The Prices I Pay ((MIKE ZACHARIAS X ERWIN SMITH X OC))

Chapter 26

His home was small, and didn't look as though it was lived in at all. There was minimal furniture, of which included an old leather armchair and the table Silica had obliged in sitting at. The counters of his kitchen were barren, and the air smelt of stale alcohol.

Silica watched as Kenny sat in the seat across from her, and the two had neglected to say a word as they stared at each other. The silence felt suffocating.

"What did you say your name was?" Kenny was the first to break it. The look on his face remained the same as it did when he looked at her the first time.

"Silica."

"You're Agnis' kid?" He guessed. Silica was taken aback by his question, but slowly nodded in confirmation.

"She told me where I could find you." She added.

This made Kenny scoff, and he crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair. "How did you manage to crawl your way out of the Underground District?"

"I was involved in illegal business and was tracked by the MPs until they sent the Scouts after me," Silica summarized briefly. "I've been on the surface a year now."

"How old are you?"

"Thirty."

Kenny was back to silently staring at her. She didn't necessarily know how she felt as she looked back at him. He looked like a stranger, but at the same time all too familiar. She was sure he felt the same way about her.

"Why did you come here?" He asked. His brow twitched. Silica didn't know what to make of it.

She looked down at her hands in her lap at his question. She didn't know how to answer him.

"If it's money you're after you came to the wrong place." He added, sounding snappier this time. His words made Silica's face scrunch up incredulously.

"You live like this and you think I'm here to ask you for money?" She snapped back, scowling. She wasn't expecting Kenny to laugh.

"You're my kid alright," Kenny said, sure of himself. "But I can't say I'm much of a father, back then or now."

His words made her lip twitch with irritation. "And I can't say I disagree. Have you made it a habit to abandon your family?"

Her tone was challenging, and so was Kenny's glare when her question hit the air. When he didn't answer, Silica continued.

"It was me first," she said. "And then Levi, right?"

Kenny's eyes lit up in recognition at the sound of Levi's name. "You know Kuchel's boy?"

"I do," Silica reinstated. "Since we were kids. He said you had some relation to his mother, but he didn't know what kind."

Kenny scoffed. "Cool it, Kuchel was my sister. I only took in the little runt because she died. He would've too if it weren't for me."

"Oh, spare me," Silica rolled her eyes. "What good were you if you were just going to leave him again? He had no one!"

"He had you, didn't he?" Kenny pointed out. The look on his face was hard to decipher and it made Silica angry.

"You know what I meant," she seethed. "You're a deadbeat bastard. You're not sorry at all."

"Why should I be? The two of you seemed to grow into adults just fine without my help," Kenny spoke matter-of-factly. "Listen, I'mma save you the trouble and tell you now that all I'll do is disappoint you, so why don't you ask me what you came here to find out and we can go on about our lives?"

Silica's hands were balled in her lap so tight that she could feel the trickles of blood seeping out from between her fingers. She knew not to expect anything from him, but she didn't know that he would make her so enraged.