Weapon Society

-And that's it? -the kid said to me while holding my hand-That's the whole story?

I stopped walking as I heard her words. She was clinging on to me, her dirty face moving to watch my face in disbelief. If it was another person I would've hit her the moment she looked at me weirdly after hearing my story, but her dirty face and torn clothes reminded me of myself after the loss of my dad, so I shook off the feeling.

-Hello! Earth to Jacob! -she said while jumping and slapping my face.

-Ouch! Hey! What was that for?! -I screamed as I let go of her hand.

-Why aren't you listening to me?!-she yelled-Plus, act your age! I didn't even hit you hard!

I wasn't sure why I was helping her, because I genuinely hated her. I've met a lot of annoying kids in my whole life, but this was probably the one that has earned all of my hatred.

-Look…-I took a deep breath trying not to swear at the kid- I'm just keeping you with me because you said you need to go back to your auntie, got it?

-So what?- she said before jumping and slapping me again.

-So… -I closed my punch in front of her- If you do not want me to tie you up like a goddamn…

-Hey! No swearing! -she jumped again and slapped me. This time, I took a deeper breath than the one before.

-So…-I put my hand inside my cape- If you don't want me to tie you up and carry you all the way to your aunt's, I suggest you just shut the hell up…

She pouted as she looked at me. She threw a tantrum and started to yell at me, begging me to keep telling her my story.

-Just do it!-she stepped on my foot, making me fall back to the ground.

I took a deeper, deeper, deeper breath…

To be honest, I was not sure if I should've told her anything to begin with. I was not forced to help anyone, and if I was gonna walk with an annoying kid by my side, then I would have rathered to be by myself.

At first I tried to ignore her, but her tantrum turned even more loud and annoying, so I gave up and kept telling her my story to shut her up.

-Alright, alright…-I said as I got up from the ground-I'll tell you the rest.

Her eyes lit up as she heard my words. She quickly looked into my eyes and pulled my cape as if she was telling me "Go on, go on!"

-Well, after that… I got home, buried my dad and then…

-And then what?

-And then I got here.

The kid gave me a disgusted stare as she heard the "great finale" to my story. Her expression was so authentic that there were no words that could even describe it.

-Jacob, did your dad ever tell you that you were boring?-the kid said as she turned around.

I let out a big sigh. Her comment was way out of place, but she had a point: I was never a comedian. I think that spending too much time around my dad made me the unfunny guy of the family, since he was the biggest comedian in the entire bloodline.

Still, her comment was a bit hurtful. I tell a random kid the story of me and my dad and she says something like that? Actually, why was I even going along with her in the first place? I could've just ignored her and kept going with my life… But no! Jacob, the knight in shining armor, had to stop and help the little girl in distress.

-Look, if you find me that boring, then why do you keep following me?-I said as I flicked her forehead with my index finger.

-That's because…-she answered while rubbing her forehead-Because I just want to! Ok?!

I let out a sigh again. Why did she have to be like that? She talks to a stranger just to ask him for help and then she has the nerve to behave like that?

-Kid…-I groaned- I hate to ask again, but what do you need me for?

-Well, I need you to help me get home -she said while avoiding my gaze.

-And why were you out in the first place?-I leaned my body down and got to her face's height.

-We've walked for quite some time now, so that means your house must be pretty far, right?

The kid looked down when she heard my question. She avoided my gaze however she could, but I chased her eyes with mine.

-You… You won't get mad?

-Nope, -I raised my hand- I promise.

-Really? You pinky promise?

After hearing her question my hand moved and caught hers. I raised my pinky finger and then interlaced it with hers.

-I pinky promise…

-Well…-The kid looked at the floor with her eyes watering up.

-Well?

The kid flinched at my question. Perhaps I was being too harsh on her? I once read that it's better to be nice to kids rather than being an asshole if you wanted them to behave, so maybe I had to be more gentle.

