Rising Robin

Chapter XIV: Silhouette

Dick stopped the bike in front of an old apartment building. The building's shadow covered the bike, hiding it from the moonlight. He sighed & turned to Rodrick, who sat on the bike behind Dick, still holding onto him with his arms wrapped around his waist. "Let go of me," Dick grumbled.

Rodrick's arms shot back to his sides. "Sorry," he said softly. "I've just never ridden a motorcycle before. That shit's crazy, man."

Dick swung his leg up from the bike & stood up. "Okay, we're here."

Rodrick stumbled to get off of the bike. He regained his balance and stepped onto the curb. "You ready?"

Dick shrugged. "I have no idea. You just told me to GPS an address & drive there. I don't know what this is."

"Oh, it's my home," Rodrick said, stepping towards the building. He stopped and turned back to Dick, chuckling softly. "Huh. It's been a while since I've said that. 'Home.'"

"Old Gotham was home for a while," Dick pointed out.

Rodrick nodded in agreement. "Hell is home."

The two approached the front door of the old apartment building and opened it. It was dim lit with a desk in front of the small lobby. To the left was a metal wall of mail boxes for each resident. To the right was a bulletin board with pamphlets and newsletters of outdated city events.

Dick approached the desk & rang a rusty bell on the table. "Yo, is anybody here?"

"No," Rodrick answered. "Nobody has been here since the night I left."

Dick looked back at Rodrick. "You never did tell me how you came to Old Gotham."

"You never asked."

"Well, now I am."

Rodrick looked at Dick & sighed. He began walking to the stairs behind the front desk, leading to the upper floors of the building. Dick followed behind. "Well, I was just angry," Rodrick started. "I was walking home from school one day. I came home, went up these stairs & when I went through my front door, my mom starts bitching. 'Where's Tracy? Where the fuck is Tracy? You were supposed to pick her up from school!' I said 'No, you were supposed to get her. You said you'd fix the car yesterday & pick her up today.' She goes nuts, saying I'm lying & I'm a jackass like my father. That pissed me off, especially since the cunt actually DID say she'd fix the car & pick up Tracy.

"Anyway, so it took me an hour after school to get home, another hour to go to Tracy's school, & another hour to get back home. My mom was waiting three hours just so she could bitch at me some more. 'You're fucking useless, Rodrick. You're a piece of shit, just like your father.' Some more bullshit. I told her she was JUST as useless, dealing crack all day & night. She started hitting me. I fought back, defense & all. She cries out 'You're exactly like your dad! You HIT like your dad!' I told her, 'No I don't, because you haven't killed me yet.' Then she gets this crazy eye & runs to the kitchen to look for a knife. At least, I think she's looking for a knife. I heard metal clanking & shit. So I ran to my room & start emptying out my backpack of my notebooks & start packing clothes. Tracy is sitting on her bed with her knees up. 'What's wrong? Why is mommy crying? What are you doing? Are you going somewhere?' After me not saying anything, she goes 'You're leaving.' I told her that she needed to come with me. So I emptied HER backpack & filled it up with clothes too. I didn't know where I'd take us, but I knew I needed to get us the hell out of there.

"I tried to sneak passed my mom with Tracy right behind, but my mom must've heard us. her head shot right from the other side of the kitchen, & she's still got the crazed look. I grabbed Tracy's hand tight & ran to the door. I swung it open, still holding onto Tracy, but my mom had grabbed her hand first. We played tug of war with my baby sister, me yelling as my mom is half pulling my sister back, half swinging a knife at me. I didn't want my sister to get cut, so I let go, & my sister & mom fell back. I remember shouting 'I'll be back for you Tracy, I promise!' Then I ran out of the house.