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Chapter Six

It took him two tries to get his key into the ignition. His head was throbbing and the left side of his face hurt like hell. Anger pulsed through him as he reversed out of the garage and drove through the open gates. His hands gripped the steering wheel in an effort to keep himself focused. At the stoplight he realized he didn't have a home anymore.

His left eye was swollen shut and around the edges from his eyebrow and down across his cheek bone the open wound looked terrible. He knew he’d have a scar but at least that was the only damage to his face. He gripped his phone in his jacket pocket and but then he released it. Who the hell would he call anyway? His phone would probably stop working too if his mother was right.

Charles Alexander owned the whole of upper Yorkdare Bay. All the hotels and lodges there too was owned by him. Kelley couldn’t stay on this side of town and he drove towards lower Yorkdare Bay where the middle and lower income people lived. He didn't know anyone on that side of town and he realized that that was a good thing, given the circumstances he now found himself in.

A glance at the car’s clock told him that it was just past two am. Kelley parked his car just before he left the edges of upper Yorkdare Bay and walked to the ATM. He withdrew the maximum amount from all five of his cards and tucked ten grand into his football jacket.

He had no idea how much money his mother had left in the duffel bags on the back seat of his car. He had one year left of school and he knew he couldn’t go back to Smith’s College, the private school for the wealthy. He needed to find a place to sleep first before he could worry about something as mundane as school.

Kelley felt a wave of dizziness overcome him as he headed back to the Escalade. This part of town was relatively quiet and for a moment Kelley considered sleeping in his car right there. It would only be for a few hours until the motels opened their doors.

The smarter move would be to drive and park in a motel’s parking lot, it would be safer. He stumbled over his feet as his head pounded and the lethargic feeling threatened to take over.

“Easy, buddy.” A man came from behind and slipped Kelley’s arm over his shoulder.

“I’m okay. I just need to get to my car.” Kelley wasn't too far gone to worry about the man's intentions.

The man laughed, his voice deep and rough. “You’re far from okay. I’m guessing the Escalade is yours?”

Kelley nodded his head weakly wondering if he’d wake up in a few hours with his worldly belongings missing as well as his car. The man fished his keys from his jacket pocket and the Escalade beeped twice before the man pushed him into the passenger side of his own car.

Kelley was in and out of consciousness but he was aware of the man driving his car asking him questions. He couldn’t have answered even if he wanted to. Kelley felt relief when darkness finally took him.

Kelley woke up with a tight feeling around his eye. His hand touched a bandage of sorts and he sat upright in the double bed. There had been a strange man, driving his car. His football jacket hung on the back of a wooden chair and he stumbled his way across the ratty carpet towards it.

“It’s all there.” Kelley turned abruptly and looked at the man standing in the doorway.

“Thank you.”

“Come on through to the kitchen, it’s lunch time and you need to start talking.”

Kelley followed the man out of the bedroom and into a small kitchen. Two plates stood on the table big enough for two and Kelley took a seat as the man poured two glasses of orange juice. Kelley was starving and he picked up the fork.

“This might be a shithole but when you eat at this table you say grace.”

Kelley lowered his fork back to the table. “Sorry.” Kelley closed his eyes when the man closed his.

“Dear Heavenly Father, we give our gratitude for the meal we are about to eat. Thank you for the countless blessings you bestow upon us every day. Amen.”

“Amen.” The man nodded and started to eat.

Kelley didn’t really care what was on the plate as long as it filled his starving stomach. Lunch was a quiet affair but Kelley didn’t feel like his life was in danger. Did thieves feed you before they robbed you? The man had helped him when he didn’t have to and that deserved recognition.

“Did you stitch up my face?” It felt tight like stitches did.

“Yeah, someone got you pretty bad, your eye looks okay but you’ll have a scar forever.”

“Thanks.”

“Talk kid, what happened to you? You clearly don’t belong on this side of town so why were you there last night? What’s with all the cash in your jacket?”

Kelley had no idea why he trusted this man who's name he didnt even know, but he did, so he decided to be as honest as he could. “My dad kicked me out of the house last night. No, it’s not something I want to talk about but he did leave me a parting gift. I was withdrawing cash from my accounts before he cancels them.”

“I’m Jesse Owens. I own the MMA dojo down the street. You’re just a kid, Kelley Alexander, the kid of a very, very rich hotel owner.”

“I doubt my father would agree with you. I’m no son of his, in his own words.”

Jesse took Kelley's driver's lisence from his pocket and placed it down on the table in front of him. “Then I won’t say sorry for saying that he’s the biggest asshole to ever rule this town.”

He had wondered how Jesse knew his name and he returned his gaze to Jesse. “I found out some things last night, it didn’t end well for me.”

“So now you’re a homeless orphan?” Jesse gave him a half smile.

“I guess I am. I have a year of high school left although I was told I can’t go back to my old school.” Kelley sighed as Jesse leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Public school’s free. Motel down on Pickings Road is not too bad, cheap too. You can get away with a grand a month, get yourself an after school job. Figure out a plan to get your revenge, take your time with it too, the best plans are hatched over time.”

Kelley looked intently at Jesse, the man that had saved him and stitched up his face, the man that had brought him home and fed him. That same man that was now giving him advice that would change his future and set him on the road of revenge.

"I have time," Kelley said and Jesse smiled at him. It felt like he had made a friend, a friend that would forever have his back.

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