I sat back at my home, the dump, watching our large flat screen, HD TV. Yeah, HD! You'd be surprised what some people throw out and what Tad can easily fix up. Another mystery about Tad is how he learned to fix and build all kinds of crap. Pretty handy. Really though our home wasn't too bad at all. Once you got used to the smell. The part of the building we lived in, near the dump, was allot like a large studio apartment. The room was once a garage and storage room. Now it was hallowed out for us to live in. We had two beds, a sofa, a refrigerator, a table, a TV, and a punching bag all fit into the room. Yeah, a punching bag. Training and all that.

We also had a bathroom with a toilet and sink, but no shower. That was why we had a subscription to the local gym. Just to shower. We didn't even work out there. Tad had built our own work out equipment in the dump and we worked out there. So yeah, that was kind of sad. Oh well, we had the TV and free hacked cable which was nice.

I sat at the sofa watching The Simpsons and sipping down some Dew. Sure it was midnight and caffeine wasn't what I needed to help me sleep but I was still too pumped up from the game to sleep anyways. Tomorrow was Saturday anyways. I could sleep late. Tad on the other hand was in a deep sleep. Even with the TV on in the same room he could sleep without waking up.

I was busy watching Homer make a fool out of himself when I heard the door to the building's shop open. I looked back through a window that faced into the shop. I saw a man in blue overalls walk into the shop and then locked the door behind him. He saw me and waved at me through the window. I waved back. His name is Jacob Nicks. He is the owner of the dump and he is the one who lets us live here, rent free. I guess he is old pals with Tad or something. He also has a past he doesn't want to talk about. Probably the same one Tad doesn't like to talk about. Maybe old war comrades? Again, I dunno.

I think he said he was fifty years old. He looks like thirty-five at most. He has dark skin and very short, dark hair. He is tall too. Maybe 6' 7" at least. He had a very athletic build. I don't know why he worked at a dump. He was smart and athletic, it didn't make sense. It couldn't be because he loved his job. 'Guardian of the trash', isn't very glamorous. Not that I'm complaining. I don't know where Tad and I would be without him. Plus he also tries to push me and give me guidance just like Tad.

He walked into our house/garage and walked over to me. He smiled as he leaned over onto the back of the sofa. He spoke with clear English now, but he didn't always used too. He used to speak with a heavy accent. A very heavy accent. It wasn't like any accent I've ever heard before. Almost otherworldly if that makes any sense.

He ginned from ear to ear as he spoke to me, "So I hear you won the big game."

"Big game?" I repeated, "Just a rivalry. We'll see how far we go. The big game could be in the off season."

"True. Buuuuuut" He said, "Getting a little ahead of yourself though, don't you think?"

"I'm just saying. There could be bigger games." I said simply, "What are you doing here this late? Or early I should say."

"I have something I need to talk over with Tad." he said as he began walking towards the sleeping, older man. Another secretive talk. They had these weird talks every couple of weeks. I had no idea what they were about and they never told me. Even when I asked, they would change the subject. "How is the weather?", Was there favorite topic to change to.

Jacob, or Jake, slapped Tad right in his face to wake him up. Hard too. Probably because that was about the only thing that would wake him from his slumber. I knew that it wasn't' east to wake Tad. Tad grumbled as he sat up and looked up at Jake. He wasn't drowsy at all. He was actually quite aware. He patted Jake on the arm, "Is it time again?"

"Yup." He said as he walked away and out of our home. Tad looked at me before getting out of bed and followed him out. Leaving me alone. Watching The Simpsons. Oh wait, that show ended. Now it was an infomercial. Oh well. I flipped the TV off and decided that I should probably head to bed. Even if I couldn't sleep. I should at least try.

_-V-_

When I awoke I found myself in an empty room. Neither Tad nor Jake were here. Oh well. I guess I'd just spend the day by myself. That didn't happen very often. I should take advantage of it while I can. So I quick toasted a waffle, got dressed in a blue British flag t-shirt (I'm not British but it was on sale), and dark gray cargo pants, and then hit the road. I jogged over to the gym and hit the showers. Then... off to the arcade!

I took two summer jobs so I could have money to spend during the rest of the year. I don't know why Tad didn't get a job, ever, but again that was one of those things I didn't ask. So I had plenty of money to waste at the arcade. I spent the rest of the morning chompin' down nachos and crushing little kids at Tekken. Kuma Jr. owns!

After giving my thumbs a workout on video games it was still only noon. The draw backs of not having any friends was that you had nothing to do on the weekends... Other than training with Tad... meh. That was fine for weekdays, but weekends were supposed to be a break from the hustle of life. So I took a stroll down to downtown Smithsville to see if there were any cool shops or anything. I had never really been to the trendy stores of downtown before. And I ended up regretting that I had even come here because stepping out of a trendy clothing store was J.K, my teammate. The guy who stole the show (from me) last night. With him was a couple of our teammates who acted like his goons. following every word he said like sheep. There was also the new head cheerleader with her arm crossed with his. The gang was all there.

