Chapter 2 – Be normal, be normal

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Illinois brandished the wallet he has and blew on his messy hair locks. Another resentful day. And his bullies got away once again.

“Still better than losing a few teeth.” The boy wanted to cry, but no tears came out.

“What should I do to get revenge?” On his way home, he began concocting plans. The school was near to his home so he didn’t need to spend on transport fares. The extra would go to his piggy bank.

Or at least, the extra of the extra. He had to pay ‘protection fees’ to his bullies so they won’t bother him.

“Egg bombs? Hmm. Smelly but not effective. Maybe I put it into their belongings. Plausible. The only thing is those guys' immunity to foul smell. I don’t think they have bathed for these past months.”

“Pepper Spray? Quite innovative. Too bad. Just one look from their bulging arms convinces me I don’t have a wet-worth of chance. All but gas.”

“What’s next? Bombs—Ohhh. Pretty dangerous stuff. I still stored some hydrogen from the last experiment. But broken limbs are the last thing I wanted.”

“Urgh. I feel nauseated.” Illinois clutched his stomach. He hadn’t spent his allowance for the day because he knew those bullies would come to him. So, not to be beaten up and cut short of his daily savings, he let hunger be his friend these past few days.

While immersed in reverie, a sudden noise made his ears twitch.

“Eh, Lilia?” Aghast, the boy stared wide-eyed at the situation happening in front of him.

Lilia, his classmate since grade 4, sat on her back on the ground. And in front of her were the three bullies who ‘protected’ his money.

The girl cried, trying to crawl out of the way, but it was clear the boys didn’t have any intention of letting her go.

“Bitch, you either lose a cheek or give us the protection fee.” The largest of the bullies, a round boy with a saggy chin, snorted.

“I already give you!” Lilia shouted, but it only earned a glare from the chubby bully.

“Shut up! Don’t scream! Also, you kept evading us for a month! I don’t how you did it, but you have to pay for the days we weren’t able to protect you!”

“That’s right.” One of the three seconded. He had eyeglasses and looked decent compared to the two others. “Pay when it's due. Don’t your parents teach you that?”

Lilia pursed her lips and said, “My mother is sick.”

But the boy with eyeglasses shook his head. “We don’t force anyone. Cruel, put your helmet on. From this moment, she doesn’t have our protection.”

“Got it.” The last of the trio, a boy with long arms and a thin body, put an adult helmet from his back to his head.

“Go.” The three bullies gestured toward her.

Lilia’s lips pursed even more. But left with no choice, she got up and hurried to run. At least, she thought, she had a chance to escape.

But just when she turned into a curve two more blocks away from her home, a considerable noise of footsteps rang behind her. With a swoosh, the thin boy dashed beside her before sweeping his arm around.

Peng.

The expected scenario didn’t occur, however. A pair of arms blocked his swing. Behind it, Illinois gazed at the thin boy with a menacing look.

Frightened, the bully took a step back. But when he looked closer, it was actually wimpy Illinois!

“Geez, you almost scared me.” The bully swung his fist again, and this time, connected at Illinois’ jaw!

The latter got thrown to the ground. For a moment, he became dazed and didn’t know what to do.

“Should I, do it?”

“But no! My mother and father won’t like it!”

“Be normal, be normal.”

In the end, Illinois got beaten to a pulp only because the thin guy felt tired that he quit, but before stealing all Illinois’ pennies.

“This is stupid.” Illinois groaned. He looked around and saw no Lilia in the surroundings.

“Dad, is this the ‘selfishness’ every human have you are talking about?” The boy let out a wry smile.

“That money… that’s the last to complete my gift. Urgh. I shouldn’t help her at all.”

After a minute or two, Illinois labored to stand and restarted his way home. The large black gate appeared on sight, and the boy sighed in relief.

 “Dogs and cats in town. Bowwow~ the dogs chase the cats. Meowwow~ shouted by the scaredy cats!” Illinois ramped up his atmosphere by singing so his mother won’t ask so much. At least, he could say he got his bruises from slipping.

The problem became his father, though.

“He won’t be at home at this time, right? Coz… I can still fix this with a few makeups.”

“I’m home!” Illinois called out. Without missing a beat, tiny and messy, but quick clomps started chiming. The boy spread his arms wide and cats of different breeds lunged at him.

“Hahaha.”

Licked, wetted, and smothered with furs—Illinois bellied a cacophony of laughter.

“Where’s Mom guys?”

After a bout of playing, the boy strode to the kitchen, where his mother worked at.

“Aha!”

Illinois tackled the petite back. The owner of the back turned around and hugged him back.

“How’s my boy?”

“It’s alright. Aced my subjects again.”

“Again, with your boasting.” His mother, Cleo, winked before noticing something wrong with her son’s face. “Pretty beat up. Who did this?”

“I slipped.”

“Uh-huh.” Cleo pursed her lips, turned around, and continued what she was doing earlier. “Tell me about it.”

“We are running, and then, some beautiful girl that likes me kept chasing after me, sooo… you know me, I don’t like anyone touchy. Especially girls.”

Cleo snorted before shrugging her shoulders. “At least, you did well.”

Illinois scratched his head. He always believed his mother got a superpower because she got everything right. Yet, she let him did all these things. Because of that, he didn’t want to waste her trust. As much as possible, he would become a good boy and make his mother proud.

The boy hugged her again. “Love you, Mom. Don’t tell Dad, okay?”

He ran as fast as a rabbit. But he stopped just right in the center of the stairs and shouted once again to his mother.

“I’m borrowing your makeup!”

Unbeknownst to him, Emanuel hid in the corner, watching. His expression seemed hard to decipher. The shadows stuck on his face were moving.

…