Chapter 3: The Chosen Family. Part 2

Axel walks into the pub after lunch, which serves as a gathering place for father and his people. He is well known in the pub, so no one bothers the boy to freely walk to the door in the corner and go down to the basement. Five men are sitting at a round table in a heavily smoked room without windows, including Do.

The anger and anxiety of the men can be felt even in the air. Axel hears the roar of their spirit, but his father is here, and he has nothing to fear. According to Do, every person has a spirit, regardless of gender and age. Still, only the spirit of a vital person can control other spirits. Axel listens closely to his spirit every night, but he doesn't feel anything yet.

"Why aren't you at home?" Do goes up to the boy.

"I'm coming from there," Axel lies.

After the death of his mum, he did not like to return home anyway. And now, when Inna and her bastard live there, the desire is generally at zero. Axel is increasingly disappearing on the streets; he doesn't even return home for lunch, eats either at Leo's or on the streets.

"I know that you were in the cafe," taking out a can of Pepsi from the refrigerator in the corner, the man passes it to the son. "Severely scared?"

"I wasn't scared of anything," Axel bravely sips from the can. "I wanted to ask who did it."

"You're too curious for your own good," Do ruffles his hair, knowing full well that it is best to answer; otherwise, Axel won't leave. "If we knew… The SUV was unnumbered. No one saw from which side it entered, but we managed to track that it disappeared into Sirius. It doesn't mean anything anyway; it can use Sirius's territory as a transit."

"And why was he killed?" The boy does not lag.

"That kid?" The man scratches his neck. "He was just the brother of our informant. He was killed as a punishment or a warning."

"I see," Axel lowers his eyes to the can and, after hesitating for a few seconds, walks toward the stairs. All the way to the warehouse, Axel thinks about his father's words.

In the afternoon, when they cleaned the cafe, Axel smeared up to his elbows in someone's blood. Someone just came to eat and never returned home, while someone pulled the trigger several times and is now drinking tequila at home and kissing his children on the forehead.

Death is ugly and hard to accept, but even harder to forbid yourself to think about it. It's hard not to draw pictures in his head about his family, about what he dreamed of, what he wanted, whether he knew that he would never see the dawn again when he left his house.

Axel got rid of those obsessions by making the victims of the cartels blame. If someone is killed, then there was a reason. It's easier to breathe this way.

Axel makes a fire, lays his jacket on top of a wooden box, and sits on top of it, looking at the fire.

"Talking to fire again?" Aken goes to the warehouse and goes straight to Axel.

"I can see his face," Axel does not take his eyes off the flames.

"Satan?" Aken grins.

"El Diablo. Look closely," Axel insists, nodding toward the fire. "He says that he will mix the world with dust and rise above it, piercing the firmament of heaven with devil horns. And we will all obey him ..." without finishing, he is distracted by the noise of the boys. The iron door swings open with a bang, and an agitated Leo rushes into the room.

"They are beating Dev there," the boy screams.

Axel and Aken, armed with the tools at hand, go off after each other. The boys run to the next street out of breath and freeze. Crying Dev is tied to a post, and teenagers of fifteen years old are giggling and shouting offensive "The Devil."

"There are seven of them. There are three of us," Aken says. "You take two; I'll take three."

"Just because you're older doesn't mean you're stronger," Axel tries to argue.

"Shut up and keep an eye on Leo, so he doesn't get carried away again," Aken cuts off and rushes into battle.

Twenty minutes after the fight's start, the guys are already lying on the pavement and spitting blood, but they do not give up. Aken is kicked by two at once. Leo, who was blocked by legs and arms, still pulls out and reaches out with his teeth to the opponent's ear.

"I'll bite off your ear and spit it out," Leo yells and almost fulfills the threat, but the teenager, lying on top of him, slaps him in the face with all his might. Leo spits blood in his face and grits his teeth, scaring the confident teen up to this point. Axel holds his split eyebrow, gushing blood out of it, with one hand, while the other continues to punch on the sides of the boy pressing him to the asphalt. The teens, hearing the cars' noise, leave their victims and run away, and Axel sees his father's face through the blood covering his eyes.

Because of Do, all three are admitted to a paid hospital. Axel gets the worst of it, and he gets stitches. Do is silent all the way to the house, and Axel can barely endure so as not to cry.

"Father ..."

"Don't say anything," parks the pickup in the yard of the house. "Before attacking those who are stronger than you, think that a split eyebrow is not the maximum, and your life may be next."

"They mocked Dev," the boy says quietly.

"I do not care!" His father shouts at him. "This is life, and everyone should be able to stand up for themselves!"

"And what are friends for?" Axel looks at him with a frown. "Friends, after all, must cover each other's backs."

"You have no friends. You are your own friend, although in your case, you are the enemy," Do grins. "Only the family is worth dying for."

"They're my family," Axel grumbles and leaps down to his room.

