"You noisy bastard, will you stop that fucking crying already!" The father yelled at the six-year-old boy in tears, which grew worse as the man threw an empty beer bottle against the wall. "I've told you to stop being a pussy or I'll kick your ass again."
Chord's face was tear-stained and dirty, his too-big clothes hung loosely on him. He let out a cry as the bottle shattered, a bit of glass sliced his cheek. His stomach growled, the hunger pains felt like stab wounds from inside. All he wanted was something to eat. Why was Dad so mad? Daddy was always mad it seemed when he was around. Mommy wasn't around either and when she was, she still wasn't there for him.
Beer bottles covered the tables, scattered across the ground. Ashtrays filled with cigarettes and ash and trash littered corners and crevices. Some white powder was on the table, and his mom lay on the couch smoking.
"But Daddy, I'm hungry," he whimpered, hugging his stomach.
"You little bastard, do you think I work my ass off to waste it on an ungrateful brat like you?" Grabbing the ashtray on the table by him, Chord ran off as his father hurled it where he'd been standing. "Get the fuck out of my house, you bastard!" He turned to Chord's mother. "Your son is a fucking pain in the ass."
Chord ran out of the house as his father continued with his obscenities. His cheek hurt and his body was screaming as his short legs took him into the woods out behind the house. Get away. I have to get away. I'll wait for Daddy to calm down and come back.
"Get back here, you fucker!" The shout jarred him, but his legs worked on autopilot.
He wasn't sure how long he ran until his legs gave out from under him, falling to the ground. He let out a cry as he fell, rolling down a hill until he stopped at the roots of a large tree with gnarled roots, but a gap large enough for a young child to hide if needed.
Sniffling, he looks at his scuffed palms, tears filling his eyes. Curling his legs to his chest, Chord continued to cry for a little while. I'm hungry. If Daddy and Mommy aren't going to feed me, where will I get food from?
"Are you okay?" He gasped, looking around frantically for the source of the small voice who spoke. He didn't see anyone though. Is this place haunted?
"Up here!"
Up in the tree, Chord saw a little girl with frizzy brown hair and freckles in a tank top and shorts and worn-out tennis shoes watching him, halfway hidden by tree branches. Her emerald eyes were shining, shades lighter than the leaves.
"Why are you crying?" she asked.
"W-Who are you?" he asked, wiping his face. "I'm not crying!"
"Yeah, ya are!"
He watched the girl cling to the tree like a koala and slide down the trunk. Landing on unsteady feet, she approached Chord. "What happened to your face?" She brought her face close to his face, so close he saw the splash of freckles on her face.
Chord narrowed his eyes, pulling away. "None of your business. Will you go away!"
"Why? You're at my tree! You're the one t'e'passin'," she answered, pointing to the trunk. "See? That's my name."
Carved into the tree was a name: Aaliyah.
"Oh." He deflated. "Ah-lie-yah?" Was he going to get into trouble?
"Ah-lee-ah. But you can call me Ali!" Aaliyah let out a giggle. "You know you're lucky it was my tree you found. I was just gonna eat my lunch. I can share them with you." She dove into the roots of the tree and for a few moments all you saw was her butt and legs sticking out. When she pulled herself out, she had a purple backpack in her hands, several small twigs in her hair and dirt on one cheek.
Digging into her bag, she took out a plastic bag with a sandwich in it. She handed it to Chord. "Here. I had two of 'em so you can have this one."
As much as Chord wanted to take it, he didn't. "I'm not hungry." He froze when his stomach let out a traitorous growl. His cheeks burned with embarrassment.
"Go on. I make yummy sand'iches."
As Chord tore into the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Aaliyah ate the second one, sitting down in front of him. "What happened to your face?" she asked again. "What's your name?"
"C-Chord. And I f-fell."
Aaliyah smiled. "Chord? Like a music chord?" He nodded and she let out a burp. "It's a pretty name."
Chord nearly choked on the last bit of his sandwich. "It isn't pretty! Boys don't have pretty names."
"Cute then." She gave him a Capri Sun from her bag. "It isn't cold. Sorry."
Watching as she finished up her sandwich, Chord noticed she had a lot of scrapes and bruises. Both knees had band-aids on them, a couple around fingers on each hand. One across her left cheek.
