"I had other things going on, Funkyhair, ok?" Tam said, into his phone.
"Ok, fine. I'm not blaming you, it's just... frustrating. I gotta go," Funkyhair responded and then hung up.
Tam resisted the urge to throw his phone across his room. Why did Funkyhair have to be so infuriating? It's not like Tam could remember every single piece of information he and his gang needed. He had a life of his own with his own problems and apparently Funkyhair didn't care in the least.
"Tam? It's time for dinner," came Linh's voice from outside his door.
Tam's anger softened at hearing his sister's voice. "Be there in a second."
He took a deep breath and exhaled. He then proceeded to open his door and walk to the dining room. The smell of freshly cooked food made him walk just a tad bit faster.
Once in the dining room Tam sat down next to Linh on the wooden chairs. In the middle of the table a big bowl of fried rice was on top of the red table cloth. His mother, Mai, set the plates and forks on the table and then sat down in front of Linh.
Mai passed the bowl of fried rice to Quan, Tam's father, and while he served himself she asked, "How was school today?"
Tam shrugged whereas Linh went into full detail about how she got to draw whatever she wished in her art class today.
"When I'm done I'll show it to you. By the way, how's your painting going, Mother?"
"Oh, I'm almost done. I just feel as if something is missing...Hmm, not quite sure," Mai responded while Tam dropped a humongous pile of rice on his plate and handed the bowl to Linh.
Quan chuckled, "Someone's hungry."
Tam smiled slightly, "Yeah..." And then it was washed away as he realized something. "Hey, where's Uncle Qiang?"
Quan sighed, "Your Uncle was called to work overtime at the police station. You know they respect him and value what he has to say on the cases."
Tam stared at his food, "When will he be back?"
Quan shook his head, "Son, I don't know. He'll stay as long as they need him."
For the rest of dinner they ate in silence. After Tam had cleaned up his dishes he rushed to his room and flopped on the bed. Feeling too tired to do anything, he put on some earbuds and blasted on My Chemical Romance.
Tam stared at the ceiling wondering how his life managed to get this messed up. He was giving police intel to a bunch of teenagers that somehow decided to stop criminals as a hobby. At least he had his reasons for doing it. Unlike Funkyhair who just did it for fun. At least that's what he said, but chances were that he was most likely lying. Tam was aware that Funkyhair had some major family issues, so maybe that had something to do with it. Maybe.
Soon his eyes closed and he fell asleep.
Tam was rudely awakened by his phone buzzing, being unnecessarily loud. Which was odd because he never set an alarm to wake up. He'd already broken five alarm clocks in the past (what could he say that beeping noise was extremely obnoxious).
Tam picked up his phone and saw about fifty notifications from Funkyhair. What the heck? Someday he was seriously gonna end up strangeling that boy.
As Tam scrolled through the infinite amount of texts he'd received from Funkyhair (all of which basically repeated his code name over and over again) the sun came in through his window, lighting his dark room. His room wasn't anything impressive. All there was was a bed in the corner (with black blankets), a desk by the door (littered with homework and notebooks), a wardrobe (which was mostly filled with black pants and shirts. Although there was the occasional colorful piece of clothing) and lastly a My Chemical Romance poster.
Finally Tam decided to text Funkyhair back.
Bangs Boy: what do you want?
Funkyhair: FINALLY!! what took you so long?
Bangs Boy: ugh, just tell me what you want. you already woke me up at 6:30 in the morning and now you're annoying me with your presence.
Funkyhair: hey, i couldn't sleep, so i thought i might as well tell u now.
Bangs Boy: tell me what?
Funkyhair: sorta hard to explain thru text. I'll tell u thru audio message
Bangs Boy: great. now i have to hear your voice
Funkyhair: pfft everyone loves my voice and me in general cause i'm awesome
Bangs Boy: just TELL me already!
Funkyhair: fine
A minute or two later, Tam pressed the play button on the audio message.
"You know yesterday when I hung up on you? Yeah, well, afterwards, Gears somehow found out that there was a bug and tracker in my phone. So, yeah, creepy. We don't know exactly who put it there, but me and the gang have some guesses. The main one being that it was the cloaked people, which by the way we still need a name for them. But the question is how they knew you were giving me information on the police. So... that's really unsettling... they must be resourceful to have figured that out. So, good news in a way 'cause we have a lead, bad news, um, they probably know my identity to have put a bug and tracker in my phone."
