"What are you cooking, Master?" Pip's swinging her legs back and forth on the bar stool. She and Sarah are both watching me from the kitchen counter.
"I'm frying bacon."
"Bacon?"
"It's a delicious meat."
Her eyes sparkle.
Sarah's watching Pip. "Is that a shock bracelet around her ankle?" she asks.
"Yes, but it also tracks her."
"And you only use it for tracking?"
I cringe at the mental image of Pip curled up on the ground after I pressed the shock button. I overworked her without realising it. "Only tracking," I mumble.
She gives me a look. "I'll find out if you're lying."
Sorry, Pip will always corroborate my story, regardless of the truth.
I serve their breakfast, munch through my own and head out the door.
"Wait," Sarah says. "I can't babysit today."
"Pip," I call, and she comes running. "Don't touch anything while we're gone."
"Yes, Master."
"We can leave her alone. She won't disobey," I tell Sarah.
She scratches in her handbag. "Take this," she hands me a spare phone. "In case I need to call you."
I take the phone and start down the stairs.
* * * * * * * *
I lean against the crumbling wall while I keep my eye on Dutch's man. His name is Jarred, and he's selling ethocyn to any poor soul who's addicted. The evening air is freezing. I wish we could do this inside instead of on some sketchy street. Jarred's rather small, and the junkies take chances. Dutch assigned me to protect him, well more like protect the ethocyn he's selling.
My phone buzzes. It's a voice message from Sarah. I hold it up to my ear and hit play.
The phone is being fumbled around with whispering in the background. Finally, I hear Pip's voice. "Hello, Master. It's me, Pip." There's a long pause. "I hope you're having a good day... and... and come home safe!"
"Now press the red button," I hear Sarah's instruction in the background, and the recording cuts off.
I smile, but it quickly fades when I spot the newest junkie talking to Jarred. He has a nervous tic. I can't hear their conversation from where I'm standing, but I've got an off feeling about this one.
Out of nowhere, the man jerks forward, shoves Jarred off his feet and bolts.
"Thief!" Jarred shouts, pointing to the sprinting man. This is what I'm here to prevent. I take off after him.
He darts down the street, and I follow at full speed. The man's long coat flaps around in his wake.
He turns into an alley and races up and over a chain link fence. How can someone so scrawny be so athletic?
I climb the fence. Barbed wire at the top catches my ankle, scratching right through my pants on the way down.
I keep going. The man turns a corner, and I follow. His shoes scratch against the concrete like a cat's claws. He turns another corner, and I'm right behind him. There's a wall. He's trapped.
"Just give back the bag, and you can go," I grunt.
He grabs a wooden plank and charges right at me. I raise my arm to block, but he lands a shot on my leg. I lose my balance, but I pull him down with me.
My body hits the ground, and the man lands on my stomach. He looks even more disoriented despite having me as his landing pillow.
He straddles me and starts throwing punches. My mother hit harder than him. I curl my fingers into a fist and land one solid blow on his cheek.
His whole body follows my fist, and he hits the ground beside me.
I groan and pull myself to my feet. He struggles to find his footing. He looks like he's about to fall over. He drops the bag of ethocyn and stumbles back up the alley.
I pick up the bag and fall back onto my butt. Resting my face in my hands, I let out another groan.
* * * * * * * *
I knock on Sarah's front door. There's no point in trying to hide what happened. I'm covered in bruises and am walking with a limp.
"Coming!" I hear Pip call. Shit. I can't deal with another freak out.
The door opens, and I turn to hide my bruised face.
"Master?" Her voice changes from excitement to concern.
I keep my back to her. "Go to the bathroom."
"Oh- um... okay."
I wait for her to leave before stepping inside.
Sarah goes pale. "What happened?"
"There was an incident." I lie back on the couch and cover my eyes.
She fetches a bag of frozen peas and kneels beside me. "Why?"
I reach into my jacket pocket and take out the stack of cash from Dutch.
"It wasn't worth it." She rises to her feet and leaves the room.
I shut my eyes and try to ignore the dull pain throughout my body.
There's a scuffling next to me. I peek and see Pip's shocked face. She's sitting on the floor. Her eyes run up and down my body.
"Master..."
I just don't have the energy for this. "Go to sleep."
"But you're-"
"Now."
She retreats to her couch, and I shut my eyes again.
* * * * * * * *
I stare at my face in the bathroom mirror. There's a large bruise on my left cheek. I change into a new set of clothes and head to the front door.
"Rob," Sarah calls from across the apartment.
I meet her in her room, and she gestures for me to close the door.
"These are for you." She hands me a piece of paper from her bed.
I inspect the page. It's two train tickets to Mayrey and back. One for me, and one for Pip.
"I don't think it's a good idea," I say. "You saw what happened from just a picture of her mother. She doesn't need any more of that."
"It's exactly what she needs. Let her see her mom."
"And if she breaks down crying again?"
"Just be there. That's all you have to do."
I fold the tickets to fit into my jacket pocket and head back to the front door.
"Master?"
I turn around with the door handle in hand. Pip's standing in the middle of the lounge, just a few feet away. "Yes?"
"Ms Sarah gave me a book." She hides her mouth behind her hands. "Can you help me read it? Please."
I look out over the balcony. Dutch only needs me this evening, and I suppose that teaching my slave to read is a better use of my time than wondering around the city.
Her eyes follow me back to the couch. I pat the spot next to me. We sit side by side and go through the book.
After a few hours, I'm struggling to concentrate. She absorbs information like a sponge. "Aren't you tired?" I ask.
She perks up. "No, Master. I like reading with you."
"Well," I stand up and stretch, but quickly regret it from the bruises, "That's enough for today." I grab my jacket off the hook.
"Um, Ms Sarah said I could wear her earrings for a little bit."
"You have my permission," I say as I open the door.
"I want to put them on."
"You don't need me for that."
"Wait," she blurts out right before I shut the door.
She holds up the book and points to a page. "What is this word? I can't read it."
"Later," I sigh and close the door. The sun is down, and Dutch is expecting me.
It takes twice as long to get down the stairs with this limp. The dim streetlights barely illuminate the road. It gets darker as I walk, and my senses are on high alert.
Leaves crackle behind me, and I shoot around.
It's Pip. Her bare feet made next to no noise.
"What are you doing?" I grunt, "Go back to the apartment."
Her gaze is locked on me, but she doesn't move.
"Pip, that's an order."
"I need to go with you," she whispers.
"No. Go back." I march towards her. She flinches at my loud footsteps. I stop. I don't want to scare her.
I turn around and keep walking. I don't need to look back to know she's still following.
I head down an alley and hop over a fence. It's far too tall for her to get over.
"Why?" she speaks up from the other side.
She's upset. I guess I never explained anything to her. "I do it for Sarah," I answer without looking.
"Ms Sarah just wants you to be safe! Every night you come back hurt! What if you don't come back this time!?" her voice cracks, "What if... what if you don't wake up this time?"
I know she's crying, and I don't want to look.
"You promised you wouldn't leave me," she chokes out. "You promised me you wouldn't. You... you promised..."
I turn back to see her. Her little fingers are threaded through the chain link fence. She's as close as she can get.
I feel sick.
I pull myself back over the fence and land on her side.
Her shoulders rise and fall with heavy breaths.
I hold out my hand for her. "You're right... and I don't break promises."
She lunges for my arm and squeezes it against her small form.
I take the first step back to Sarah's, and she sticks to me like glue.
Published: 15 Jul. Edited: 28 Jul; 05 Aug