It is not possible to fall asleep for a long time, and when he is already falling into a doze, he sees the shadow of the smallest creature in the house. The little girl is trying to climb onto the bed.

"It's midnight! Why the fuck are you awake?" The boy asks in a shrunken voice. He has no strength for scandals.

"I brought a bandage. I will treat you," the child bends over his face. "It hurts?"

"Rene, go to your place," Axel says firmly.

"Okay," grumbles the girl and curls up next to him.

"Rene," Axel sighs and resigns himself.

***

Axel comes to the school and immediately calls his friends into the backyard. Dev continues to thank the guys for their help, and they hug him one by one, pulling him to them.

"My father says that you can kill yourself only for the sake of the family. He says that friendship does not exist, and today's friend is your enemy tomorrow," Axel looks at the guys. "I believe him, so from now on, I consider you my family. When we were little and played in our yard, we growled, howled, and perfectly portrayed all the animals we only saw on TV. We did not think then that this would be fixed for us and we would be called "Beasts.""

"Even the headmaster calls us that now," Aken says grimly.

"I like it," Leo grins.

"We are a gang. Even if we are not taken seriously and are considered children, we stand for each other. We are like a family," Axel says, and the guys nod. "So let's be a real family. We will always be together and will not give anyone any reason to doubt it."

"Will we swear on blood?" Leo's eyes light up, and he takes the knife out of his pocket.

"Take the knife away," Axel laughs. "I will grow up and stuff the face I see on fire on my back. He has horns, which means he is a beast. He has a name, which means that they will call me that."

"I've considered you my family all my life, and I'll carry the tiger on my back," Leo says, looking at Aken expectantly.

"I'm a wolf. They'll tear everyone up for the pack," Aken replies after thinking.

"I'm just a devil," Dev says quietly, looking down.

"No," Axel exclaims, "you have the strength of a bear; you would have laid down yesterday too. But they fought despicably; they attacked one person in seven ways."

"I like bears," Noah smiles happily.

"You're not a freak, I don't see burns on your face because you're my brother, and those who don't see them love you, and our clubs will help us with everyone else," Axel slaps him on the shoulder.

"Family it is," Aken looks at the clouds gathering overhead.

"Family," Axel nods.

Two years later.

Aken turned fourteen yesterday. The teen spent his birthday at Leo's. The guys gave him a new wolf print sweatshirt while Lea threw a party and set the table. Aken took Avi with him, who blew out the candle on the custard cake and then rolled on Dev's shoulders until sleep.

Aken stands at the store's counter, waiting in line to buy cigarettes, and still cannot get rid of his oppressive resentment against his mum. She didn't show up at home yesterday. In the morning, she walked past to the bathroom with a swollen face and didn't even congratulate. Aken should've got used to it a long time ago because this has been going on since his father died, but he still, like a fool, expects everything to change this year.

He takes a pack of cheap cigarettes in soft packaging. Handing the money to the seller, he notices a little girl trampling on to his left, whose head does not reach the counter.

"How long have you been here, kid?" The boy smiles, having paid for the purchase.

"Milk for me, please," the child holds out her hand with the bill, and the seller, snatching out the money, goes for milk. The child is dressed in a denim jacket with holes in her elbows. Her pants are two sizes larger, tied with a rope so that they do not fall off. She, without stopping, looks at the multi-colored sweets in a glass jar on the counter. The child is in rags, dirty, tangled hair hangs over her forehead. Still, Aken can't take his eyes off from such a bundle of light, as if the sun is pouring out of the baby, charming the boy with its brightness.

Aken has no extra money; things have been terrible lately. He even began to work as a courier for the cartel to feed himself and Avi. He should go out and forget about the poor, thin child with sunken cheeks.

"Hey, dude," he says to the seller who has returned with milk. "Give her these sweets. Put the buns, the sausage, and those cookies," he points his finger at the shelf behind the counter.

"Money up front."

"You know me. I'll pay. Just give her what I said," Aken says firmly. The salesperson, who knows Aken will do anything to pay, takes out a paper bag and starts putting the order into it.

"It's all for me?" widening her eyes, the shocked child looks at the boy.

"For you, angel. Now walk home," Aken ruffles her hair.

"Thank you," the kid grumbles and, turning around, rushes to the door, as if afraid that the boy will change his mind and the food will be taken away.

Aken looks after her and grins, feels how all his resentment and anger towards mum evaporate at once. He does not care that his own mum did not congratulate him on his birthday. This baby, for the first time, probably for the first time, will know the taste of sweets.

Nura is five years old and lives with her older sister Mina. Girl's mum dumped them when she was a year old. She just left the house one evening and never came back. Mina is fourteen years old, does not go to school to work in a coal mine. She earns pennies, which are barely enough for food.

This morning Nura will remember for the rest of her life. More precisely, she'll remember the young man, thanks to whom she sits on a mattress on the floor of their shack and eats candy. She is looking at the sausage, which she does not want to touch until her sister returns from work.

She will never forget this…