Tam sat on his bed trying to understand what Funkyhair had just said. He listened to the audio message three times before responding. Tam also decided to go to an audio message.
"So, wait, you're saying they know. Funkyhair, these are dangerous criminals. You've got to tell the police. This is bad, they could come after you, try and get information. And plus, they put a tracker in your phone, which means they've probably been monitoring your every move. They know where you live. That means they've seen you meeting up with Gears and Moonlark...and possibly me. So that means everyone is at risk. And now I'm running out of time, but I have a lot more to say, so don't dare interrupt me."
Funkyhair responded saying, "Sure, go ahead, Bangs Boy. I'll even take notes. It's not like I haven't thought about what you just said all night long."
Tam resisted the urge to punch the wall and took a deep breath.
"Maybe you should take notes, Funkyhair. How did they even put a tracker and bug in your phone, without you noticing? How did they know it was you getting all the information? Maybe it's because you're not careful enough on your missions. You're too sloppy. I've told you this a million times, but you always shrug it off. And now everyone is in danger because of you! And they even had a bug on your phone. Which means they've heard every single conversation we've had. Maybe I said something that hinted at where I live, I don't even know! This puts my family in danger too. Don't you dare make jokes about it."
There were several minutes until another audio message came in from Funkyhair:
"Ok, you're obviously angry... I'm sorry. I don't know how they found out. I don't know how they managed to get a bug and tracker in my phone. Honestly, I don't. And, yeah, maybe I'm not as careful as I should be on the missions and I guess... I should have listened to you," he then muttered something that sounded a bit like 'only sometimes, most of the time you're wrong.' "But I have a way to make things better. You know how I said we had a lead? Well, Gears couldn't get anything off the bug because whoever put it there shut it down as soon as we discovered it, but he managed to trace the signal on the tracker. So, today after school me and the gang are going to follow it. See where it leads us. And it'd be helpful if you could come too. To hide us with your weird shadow powers."
Tam sighed. He really got himself into a mess. Sometimes he wished he'd never met Funkyhair. He was reckless, extremely annoying, an idiot, and terrible at coming up with code names. But over time, Tam had become friends with Funkyhair, as annoying as he was.
Finally, Tam texted him: When and where?
Funkyhair: Washington Square Park at 4PM. We'll be across from the coffee shop.
Bangs Boy: I'll go only because all of you would be caught right away without me.
Funkyhair: Pfft if you say so. admit you're curious to see what we'll find.
Bangs Boy:🤐
Funkyhair: did you just use an emoji? WHAT?! you never use emojis. Are you trying to be funny? Do you have a sense of humor after all?
Tam didn't respond and resisted the urge to smile as Funkyhair continued on guessing.
Funkyhair: Bangs Boy!! Come ON!! AAGH!!
Funkyhair: why THAT emoji tho? It doesn't fit you. These emojis fit you
Funkyhair: 😑 😤 💀
Tam finally decided to respond.
Bangs Boy: what is up with the first one? And why in the world is there a school?
Bangs Boy: *skull
Funkyhair: cause they are literally you
Bangs Boy: no
Funkyhair: yes
Bangs Boy: shut up I'm still mad at you
Funkyhair: 😞
Bangs Boy: go away
Bangs Boy:i need to get ready for prison
Funkyhair: what?
Bangs Boy: school, stupid
Funkyhair: you do have a sense of humor after all!!
Later, Tam finally got dressed and headed down to the kitchen for breakfast. While he was debating whether to eat cereal or toast, Linh came in holding her cat, Princess Purryfins.
"Ready for school?" she asked, preparing herself a bowl of Cheerios.
"No," Tam responded, finally deciding to just eat cereal as well.
Linh looked up at him, her long black hair with silver tips was tied back in a ponytail. "Tam, you should at least try to make some friends."
Tam swallowed a mouthful of cereal, "I don't need friends."
"Everyone needs friends," she argued. "I have Marella, Maruca and Stina, but you don't have anyone to spend time with or talk to."
"I can talk to you. And plus, I talk to Marella and Maruca at lunch," Tam said, checking the time. 7:10 AM. Fifteen minutes until they had to leave for school.
Linh shook her head and set Princess Purryfins on the floor. "You barely talk at lunch."
