeling agency.

The two of them stepped into the apartment. Emi led the way. "Hello?" She called out.

"Are you sure this is alright?" Ronaldo asked. They continued through the doorway stepping over some bags of trash and found themselves in the living room. A simple space with hardwood floors, a few pieces of furniture, a small table. If the place had been kept up it might've looked nice, but the bits of garbage and random shirts, bras, and pants that littered the area made one wonder how a place could get so out of control. A hand rose from behind a couch strewn with clothes. 

"Who's the hell is there!?" The unfamiliar voice of a girl called out to them.

"Uh. Lawan?" Emi asked. "Sorry, the door was open. Uh, nice place ya got here." 

"Get out. I'm not expecting visitors. Not now. Not ever." Emi stepped forward a little more.

"We just wanted to talk," Emi said. "This girl took over the school and I heard you got connections with the Muay Thai club, bein they leader an all." With the mention of the Muay Thai club, Lawan reached over to a lamp, that rested on a small table next to the couch and flipped the switch on. She stands up to face Ronaldo and Emi. Most of her face being covered by the grey hoodie she had on.

"I don't lead shit. I don't where you got that from but I'm real tired of this house call." The light cascading into the room lit up one visible eye on her covered face, the anger in it burned brightly, but so bright that it was able to hide the pain. Ronaldo shifted uncomfortably, but Emi just stepped forward.

"Are you ok?" Emi asked her. Lawan was taken aback slightly. Before she could respond Ronaldo piped in.

"Maybe we should head out Emi," Ronaldo said. "Oh, what's this?" Ronaldo turned his attention towards a mug that sat on the counter. It was just about the only clean thing in the entire apartment. It sat next to a white New Jump Tarantula baseball cap with the logo of a cartoonish tarantula holding a baseball bat with one leg and a catchers mitt in the other. The words Number 1 Best Sister were printed on it below the picture of Lawan with one arm embracing her younger brother.

The two of them were making a silly face and were obviously holding back laughter. Even with the silly face, it wasn't hard to see how she managed to become a model. Her hair was a rich brown, perfect white teeth, her face was perfectly symmetrical, save for a single freckle on her cheek, and her eyes exuded a tender warmth that was only compounded by the fact that she was with her younger brother. On his head was the same hat that was next to the glove.

"This is cute. I guess your bro made this for you?" Ronaldo went to pick it up to get a better look.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Lawan quickly started limping towards Ronaldo. Once she was a few feet away from him she tripped over some of the clutter onto the floor. Ronaldo rushed over to help her.

"Sorry, I should've asked first. Are you good?"

"I'll get the light," Emi said.

Ronaldo bent down to help Lawan. He placed a hand on her shoulder only for it to be quickly brushed off. She threw her head back, hood coming down, and snarled at him.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!'' Just then, Emi hit the switch and light flooded into the room. Ronaldo pulled his hand away and took a step back in shock, being able to properly see Lawan up close.  The angry brown eyes that looked up at Ronaldo were welling up with tears. Her pristine face had a large jagged scar that went from the corner of her forehead that went diagonally across her entire face. Her hair was a tangled dirty mess, and she was missing a top canine tooth. She slowly started to stand back up on her own, awkwardly balancing on her left foot, which had been replaced by a curved metal prosthetic. Lawan wiped her eyes and addressed Ronaldo directly.

"That's the only thing I have left of him after the accident. Please go." Emi shifted awkwardly.

"Lawan I'm so sorry. If there's any-".

"LEAVE!"

Emi and Ronaldo left immediately, the door shutting behind them. They both began walking down the hallway, quiet, not knowing what to say to one another. The silence in the air interrupted by the sound of glass shattering followed by the heartbreaking scream of Lawan echoing down the hallway.

"AHHHHHHHHHH".

Emi began to turn around, but Ronaldo put and hand on her shoulder and just shook his head.

They left the apartment building without a word and made their way towards Lil Brazil.