So Kay had his sights set on Riverdale, a southern neighbourhood across the Don. That’s where he would find the shadow guy. Apparently, people were hanging around that place, hoping to get their sights on the shadow man but Kay had the advantage of being able to transform into a six-foot tall water goon and had a better view of the neighbourhood. The chances of him catching a glimpse of the umbral lord was a lot higher.

  After school, he dropped by Philly’s place off of King St to give the good news.

  “Down in Riverdale, huh?” said Philly, strutting his foxy paws around the alleyway floor. “That’s something, at least!”

  “Yeah!” said Kay, an enthusiastic smile on his face.

  The alleyway was quiet and empty as usual. Kay hadn’t seen another human enter that place since he first started talking to Philly the fox.

  Philly gave an uncomfortable look. “You sure you want to track down the shadow man, slick? He’s the guy who whupped you last.”

  Kay’s smile dropped. “Gee... Thanks for reminding me!” Philly had a good point, though. Kay put his hands in his pockets and waddled his head. “Uh... well, maybe if I approach him peacefully he will be willing to hear me out– if I take the initiative.”

  The fox hummed, uncertain. “That might happen.” Philly said it but he wasn’t confident about it. His ears flicked and fox folded a flat grin. “How about this? I’ll hang around the spot and see if this here little vulpine can’t scope out the shadow man. Or any other fella that looks gang-related.” He grunted out a laugh. “It’s happened before!”

  Kay thought about it. He was frustrating himself by checking around neighbourhoods for the last couple days and he was up for handing off the job to someone else. Especially someone who had more free time. He knocked his head. “I mean, if you want.”

  “They’re looking for you,” said Philly, stepping up to Kay’s feet. “They’re not looking for me. I’ll have an easier time keeping my eyes about being that I don’t need to watch my tail!” And then Philly gave a good couple wags of his brushy tail.

  “I don’t want to stop searching,” said Kay. “I have to help. If I have free time I might as well look for things.” Kay grinned. “It gives me a reason to be the water elemental anyway.”

  Philly lowered a resigned grin. “Alright... You don’t want to put away the costume for a little while. I get it.” The fox gave a sly smile. “On that note, what are you planning on doing for Hallowe’en tomorrow?”

  “I dunno,” said Kay, looking puzzled. “I... wasn’t planning on anything. I don’t do Hallowe’en anymore.” A thought crossed his mind and he giggled. “I think I’ll take tomorrow off. It’s Hallowe’en and it’s going to be chaos.”

  Philly nodded sagely. “Might be hard to find any suspicious-looking characters when everyone looks a character.”

  Kay breathed in and stretched back to crack his back. “How about today, though? Do you think we could find someone today? Someone who’s part of the gang?”

  Philly smiled. “We could try!”

  The fox went back into his home to fetch the backpack. They would have their first sortie in Riverdale soon enough.

  A beautiful blue sky hung above Ghost Thing and Philly. They weren’t having much luck seeing any shadow man or any other suspicious person as they hopped across rooftops of South Riverdale. From houses to sheds to buildings packed with stores, Ghost Thing ran the ground. He kept away from the hydro plant, though. Seeing all those coils gave him the willies.

  If he was high enough above the ground and the view was unobstructed, he could see Leslieville off the distance. To think, he was checking out that part of town just the other day. Who would have thought that the probable hole for the gang was so close after all?

  Well, Ghost Thing got lucky anyway. In one way, at least. Sitara pointed at South Riverdale but for the time that Ghost Thing and Philly had spent there, the shadow man wasn’t showing up. The two parked themselves on top of a graphic design studio. Could a gang be located in the area? It looked peaceful with several film studios in view. In the distance, the two could see the Unilever factory. There was a lot of see. Houses, stores, warehouses and factories. It was a nice spot.

  Philly popped out of the backpack to stretch his legs. He took a breath in; they were close enough to the water to get a nose full of lake air.

  “You know...” said Philly, “there’s a good chance that this gang’s going to leave you alone in the long run. Doesn’t matter if you talk to them or not.”

  “You think so?” said Ghost Thing. He was laid out across the floor of the rooftop. Scrunching up his knees to his chest was getting old so he tried out a new relaxation pose: having one knee close to his face and the other leg extended out.

  “They have one of their own in the newspapers with ya,” said Philly. “They probably don’t want that. They don’t desire that attention! And it’ll happen again if they keep attacking you.”

  “Unless they wipe me out next time,” said Ghost, sinking his chin into an arm on his knee.

  Philly drooped his ears, offering a sympathetic look. “Ehhh... Don’t think like that.”

