Broken Silence

Malina looked at the dainty flower in her hand, and couldn’t help but smile when she remembered the warm feeling of Kane kissing her cheek. Even though she had to change into something simple, it was like he hadn’t even noticed. He still thought she was pretty. She sighed and tucked the flower back in her hair, then giggled at nothing in particular. She must have looked like a lunatic sitting on her front porch alone and giggling at nothing, but she was just feeling so giddy, she couldn’t contain it.

“Lina, why are you just sitting there? Are you locked out?”

Malina spun around and saw Scamp walking past. There was a pretty blonde girl on his arm, clinging to him and glaring at Malina. She wasn’t sure why the blonde would be so upset with her, but she held on to Scamp like she was afraid he’d be ripped away from her.

“No, I’m not locked out,” Malina told him. “I’m just enjoying the fresh air. That’s all.”

“Oh, I see-”

Scamp was cut off mid-sentence when the blonde suddenly slapped him across the face, glaring at him now.

“Maggie, what was that for?” he asked, bewildered.

“You can’t just talk to another girl right in front of me!” she yelled.

“Keep your voice down,” Scamp whispered sharply. “She’s not just another girl, she’s my-”

Once again, he was slapped before he could finish.

“...sister.”

“Oh,” the girl said, expression changing to another pleasant smile, like nothing had happened. “That’s alright, then. Pleasure to meet you, dear. Now if you don’t mind, Scamp is spending time with me. I’m sure you can finish this discussion later.”

Scamp’s expression screamed “help me” as Maggie dragged him away, and Malina felt the smile drop from her face. Scamp had a little bit of a reputation among the young ladies. What he lacked in genius, he had tenfold in charm. It was nothing new to find him with a new girl on his arm every few days. Sometimes, more than one. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t think ahead enough to realize that he couldn’t be with all of these girls at the same time. That’s why he ended up with paranoid girls, just like Maggie.

Malina stood up and finally went inside. Julian ran up to her and leaped into her arms almost immediately. She picked him up and giggled as he tightly wrapped his arms around her neck.

“You come back? We play now?” he asked.

“Of course we can play now,” Malina cooed. “Where is your father?”

Isaac came in shortly after, looking a little frazzled. He seemed to be getting less and less confident in his ability to care for his son by himself every day. Isaac appeared relieved to see Malina leading Julian to the old playroom, which had once belonged to her and her siblings when they were still young. It was left untouched until Isaac and Angel had Julian, and his happy new grandparents didn’t hesitate to clean up the room with all new toys for him.

Malina sat on the ground and played with Julian while Isaac sat in a chair, relaxing for the first time in what seemed to be a while He watched quietly, until he noticed the flower in Malina’s hair and plucked it from behind her ear.

“You were at work today, were you?” he asked.

“Yes,” Malina lied, snatching the flower back.

“You were with a boy, weren’t you?” he asked with a grin. “No wonder you can’t sit still.”

“Don’t tell anyone,” Malina begged.

One of the things Malina loved the most about Isaac was that unlike her other brothers, he never meddled in her life. He was far too concerned with his business, wife, and child to treat Malina like a baby who couldn’t hold her own, and Malina was grateful for that. He just grinned and leaned back in his seat, shrugging.

“I won’t tell,” he said. “Who is it?”

“He’s not from around here,” she admitted reluctantly. “Actually, I think you met him.”

“Have I?” Isaac asked.

“He was at Lionel’s lab when you visited with Julian.”

Isaac went quiet and his smile faded. He thought for a moment, then leaned forward to talk to Malina a little more seriously.

“You don’t mean the street fighter, do you?” he asked.

“He’s much more than that,” Malina said quickly, a little harsher than she intended.

“Alright, relax,” Isaac said sternly.

He looked so much like their father when he was serious. Because he was so much older than Malina, he sometimes felt like another father, too.

“I’m sorry,” she squeaked.

“Just promise you’ll be careful,” he sighed.

“I promise.”

The next day, Malina was all too eager to go back to work. She slowed down by the alleyways, looking for the fights. Sure enough, the crowd was there. She pushed through the crowd in time to see Kane punch a man twice his size in the nose. She gasped softly and jumped when the man swung back, but it missed Kane by just a hair. She watched the fight with wide eyes, yelping softly when a large hand grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back before she accidentally got hit too.

The crowd seemed to all cringe at once when Kane punched his opponent again, this time knocking him out cold. The ones who’d won their bets cheered for Kane, and he grinned triumphantly as he wiped some blood off his hands.

“This is no place for little girls,” a gruff voice said,

Malina spun around to see the large, burly man who’d pulled her away earlier. He had a tight grip on her wrist now.

“Oh,” she said softly. “I know. I’ll be on my way. I just-”

“Hold on, now,” the man said, getting his friend’s attention and gesturing to Malina. “I know her. Aren’t you Everett’s littlest one?”

“Hey, she is,” the other man said. “She looks just like him.”

She tried to squirm away, but his grip had gotten tighter.

“Can I please go?” she whimpered.

“Your father thinks he could just leave so easy, didn’t he?” the larger one grunted. “He’s off, smoking fine cigars and laughing about politics with his rich friends over a glass of brandy. He can pretend, but we know he’s nothing special. He’s not royalty.”

Kane suddenly appeared, glaring at the men. “Is there a problem, here?”

The man let go of Malina, and she winced softly, moving back to stand close behind Kane. He firmly stood his ground.

“No, there isn’t,” the friend said, glaring at Malina.

“Come on,” Kane said, taking Malina by the hand. “Let’s go.”

She stayed close, squeezing his hand lightly to thank him as he led her away. Behind her, she heard the men speaking.

“His daughter is about as weak as he is.”

“They killed the wrong brother.”

Malina’s heart started to pound. She was normally shy and quiet, but if anything made her blood boil, it was when her uncle’s death was mentioned in such a way. Not just that, but they’d insulted her father, too. She spun around and yanked her hand away from Kane to grab the man closer to her and bring her knee up, right into his groin. It knocked the breath out of him, and he crumpled to the ground. His friend stared at her with wide eyes.

“It seems there’s been a little bit of a misunderstanding,” she snapped at them. “You seem to think my father is some kind of pansy. Have you forgotten who Percival Everett is?”

There was a soft gasp from the crowd around them, who’d turned their attention to the argument, and then some murmuring. This was the reaction Malina had expected. People may have been whispering bad things about her father behind his back, but no one dared challenge him. Even after all the years he’d moved up in the social pyramid, he still had quite a reputation. Percy didn’t like to talk about what he was like as a teenager and young man, but Malina had heard some stories. Whatever he was like, it sure made everyone know his name. And fear it.

The men backed away and left, but everyone stayed staring at Malina. Kane put an arm around her and ushered her away, looking somewhat confused and startled. He sat her down on a crate out of view of everyone else, then kneeled down in front of her.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she muttered.

“Your father,” Kane said slowly. “I feel I recognize that name, though I can’t say I recall where I had heard it.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I understand,” Kane smiled. “Why don’t we go for a walk? To clear your mind.”

Malina nodded, surprised when he took her hand again.

“Did you come to the fight just to see me?” he asked.

“Maybe…”

Kane chuckled softly as they started walking. Malina couldn’t help but smile, too.