Let's Make a Deal

Milo shivered as his soaked red jacket and t shirt plastered to his arms and chest. The little bit of shelter he found from the rain did little to make him feel less cold. The small overhang of the tall apartment complex didn’t block out the wind, which pierced through his sopping clothes and made him shiver more. He moved his normally fluffy ginger hair out of the way of his eyes, which is now heavy and flat.

He’s reminded of how tired he was when a sharp pain hits him right between his eyes, that ache someone gets when they’re way too tired. But he knew he wasn’t going to get much sleep, especially not in this rain. And he doubted the people running this apartment complex will let him stay under this overhang for much longer, with that big NO LOITERING sign hanging on the wall next to him.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had gotten a good night’s rest. When you’re sleeping on the street in a large city, you always have to keep one eye open. Milo didn’t fancy getting robbed or raped anytime soon, if at all. So looks like he’s going to stay up all night tonight.

The only light in this moonless evening came from the streetlights lining the side of the roads, creating circles of yellow light on the ground. Milo was just barely within that light, turning his pale skin a shade of yellow. Even still in this dark night, he could see the man walking before he got close. Well, he could see his suit. A bright golden yellow suit that makes anyone stand out no matter where they are or how dark it was. 

As he got closer, Milo could start to make out a few more details about him. Most notably, he was tall. He must have been at least seven feet tall, his heeled shiny white boots and top hat in the same golden yellow color as suit added at least six inches to his height, causing him to easily tower over Milo’s four-foot eleven self. Under the hat, was the dark black hair that had way too much oil used to make it look nice. Silk white gloves covered his hands, carrying a cane obviously just used for show. And then there was his eyes, his irises a deep purple, giving away his psychic powers, covered with some eyeliner. A bit of an odd choice for a male to typically wear eyeliner, but Milo wasn’t one to judge, at least the guy takes care of his appearance.

Then he seems to basically just stop when he gets close to Milo, looking down at the poor homeless kid.

“What do you want?” Milo’s voice was grainy, from not talking for a while.

“Oh nothing. Can’t a man just go out and take a walk out in the middle of the night in the rain?” The man had this unsettling smile seemingly just plastered on his face.

“No that’s not something that typically happens.”

The man laughs a small bit. “Yeah I suppose you’re right. But I also don’t see many grungy teenagers hanging out on the street at night, especially with how dangerous the city streets can be at night. So we’re both weirdos out here.”

Milo didn’t have anything to do but doing nothing suddenly seemed more important than talking with this man, so he decided to brave the rain and go find somewhere else to stay for the night. Unfortunately for him, the man started to follow.

“I hope you don’t mind if I join you while on my walk for a bit.”

Milo quickly realized he’s not going to get rid of this guy very easily. “Do whatever, I don’t care.”

“Great. Because I just so love making small talk with others at times. Now would it be too much to ask why someone like you is doing out here on such an evening?”

“That’s not really any of your business.” 

“That must mean something rough has happened to you.”

“No, it means it’s none of your business.”

“You sure? Talking about your feelings with strangers can always make you feel better.”

Milo just casted a quick glare at the guy. He did not know how to take a hint. “No…I’d rather not”

The man huffed a small bit but didn’t reply. Finally silence. Well, silence except for the sounds of the rain falling all around them, making everything soaked and slippery. If Milo just focused on the sounds of the rain falling, maybe he could avoid having to keep up a conversation with the guy. He didn’t really understand why the guy even cared to talk to him at all. Most people either avoided a dirty ratty teen like him, or chased him off whatever business property he happened to be hanging out at. So having this man randomly just try and talk with him was a bit odd. And even still Milo didn’t find himself enjoying the company. He was never a social person, even as a kid. He would much rather keep to himself, and at least on the street he could get some of that.

And then the man speaks up once again, making Milo jump a bit, “You don’t have a home, do you, young man?”

Milo was taken aback, stammering a bit “I uh um uh W-what makes you think that?”

“Because I mean just look at you, you look like a drowned rat just coming out of the Sewer.”

Think of an excuse, quickly he thought to himself. “Well…That’s just because of the rain. I wasn’t able to get home before the rain started, so now I’m just kinda stuck being soaked when I haven’t been able to clean off yet. Besides you look just as dirty in the rain” That last sentence was a total lie. In fact, the man looked pretty fantastic, despite being wet. His hair slicked down from the water looked really on point still. His eyes flash a bit at Milo.