  Ghost Thing sat there, thinking. “You know... if I ever left Toronto and went to some other place, ‘Ghost Thing’ would follow with me. People would make the connection between me and the sudden appearance of Ghost Thing.” He let out a chuckle. A single chuckle– joyless and defeated. “Unless I stopped being the water elemental.”

  That wasn’t a weird thing to think about. It was appropriate that Ghost Thing was thinking of the future, but to Philly’s perspective, all Ghost was doing was hurting himself with those thoughts. “Were you planning on moving anywhere?” asked Philly.

  “No,” said Ghost Thing. There was a silence. Ghost filled it. “Did I ever tell you I had the chance to move to Lithuania with my dad?”

  Philly shook his head, ears flopping around. “No.” He chuckled. “Who knows– if you had, Lithuania would have Ghost Thing instead of Toronto. Or whatever they might call it in Lithuania. What language do they speak in Lithuania?”

  Ghost smirked. “Lithuanian.” He dropped his eyes to a stone on the building. Ghost picked it up and tossed it aside. “What if what made me–” Ghost Thing gestured at himself– “this; what if it was from Toronto?”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “That it could be,” said Philly. “Why bring it up, though?”

  “I guess...” He tightened up his knees, “I can’t stay here forever. I mean, I could, but I don’t want to. Or... I mean I probably don’t want to.” He turned to Philly with sorrowed eyes. “Everyone moves on, right?”

  “Was there anywhere you wanted to go?” asked Philly.

  Ghost Thing giggled. “Nowhere. I mean, I don’t want to stay here but I don’t want to go anywhere either.” He looked off into the horizon. “Soon I’ll be done school. Where will I go for college? Will I go to college?” He dropped his head. “I have no idea.”

  Philly walked up and placed a gentle paw on Ghost Thing’s leg. It was weird feeling Ghost’s clothes because they were solid, but made of water technically. There was a “flow” to feeling them. It was no time to get lost in the sensation of prodding a water being. The vulpine looked up at Ghost and offered a comforting smile. “Don’t worry that far ahead. You’ll figure something out.” He lowered himself from Ghost’s leg. “You seem preoccupied with the future and past lately.”

  Ghost blew air. Just thinking about how nothing lasts forever.

  So a few hours of scouting South Riverdale didn’t unfold much. If it wasn’t Queen St or Carlaw Avenue then there wasn’t a lot of people to see. Ghost Thing gave it a few hours but he and the fox couldn’t find anything, not even a kid to save from bullies, so they headed home. Ghost Thing dropped Philly off at the office building before returning to Little Italy.

  Just past eight, Mom was just getting ready to put supper away when Kay walked through the door. Kay took the food he wanted– tonight’s meal was souvlaki and fries– and put the rest away leaving Mom to go to the couch to join Urban in watching TV. Rotating the skewer between his fingers, Kay asked: “Are these okay for the microwave?”

  “Yeah, they should be alright,” replied Mom, sitting down.

  Kay put the plate in the microwave and hit a minute and half on the time, expecting it to not be hot enough but worried he would overcook it if he put it at two minutes. He walked down the table to get a better angle on the television to see what Mom and Urban was watching. Looked like Survivor.

  Kay caught himself having a thought about if he could survive on a tropical island with his water powers but thinking things like that around family was like having dirty thoughts around them: it was weird. He stilled his mind.

  The aroma from the souvlaki hit Kay’s nose. The oregano smell was strong and it smoked Kay’s nose with a menthol sting.

  “So what were you up to out there?” asked Mom, her voice tinged with interrogation.

  “I was just hanging out,” said Kay. The microwave dinged so he took out the plate, felt the food wasn’t quite hot enough, so he plucked it back in for an extra half-minute.

  “Just hanging out?” asked Mom. “With friends?”

  “Yeah,” said Kay. He felt attacked so he got defensive. “I’m not doing anything wrong. I thought if I got good grades I could be out late.”

  Mom and Urban shared a look. Kay was being catty.

  “I can’t be curious on what my son does after school?” queried Mom.

  The microwave dinged again. Kay touched the plate and it stung his fingers, so the food was evidently hot enough. He took it out and let it sit on the counter for a few seconds beside a big plastic bowl with a big bag of assorted candy inside. That must have been for Hallowe’en tomorrow.

  He stared at the fries. They looked unseasoned.

  “What’s up with the fries?” asked Kay.

  Mom looked over at Kay. “What do you mean?”

  “They’re... plain,” said Kay.

  “They’re just bag fries,” said Mom, turning her head back to the TV. “I didn’t have time to make Greek fries today.”

