Enhance 2: Chapter 1

Turning around the teacher looked at his meager classroom attendants. There were only about five or so students with him at this hour of night for a few reasons. One it was a Thursday night and an extended break started tomorrow but two and more importantly this was a study group he organized to help any students slipping behind. By now though he was surprised he had maintained their attention this well.

“Alright everyone I think that’s a good stopping point. We can pick up on Odysseus’s misadventures with Scylla after the break..”

A collective cheer sounded amongst the students as they started slamming their books closed and jumping from their seats. He laughed listening to them talking amongst themselves as he began to clear away the dry erase board. However, he paused staring at what looked like the Grecian mad ramblings of a crazy man.

“Hey Mr. O. Question before I head home?”

The teacher made a face, sighing and looking down for a moment. He was wearing an off white button up shirt with light brown stripes, tucked into his slacks. His dress shoes were polished if not a little old. His skin was a rich brown, his jaw covered by stubble trying to grow back after recently being shaved away. His curly brown hair set relaxed on his head almost hiding his brown eyes. His nose defined, a sharp downward angle between them.

His eye were tired and somewhere crossed between amused and annoyed as he looked at his student. He wouldn’t call him one of his favorites but after their rocky start they had come a long way.

“You know Theo we’ve been over this,” he said and pointed toward a corner of the dry erase that was blocked out in red with big words saying ‘Do Not Erase’. In that box it stated ‘My name is Otis Santiago. Call me Mr. Santiago’.

Theo stared at the fading words on the board that had been there since almost the beginning of the year, pieces of it having been smudged and rewritten. It was like a Frankenstein amalgamation. “I know but we’re past that right?” he flashed a wide smile that came very easy to the young man.

Theo was a very dark-skinned youth, no more than seventeen and barely 5’8’’. He had large bright eyes that seemed to add a brightness to his face. His dark hair was in twist that bounced whenever he moved. A youthful eagerness that Otis Santiago wanted to preserve as much as he could.  He was wearing a dark green hoodie and cargo shorts, his book bag already slung over his shoulder.

Otis sighed looking at his student and waved his hand, “What’s up Theo?”

“Okay so when Odysseus is on the boat, after his crew ties him up, Is he really crazy?”

He chuckled, “No he’s not. He’s being driven mad by the siren’s call but he himself has not lost his mind yet. But by stories end who knows.”

“You sure? Cause he sounded pretty crazy to me.”

“That’s what happens when you use spark notes as your original source and not the text itself.”

He made an immediate face at that, his cheeks donning a slightly scarlet color. Glancing toward the ground he tapped his foot slowly, “I’ve been reading.”

“Have you now?” he asked with a smile. “I suggest rereading that section again Theo. Just for clarity. And if you have more questions still talk to me when we get back. Sound good?”

That smile was back onto his face as he nodded throwing a thumbs up, “Totally. Have a good weekend.”

Turning on his heel he finally took off leaving the classroom behind. The hallway was empty which he admitted to himself was creepy. Most of the lights were still on at least. He stumbled once taking a hard turn at the end of the hall. Looking at his beat up old high tops he groaned. “Need new shoes mom.”

Going shoulder first and shoving the door open and getting greeted by a brisk breeze of evening air. Sneakers screeching against the ground he jumped the three steps that elevated the building and started his walk home.

The street lights flickered at the corner of the high school but managed to illuminate a path. He walked down a thin sidewalk path adjacent to larger main one from the double doors. What little grass that tried to grow through students kicking it up was coming back after its winter hiatus. Spring was trying to sprung.

Looking up toward the sky he stared at where he knew stars were supposed to be but the lights from Chicago proper always made that hard. He stared at the city, seeing the familiar outline of the Sears tower, the Wacker building, the Franklin center and the rest. Sighing he mumbled to himself, “Wish I could actually see the constellations and stars that Mr. O is always talking about. At least the city’s pretty.”

From the corner of the high school he jogged across the cross walk leaving the high school behind. Across from the school was the park, its chain link fence around the perimeter. Past that was a bus pickup that could get you toward the train station one way and the other way for food.

At the thought of food his stomach started to grumble and he patted his stomach. Clapping his hands together he said a silent prayer, “Please let mom have not eaten the leftovers and I can warm them up when I get home.”

A few cars drove past on the street most going in the opposite direction of him. The way he was going the shops were giving way to apartments, empty plots of space. Overgrown lots with trash or make shift baseball or basketball fields. A car honked as it turned left, ignoring the red light and he realized he wasn’t listening to his music.

After crossing the street, he shoved a hand into his pocket he fished for his phone but after a few minutes realized it wasn’t in either pocket. Shrugging his book bag off his shoulder he unzipped the main pocket and shifted through it. Moving past his notebook, the pencil case and found it wedge between the tome that was the Odyssey.

Finally dragging it out he let out a shout of triumph and putting the buds into his ears before that turned into a grunt as he stumbled backwards. Looking up he stared at a trio of white guys. One of them was smoking, a brand that he’d smelled before and detested. Another had a half empty bottle in hand but the one he’d walked into was staring down at the ground.

