章 28: Jack's Past (1)
A/N: As the name suggests, this chapter will mainly be about Jack's past. In fact we're going to have an extensive look into his past, prepare yourselves.
Jack looked at the football that had rolled a few feet away from him. He heaved a sigh and looked upward, the focus of his vision being a goalpost which was placed abut thirty meters in front of him.
"Here goes nothing". He muttered to himself as he ran towards the ball and kicked it with all his might.
He watched as the ball sailed through the air, curling outwards slightly before dropping back in to the top right corner of the net. A few people who watched him take the shot nodded in admiration.
Jack however, didn't seem to be fazed by the shot. He allowed himself to be soothed by the sound of the by the brief sound of the ball crashing onto the net the goalposts before walking over to where the ball had landed and picked it up.
He took it to where he was standing when he took the shot previously and dropped it on the grass. He made a small distance between himself and the ball and sighed while he was placing his target. A reminiscent smile was on his face as he was instantly assaulted by a torrent of memories.
***
The sun towered over the metaphorical horizon and showered its light onto the surface of the earth. Under the big ball of light were several tall structures, towering into the sky. Beside the tall buildings were other buildings that were not as tall.
Beside the smaller buildings were a collection of huge mansions, forming what one would've called an estate. There were other elegant houses found in the vicinity of the collection of mansions but none of them measured up to the standard set by the mansions.
Naturally, the buildings had spaces between them to form roads on which various vehicles trudged peacefully. There were some civilians walking on the side walk, each of them performing various activities while they were walking. Some were walking their dogs, some were jogging etc.
Not quite far away from the collection of mansions and other attractive houses, there was another collection of houses. Unlike its' predecessors, one word could be used to summarize its entire appearance… poverty!
Most of all the houses had multiple things in common. Varying from the fading paint on its walls, to the decaying wood that were used in the creation of the doors, to the faded metal coating the glass windows to the loose pieces of aluminum roofing sheets which creaked loudly whenever it was rattled by wind.
Unlike in the area where the mansions were located where the road looked carefully planned out and developed, the road that separated the houses were thin and undeveloped. The road was basically a muddy slope on which some houses were built, obstructing the free flow of traffic.
Despite the pitiful condition of the living area, it had a peaceful atmosphere around it. Unlike the city which was constantly sparking with activities, the little ghetto area was serene and peaceful… until three angry screams spoilt everything.
"Oi! Catch that kid!"
"I'm going to spank his ass when I get a hold of him!"
"That little devilspawn!"
The sources of the voices were three grown men chasing after a boy that seemed no older than seven years old. The middle aged men were dressed identically. A rumpled shirt tucked into faded black trousers. It was quite evident from the condition of their footwear, that their shoes had seen better days. The once dusty black leather surface was now coated with mud.
In front of the three grown men was a seven year old boy. The seven year old boy had pale skin that could be considered delicate to the women living around the ghetto. Although there was nothing special about the condition on his skin, the hardships attached to surviving in such living conditions made it nigh impossible to have such soft skin.
The seven year old boy had his upper body bare, showcasing his thin stature. His ribcages were boldly visible highlighting the extent of his poverty ridden lifestyle.
Now when such a sight was presented to the average onlooker, they would think that the boy would soon be apprehended by the three men chasing after him. Strangely, quite the opposite happened. The distance between the boy and the three men increased as the chase continued.
The three men noticed the unfavorable development and decided to scare the boy into stopping. While he seemed to have expended basically no energy at all, the three men were nearly at their limits.
"When we lay our hands on you, we're going to beat the shit out of you!" One of three men shouted at the seven year old boy.
"I don't think the streets are too kind to homeless seven year old boys who have disabilities!" Another one of the three men shouted at the seven year old boy.
"Of course if you return our wallets then we're going to overlook everything". The last of the three men said.
When he finished talking, the seven year old boy stopped running. His actions stunned the three men and they also stopped running and started walking carefully towards the boy as if he was a ticking time bomb that might go off at any second.
'It worked?' At that moment all three men had the same two words on their minds. Who knew it would be so easy to trick the seven year old boy; then again, he was a child.
They had smiles on their faces as they closed the distance between themselves and the seven year old boy, hungry smiles written on their faces. If they got their wallets from him, they wouldn't mind giving him a beating or two on behalf of his parents to teach him about stealing. Their promises, ahem… lies earlier could be counted as a… adult lie.
When he was close enough that they could almost grab at him, the seven year old boy stuck out his tongue and blew raspberry at them. He turned around and started running again.
The three men tried to catch him before he started running; however, he was too fast. He easily escaped their pathetic attempt at a grab.
After chasing the boy for a while, the three me thought that they had cornered the boy. He was between them, the road leading up to the estate of mansions, and a wall. No one ever went to mix with the rich people; they wouldn't be able to survive the scrutiny, but with nowhere else to run, what could the boy do. He was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea!
With nowhere else to run, the seven year old boy entered into the collection of mansions and buildings that looked similar.
As soon as his legs touched the hard, smooth surface of the paved road, he felt countless eyes lock onto his body. He shivered for a bit and decided to continue running when he saw the three men that weren't far off behind.
The chase continued for quite a while, attracting the attention of many passersby. Some people inside vehicles turned around to see the astonishing sight before them; a boy being chased by three grown men. The chase continued for a while until a calm male voice sounded from right in front of the boy.
"Remarkable!"
A/N: Personally, I feel that this wasn't my best work. But things get better, I promise
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