“Javi! Get your ass out here!”

His father’s shout bounced off the closed doors in the luxurious two-bedroom apartment, slipping through the cracks and echoing in the empty space. Javier tried to pretend he didn’t hear it, curling onto himself in his bed and pulling his brand new sheets up above his head as he read. It wasn’t enough.

“Javi! You better listen to me when I’m talking to your ass! Don’t make me drag you out here!”

It wasn’t an empty threat. James Moretti didn’t do empty threats, not when physical application was downright gleeful. Javier pushed himself up, marking the current page of his book before wandering out into the common area of their new home. He kept himself small, unable to help the fear that drummed right through him.

“Yes?”

“You hungry, kid?” James asked, his words slurring together more than they had been while he was yelling. Javier looked at him with a silent resolve, searching for clues on whether he was simply drunk or high. Unfortunately, it seemed like both. James’ light brown skin had a sickly, yellow look to it and his pupils were so large that his hazel irises were barely visible. He was practically swaying in his chair with his curly black hair turning into a frizzy, matted mess.

“Um...” Javier shrugged a little, trying to ignore the stab of hunger making its way to his stomach at the mere thought of food. “I could eat.”

They didn’t have any food, though. Groceries were the last thing James ever seemed to care about when they moved somewhere new. This place was way above his father’s typical pay grade, too, but James had apparently gone from being a lowly grunt for Sylvester West to being a top ranked lieutenant for Queen Andromeda. Their new apartment was located in the entertainment district, a far cry from their old rundown one bedroom in the Eastside Slums. If Andromeda was really paying James this much, they could probably spring for a box or two of pizza.

James nodded with a little hum. “Go run and grab whatever.” He pulled out his wallet, which was still too thin for a man who claimed to be rich, and handed Javier a fifty dollar bill.

Javier stared at the bill for a moment. His father had never once been this generous. “O-okay,” he stammered a little, plucking the red coloured note out of his father’s fingers and scampered off before he could be stopped. Whenever James was in a good mood, it was better not to ruin it.

The city was decently warm despite the sinking sun and cool wind. It’d been raining earlier, but it seemed to have patter out for the night if the clear skies were anything to go off of. Good thing, too since Javier forgot to grab his raincoat on the way out. He took a look around the city streets, trying to figure out which way to go. The entertainment district was new territory. James might not have been the most attentive father in the world, but he didn’t just let Javier wander off and explore. New Sienna could be a dangerous place for neglected children, but even James didn’t hate Javier that much. Or, at least, it didn’t seem like he did considering a couple of pimps would’ve paid him good money for a trade but James had never given in.

Javier looked right then left, noting that there seemed to be more take out places to the right. The street just off their block had a ton of patios from what Javier could see, so he went that way and found himself a little overwhelmed at all the choices. There wasn’t a single restaurant Javier recognized, but there was a sign next to a bar called Sweet Green Pea that said, Burger Maester on 345 Prince Street West, please use Frank St entrance and Javier relaxed a little. He’d never had Burger Maester before, but he’d seen various locations around the city. James loved burgers, so maybe if it wasn’t too expensive they could both get a meal to themselves.

The door chimed when Javier stepped through, earning him the attention of a teenage girl behind the counter. She smiled at him politely, but it didn’t reach her eyes. James always said that fast food workers were dead inside. He looked up at the too-bright menu above the girl’s head and worried at his bottom lip, not that he could feel it. The left corner of his mouth had dead nerves, a birth defect caused by his mortal genes—or at least that’s what his mother said. He’d only met her once in his ten years of living that he could remember. God’s were busy people, supposedly.

“Hi, can I get two Jinx Burgers meals without pickles?”

The girl still had that pleasant smile plastered onto her face. “Sure!” Her voice was sugar sweet. “What would you like to drink with that?”

Javier peered past her to the soft-drink fountain behind her. “Two Fizzy Lemons, please.”

“Coming right up! Your name for the order?”

“Um… J.” Most people didn’t know how to spell his name when he said it outloud.

“Okay! How are you paying today?”

Javier felt a little uncomfortable holding up a fifty dollar bill. He’d held more money than this before, usually when James was passed out drunk and their landlord started banging on their door in the morning for the rent. James was careless with their finances, which sometimes meant that Javier had to find a way to make up the difference. He was good at pickpocketing and stealing things of value, though he didn’t enjoy doing it. How could a child born to a goddess turn out to be a criminal? It seemed… blasphemous.

Luckily, the girl behind the counter didn’t care about Javier’s method of payment as much as he did. She simply plucked the fifty from him and gave him his change—a twenty, a ten, a two dollar coin, and a nickel.

“Just wait to the left, J. We’ll call your name when it’s ready.”

Javier gave her a tiny smile and nodded. “Thanks.”

The restaurant was kind of small. There wasn’t much to look at other than some tables and a couple of patrons sitting around with their food. Javier enjoyed people watching, especially families. He knew it was creepy, but sometimes he liked to live vicariously through other kids his age, especially if they had good parents like the blond, white kid in front of him seemed to. Javier didn’t want to bring any attention to himself by staring, so he watched the family from the corner of his eye, unable to fight the envy bubbling up and working its way through him.

Blondie seemed to have two lovey-dovey, showboating parents. His mother seemed fairly tall and lanky, with long dark hair styled in gentle curls that made her white skin look super pale. She was pretty, though. Not strikingly beautiful like Javier’s mom, but prettier than the typical mortal woman. Her husband was just as handsome as his wife was beautiful with light brown hair, a muscular frame, and sun-kissed complexion. He was probably taller than James, but Javier couldn’t tell by how much. Blondie was happily sitting between them, laughing as his mother showered him with kisses and his dad rubbed circles on his back.