-Look, you can tell me, ok?-my voice turned to a gentler tone before I put my hand on her shoulder- I won't judge, don't worry.

She took a deep breath and after a few seconds she let out a sigh. It seemed like she was copying me, but I didn't pay much attention to that.

-Huff… -She paused before talking- I was… I was trying to kill her…

-Kill who?

-Auntie… I wanted to kill her…-she responded before she started to cry.

I sighed. I didn't know how she did that, but she made me sigh many times during the time we spent together, which wasn't long. But the problem itself wasn't all those sighs I let out, the problem was the reason for them. While it's true that I sighed because she was being annoying, I would have rathered doing it because of an annoying kid instead of doing it because of a kid with murderous intentions.

-Kid, would you mind elaborating?-I asked while sitting on the ground, patting the ground beside me and inviting her to sit.

-Auntie…-she said while sobbing- Auntie is a very bad person…

The kid moved her sleeves up and showed me many cuts and burn marks on her arms and forearms. While I looked at those, she took my cape and started to wipe her tears and clean her face with it. In cases like that, I would've kicked the person doing it, but seeing what she was going through I decided to let it slide.

-So…-the words came out of my mouth as I looked to the sky- What was the plan?

-The plan?-Her words came out muffled by my cape, which was being used as her personal handkerchief.

-You know, the plan to… Pew… -I said while making a "pistol" with 2 of my fingers and "shooting" my head.

-Oh… Well…-she let go of my cape and started talking- Auntie said that bad people killed people… So I thought of going outside to look for one of them…

Her aunt wasn't entirely wrong: Bad people did kill people. However, my dad killed people too and he wasn't a bad person…

-So I am a bad person? I killed people too, you know?

-You looked like one when I first saw you…-She said while putting my cape over her head and using it like a hood- You looked like a videogame character like this…

I laughed at her impersonation. I never stopped to think what the passersby would think of my looks, since all I wanted was to look for my dad's weapons. So even if I looked weird or funny, I wouldn't have noticed it

-Ok…-I said after laughing for a few seconds- So the plan was to look for a "Bad person" and get them to kill your aunt?

-Hmm… -she nodded in response.

-And you realize that doing that could've gotten yourself killed?-My index finger flicked her forehead while I was talking- Talking to strangers was dangerous back in the day, but nowadays it's even worse…

The kid looked down as if she was embarrassed. I didn't mean to sound harsh or to make it look like I was scolding her, but I had to make sure she knew how things worked after The Fall.

-Anyways, so what was the plan after killing her?

The kid listened to my question and remained silent. That silence made me understand that she had nothing planned for that. I stood up and got in front of her, patting her head and leaning my body a little to the front to cover the sun that was hitting her face.

-You know what kid? I'll do it for you… -I said as she held my hand and tried to get up. But the moment I felt her trying to get up I put my hand on her head and forced her to sit down- On the condition that you let me keep all the useful stuff in your house once everything is over.

I felt the kid nodding under my hand. Then, she moved my hand from her head and stood up to hug me. I've always hated kids, and physical contact with one of them wasn't of my liking either. Still, seeing her hugging me while drying off her tears on my cape took all my disgust away.

I wanted to get her away from me as soon as possible, but the fact that she kinda reminded me of myself with my dad impeded me to do so.

Once she stopped crying, I poured some water on my hand and started to clean her face with it. I moved her chin up and rubbed her face with the water, gently removing the filth from her face. Once I was finished, I dried her face with my cape.

-Sorry kid, I can't let you come with me if you're looking dirty like that.

A sigh of relief came out of my mouth after seeing my work. After that, I pinched her cheek while giving her an awkward smile. I did not know why I was doing that, since it was something I did on reflex (Because my dad used to do that to me).

-Is it time to go now?- The kid said after taking my hand.

I looked down to her and gave her a gentle yet awkward smile before taking a step forward.

-Yeah… -I said while pulling her arm slightly- Come on kid, lead the way to your aunt…