Since I didn't feel like being picked on I ducked into the closet store to hide from them. When I walked into the store I saw shelves of curry, noodles, spices, cans, certain types of veggies and meats, as well as Asian cooking utensils. I was in an Asian food supply store. There were many signs and labels in both English and other Asian languages like Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Indian, and others. Behind the counter was a familiar face. I didn't know her name but I recognized her face from school. She was a Japanese girl. She was talking on her cell phone and didn't notice me come in.

J.K and his group were walking by the shop window so I quick ducked behind a rack of ramen noodles and waited for them to pass by. I was staring at the back of a pack on ramen noodles. The language on the package was in English and some other Asian language I was unsure about. It must have been a trick of my eyes but for a second I thought the Asian language morphed into English and I could read it. It must have just my eyes playing tricks on me. I was just reading the English part and my brain thought it was something else. That was all.

When they passed by I popped my head back up. The girl finally noticed me and spoke to her friend on the other end of the phone call, "I got to go. That freaky kid from school, you know, bloodshot bum just walked in."

I glared over to her and forced a chuckle, "You know. I am standing right here. Geez, you people with the constant-"

She winced as she flipped her cell phone off and tried to smile at me, "I'm sorry. I had no idea you could understand Japanese."

I cocked my head to the side and raised an eyebrow, "Wha? I don't. What are you talking about?"

She looked up at the ceiling, just as confused as I was, "Oh... umm... What?"

I pointed my finger at her and scolded her, "Some nerve!" I then pointed to a pack of generic noddles that you could get at any gas station, "And how dare you! This isn't even authentic Asian cuisine!"

The last part was just a joke. Although it is true. That really isn't authentic Asian food. I just wanted to make some point. I'm not even sure what point I was trying to make other than I was upset. I walked out of the shop and back into the streets of downtown Smithsville. Okay, now what? I figured I'd just spend the rest of the day, bummin' around... Wait, bad choice of words.

_-V-_

It was Saturday night and I was at home, watching TV. I spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the trendy stores of downtown but I didn't buy anything. I didn't have that kind of money. I was flipping through the channels on the tube. There was Cops and a guy in a ladies dress getting arrested, an anime about some dude with a sword, racquetball on ESPN 7 or 8 or something like that, CNN, meh. I finally found a lowbrow comedy staring some guy I've never seen or heard of before. It was cheep laughter but I was in the mood for cheep stupid laughter.

I laughed when some guy fell down the stairs into his daughter's wedding cake. It was so corny and unfunny... I had to laugh at it. Tad and Jake came walking in a moment later. They were gone all day. I wasn't even going to ask what they were doing all day long. Wasn't my business. I laughed again when the daughter slapped her father in the face for ruining her wedding. Poor schmuck. Tad took a seat at what was our kitchen table as Jake came over and gave me an odd look, "What are you watching?"

"I know it's stupid but... It's awesome." Was all I could say as the daughter then got made at her new husband and pushed him into what remained of the wedding cake. It was so awful, it was priceless. That was just the mood I was in.

Tad shot me a stern glance. He seemed a little agitated, "Did you do your chores yet?"

By chores he was asking if I had trained outside in his homemade obstacle course and gym. I sighed and stood up from my seat. I sighed once again just to emphasize my frustration. I began walking towards the exit when Jake picked up the TV remote and shouted for me to stop. I did. He looked at me quizzically and asked, "How is your Spanish class going."

I was taken aback by the question. I took a step back and shrugged my shoulders, "Uhh... well. I'm failing. I'm struggling to get a D."

"So you can't understand much of any Spanish what-so-ever?" He asked.

I nodded, "Well, yeah. I guess so. Why?"

He shook his head and waved his hand for me to leave. So I did.

-V-

While Roan was busy training in the back, Jake stared down at the TV remote like it was made of solid gold. Tad stood up, alert that something was wrong. He asked Jake, "What's wrong?"

Jake laughed softly as he held the remote up for Tad to see. At first Tad didn't notice anything odd. That was until Jake pointed to a red light that was on. Jake fell back into his seat, seeing the light. They both knew what it meant. Roan said he couldn't understand Spanish, yet on the remote, the SAP, or secondary audio programing button was on. The TV show that Roan was watching was being broadcast in Spanish the whole time. Roan didn't know it, but he was listening to a Spanish voice over and he understood every word they said. It was something they knew was coming at some point but they didn't except it to come so soon. It was time Roan was told the truth.