“Oh…I know that’s a full lie, Milo”

Milo stopped, and his stomach dropped a bit. “How…do you know my name?”

“I’m a psychic Milo. I can learn everything about you if I wanted to.”

That’s right. A psychic. Psychics were a bit uncommon in the world, but not enough that they’re unheard of. The purple eyes that every single one of them has would give away the powers that they have. Milo shivered, this guy can look into his mind and see everything about him, and that…was pretty terrifying. Just knowing someone can learn everything about you like that.

“Wh-why would you want to look into someone like that? Isn’t that just an invasion of privacy?”

 The man smiled at him, a bit of a creepy smile at him. “Because, I just like to know about people before I talk to them, see if maybe I could help them.”

“Help…people? What could you possibly want to help me with?” Milo was almost afraid to ask.

“I’ve heard that you’ve had some…trouble with some…parents of yours, and that’s why you’re homeless now.”

He knew. He could exactly tell why Milo was homeless, he could tell the guy knew. I mean he’s already looked into Milo’s mind and found things, how could he not know?

But his parents. Milo felt his fist clench at just the thought of those two excuses for humans on this earth. As far as Milo was concerned, those two weren’t his parents. They didn’t deserve to be his parents, after how much they’ve hurt him. He remembers their punches, their belittling, their screaming. He remembers all of it. It all still hurts so much. 

He still remembers the day they kicked him out of his own home. He had just come home from school, he thought it was a normal day at first, but as soon as he headed into the house, he could feel the thick tension as his parents turned to face him. He could smell the alcohol smell lingering throughout the entire living room. After smelling it his entire life, he’d thought he’d have gotten used to the smell, but instead he just felt more sensitive about it over time.

His mother got up, and walked over to him, shoving a piece of paper in his face. “Would you like to explain this?” She snarled.

He took the paper, and looked it over, then he realized what it was. His grades. Of course they had come in. Math, an F. Reading, D-. Social Studies, F. Science, C. His only good grade was P.E. where he got an A. But that was because all you had to do was show up.

“You know these grades are unacceptable! You should be doing better than this, or are you just too much of an idiot to even do that?” His mother shook the paper violently in his face. He knew that this was going to happen. It always happens.

He just quietly mutters to himself, “Maybe it would be easier to focus on school if I didn’t have to worry about being afraid in my own home all the time…”

“What was that!?” She screeched, “If you have something to say you can say it to my face!”

“It…it was nothing…” 

A loud smack echoed in his ear as a stinging pain struck his left cheek. He looked over at his mother, who had her hand raised to hit him again, but this time he cowered away from her.

“Don’t ever talk under your breath like that at me. If you have something to say, you can say it to me yourself.”

Milo just glanced helplessly over at his father, just gave him a glare. “Maybe if you can’t even bother to keep your grades up, or listen to your mother properly, you shouldn’t even stay here.”

“Wha-”

“Your father is right.” His mother stood over his short stature menacingly. “This is the last time you will ever defy us. Go to your room, and get your stuff, and get out.”

“You…you can’t be serious…where am I supposed to go?”

“I don’t care, but you can’t stay here.” Milo then realized that they weren’t joking. They’ve told him to get out before, but this is the first time they had seemed serious on making him leave. His own parents, as hurtful as they were, didn’t even want him.

That was when Milo realized he was trembling, but not from the cold or the rain. He looked up, and the man was still watching him intently. Milo shook himself to try and shake off the bad memories.

“Why…do you want to help me? No one wants to ever help someone like me.”

The man crouched down so he was more eye level with Milo. “Because…there are some people out in this world who are just complete scum. Lower than dirt, and they wish to bring down every single person around them. And they get away with it. I just want to make sure they don’t get away with it. So I want to help you Milo. I want to make sure that those two who birthed you get what they truly deserve in this world. You didn’t deserve to be treated so poorly by them. I know you didn’t.”

Milo didn’t know how to really react to this guy. This is the first time almost, well, anyone, treated him with kindness like this. Sure the guy was seemingly really obnoxious at first, but he seemed to really want to help him out. It felt, nice to actually be cared about a bit.

The man continues. “But of course, I can’t just do all of this helping for free.”

