Jack

“What, are you worried that they might shoot you too?” Brady’s sentence hung out awkwardly in the open when I didn’t respond. Jesus, Jack, why did you do this? It was just a goddamn bench.

“Sorry,” I drawled, scanning the street behind the two teenage girls on the bench. I didn’t divert my eyes from the passing faces as I continued my sentence. “My dog needed to pee and he likes a particular car to urinate on for some reason. Must be the treading...”

“Are you...Jack?” I felt my stomach plummet as I reluctantly tore my eyes away from the buildings in the distance. The girl on the left side seemed oddly familiar, though I couldn’t place how. Did I have her as a patient? She didn’t seem very ecstatic about having to sit. The other one, though, I could tell probably wouldn’t shut up if I gave her the opportunity to talk. Her eyes, cobalt in color, freaked me out a bit. It was if she knew something I didn’t. Worse, it was as if she wanted to ask me a lot of questions.

“No, sorry. You’ve got the wrong guy.” Brady said nothing as I turned, tugging Sarge’s leash once to signal him to follow.

“It is you! Please...I need to talk to you!” I gritted my teeth angrily. Brady chuckled, picking at the top of his nose.

“My name’s not Jack,” I called out, still not turning around. My throat reminded me that yelling wasn’t the best thing I should do, but I did anyways. “it's John.”

“YOU’RE ONE OF THE PROTECTORS!”

I tightly turned my head to Brady, locking eyes. “I hate you.”

“I’ve never met her in my life!” He threw out his arms, exasperated, and tried his best to look innocent. Finally, after several minutes of us shuffling our feet in the opposite direction, Brady stopped, cupped his hands around his mouth, and twisted toward them again.“Hey kid! You’re right! He is one of the Protectors! His—”

“BRADY!!!” I hissed, violently grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him roughly. A couple drops of spit landed on his chin, and he smiled widely at me. As I pondered whether I should throw him out in the street or not, the sound of running feet became louder.

“Elin, stop, the guy’s a jerk. He’s crazy, he tried to run me over. And he brings his pet into the E.R. room.”

I numbly realized how I recognized Brat One. I released Brady. “Yeah, kid, and it looks like I missed the first time. Stay here, I’ll go get my bat.”

“You know him?” Brat Two’s jaw dropped, and she repelled slightly away from Brat One—-Who’s name started with an E. Emily? Emma? Amber?

Brat One looked bored and slightly aggravated. “It’s how I got the bump on my head. He’s a doctor.”

“Her parents threw her off of a cliff,” I muttered, savagely. “I had to sew Huffy Gruffy back together again.” Brat One shot me a look.

“What was his last name?” Brat Two questioned without missing a beat. Brat One squinted, thinking.

“It doesn’t matter,” I cut in, slightly raising my voice. “I’m not babysitting. There’s a box of band aids in my office if that’s what you need.”

“Who’s he?” Brat Two—-Elin——cut in, quickly. She was trying to come up with an interesting conversation to make me stay.

“That’s Brady.”

“I’m Brady.”

“What does he do? Is he a Protector, too?” Every time she said the word ‘Protector’, it was as if she was talking about babies or ponies. Her spirits lifted a bit.

“Yeah. He's not very good at it. He protects me, legally, but there’s enough attorneys around here... I usually end up in jail by some lawsuit and he usually ends up bailing me out. Like I said, not very good at it. How much do you want for him?

Her eyes seemed to darken. “I’m not kidding.”

“Neither is he.” Brady muttered under his breath, sadly. She opened her mouth to shoot another question, but I raised my hand.

“I’m leaving.”

“WAIT!”

“Bye.” We turned and began walking, Brady chirping about how weird the situation was, then about his recent win-on-win case. All the while with Brat Two screaming morbidly in the background, as we grew further and further away from them.

“Wait,” The crack-headed kid I had as a patient this morning shouted, now joining in. She paused for a moment, with Brady, Sarge, and I still walking, before continuing. “Your friend’s kidnapped, right?”

I turned around.