Day 168 - Kay

 Kay

 Matthew Ryan Fischer

 

Once upon a time Ruel had saved her life and Kay had never forgotten it, following him ever since. That was nearly fifteen years ago, and they had faced countless enemies and fought them all and won. Ruel was a winner. That was for sure. They were street kids together, and now he owned his own restaurant and provided bank to every other business in the neighborhood. Kay didn’t worry about legal or right or just, she worried about survival. She was on the street and nearly dead, and then she wasn’t. That was the only absolute that mattered to her. Life. What Ruel did and what he had to do to keep it going was okay if it meant she kept going too. Whatever the job was he needed done, she would do, without question.

Kay couldn’t remember her father, but she could remember the stench of alcohol when he would arrive home late at night. Her older brother had fought her father once or twice, but she was too young to know why. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw her father, but she could recall the day she accidentally called her brother “pappa.” He was ten years older and her childish mind saw him as a protector and provider so it only made sense to think of him that way. But then one day he was gone, arrested and jailed.

By ten Kay was begging on the streets and stealing food when she didn’t make enough any other way. When she was eleven or close to it her mother began disappearing for days or weeks at a time. At twelve she stole money from the wrong boys and that was when she met Ruel. There was no telling what would have happened if he hadn’t come along. Ruel was seventeen and able to fight four boys at the same time. Kay was so frightened that day. She was scared that Ruel would leave her and she’d be stuck fending for herself again. He turned and nodded and she followed. She vowed never to let herself be scared like that again.

Ruel lent money and collected it when payments were late. Kay saw every sort of violence there was. Ruel let her run errands, and when she was a little older, he began to teach her to fight. It went like that for the next few years as his operations grew. Kay wasn’t violent, but she was never afraid to get violent as needed. Men always underestimated her, but she was quick to strike and didn’t let up and never failed to prove their estimations wrong.

Rendy came along later. Another street punk, he made his money running pickpockets all around the city and skimming their earnings. Ruel remembered his time on the streets and hated the idea of taking advantage of kids. He made Rendy pay and feed them well and promised to send them to school someday. Kay hadn’t seen that day arrive yet, but at least Ruel made sure they had a better life than other street beggars. She didn’t fully trust Rendy, but he earned well and knew how to grow operations. He developed contacts with some local card clubs and Ruel’s profits doubled overnight. Kay couldn’t argue with that.

Things were good. They all had enough. They paid their dues to the families and were mostly left alone to work for themselves. Kay had more than she had ever dreamed of. She was old enough now that Ruel looked at her with fresh adult eyes, but so far, he hadn’t demanded anything of her. Of course, she loved him and appreciated everything he had done for her, but she didn’t know if she loved him like that. She had never had time to think about anything beyond staying alive. If he asked, she would probably be with him forever. She couldn’t imagine anything else.

That was until the recent troubles started. There were new faces in the neighborhood. Customers started going elsewhere. People started paying in counterfeit money. And Ruel started taking secret meetings and not telling her or Rendy what they were about.

It made her nervous, not knowing. Something was brewing and she didn’t know how to prepare for it. Ruel had never cut her off before which made things worse. She wanted to trust him, she always had, but now he was acting different. If he could change, anything could.

Then came the day Ruel asked her to go against their bosses. One of the men from his private meetings had convinced him he was better off switching sides. Maybe it was the right thing to do, but Kay didn’t like it. They were a small crew, five or six debt collectors working out of the back of Ruel’s restaurant. They weren’t prepared for a war. Even if one was coming, picking sides seemed like the worst thing to do. Better to hide out and wait and see who won. But that wasn’t Ruel’s style and it wasn’t her style to question him. She didn’t ask why, she only asked what he needed her to do. Ruel smiled, glad to see she was loyal to a fault. Kay might have been, and she might still seem that way on the outside, but for the first time ever, Kay had begun to consider her options.