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“Rudo! Run, damn it! Get out, change this shit heap of a world. Make it something worth living in!”
…
The only constant thing in Rudo’s life was pain. The damn near unbearable pain in his hands. the constant, aching pain in his heart. And the pain that tore through his very soul until he was nothing more than a rageful beast. Rudo was surrounded by pain.
…
Rudo had been begging Enjin to take him trash-shopping all day, and after a LOT of whining, he finally relented. Rudo sat his head on the windowsill and let his thoughts drift along with the dull landscape of the Ground. For some strange reason, he was hit with the memory of a burial he had once attended on the Sphere.
…
It was a friend of Regto’s, and his family was handling the process. The ground of the Sphere was far too tough and brittle for a proper burial, so most cremated their loved ones. While the rich side could pay for a proper cremation, the tribesfolk were not as lucky. Despite this, they still had their ways of ceremony. Rudo remembers being stunned by the bonfires blaze, at the swaying of the drums and dancers as they sent his soul off to their ancestors. Rudo remembers hoping his biological father wasn’t wherever that was.
…
Once the trash pile was in view, Rudo nearly bolted out the cars ceiling. He was about to explode with excitement as Enjin hastily parked the car.
“Now don’t go running off like la- ….st time.”
Enjin sighed as he saw the boy sprint to the heap like a bolt of lightning. “Damn kids gonna give me a heart attack..” He huffed and pulled out his cigarette box, lighting one and taking a long puff. Rudo was ecstatic, shoveling through the pile and picking up objects he found interesting along the way. A scrap of metal here, a dismantled television there.
Out of the corner of his eye Rudo saw something about a hundred yards away. It was covered in a familiar white cloth and was coated in dried blood. Rudo gaped at it, and slowly walked closer to it.
‘A spherite body? Seriously?’ He wasn’t shocked, it was probably another criminal punished with The Pit. He pushed down all the confusing emotions running around in his head and approached it. As he got closer, he could see a tuff of matted black hair on the bodies head. Images of Regto assaulted his mind, but he tried to ignore them and explore the body more thoroughly. He knew he should probably call for Enjin, but something in his gut told him not to.
Step. Stop. Step. Stop. Step. Stop. Step. Stop. Step. Stop.
Rudo stoped dead in his tracks. His matted black hair. His slightly tangled, fluffy black hair. His lifeless eyes. His bright eyes, always so full of cunning joy. His blood-soaked mouth. His smile, stupidly toothy. The gaping hole in his chest. The sword piercing his flesh, killing him slowly and painfully. It was Regto. His dad. Regto.
…
Rudo remembers a few days after the funeral, seeing some apostles shoveling a body unceremoniously off the side and into the Pit. He remembers Regto taking his hand and explaining what happened to the man they were shoveling off.
“That man committed suicide yesterday, Rudo. His wife died last week, and I suppose he was too alone to go on.” Regto clicked his tongue, trying to conjure up the right words to explain this to an 11 year old. “They’re dropping his body down because no one was left to hold a ceremony for him.” He squats down and makes eye contact with the young boy.
“Thats never gonna happen to you Rudo. Promise. I’ll make sure of it.” Regto gives him a stupid smile and holds out his pinky. “Just so long as you promise the same!” Rudo smiles back and intertwines their pinkies.
“I promise.”
…
Rudo can’t feel anything. Its all empty. He chokes out a pitiful sob and slowly grabs his dads cold hand. Its so cold. All the anger that usually fills Rudo dissipates. Hes just so damn empty. He lowers himself to his knees and wraps his arms around Regto’s chest. He can barely think, all his movements made unconsciously. It feels like hes underwater, and that he’ll never be able to breathe again. Rudo lays his head down onto his dad. His father. Not the piece of shit that abandoned him when he was a baby and gave him his horrible scars, his father. The man who took him in when no one else would. The man who cared for every injury and discomfort and anguish he ever felt. The man who loved him like no one else could. The man Rudo will never see again.
Rudo cries.