09.08.08
Orphan fighter, pt. 15
The kid and I got along OK after a while. I spent the first week softening him up and playing around with him. I don’t think he realised that the games we were playing were actually tests to gauge his abilities. I had to get a feel for his endurance, his agility, his strength, etc. before I could make him into a fighter.
How did he do? Well, I’d say he did pretty good. He was fast, he had a motor that wouldn’t quit, and I already knew he could take down a kid twice his size with a single hit. If you asked me, I’d say he was ready to go. The main concern for me was whether he’d care enough to try for real when it mattered. He still had that attitude where he’d do the exact opposite of what you wanted him to do — just to piss you off. For example, when I tried to get the kid to practice fighting with another dude, he just fooled around for half an hour. Seemed like he was only interested if it was the real deal. It was going to be a pain getting the kid ready if he wasn’t going to be practicing — but it wasn’t impossible. He had talent.
Since we couldn’t really do any practice, I spent a whole lot of time sitting around chatting with the kid. One day, I asked him what life was like at the House. His account was pretty boring, but when I asked him if he had any friends in the place, things became a little more interesting.
“So Jesus, you got any friends in this place?”
“Nope. Don’t need any.”
“What? What’s wrong with friends?”
“Dunno. Never had one.”
“Oh snap! Little man, you’re missing out.”
“Really?”
“For real. Friends are like, the coolest thing ever.”
“So?”
“So you gotta make a couple. See what it’s like.”
“How?”
I thought that was pretty funny. How do you explain to a kid how to make friends?
“Well, let’s see… First you find someone you like. Is there anyone you like here?”
“No.”
“Not even a little?”
“Not really.”
“Mannn, sucks to be you, kid.”
He shrugged. “Not really.”
“Well, how about this? I’ll be your friend.”
“But I don’t like you, either.”
“Eh, forget about the liking thing for now. We’ll start from scratch and work our way up. How’s that sound to you?”
“OK, I guess. What do I have to do?”
“The first rule of friendship is that friends gotta treat each other nice. You be nice to me, and I’ll be nice to you. Think you can do that?”
“Maybe.”
That’ll have to do for now, I decided.