Tam sighed, "Thanks for caring Linh, but I'm fine." And then he put his empty bowl in the dishwasher. This put an end to the conversation and they were off to school (their mother was driving them there).
In Tam's first period class (biology) he couldn't stop thinking about his Uncle. He hadn't seen him this morning. Perhaps he was still at the police station, working on the case.
Tam's Uncle used to be a fireman until he had an accident eight years ago. There was a burning house. And someone was still trapped in there. So Tam's Uncle went in. He got the person out, but... the house exploded just as they were coming out. Tam's Uncle shielded the person from the explosion. Two weeks later, he woke up in the hospital and found out he'd lost his hearing. It didn't take him long to learn ASL, but it was still hard for him to get used to that sudden change.
But four years later he started working for the police. And it all started at a bank.
A Pyrokenetic broke into the bank and demanded to be given money and gold. He ended up killing two people, leaving their child an orphan. The police tried restraining the Pyrokinetic, but his flames were too strong. That's when Tam's Uncle stepped in, he didn't have to, but he felt as if it was his duty to protect everyone in that bank. So, he used his ability as a Shade to move shadows to engulf the Pyrokinetic, to set out his flames. And it worked.
The police then brought the Pyrokinetic to a prison for questioning.
People didn't treat people with abilities with respect, they shunned them and soon people with abilities simply kept them hidden, just as Tam had done. Just as his Uncle had done until that moment four years ago.
A few days later, Tam's Uncle received a letter, asking if he'd like to join the police force. Of course, he'd have to go through training and he would only be allowed to go on certain cases. His Uncle accepted and ever since then he's been working with the police, helping them solve cases, going to crime scenes and using his ability to find hidden evidence (it's a Shade thing) and rarely, going on actual missions to use his ability as a Shade to apprehend the criminal.
That's why Tam gave information to Funkyhair about the police officers' plans. So, if his Uncle was ever called to go on a mission, Funkyhair could be there to help out. Make sure no one got hurt. This was the only way Tam could protect his Uncle. Sure, he could go on the missions himself, but his Uncle, also being a Shade, made it risky. Maybe his Uncle would sense him there and then would figure out Tam had been stealing intel from his office. Then everything would be over.
Tam knew that his Uncle could handle himself, but... he still wanted to protect him somehow.
The bell rang, startling Tam from his train of thought. He got up and headed to his next uninteresting class.
By the time it was lunch, Tam was exhausted. He had homework from every single class and had to write an essay he'd completely forgotten about for the next day. Fun times.
When he got to his usual table with Linh he waved in greeting to Marella, Maruca and Stina. Marella was Linh's best friend since the second grade and she also had an ability (only he and Linh knew). That ability happened to be Pyrokinesis which was hard to control and very dangerous. But over time Marella managed to mostly control her ability.
Tam sat down by Linh and began eating his slightly pink hotdog. Linh and her friends chatted away about school and cats and who knows what else while Tam continued to think about what Funkyhair, the gang, and he might find with that tracker. What if it was one of the cloaked peoples' hide outs?
The bell rang signaling the end of lunch and Tam said goodbye to Linh and everyone else, heading to his next class.
Algebra, World History and ELA seemed to pass so slowly, but at last school ended and Tam headed home with Linh.
He still had about an hour before he had to head out to Washington Square Park so he decided to work on his mountain load of homework. Closer to four he put on a hoodie and stuffed a black mask in his pocket.
"Going somewhere?" Linh asked, walking into his room.
"Yeah, I'm going on a walk to, um, a coffee shop," Tam said, putting on his sneakers.
"A walk? Coffee?" Linh said, apparently unconvinced.
"I'm gonna need a lot of coffee to finish that much homework," he said, pointing to his desk.
Linh laughed, "True. And plus, I've always been telling you that walks in nature will make you happier. You finally listened!"
Tam smiled, "Right. So, I'll be heading out now. I'm going to need an extra caffeinated coffee for sure."
Before Tam left for the park, he told his Mother where he was going and that he'd be back in two or three hours.
Tam stepped outside of his house and began walking to the park. Thinking about how he still hadn't finished his homework or even started writing his essay. Not to mention what was coming ahead.
He really wasn't lying about needing a coffee.
Please comment, share and give this chapter a like!! Thanks! By the way, sorry for the hold up on posting it. :)