"Sit here."
Pointing at a box, Cale gestured for us to sit as he led Jasmine to the only proper chair in this corner. Sitting on a box himself, Cale then dug into the small little bag tied to his waist and took out a small pastry. Passing it to Jasmine, he then turned to us.
"What is your relationship with Jasmine?"
He stared at us straight in the eye, like an older brother asking the origins of the strange friends his younger sister suddenly brought home one day. Oliver and I shared a glance, before I started first. Since I was the one who was technically more connected to Jasmine than him.
"Our parents are friends. My mother brought the two of us to the Market today and just so happened to meet Jasmine's father. The two of them wanted to talk, so they told the three of us to play together for a while."
Glancing at Jasmine, and seeing her nod her head at my words, Cale finally loosened his guard. No longer staring at us with eyes that could kill, he hunched slightly and sighed.
"If that's the case, I apologize for my reaction just now."
Finally receiving an actual apology, we waved it off again.
Cale, now that he was certain we weren't a danger to Jasmine or him, fully relaxed his guard and turned his head away from us.
While Cale was busy with Jasmine, I took the chance to look around his 'home'. As expected of a dead end in a busy market, there was dust in every corner. The walls looked a little greasy, probably from all the oil in the air, and the boxes looked like abandoned shipping crates that might have once held the wares of shop owners.
However, while the whole place did seem a little bit unhygienic, it didn't feel abandoned or neglected. The boxes were placed neatly on the sides, in stacks that showed the owner of them wasn't very tall. Some of the rectangular boxes were placed in areas that would suggest that they were substituting furniture. Like the rectangle box in front of us was probably the 'table' box, and the several square boxes scattered around were 'chair' boxes. The large rectangle box hidden away in the corner was probably the 'bed' box.
Shifting my sight away from all the boxes, I instead observed the small ornaments placed here and there. Unlike the boxes, they seemed to be more well kept. Furthermore, they were very clean, showing that their owner cared for them greatly.
After looking around, I finally brought my attention back to our group. Lifting my head, I saw Cale looking at me with serious eyes. However, after we shared a gaze for a couple of seconds, he broke eye contact first and returned his attention to Jasmine.
"We should probably get going."
Standing up, Oliver gestured to the quickly darkening sky. Holding out a hand to Jasmine, I saw Cale look enviously at that hand before gently helping Jasmine up and escorting her to Oliver.
"It's getting dark, your father will get worried if you stay here too long."
Speaking softly to Jasmine, he comforted her as she showed a reluctant expression. But after a few words, she sighed and took Oliver's hand.
"Alright."
Walking away from Cale, the three of us slowly made our way out of the maze of alleyways and returned to the semicircle street. During our walk, I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable leaving Cale all alone in the alleyways. Even though it was obvious that he had lived there for a while already.
Sneaking a gaze towards Jasmine, I saw her stare at an uneaten piece of her pastry.
"Jasmine?"
Calling out to her softly, I saw her slowly stop in her steps. Her eyes hardened and she put the rest of the pastry into her mouth.
"Oliver."
Lifting her eyes towards me, I saw a reflection of myself in those deep pools of black and straightened my back.
"Yes?"
"Is there anyone who can help Cale?"
Turning to look back at where we came from, I saw her clenched fist tighten. Seeing that determined look on her face, I couldn't help the small smile that slipped onto my lips.
But before I could speak, Oliver interrupted us.
"Do you want us to help his MDVA, or help him find a home?"
Swerving her head towards Oliver, I saw Jasmine stare at him with wide eyes.
"MDVA?"
Slowly, her pupils constricted as she subconsciously shook her head.
"Are you sure he has MDVA?!"
Taking a large step towards Oliver, Jasmine glanced up at him with pleading eyes. She obviously was hoping that Oliver was being mean to her, pulling her leg. Unfortunately, Oliver crushed those fantasies.
Lifting his head towards the dark alleyway we had come from, he nodded his head and sighed.
"My sister also had MDVA. I know what it looks like, and Cale is a very textbook definition of it."
Hearing his words, Jasmine paused in disbelief and hung her head in silence.
"...then does that mean that he's going to..."
Not finishing her sentence, I saw her close her eyes as small droplets of tears started forming in her eyes. As one slowly dripped down her cheek, Oliver turned to her and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Not exactly."
Snapping her eyes open, both Jasmine and I focused our attention on him as he comforted her.
"There are many people who don't agree with the MDVA act. That also means that there will definitely be a way to help him."
Raising his head, Oliver looked me right in the eye as he said his next sentence.
"In fact, the best form of help might be closer than you thought it was."
Turning to face me, Jasmine diverted her pleading look towards me.
Being blasted by Jasmine's enlarged eyes and Oliver's knowing ones, I turned my head to glance at my mother. She was still beside Hank's store, talking with him as he flipped his wok. In her hands were a bag containing our stir fried flowers.
Despite how innocent she looked, no one knew better than me how much influence she had on the anti-MDVA faction.
