Chapter Text
A man, in a black and navy blue costume climbs up the side of the old oz corpse laboratory. He has gauntlets on both arms, using them to pull himself up the side of the building.
He gets to the top of the building, pulling a rope out of the side of his belt, tossing it into the broken down laboratory’s.
The criminal climbs down the rope, slowly but quietly, until he gets to the bottom. He turns on his headlights, looking around to find the safe, then walks towards it.
He uses his expert skills to open the safe, overriding the safe with one swift move. He opens it, revealing thousands of dollars and diamonds.
He places his duffel bag down,opening it. He grabs the money, pushing it into the bag. While doing this, a spider, with the number 42 dyed into its back, crawls it way into the bag.
The man with the black and navy blue costume then finishes putting the money into the bag. He zips it up, then leaves the building without leaving any trace of him being there behind.
“Oh Miles, I just know your going to get in.” My mom, Rio, says.
We have been trying to get into a special school for a while now and only three kids out of 700 are going to get in. I guess the school board has decided that the best course of action would be to do a drawing, like the ones you use for bingo games. The three they pick out of the ‘bingo game’ will be the only three to be able to go to this school. I have almost zero chances to get in.
“Why do we have to go to this thing Rio? I mean, having Miles get picked out of 700 other kids is nearly impossible.” My dad, Jefferson, states. Me and my Dad both know it’s almost not possible to be able to get in, but my mom still holds out hope.
“ Jefferson! Stop talking like that. I just know for sure my baby’s going to get in.” She says, leaning down so she can plant a big fat kiss on my forehead.
“Mom, stop it.”
“Miles, baby, no matter what happens today...this is not a reflection on you. This has nothing to do with you as a person”. Mom says, keeping her face eye level to mine.
“Yah, I know”, I lie.
We take are seating inside the big auditorium, being one of the last to enter. I look around at all the other kids and feel awful. Some of these kids look like there going to fall dead right then and there, I wish I could help them in some way.
The principal goes to the podium and starts talking about some random bull crap about how he wishes he could take everyone and that he feels awful about only being able to take three of us. I know he’s lying, I can tell. It is only when he starts doing the drawing that I start paying attention.
The whole room is silent as he rolls the ‘bingo’ machine, all eyes starring at the principal as he reads who got picked.
“Cody Hearn”, He reads, the sound of a kid starting to break down filling the eire silence.
“ Audrey Saks”. A cry, a kid bursting into tears as she hears her name being called.
The room now filled with anticipation as everyone wait for the next name to be called.
“And Miles Morales, thank you everyone for trying and...” the principles voice becomes background noise as I begin to sink in the information I just heard.
I got in. A one in a million chance and I got in.
I look over to where my parents are sitting, both with a astonished look on there faces. I got in.
I look to the side and see the other kids sitting beside me, faces buried beneath there hands as they flush up with tears.
But I got in...
I walk to my Uncle Arron’s after the ‘show’, to go and tell him the big news.
“ Uncle Arron, I’m here!” I yell, slipping off my shoes and jumping on to the worn down couch.
His apartment isn’t a nice one, but it’s comfortable. His TV is old, there’s stains on the egg white walls, and almost all the furniture in there has to be at least 10 years old. But it’s one of the few welcoming places left for me.
“There he is. There’s my man. How’ve you’ve been boy?” Arron ask, voice its usual raspiness.
“Good. Actually great. I got into that fancy school mom and dad wanted me to get into.” I say as nonchalantly as possible. I look at the ground, for some reason embarrassed about the whole thing.
“That’s—thats damn good news.” Arron exclaims, voice full of astonishment. He jumps down next to me on the couch, raping one of his arms around my head.
“I didn’t do anything, though. It was just a lottery.” I say, not wanting to make a big deal about winning the ‘lottery.
“You play your cards right, you make your own way. Your dad and me didn’t have a chance in that school we went to.”
“You did okay,” I tell him, making sure he knows he did turn up as a screw up like he may think.
“We has to fight. Boys and girls shouldn’t have to fight the way we had to. You shouldn’t have to see half the stuff we did. You—you learn. You study. And you make the world the way you want it to be, not the way it is.”
Arron states, voice lowering an octave as he spoke. He almost never talks about when he and dad were kids, but I guess they just had a hard life or something. The room then falls into awkward silence, that begins to pull us deeper until Arron speaks again.
“Now, how about I go grab some popsicles to celebrate.” With that said, Arron then gets up and moves into the kitchen where the popsicles are.
I feel a slight tingling on my right hand but put it off as nothing, until I feel a sharp stabbing pain in it.
“Aghhhhhhhhh!” I screech, standing up abruptly and pulling my hand in front of my face. It looks as though a spider had bitten me, a huge one, black one with the number 42 dyed green on to its back.
“What the—-?!!”
I fall over, crashing over the coffee table and on to my back. I feel my mouth begin to swell up, feeling foam beginning to fall out. My body writhers in pain as it fights off the venom that was just put into my system.
I hear my Uncle calling my name, spurting out curse words from right and left. Everything gets blurry before the welcoming darkness takes over and I go unconscious.
The first thing I notice is the lights, how bright they were, how they were burning my eyes. Then I hear my Uncle Arron, and him cursing to himself over to the side, wondering what to do.
A moan leaves my mouth as I begin to sit up, pulling my injured hand up as well to cover my eyes from the blinding light. When did it become so bright?
“ Miles! Oh my god are you ok. I wasn’t sure what to do—oh my god are you ok—“
“ Yah, Arron, I’m fine. I’m fine”. I cut in, not letting him go on for too long.
“Oh good! I was scared I was going to have to—“
Arron was then cut short by my dad bursting through the front door, his face a mixture of hate, anger and nothing more.
“Arron you son of a b****! I told you to stay away from my kid!” Dad yells, hands balled up into fist as he faces them directly at Uncle Arron, cornering him.
I know I have to do something, not let Uncle Arron take the blame for this one again, so I walk up to my dad, putting my hands on his trying to lower the fist.
“Dad, stop he didn’t do anything—“
“You shut up and wait outside for me, we are going to have a talk mister.” Dad states, giving me one of his crazy eyes.
“ Go on kid, don’t want to disobey your father now.” Arron says, starting directly into dads eyes.
I give Uncle Arron a apology look then walk outside the door. I don’t wait outside the complex, wanting to hear what is said between the two.
“I told you Arron to stay away from my kid! I’m not going to have you screw him up like you do to everything else in your life!” Dad states, his anger just building up.
“ I told you I don’t want Miles getting into that stuff either, but you have to let him be free. If he wants to see his good old Uncle Arron let him do so. He comes over here cause he wants someone to talk to. I think you should be less worried about me, and more worried and your relationship with your son”. Arron then says, calm and relaxed just like everything else he says.
I can feel the tension in the room drop and I know it is my time to leave. Though right before I leave, I hear five more words spoken.
“Stay away from my kid” then a door slam.