There were shards of glass and stained with a liquid whose odor was strong enough to make him squint. Looking up Theo saw the entire front of his shirt and jacket had been splashed with alcohol and the man was staring at Theo in a weird way. No not a weird way. None of them looked that much older than him but he knew what a drunk person looked like.

 “The fuck you think you doing? Watch where you’re fucking?”

Theo flinched at that word and took a step back, “Hey sorry man. My bad.”

“Yeah definitely you’re bad. Hope you got money to buy me a new one.”

Theo blinked quickly, “What?”

“Hey come on man,” the smoker said. “This kid ain’t worth it. He doesn’t even have money for good shoes.

“Nah fuck that,” and his words slurred. The man moved sloppily forward and grabbed Theo by the front of his shirt dragging him forward.

He immediately shoved the man back but his grip was strong, “Hey man let go of me!”

“Cough up some money and maybe I will.”

“I don’t got any money for you.”

“Sounds like a you problem then.”

He’d never gotten into a fight before but that didn’t mean he didn’t know how to get out of one. He stomped on the guys foot with the heel of his own and the shout of pain let him know he did something right. He was let go and stumbled backwards but the moment he got his footing he took a sharp turn and ran.

He had no idea where he was going at this point. He could barely hear anything past the loud beating of his heart in his chest and the aggressive lyrics of DMX in his ears. Hanging another sharp corner, he kept his eyes out for an alley that he knew would loop back around into a short cut that he could take home.

A bottle crashed by at his feet and he stumbled to the side. Looking over his shoulder he saw the three of them were still chasing. As he tried to get his balance his shoe caught on the sidewalk and he stumbled to the side falling onto his shoulder hard. He started to get back to his feet when a foot slammed into his stomach and he went rolling backwards.

Staring through squinted eyes he stared at one of the guys as they approached. The alcohol on his breath was distracting enough that he coughed from the pain and the smell as a fist connected with his fist. “That hurt you little shit.”

Theo glared and scrabbled away, limping back to his feet. But he realized pretty fast that this alley wasn’t the one he was looking for. The high brick walls of the conjoined buildings meant the only way out was the way or to sprout wings.

Turning back around he watched as two of them stood at the front of the alley their backs turned, one still smoking and the other folding his arms. It was the drunk one that he’d run into that was coming his way. He didn’t say anything but he could see the sneer on his face and then made Theo’s blood run cold but he raised his fists anyway.

The man rushed him and Theo threw a weak punch hitting the man in the shoulder. The one he got back clocked him in the face and he fell on his back dazed. His nose was in pain and when he tasted the copper at the top of his lip. He watched as he came closer and he dragged himself backward.

But before the man could get closer a shape dropped out of the sky. It landed in front of him like a living shadow. He couldn’t see them well but he was guessing they were wearing all black.

The other guy stared at this new comer and glared, “Who the fuck are you?”

“Beating up on a kid is pretty fucked up. Why not try someone like me,” she said and her voice was slightly muffled from like it was behind a scarf or a mask.

“What the fuck ever. I’ll fuck you up too!”

He ran forward and swung at her but his swings were slow and clumsy. Stepping back and forth around his punches it was like watching an ugly dance. But the stranger didn’t like her partner and cut things short. She caught his fist and twisted it around sharply. Stepping around him she kicked at the back of his knee and he fell down.

Stepping on his back she sent him face first onto the ground. “Get the fuck out of here.”

The other two turned around and ran into the alley but the stranger just laughed looking at them. “Who’s this bitch?” one asked looking at him.

She raised her eyebrow and raised both hands tauntingly. They threw a punch that she blocked on her arm and then kneed him in the stomach. He let out a choked gasp and she grabbed his shoulders kneeing him again. He stumbled backwards slowly bent over double.

The last one standing was the guy who’d been smoking and she raised her eyebrow, “You want some too?”

Looking at his other two friends and hearing them groan he shook his head quickly, “Nah. I’m good.” He backed out of the alley running off in a direction. The other two managed to crawl their way out leaving the two of them behind.

Theo stared at his savior, his heartbeat not having slowed down and adrenaline muting the pain in his nose and shoulder. She finally turned around to face him and he saw her eyes. He expected a glare or something red like a monster in the book but they were brown and soft. Her skin was also brown, a lighter shade than his own.

She walked over to him, confident like some big cat. But she bent over hand extended first and he just stared at it dumbly. She took her hand back and instead asked, “Can you stand?”

The words hung in the air for a second and then finally processed in his mind. Grunting he tried to stand, using his arm as support but his shoulder screamed and he almost did the same. “Nah.”

She extended her hand again and he took it. She pulled him to his feet and she was stronger than she looked. He stumbled forward, her arm catching him at the chest. Theo looked at her, then looked past her to the now very empty hallway. He made a face and then winced at the sharp no from his nose.

“Thanks. For helping me out.”

“No problem. Hate guys like that,” she shook her head making a dirty noise in the back of her throat. “Can you get home okay?”

“I think so,” he said wiping away some of the blood from his nose and wincing.

“Good. Be careful out here kid,” she ascended into the air in a blur of movement that he could barely see. Looking up quickly he watched her swing over the top of the roof and then she was gone.