Noticing my gaze, Jasmine swirled her head towards the direction of the two adults.
"Are you talking about Auntie?"
Returning my gaze to Oliver, I raised my eyebrows at him. I then looked down towards Jasmine.
"Is Cale alright with you telling the adults about him?"
Swerving her head towards me, Jasmine tilted her head in thought for a moment before giving a negative response.
"No. He said that if I ever needed to, I could tell people about him. Although I feel that he wants to keep his existence a secret."
Looking back, Jasmine sighed before turning her determined eyes towards her father and my mother.
"But can we not tell them immediately? I want to inform Cale about it first."
Lifting her head to look at the mostly dark sky, I could see worry form on her face. Three children walking along a dark alleyway were just looking for trouble, and her father would certainly be worried if we didn't return soon.
"What if we don't tell the adults the full story, and just bring them near Cale. Then, you can go and tell him while the rest of us wait."
Suggesting a solution, Oliver gestured towards the two adults, who had already noticed we were just standing there and were coming over.
'Ok!"
Quickly making up her mind, the two of us stopped talking about this as my mother reached us while Hank put the 'closed' sign on his food cart.
"Welcome back. Thank you for playing with Dan and Oliver."
Placing a hand on Jasmine's head, my mother patted her as she used the other hand to pass the stir fried flowers to us. However, noticing the serious expression on Jasmine's face, I saw her smile freeze and a concerned look take over her face.
"Is there something wrong?"
Reaching out a hand to remove my mother's hand from her head, Jasmine gave my mother a determined look before lightly tugging her towards the alleyway.
"There's something I have to show you."
Declaring in a firm tone, I saw the confused look on my mother's face shift to a serious one.
Moving her gaze towards her father, the four of us waited until Hank had arrived before she repeated her words.
"There's something important I have to show you."
Hearing his daughter's words, Hank immediately realized that something was up and I saw him turn his eyes towards my mother. In response, my mother gave him a look full of words before the two adults focused their attention towards Jasmien.
"Alright. Lead the way."
Heaving a sigh of relief, Jasmine smiled at the two of them and started leading them towards Cale's corner. While walking, nobody talked amidst the solemn atmosphere. Jasmine herself, obviously nervous, kept looking back every couple steps. However, even as she tilted her head towards the adults, her small feet never stopped walking towards her goal.
And when the five of us finally reached the turn before the dead end, she stopped.
"Please wait here!"
Turning around, Jasmine declared in a loud voice, before giving us a look and disappearing around the corner.
Tilting my head, I sneaked a glance at the two adults, who were talking with each other through their gazes. The two of them obviously didn't know what was happening, but I couldn't see any signs of confusion in their eyes. They also didn't seem to take this request of Jasmine's lightly.
Looking at Oliver, I saw him give me a knowing smile before returning his attention back to where Jasmine disappeared.
Following him, we waited silently as time seemed to slow to a stop.
Jasmine was probably gone for less then a minute, but it already felt like an hour since she turned the corner. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and focused my ears.
The first sound to hit me was the bustling of the Market street not too far from here. The sounds of people walking around shopping, as well as sellers shouting their wares out loud to attract customers, seemed to blend into a weird harmony of noise and life. Filtering out that noise, I could then hear the chirps of the insect and pests roaming the alleyways, searching for leftover food to feed themselves and their families. In a dog eat dog world, the early bird was the only one able to catch a worm, and survival often depended on how lucky and fast you were to get food.
And finally, past all of those noises, were two small footsteps. They walked quickly towards us. Well, one of them was hurrying. The other one was obviously just slowing his footsteps to accompany her. Focusing on the two of them, as soon as they were near us, I opened my eyes and looked at the corner.
As soon as I opened them, I saw the white arms and flushed face of Jasmine appear, together with an expressionless Cale.
Seeing the four of us, Jasmine pulled Cale along and the two walked in front of the two adults.
"Dad, Elaine. This is Cale."
Tilting my head, I quietly observed the expression of the two adults.
Surprise seemed to fill their eyes. But together with that surprise came relief.
Squatting down, my mother smiled at Jasmine as she waved her hand towards Cale.
"Hello Cale."
Beside her, Hank looked towards the two of them with a confused expression. Obviously he didn't know why his daughter was so grim when she was introducing her new friend.
"Hello.'
With a stone cold face, Cale answered my mother back. But he didn't wave at her, or show any sign of friendliness or fear.
At his abnormal reaction, I could see my mother's face freeze and her eyebrows slightly furrow. She was starting to understand that there was something deeper underneath, something more dangerous.
Turning my head to look at Jasmine, she was biting her lip, her eyes darting around as she racked her head for a way to introduce the issue. Seeing her self inflicted 'harm', I saw Cale frown as he reached forward to softly release her lips from her teeth.
At his action, I could see Hank frown. The tension in the air was now at an all time low, like a balloon that was about to burst. And it was Oliver who finally decided to poke it.
"Cale has MDVA."