Under the Rain

Nine

It was on Friday, after the day I had told Weird Tattoo everything that happened with Pierre. I couldn't witness it, but at work, there were rumors, about some other, "guy dressed in black bashing off those other men who were bothering Pierre the other day". By the time I was out of the storehouse to see what was going on, he was already gone.

On the way back home, I caught sight of Weird Tattoo, sitting solitary in a swing of a playground that I always passed by. I parked my bike and hastened towards him. Up close, under the light of the street lamp, I could see blood gushing out of his nose.

"Oh my god," I rummaged my bag for something to stop the blood.

"It's okay, I'm fine ."

Having nothing, I was compelled to tear off the sleeve of my shirt.

"I said I'm fine!" he protested, as I kneeled down across him, and jabbed the cloth at the still oozing blood.

"Why did you have to do this?" I said, leaning closer to have a better look.

"You said your friend was in trouble," he mumbled, looking down.

"I didn't ask you to get into a fight."

"So what do you think? These barbarians would agree to a decent verbal truce and leave your friend alone?"

I sighed, "It was all my fault, I shouldn't have-"

"Ow!"

"Oops!" I pulled away the cloth, realizing I had been pressing it too hard, "Sorry."

Gently, I cupped his chin with my free hand, and used the other, still equipped with the cloth, and soaked away the remaining of the blood.

"Anyways, thank you."

The dusky trees began rustling to the song of the veiling dawn.

He shrugged. 

"What happened to Pierre-my friend? I mean, what did they want from him?" I asked, frowning. 

"Pierre-" He pronounced, "had been buying drugs from them. And he was unable to pay them back.  But they won't come again, "  he assured," I've taken care   of that."  

I nodded, and was just about to thank him again when he interrupted,

"So now you got an idea, " with his his eyes down, " what kind of world I belong to. What people I-meddle with."

When I didn't respond, he said, "This is who I am. And I don't think that is going to change."

"Felix..." 

He looked up to meet my eye and I realized how close I was to him.  

Awkwardly he drew away. 

"You might be with people like them, but you are not like them."

He scoffed and shook away the subject.   

I sighed and after a few more dabs, when it was over, I bobbed down on the adjacent swing. 

"It could have been me." he suddenly said.

"What?" I said, after a while. 
"Those guys, tormenting your friend, one of them could have been me." he stared lifelessly at the empty road that passed by us.

"But it wasn't."

"It could have been. I am used to doing these things, remember? Somewhere, at some other time, another girl like you might have been afraid of the things I have been doing to her friend. And there had been no one to help her."