The Hidden Genre (C. H. H. Ain't Dead 01)

chapter twenty-two

IT WAS the season of early nights for the sun, which had no energy to stay up late. Margarette had no energy to continue, but she pushed. It was a case of running until you felt dead, rather than being dead. It didn't help that she ran in the opposite direction of her car. Why was she still running? How was she still running? Was it safe to stop? Her body gave in as she tried to catch her breath, and the wave of fatigue came over her while her lungs raged with fire. She found shelter, but even the water was useless against the burn in her chest. The bottle was gulped down as if she escaped the desert in desperate need of water.

   “Do you have a phone on you?” she asked. “I need to phone an ambulance.”

   “Are you going to pay for that water?” asked the cashier.

   “I don't have money on me.”

   “Maybe you should have thought of that before you drank it. I'm phoning the police instead.”

   “No, phone emergency services,” said Margarette, “there’s a kid shot in the courts.”

   The cashier's fingers froze. “My kid went to the courts,” he mumbled.

   “Kid? Uhm, boy or girl?” Margarette slowly took the phone from him, “The kid who got shot sounded like a girl, but the body was heavy when it hit the ground. So it could have been a boy.”

   “Please, don't say that . . .”

   “Papa!” a boy ran into the shop with tears flowing down his cheeks, “I love you, papa!”

   The cashier embraced the kid while the phone rang and rang as if it searched desperately for a signal that it could latch onto. It caught one.

   “Yes, hello!”

   “What's your emergency?” asked a voice, super relaxed.

   “Someone's been shot at the courts!” yelled Margarette.

   “Where are you, mam?”

   “Did you not hear me? I said a kid got shot in the courts!”

   “Please calm down, mam.”

   “Don't tell me to calm down!”

   “Please tell me where are you, mam?”

   “North City! Where else?”

   “Where in North City? Are you by the High Courts, mam?”

   “No –”

   “Where are you, mam?”

   “Where am I?” she looked at the cashier, “I'm . . .”

   “Sable way,” he said.

   “I'm in Sable way.”

   “So you referring to the basketball courts, mam?”

   “Yes!”

   “Okay,” said the voice before the clicking of buttons filled the silence. “Yes, the NCPA have been alerted and are on their way already. We'll be sending an ambulance immediately. Thank you for your assistance, citizen. Stay indoors and may you have a great evening.”

+++

The breeze picked up like the anticipation before an anime fight. Luke faced off against Isaac with the latter having his hands down in a summoning jutsu attempt. The former gave his opponent a taste of his own medicine: side eye.