Javier didn’t know the last time James had kissed him or if he’d ever done so. He didn’t yearn for it, not from James at least. There was too much hurt there. For years, he’d wished that maybe, just maybe someone would come and save him but vigilantes didn’t look twice at kids like him and the ones who did had more important things to do. Javier didn’t blame them. His dad was a demon, but it was better to stay with the demon you knew rather than wind up somewhere worse.

“I’ve got two Jinx Burgers and two Fizzy Lemons for J!” A new fast-food worker called out. This time it was a middle-aged man.

Javier looked away from the family to snatch the bag of food and the drink tray, thanking the man in front of him with a quiet mumble. He balanced the tray on the palm of his hand and made his way out of the restaurant without a simple glance back.

When he got back home, James had company in the form of an ex-girlfriend. Katherine “Kitty” Park was a sight for sore eyes. Her round, chubby face was as friendly as Javier remembered. She had her lips painted watermelon pink and her small, hooded brown eyes were accentuated with a dramatic black wing and long false eyelashes. Kitty was just about the only romantic partner of James that Javier had ever liked. She didn’t come around much anymore, though—not since finding out the truth about James ‘career’ and all his various lies. Kitty was the only woman on the straight and narrow that James had ever dated, and Javier still wasn’t sure where their two paths had crossed or why.

“Javi, baby!” Kitty called out to him just as he set the food on the counter. James had a rough hand on one of Kitty’s thick, golden thighs but she pushed it off when Javier got close enough to see. Kitty was always good at making sure that he didn’t witness more than he should have. “It’s been so long, hasn’t it?”

Javier nodded, unsure of what to say. It never did well to get his hopes up about anything. James was always looking to reconnect with his exes but he often found himself dumped and ignored by the end of it. Kitty had been ignoring James for the better part of two years now and Javier bet that she wouldn’t be back anytime soon after this.

“Come, let me get a good look at you. Your daddy can handle the food, right, Jamie?”

James rolled his eyes, but there was a smile there as he got up. Dad only smiled for women. “Sure thing, Kitty Kat.”

Kitty pat the now empty seat beside her on their tiny sofa. James had found the old loveseat outside their first apartment building in the trash. It was stained and looked more beige than white, but it was pretty much the only living room furniture they had other than a coffee table and a television stand. Javier plopped down beside Kitty and let her pull him into a squishy hug. Kitty was the type of woman who found liberation in her fat rolls and stretch marks. She carried most of her weight in her stomach, hips, and thighs while remaining kind of small up top but she was just as comfortable to snuggle with as Javier remembered.

“I missed you sooooo much!” Kitty said, squeezing him tight against her side. Javier fought to keep the smile off his face. “How have you been, jelly bean? Do you like the new apartment?”

Javier nodded, still unable to think of any words to say. It was nice here but he did miss his old room, the stains on the carpet, and his neighbours. He missed the Martinez family in the Westside and the greasy food of Valem’s Love pub. This apartment was brand spanking new, he knew no one in the building, and they didn’t even have a landlord this time ‘cause apparently James actually owned the place.

“I live in the building, too. Did your daddy tell you that?”

“No.” He twisted in his spot to look over at James in the kitchen. His father was munching on a fry while typing a message to someone on his phone. Javier’s stomach grumbled loud enough for Kitty to hear it.

“Jamie!” Kitty snapped her fingers to get James attention. “Jelly bean is hungry! Bring him his food!”

James waved her words off but he pushed himself upright and grabbed one of their dingy plates from the boxes scattered around the kitchen island to dump the fries and burger onto. Before Javier knew it, his food and drink was being thrust into his hands.

“Thank you,” Javier said softly, placing his drink on the floor before immediately attacking his fries. He was so hungry, he hadn’t eaten since yesterday’s lunch. James was too distracted with the move to think about food and Javier didn’t dare complain unless he wanted a black eye.

“So, Javi… How’s school? You should be heading into the Guardian Cadet program at MMCA this fall, right?”

Javier bit his lip. “Um…” He looked at James but his father had gone back to eating and texting. “I’m not going to school anymore.”

Kitty gave a little gasp. It was the type that made Javi feel self conscious. “I thought you were in that little public prep school down by the Arts District?”

“I was,” Javier said with a shrug. “But my natural ability wasn’t showing any signs of presenting itself any time soon, so they cut me out of the group… That and I’d missed too many days because…” He trailed off, leaving Kitty to read between the lines.

James had tried to hide his abusive tendencies from all the women in his life but especially from Kitty and Javier’s grandmother. James had mastered playing the role of a strict, but doting father whenever they were around, but the threats and beatings came the moment either of them left. But one time Kitty had witnessed James backhanding Javier over spilt juice when she came back for her forgotten keys. James had tried to play it off, but the damage had already been done and Kitty ended the relationship. James said Javier wasn’t able to go to school with bruises and cuts or else it’d cause big trouble for the both of them.

“Oh.” Kitty frowned. “I’m so sorry, Javi.”

“S’okay. I’m used to it.”

Kitty’s eyes crinkled at the sides whenever she got sad. “It’s not okay,” she told him quietly, reaching for his hand.“You shouldn’t be used to it, but don’t you worry. I’m here now and we’ll figure this out together.”

Javier didn’t know if the idea of having Kitty being nearby did anything to ease the cold, dreadful fear he felt when it came to the life he lived with his father, but he supposed that having her around really couldn’t hurt.