The Story of Carbon (Part 1)

Chapter 12: Kooper's Palace

Kooper and I walked back to the apartment.
"X-Nauts? More like Dumb Nauts. Am I right?" Kooper looked at me, with his soul-filled eyes. I said nothing. "Or X-Nauts as in X means no, so we will never join them..." He laughed nervously. "Right?"
I said nothing, feeling the warmth from Kooper's hand around my finger, thinking about what Captain had offered. He offered a new place to stay. A new start. I could restart with a new name. A new personality. A new life. A life of Carbon. Maybe it wasn't my father I had to get away from. It was Koops.
But then again, I was only staying in JumpTown until I got my first paycheck, and that would be in only two weeks. I just had to be Koops a little bit longer. I put my bandaid back on.
We got back and everyone was already sitting at the table for dinner. We floated over to the plate of steaming tamales. I only acknowledged the food. It smelled so familiar. It smelled like home. Like... mom. Yes, every Saturday night, she'd make us her specialty: Chicken Tamales and Mexican rice. It was the best. I could've sworn Jadine stole the recipe.
I threatened a woman today at knifepoint. But they wouldn't understand my reasoning. I didn't regret a thing; Kooper needed it. I loved him, and he needed to know it. But they wouldn't understand this, so I kept silent as the rest of them talked. And luckily none of them dared talk to me. But Pablo squinted at me in disdain from across the table.
"It's called the Dark House. They throw the best parties," TJ was saying. "We should do that tomorrow. I can get us all in, I know a guy who knows a guy." They nodded and chimed in excitedly.
"Tomorrow night? Me and Koops are shopping tomorrow. That means we're shopping in broad daylight," said Milo. I dropped my fork. "Yeah, forget about that? It's time for another round. But don't worry, I'm the best shopper."
"Are you?" chided TJ. "Last time you got thirty bags of pizza rolls. Follow the list this time."
"Thirty-three bags actually, and they still didn't notice." Milo grinned. I was terrified.
They kept talking, obviously avoiding my eyes—except for Pablo who kept glowering from across the table.
"Where is the Dark House?" Jadine asked.
"It's right on the corner of Starborough and Alleywood."
JT's jaw dropped. "In the west side of town? Over there? You're playin."
Alleywood. Funny, I thought. That's the street where the X-Nauts said they lived.
"Yeah the place around it's a dump, but the club is pretty cool. Very hype and usually filled to the brim."
Milo spat rice across the table as he spoke. "So what happens at this place?"
"Well there's a tight dance floor, billiards, a bar, dancing....."
Jadine clapped her hands. "You hear that Babe? Dancing!" She did a tiny jig.
Milo clapped his hands and stifled a laughter. "You hear that? A bar!" Jadine rolled her eyes as he also danced.
As the Jenga tower of tamales got dismantled, Grover turned to me, his gray eyes peeking out from over his shades. "So what have you been up to recently? Anything new and exciting?"
They all looked at me, as if I was suddenly under interrogation, as if I were suddenly being squeezed and juiced for the truth. I cleared my throat and looked around at them nervously. "Ummmm, well today I took Kooper to the park and—"
"¡Durante el tiempo de los autos!" Pablo fussed.
"Umm right, and we hung out there and did.. things.... "
"Things? Yeah, um dude you got black and blue written all over you," said Jadine. "You weren't starting fights were you?" She scolded like a condescending parent talking to her delinquent child.
"Nah girl, he died!" Kooper piped up from the corner, eavesdropping. "Dropped dead! His heart stopped beating! I knocked the love right out of him! But then some kid kissed him and the love was restored! And then—"
"Imaginations!" I yelled. "Kids are full of them.... No, this is just a.. relapse from when Jadine kicked me in the face!"
She sank into her chair. "Oh, yeah. Sorry."
"It doesn't hurt anymore though! See?" I punched myself in the face. "Nothing!" My jaw ached, almost nauseatingly.
I may as well have had tiny clowns playing bagpipes on my shoulders, the way they looked at me.
"...and I also took Kooper out to eat."
Kooper chimed in. "It was a pretty schmancy restaurant. Like, the bathroom toilet paper there was gold foil! Pretty sure my booty could go up for auction right now."
"How could you even afford that?" JT asked in awe.
Kooper jumped in before me. "Afford it? No no, you should've seen Koops when he—"
"Will you shut up and let the man speak for himself?" Milo requested. "I think we've had enough of you today." Kooper sunk into himself. I silently praised Milo for saving my life.
I put my fork down and nervously rubbed my thighs. "Also we ran into another gang."
Their eyebrows raised over concerned chatter. "Who? Did they hurt you? Is that where the bruises came from? What happened?"
"Everything was fine. It was just three of them there. We talked. They brought up something called the Battle of the Gangs? What even is that?"
The room went silent. "You didn't know about the Battle of the Gangs?" yelled JT. "We've been training for the Battle all season long!"
We looked at Grover, who had a guilty frown. "Oh, right, that must be coming up. I've been meaning to mention it to you."
I gave him a sideways stare. "Well you haven't said anything about this battle since I've been here. What is it?" I crossed my arms. I wasn't the only one hiding something.
He answered quickly. "Well there are 12 gangs all around JumpTown. Each gang will compete in four trials, which are undisclosed until the day of, and as the trials go on, gangs will be eliminated until the final round, which usually in a full-out brawl will end up deciding who the ultimate gang is, in addition to a cash prize."
I shook my head slowly. "Ummmmm okay. Good to know. Glad you told me," I said tartly. Grover winced. "When is this Battle of the Gangs?"
"In about three weeks, I believe."
"Three weeks, two days, thirteen hours and six minutes!" exclaimed JT. We all looked at him, shocked. "What? I'm just really excited for it."
Three weeks, I thought. Good. I'd be out of here in two, before this battle. I'd get my paycheck, and then I'm gone, before they can blink, or drag me into gang fights.
Kooper had overheard all the talk about the battle, and raced over to the table.
"The Battle of the Gangs! Woah! That sounds fire!" exclaimed Kooper punching the air. "We get to show off our cool uppercuts and our corkscrews and our," he whispered, "special moves."
"Don't worry. You won't be a part of it. We only need seven to make a team," said Milo, spitefully shoving three tamales in his mouth.
Kooper glared at him. "And what if one of the seven just happened to get their face beat in before the competition?" Milo, angry, tried to retaliate, but stuttered and choked on the tamales.
Kooper laughed. "Well frick, if you're trying to make a comeback, try chewing your food first, asshole." Kooper grinned with a cheeky wave, then sprinted up the stairs slamming the bedroom door.
Milo swallowed, catching his breath. "You better kiss Old Yeller goodbye." We all laughed. Milo didn't.
"So are you good to compete with us this year?" Grover asked.
"In three weeks? Yeah, that will be great." I lied. "After all, I came here to get tougher. This will be the ultimate test."
They all nodded to each other in satisfaction. Or relief.
It was nice that they looked at me as a gang member for a change, a teammate, a Carbon, rather than a sorry mess named Koops, hurt and owned by his father.