Dead Ringer

Chapter 3: Family

         “You look like hell, dude.”

         “Can I get extra vodka in that? Thanks.” Keon pushed his glass towards his friend Lucky, annoyed.

         Lucky rolled his eyes, but did as ordered.

         “What? I’m just sayin’.” His tongue was wiggling his lip piercing back and forth. The lights from above shined on them, blinding Keon.

         “Anyway, what happened? I told you to stay away from that part of town. That Coon punk has been asking around about you.” His friend’s hands made his beverage, and he watched mesmerized as he poured the alcohol into his once empty cup with a finesse of a seasoned bartender.

         Lucky pushed the cup towards him. “Are you even listening?”

         Keon held in a sigh. “I don’t know why he’s after me. I have nothing to offer him.”

         Lucky side-eyed him, tone disbelieving. “Most likely, they will elect your master on the board soon.”

         “He has nothing to do with this.” Keon took a sip of his drink, face squinting at the bitter taste. “What the hell did you put in this?”

         Lucky tried to hold in a laugh. “That’s what you get for trying to act tough.”

         “Shut up.”

It was only a moment before Lucky’s earlier words hit him. “How does Coon know he’s a candidate for the board?”

         “His master is an influential guy himself. I thought you didn’t care about that stuff?”

         Keon scoffed. “I don’t.”

         The door to the bar burst open at that second, the bell attached to it jingling with a loud voice accompanying it. Before Keon could even turn his head to see who it was, someone had wrapped their arms around him, warmth enveloping his being. Thin arms squeezed him hard as a gentle hello caressed his ear.

         It was obvious who it was.

         “Blue.” Keon’s tone was low.

         She spun his chair around and offered him a big toothless smile.

         “That’s me! So, where have you been? Every time I come here, you’re conveniently missing.” Her eyes narrowed. “I always get stuck with these two guys instead.” She tilted her head in Lucky and Snap’s direction as if to point them out, but Lucky was paying attention for once and started arguing with her. An argument was not far when they got together.

         Keon ignored them and turn to Snap, the quiet one of the group that had followed in behind Blue. Keon signed hello with his hands in greeting. Snap had been deaf as long as he had known him, although he had heard he wasn’t born that way.

         Snap gave a small nod in acknowledgment and signed hello back, eyes crinkling up to show the slight smile adorning his lips.

         An obnoxious laugh from his best friend brought his attention back to the others, eyes finding Lucky messing up his sloppy blonde hair.

         Although Lucky didn’t look it, he was the leader of one of the many gangs in their city. The bar they currently occupied was his base of operations. With a clone’s tracker removed, there was a place for them in Lucky’s gang. Since the clones themselves could not own any property, Lucky’s master co-owned a construction company and was its project manager, so he paid for the bar. Keon figured he had to be laid back enough to allow Lucky to do whatever he wanted. It was an unusual relationship between master and clone, yet it wasn’t Keon’s place to question it.

         Keon knew from a young age that the oppressed had to fight. The clones were nothing, just a household item no different from a pet. The humans were to take care of it, feed it, clothe it, and provide a roof over its head. They were nothing more than things to be used and thrown away.

         Life of a clone was different for them, the opposite of cut and dry. It forced them into a limited number of jobs, unable to go for higher education with the strict laws in place, holding them hostage in invisible chains. They were not allowed to become more valuable than a human life.

         Keon didn’t like to get involved. Whether to not cause trouble for the guy taking care of him, or because he didn’t think it would make a difference, anyway. What could one person, one group of people, really change?

         “What happened to your face?” Blue asked. Her hands cupped his cheeks.

         “It’s nothing,” Keon mumbled, thoughts still jumbled as he pulled her hands away. His eyes caught the discoloration around her wrists, blues and purples mixed around it. For a moment, anger flared up, his heart racing at the thoughts in his head. There was no point in those feelings. He couldn’t help her, and he had no power to change anything.

         “I’m fine, really.” He put his hands over hers. She gave him a skeptical look, eyebrows drawn in concern.

         “Guys, drinks on me!” Lucky said. He yelled from the other side of the bar.

         She must have let it go last minute, smile returning. “Alright! C’mon, Keon. Let’s go.”

         He downed part of his now-warm drink, wincing as the liquid made its way down.

         No matter how s***ty the world, life moved on.