Growing up in Missouri is rough. The sky is always black with the purple hue of Violet City shining over the stars. It is here that poor little Adrian wandered the streets all alone. His bruised little feet had dried blood on them from the sores he got while walking over the rocky roads.
His belly rumbled loudly. The pain of hunger was the only thing he could clearly focus on. It had been days since he last had food, even then they were scraps from a garbage bin. The once proud boy has become a shadow of his former self.
He wandered from building to building looking for any traces of food in the trash. He tried so hard to be quiet because if he was caught the grown ups would chase him away. He missed having adults in his life who loved him and treated him well. Since his parents were gone life had been a neverending struggle.
His mother and father had once provided a safe home for him with so much food his little body became so round. Looking up at the purple haze in the sky he remembered his nice comfy bed, playing in the park, fine banquets....
Adrian was the son of prominent business associates of the CEO. They had a pent house not too far from Mr. Saline's big house. Adrian remembered sitting on the man's lap while he told stories of how he conquered the world. Adrian lived for those stories and so did his mom. He could see how much his mommy liked it when Jasin played with him during their visits. His dad never played. He was too busy working.
Adrian's mother worked directly as Mr. Saline's secretary. This is why young Adrian saw so much of the man. Unfortunately, this drove a wedge between his dad and his mom. His dad used to be really good friends with the CEO but had become suspicious of him.
Adrian remembered his daddy saying, "If you see Mr. Saline kiss or touch mommy let me know right away." The boy was too young to really understand what his father was asking but about a week later he saw his mommy hug Mr.Saline. The child didn't know that his mom had just been promoted. He didn't understand they type of touches he is dad wanted him to report back to him. He didn't know how an innocent hug would ruin his life.
So when Adrian reported to his father that he saw Mom and Jasin together, he had no way of knowing how horrible his life would become. His father came into the office the next day and yelled at Mr.Saline and his mommy. Adrian didn't know why but soon security came in by the dozen and restrained his dad.
Adrian watched as his mom tried to defend and diffuse the situation but his friend, the CEO, slapped her across the face. Adrian watched as the man took her by the hair and bent her over his desk. He wasn't sure what the man was doing to his mommy while he was behind her but it looked scary, and his father tried to break free from the men's hold to get to his wife.
Adrian hid behind a couch. While there he could hear Mr.Saline screaming, "If you're going to accuse me of the crime I might as well do it." His mommy cried loudly and his dad was yelling something unintelligible.
Adrian covered his ears and cried until it was over. Big hands then yanked him out of hiding and he could see blood splattered over the bodies of his parents. "What do we do with the kid sir?" The man asked.
Jasin looked at Adrian and said, "Cut his neck and dump him with his parents. I'll be done with the whole family now." The man held Adrian with one hand while he used the other to reach down into his utility belt. He brandished a knife that looked really scary. Adrian struggled to get away until a red hot pain tore across his neck and then the blackness took him.
When he woke up he was on the ground outside the cities gates. His deceased mother and father lay beside him.
A woman was robbing the bodies when he came awake. The thief took pity on him and took him home to nurse the wound on his throat. "You're lucky the soldier wasn't vile like his master. He could have cut deeper and ended you but he did not." The old woman tended to Adrian for several weeks until one day she just didn't come back home.
He has been alone ever since. Tears welled in the child's eyes as his thoughts came back to the present. Hunger tore at his abdomen again. Curled up in a ball surrounded by trash he heard a little voice just like his own, "Do ya want some bread?"
The growl in his stomach now roaring, he sat up and looked to see who the voice belonged to. It was a very small boy. Even smaller than the emaciated Adrian. He held out bread with honey on it to Adrian. He ripped the bread out of the small hand and tore into it greedily.
The boy smiled back at Adrian. "I'm Tiny," he smiled and then added, "My mom has seen you picking through the trash a few times. She told me to offer you food and ask if you had a home." Tiny then added, "Here have some milk. I don't want you to choke. You're eating too quickly."
Adrian's mouth was too full to answer so grabbed the milk and used it to wash down the bread in his mouth. Once the food was down Adrian answered Tiny's question about his home, "I have a box nearby". Tiny smiled at him and said, "Come with me. My mom is very nice. We can help you out."
The woman who tended his wound happened to be Tiny's relative. His mother had been on a look out for the boy that was saved since the woman had passed away. She had shared the news of the boy she saved days before she was killed while trying to rob a fresh body the King had dumped.
Tiny's Mom never told Adrian how she knew his savior. She didn't want him to know what had happened to her. What she did do though was adopt Adrian, and she raised him alongside Tiny as brothers. Her kind heart is mirrored in the men she raised.
When they were teenagers Tiny helped a young woman who had fled the City. She had ran away from the slums. She was lovely and Tiny liked her a lot. After they dated for a few months Tiny asked Adrian to be the best man at their wedding.
After much discussion of Jasin's sins the three of them formed a rebellion. They had good reason for hating the CEO. Little did they know there was a traitor in their group. The rebellion was short lived. Saline's men tore through the group and slaughtered many of them, including Tiny's beloved wife.
After her death Adrian would have to drag Tiny out of bars to keep him from drowning in his sorrows. Only now is the shine back in Tiny's eyes. The idea of getting revenge is more intoxicating than any amount of alcohol he could drink.
The men stepped out of Tiny's home and began to walk to Adrian's place. Tiny was excited to meet the man Adrian spoke of. More than anything Tiny wants to see Jasin Saline bleed.