A week later, the two of them had recovered much of their strength. Wolf and Bepo were eager assistants in the process of rehabilitating Penguin Hat’s arm. Wolf in particular snorted a lot and acted as though he were being put upon, but he never once threatened to kick the brats out of his house.
Since the injured kids were in stable condition now, we felt comfortable asking them about exactly what had happened. How had they ended up in such a bad situation? We figured they owed us plenty of answers.
“First things first! Let’s do some introductions,” started Wolf. “It’s a bit late for this, but I’m called Wolf. That’s Wolf, the genius inventor. Remember to always respect my name!”
“Oh, and so you know,” I interjected, “you two can ignore most of what this old man says. He’s just a junk collector.”
“Shut your mouth, Law! Don’t interrupt!”
“Fine, fine.”
Sheesh. The old man’s always blushing.
The kids looked at each other, then began to talk. The one in the casquette cap was Shachi and the one in the penguin hat was Penguin. They spoke hesitantly, as though even after everything that had happened, they were still afraid of us.
“Shachi and Penguin, huh? All right, then. Now how about telling us how you got hurt so badly?” said Wolf, more gently and kindly than he usually spoke.
“Me and Shachi built a little cabin in the woods, and we’ve been living there for about two months,” Penguin said, speaking for the two of them since Shachi’s stomach was still hurting. “We’re decent at hunting, and we found some trees that grow fruit in the winter, so we were eating well enough. Then one day we were preparing to eat a bird we’d hunted, and a boar was drawn by the scent and charged us. It all happened so suddenly, we didn’t have time to react. The boar ran right up and gored Shachi in the stomach.”
Penguin paused there and took a deep breath. He sounded tired.
“No need to rush,” said Wolf, offering Penguin a glass of water.
“The boar came right at me next,” he went on shakily. “I could’ve just turned and run, but I didn’t want to leave Shachi behind. So I rushed into the cabin and took out an explosive that I planned to throw at the boar. But it blew up right in my hand, and…”
“And it took off your arm. Why did you have a bomb, kid?” Wolf asked.
“I stole it from someone in town. I thought it would be useful to have, since we’re living in the forest.”
“Ahh. Well, stealing isn’t the way to go about it, but you had the right idea, using it as a defense against wild animals,” Wolf said, sipping his tea.
There was an important part of their story that hadn’t been explained yet. I had a feeling that Bepo and Wolf were thinking about it as well.
“Where are your parents?” I asked. It was easier not to beat around the bush.
“Both Shachi’s parents and mine died several months ago,” Penguin replied. I was taken off guard by his answer, and he started to explain. “We were having a barbecue with our families at the most beautiful beach on Swallow Island. We were having such a great time that no one noticed what was happening in the water. We didn’t see the tsunami coming for us. It was so huge, it could’ve swallowed the whole island. Shachi and me were climbing trees uphill from the beach, which is the only reason we survived. But my mom and dad…and Shachi’s mom and dad…they all got taken by the wave…”
Penguin trailed off and didn’t say anything else. He was clearly fighting back tears. Once he’d had time to collect himself, he continued with their story.
After some discussion among their relatives, Shachi and Penguin were taken in by Shachi’s aunt and uncle. But it turned out they didn’t care for children at all, and instead planned to use them as tools. The boys were forced to take part in illegal weapon smuggling and jewelry store heists, and were only given meager rations of water and bread.
I felt the furrow between my brows getting deeper as their story went on; there was a rage building in my chest. The idea of adults taking in poor kids who’d lost their parents and then knowingly putting them through hell made me sick to my stomach.
“They didn’t even treat us like human beings,” Penguin went on. “Shachi and I were just slaves to them. So we ran away. But we didn’t have anywhere to go, and no way to make money, so we built that little shack in the woods. In the end, even that didn’t work out for us…I don’t even know why I keep going on! What’s the point?!” Penguin wailed. He lowered his head and quietly sobbed.
Shachi managed to sit up in bed, tears streaming down his face, and move over next to Penguin.
“If you hadn’t saved us when you did, we’d be dead right now. Thank you for saving our lives! And also…” Shachi looked awkwardly at Bepo. He hesitated, summoning the strength to say a difficult thing.
“Polar bear, you’ve been helping care for us when we were bedridden, feeding us porridge and nurturing us back to health… I can’t express how grateful I am!”
“I-it’s fine, you don’t have to say it,” said Bepo awkwardly. “Helping people who are hurt is just a natural instinct, you know?”
“It’s not that natural! I mean, I—we were tormenting you. We kicked you and beat you. It’s not natural that someone would turn the other cheek and be so kind to the people who were picking on him!” Shachi cried. He lowered his head in apology to Bepo. Penguin followed suit.
“Polar bear…I mean, Bepo, thank you for saving us. And we apologize for taking out our frustrations on you! We’re so sorry!”
Silence settled over the two boys. Bepo said it was fine and wasn’t such a big deal, but Penguin and Shachi refused to lift their heads. Their tears dripped onto the floor.
“I don’t know why I keep going on,” Penguin had said. Shachi probably felt the same way.
Dammit! I don’t know why, but I just feel horrible. It’s like they’re giving voice to how I felt after my town was burned to the ground.
“Hey, you guys,” I said to Penguin and Shachi before I knew what I was doing. “You don’t have anywhere to go, right? And you’re not going back to your aunt and uncle’s house?”
“Nope…we’re never going back to that place,” they said.
“Then you should be my followers. I can promise you a place to stay, at least,” I said. Their faces broke out into huge smiles. At least they understood that this wasn’t a joke.
“I keep telling you, this is my house!” the old man complained, but I ignored him.
“And just so you know, Bepo’s already my follower,” I said.
“Really? I didn’t know that! Aye aye!” Bepo replied.
Shachi and Penguin shared another look. Then they nodded, turned to us, and said, “Please let us stay here! We’ll do anything!”
Wolf sighed loudly and began to grumble about having more brats around the house.
“Listen up, kids! Since you don’t have any better options, I guess it’s up to me to give you a place to stay. But don’t get this wrong: I’m not your parent. We’re not family, and we’re not friends! Our relationship is one of give-and-take. You want a place to live, I want help with my inventions and chores. That’s an equivalent exchange, and once you’re all healed up and healthy again, you’re all going into town to find work! And that means real labor, not just helping out with the household tasks! Got it?”
No one raised their voice in complaint. No one looked downcast or upset. Wolf suddenly blushed, as though he felt very self-conscious about the blustering act he’d just put on.
✦ ✦ ✦
I’ve got to spend more time thinking about the meaning of the word “freedom,” like Cora used to talk about. Me and Bepo and Penguin and Shachi have all felt some of the worst kinds of loneliness this world has to offer, but we made it past that despair to get to this point.
I still don’t know what this freedom thing really is, but I do feel a kind of warmth and comfort in Wolf’s house. Why is that? He claims that his relationships are all about give-and-take, but Wolf never tries to put us down or make us feel small. It feels like he respects us as equal human beings. So maybe this is the right place for me. Maybe sticking with these guys will help me find that concept of freedom Cora tried to explain to me.
There’s no evidence of that—I just have to have faith. I’m certain that I’ll find what I’m looking for in this strange group of five. Looking at it that way…maybe my life in this world ain’t so bad after all.
As the other four carried on in their noisy way, I sat and thought in silence, and a secret little grin slipped onto my face.