"What were you doing in the tree?" He looked up at the tree. "It's so high, I'm surprised you didn't fall!"
"I'm half monkey." Her eyes lit up. "I was fighting pirates! We're at a peace fire for lunch though."
"No you're not! Monkeys have tails."
"I don't show it to people, but it's okay if you know about it. If people see it, they'll be jelly and wanna be a monkey too."
"Why tell me?"
"Because I need a first mate. First mates are like captains' bestest friends so bestest friends know my secrets."
Jumping up, she grabbed a stick off the ground, making wild gestures with it. "Captain Scarlett always brings the evil pirates in when they steal the treasure! With my first mate Chord at my side, our booty will stay our booty!"
"Pirates don't live in trees."
She closed her mouth, glaring at him as she pointed the stick at him. "I don't have an ocean, okay? A girl's gotta make do with what she has. Oh!" She suddenly appeared in his face. "You wanna join my crew? The pirates took my men away so I need more c'ew."
"I wouldn't be very good. . . I can't claim trees."
"So? I'm a captain with no boat! I'm still a good captain! You can even get your own stick sword! But wait," she knelt to rummage once more through her bag. She had a Band-Aid in her hand. Taking her water, she wiped away the dried blood off his cheek and covered it. "Now you can be a first mate. A brave injury to match your status."
He touched the band-aid with his fingers. "T-Thank you."
"Not done yet." Before he could say a word, Aaliyah kissed the band-aid on his cheek. Chord stared at her wide-eyed. "Now I'm done!"
"W-What was that?!" His face burned as he stuttered. "W-Why d-did you d-do t-that?"
"Kisses make the booboos better. Now come on, I'll show you how to climb trees. It's easy peasy!" Taking his hand, Aaliyah pulled him with her. "Captain Scarlett and First Mate Chord, all aboard!!!"
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"What do you think?" Scarlett's voice was nearby, but it sounded far away. Or rather, it was nearby and it was Chord who was checked out. "Chord."
"Huh?" He shook his head clear, seeing Scarlett staring at him. "Sorry, I was thinking. Repeat the question?"
"Do you wanna go with me to the Fall Festival the day after tomorrow? Miss Charlotte and Derrian are taking the boys and, you know if you wanted to, we could do our thing. I've never actually been to one before? But movies make it seem really fun."
"Never?"
She shook her head. "Yeah, I know. I got adopted when it wasn't happening or it was just after it was held. My timing was horrible. You can even bring Cinder."
Chord nodded, unable to keep from smiling. "Yeah, sure. Sounds great."
"Great. Though, I should probably warn you." She bit her lip. "Derrian and Miss Charlotte are. . . embarrassing so don't, like, take what they say too personally. In fact, ignore everything they say."
Chord chuckled. "You've met my aunt. It's my belief she exists to embarrass me and Cinder to death. Especially me."
"You make it easy for her probably. To be honest, Miss Charlotte wanted to meet you, since I . . .," Scarlett's freckled cheeks turned pink as she admitted this, "Well, I may have talked their ears off about you so they're curious. . . about you."
"Oh, what did you say?" It'd be a lie if Chord said wasn't curious and he didn't feel a flutter of happiness at hearing she was talking about him. He was used to being talked about in the negative sense. This was new.
"Wouldn't you like to know." She stuck her tongue at him as she went back to doing a worksheet for a class last minute. "Least I don't need to worry about them threatening to embarrass me with show you any baby pictures."
You used to be such a sweet, obedient little boy. I see that aunt of yours is turning you into an ungrateful little shit.
I went through all the trouble of having you and this is my thanks? You can't do this one little thing for me?
For the first few months after Shondra took him in, she had called every chance she got. His father too, but that stopped after a year when he died in prison. He had pissed off some other inmate and got one in the back — literally. His mom stopped calling after that or Shondra refused to answer the calls.
Chord wasn't sure why she had called this time nor did he care why. Though her release date was some time in the near future, he had no desire to deal with her. Xander was a better choice to spend his time. When his mother was concerned, it was always about her or money. He couldn't recall a time when she was a mother to him in any sense other than the biological sense.
Not to mention he had others things to worry about: dealing with his college applications.
While simultaneously not panicking over another possible "date-not-a-date" with Scarlett and casting assumptions about what that meant.
Did this count as "meeting the parents" if they weren't actually dating?
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