Family

They entered the Library in silence.

Wren went in search of a new book to read as Talon stared out the window, not sure why he was there. Talon thought about her comment as he looked out at the darkening sky.

“I guess…”

Wren started when Talon began to speak. She had not thought he would answer her question.

“I am looking for a home, family, and someone to love and love me as I am,” he said.

Wren stayed silent.

~Is he done, or is there more?~

“Before coming here, I was part of an underground fighting circuit.”

“How did you end up there?” Wren could see it. He was comfortable fighting, and she had suspected that he had done so previously.

“As I became known in the circuit, I was taken in by a mob boss as a…protector, you could say. He gave a command. I followed the command.”

Talon still remembered the night he had met King.

^SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER^

~“There he is, the talk of the town.”~

~Talon came face to face with a man with a nasty scar running down his face, two goons flanking him in three-piece suits.~

~It took only a few seconds for Talon to size them up and dismiss them as a threat. “Seems you have quite the reputation,” the man continued.~

~“Not interested.”~

~Talon may have only been sixteen at the time, but he had lived on these streets for the last three years.~

~He knew a sales pitch was coming. It would go along the lines of: Come, fight for me, and I will make you rich. You will become the most powerful person in the underbelly of this town if you stick with me.~

~“Thanks, but no thanks. I am good on my own.” Talon moved around the men, keeping a close eye on their movements.~

~“That must be hard,” the man commented, and Talon paused, curious as to what he meant by that. “Going through life alone is hard.”~

~That caught Talon’s attention, and he turned to face the man squarely. This was a new approach.~

~Talon shrugged. “Been on my own my whole life. Used to it.”~

~“Would you like to join my family?”~

~“Who are you?” Talon asked, suspicious of a man who would just ask him to join his family.~

~“The name’s King. I am a collector of family members.” King put out his hand to shake Talon’s. “I know what it is like to be all alone in this world, so I make it my mission to find others like me. Motivated, strong, alone, and together, we have created a family and a place where we can belong without changing who we are. I would like to offer you a spot in that family.” King gave him a smile, his hand still extended. “If you would like it.”~

~Talon had jumped at the chance without even asking what the catch was. He had been a naive fool, and King had taken advantage of it.~

^PRESENT^

Talon thought back to the fighting and the fear that had followed him wherever he had gone. Once he had joined the family, he had quickly been pulled into a life that he could not extract himself from easily.

“The mob boss… He promised me a home and family if I would swear my loyalty to him, and I agreed. In the end, though, it was every man for himself.”

“How did you get out?”

Talon let out a humorless laugh. “What do you mean, get out? Once you’re in, you leave by death’s hand.”

“Ouch.” Wren wondered how he had gotten away.

~Seems you are not ready for that conversation.~

“What about growing up? What happened to your family?”

“I was left on an orphanage doorstep. Once I became old enough to take care of myself, I took off and never looked back.”

“There were too many mouths to feed there already, so one less made the sisters’ job easier.”

Wren looked at the back of the man at the window. She could not imagine the loneliness that had to have followed him through life.

It made sense that home, family, and love of another were what he was looking for. It also seemed he could not see that he already had what he was looking for here.

Someone should inform him of that, and since she was the only one here…

“It seems to me that you already have two out of the three,” Wren replied softly.

“What?” Talon turned to look at her, not sure he had heard correctly.

“What is your definition of a home?” Wren asked, coming up next to him slowly, not wanting to spook him. He was like a deer ready to flee at the first thought of danger.

Talon looked back out the window. He did not move away from her approach, but he tensed up, wondering how close she was planning on coming.

He felt vulnerable right now and hoped he was not about to get destroyed by her.

“I guess…” he started, trying to distract himself. “Home is the place you think about when you travel and work to get back to at the end of the day.”

“Good.” Wren nodded. “What else is ‘home’?”

Talon continued, “It is the place where you let your hair down. Where you can act and dress any way you wish.”

“Where people who love you are waiting to share life’s special moments with you.”

“Seems to me you already have that. That is, if you would just stop and look around,” Wren commented.

She stood there and waited as Talon digested her comment.

“I never thought of this place as home, but it fits all my criteria. I cannot imagine what I would do if something happened to it.”

“Seems you need to change your thoughts about this place.” Wren moved a bit closer, moving around the couch to stand behind him.

“Which brings me to family.”

“What family?” Talon’s head swiveled to mark where she was standing before he returned his gaze to the beauty of the moon looming large in the night sky.

“Would this be home without the others?”

“Of course not,” Talon was quick to reply. “That does not make us a family.”

“Would you miss them if something happened? Would you fight to protect them?” Wren asked. Then she added the other part of what family meant to him.

“Think about this. Do they accept you as you are?”

Talon turned to stare at her. When had she become so smart?

“Talon?”

He took a deep breath. “I just… I have never had one, but I have imagined what it might be like.”

Wren took a few more steps closer to him. “Seems to me that you have spent so long imagining what a family and home would be like that you cannot see when you have it.”

“I… I have… I have a family?” Talon’s head was spinning at her words. Had he closed himself off so much that he was the problem?

“That is what I have always thought family to be, and you said it yourself. This place and the people that live here meet your requirements,” Wren agreed, coming up next to him and leaning against the other side of the window.

She looked out, holding her book to her chest.

“Do you have family?” Talon asked, suddenly wanting to know more about her past. She now knew his.

“Yes, but we are not close.” Wren gave him a sad smile.

“Though I have a ‘family,’ I think I grew up just as alone as you did.”

“How can you have a family and not have a family?”

“I grew up in a home where I never could do the right thing, look the right way, be the right person.”

“Even when I left home, it did not get better. They did not care for what I chose to do with my life.”

“Do you still speak with them?”

“No.” Wren shook her head to emphasize her point.

“I… I found myself in a situation where I begged for their help. Instead of their support, I received their criticism.” It was Wren’s turn to reminisce.

^SEVERAL YEARS AGO^

~“Hello.”~

~“Hi, Mom.” Wren felt the cut on her lip begin to seep again, but there was no help for it at the moment. She dabbed the blood with the edge of her sleeve as she continued to look out the window.~

~“Wren. What do you need?”~

~“Well, I have decided to leave Don.” Wren was not sure how her mother would respond to this announcement. She loved Don and doted on him.~

~“That is just ridiculous. Of course you are not leaving Don. Where would you go?”~

~“I was hoping I could come home.”~

~“Not a chance. You are not coming home.”~

~Wren felt the tears welling up, her left eye burning from the force of pushing the tears out of the slit that was her eye at the moment.~

~“Mom…”~

~“Do not ‘mom’ me. Go apologize to Don. I am sure that you created whatever mess you are in. He will put up with you, I am sure of it,” her mother said.~

~“Mom, I just got out of the hospital where he put me!” Wren protested.~

~“I am sure you deserved it. He is not willing to put up with your faults like we were,” her mother replied.~

~“Fine.” Wren had known calling her was a waste of energy and breath, but she had hoped that there was a little motherly love left in her to help her daughter out this one time.~

~“I will figure out a place to stay. Is there any chance I could borrow a couple of hundred off of you until I get paid again? I do not have access to any money at the moment.”~

~“I am saying this for your own good.” Wren’s mother’s voice cut through the phone. “You made your bed, you will lie in it.”~