There’s the catch. No one was that kind really. “Well, I’m homeless. If you expect me to have any money-”

“Oh no no no.” He cuts Milo off, “It’s not money I want. I just want your help as well. You see, I also know some people who have wronged me. People who have gotten away with being the worst beings in the world. And if you promise to help me, well I’ll help put your parents in place, and give them the proper punishment they deserve.”

Milo hesitated. He still didn’t trust this man. Or his motives. If he really wanted to put terrible people in their place, why didn’t he just go to the police instead? Why ask the random homeless kid you know nothing about? It just didn’t make sense. But at the same time, he knew no one else was going to help him. They weren’t going to help him get rid of this anger.

The anger and resentment he still felt towards his parents. It’s been building up almost all fourteen years of his life. And he could maybe, just possibly, finally have a possible way of getting rid of that resentment.

“Just imagine it. After all the fear your parents gave you for years, finally you’ll be able to see fear in their own eyes. Or maybe they’ll be so drunk, they won’t be able to even realize that their own son has come back to give them the punishment they deserve.” The man’s eyes glowed a deep purple, indicating his powers were in use, seemingly to read Milo’s thoughts again.

“You say that like there’s a time they’re ever not drunk.” Ever since Milo could remember, his parents have always cared more about alcohol than him. They almost always were drunk or hungover. The only times they weren’t were when they were working. Those were considered peaceful days. Milo was an accident that they had never planned, and that turned into an even more horrible resentment towards him. He remembers the nights his mother was blackout drunk, telling him that she should’ve aborted him while she was pregnant with him. And he had been inclined to agree with her.

Sometimes when he was a kid his mother would go off to bars with her friends, and his father was left to watch him. But he didn’t. He never watched Milo. Just left the poor guy alone in the house while he went to the local pub a block away. No matter how much Milo cried and begged for him to stay and to not leave him alone, he’d either get ignored or punished. Being ignored hurt more than any physical pain his father gave him to tell him to shut up though. Even as a kid he knew that his parents never loved him.

These hurtful memories, he’d had been trying to forget them for so long. So why were they coming back now? Why did these memories just haunt him so much? He just wanted them to go away.

He reached up and gently touched his left cheek. He felt a bit of a throb there. A bruise still remained on his face after his mom slapped him the day he was kicked out. It’s only been two weeks, so he wasn’t sure why he expected it to be gone after how hard she slapped him. 

The man must have waited long enough. “Well, I get this must be something big to decide on, so I’ll give you a chance to think about it. When you have come to a decision, just ask around for the man named Looker, and I’m sure you’ll find me.” Looker turned on his heel and started to walk away.

Milo felt…weird about seeing him walk away. On one hand the guy who was obnoxious and wouldn’t leave him alone was finally going away. But on the other, this was the one guy who wanted to help. The one guy to show him any kindness in his life. And all he had to do was help him out as well. That was a fair enough trade, right?

“Wait, Looker!” He called out. Looker turned, and looked back at Milo. “I…I will help you. If you promise to help me out. You’re right. My parents deserve punishment for all that they’ve done to me.”

Looker laughs a small bit. “I knew you’d see the right way eventually.”

“But…what is it that I have to do?”

Looker points his cane right into Milo’s chest. “You my boy, are going to help me out. You are a child. You can gain sympathy from others for just existing most of the time. Much easier than an adult like me can, anyway. You see, the people who have wronged me…they also have children. Children that are in a position that was very similar to yours. These poor, poor children. Their parents are pretty bad to them. So to punish them, we’re going to get those children, and put them in a better place. Somewhere they can be safe from the absolute scum of the earth that is their parents.”

“That’s…horrible those children are treated so horribly. No kid deserves to go through what I did…” Milo could imagine the pain the kids were in. The people who they were supposed to trust and love the most just being awful to them in every possible way. It was just sick. It made Milo angry just thinking about the entire thing.

“This is exactly why I want to take these children away. To give them a better life. It’ll be beneficial in multiple ways. It’ll give these little ones a better home, parents that would actually love them, and their old parents will be punished for all the pain they’ve caused me in their kids. So if that sounds good,” Looker holds out his hand, “Do we have a deal, Milo?”

“Yes we do.” Milo takes his hand and shakes it. And when he does, he felt a horrible chill go down his spine. Looker’s eyes glowed deeply in the dark, and his grin seemed even more sinister than it did before. Milo couldn’t explain why, but it almost felt like he just made a deal with someone worse than the devil himself, and he felt that Looker’s intentions may not be as innocent and helpful as he made it out to be.