  Kay blew on the top of a souvlaki skewer and then took a bite. The meat (which it took a few seconds in his mouth for him to realize the meat was pork, not chicken) was very herbal. It went easier down his throat then up his nose; the herbal taste wasn’t as pronounced. Kay didn’t like to admit it but he recognized Urban as being a good cook.

  “These kebabs are good,” said Kay, talking with food in his mouth. He swallowed. “Even if there’s a lot of herbs on them.”

  Urban was a teensy bit annoyed by the inaccurate classification. “They’re not kebabs. They’re souvlaki. Souvlaki skewers. There’s a difference! Your mom marinaded the meat over night.”

  “Mom made these?” asked Kay before biting a piece of meat off the skewer. “Does that make it souvlaki then? If she doesn’t have Greek heritage?”

  Urban was dinged by the sentiment. Mom was unsure where Kay was going with that statement. “What do you mean by that, Mick?”

  Urban chuckled in a way that was to hide insult or discomfort. “You don’t need to be Greek to make Greek food. When’s that ever been a thing?”

  Kay wasn’t catching for what he was fishing for. Mom made the souvlaki? There was already a Greek guy in the family to make Greek food. Why did a non-Greek person have to get in on it? Defiantly, Kay said to his mom, “How come you don’t make cabbage rolls anymore? You used to make them all the time.”

  What was this about? Mom said, “I make them.”

  No, she didn’t. Kay said, “You haven’t made them in years. Are they Lithuanian? Did dad take away the rights to make them when he left?”

  Mom pivoted herself towards Kay so she could glare at him easier. “Kay... Do you want to explain what’s the matter?”

  Urban thought Stevie had the situation under control but Kay was being so disrespectful that the man had to speak up. “Kay, if you want to have cabbage rolls for dinner you can offer to make them yourself. They’re a lot of work.”

  Kay gestured his hands out. “All supper is a lot of work. What difference does it make if its cabbage rolls or lasagne or whatever?”

  He thought he was making a good point. All cooking required effort. If someone could make Dish A why wouldn’t they make Dish B? It was better than making the same Greek food again and again.

  Urban kept his face straight groaned. Mom sighed. “Don’t tell me what takes work or not.” She gestured at the souvlaki on Kay’s plate. “Do you want me to take away your supper?”

  “No,” strained Kay. He grumbled. “I just–” He struck his arms down. “I just wanted to suggest some... supper ideas! Geez!”

  Kay took his plate and walked to his room before his Mom took away his food. Mom sighed and flipped back forward on the couch.

  Looking over at Urban, who grinned sympathetically, she sighed and accepted Urban’s hand rubbing her back. She shook her head and said, “I don’t know what’s going on with him. I think he just misses his dad.”

  Urban chuckled. “Yeah...”

  Stevie offered a resigned giggle and turned her attention back to the television.

  Inside his bedroom, Kay put his plate down on his bed when he realized he forgot the ketchup for the fries. He really didn’t want to go back out there so he would have to dish up his fries dry. The computer went on. Kay sat in his chair while Windows loaded up and he took his eyes outside. The city had gone dark, lights from windows twinkling through the night.

  As he sat there, staring out into space, he wondered about the people behind those glowing stamps. What kind of lives did they lead? They couldn’t possibly have had lives more complicated than Kay’s. At least, he thought so. He wondered what they were like, though. Were they happy? Were they lonely? Did kids love their parents? Were spouses cheating on other partners?

  Kay leaned his head up against his desk and sighed. Sometimes he fantasized that the reason why his parents split years ago is because one of them was cheating on the other. Nobody needed to explain to him that it was a disgusting fantasy, but he hated how unceremonious his parents splitting up was like. Imagining some sort of affair brought some plot to his parents’ split that made it seem meaningful instead of the reality that Kay’s father missed his home country and he wanted to return.

  God, did life change when Urban moved in. Mom stopped hanging around her old friends, most of the food they ate was Greek, and tiny little rhythms changed around the house. Switching one life out for another. It wasn’t the same place anymore.

  Wasn’t it just earlier that day that Kay got to vent about when his parents got divorced and his dad left the country? Kay felt brief feelings when he was chatting with his classmates, but that disappointment and anger... it couldn’t have been real, could it? It was five years ago, now. Kay was well over his father leaving and his parents splitting. He was a child back then.

  Five years, Kay told himself. I was a kid then, I’m an adult now, pretty much.

  But it didn’t matter. The burn of betrayal still quaked in his heart.

  A sting hit Kay’s eyes and water simmered on an eyelash.

  His desktop loaded up; it was time to distract himself. After grabbing his supper from his bed, he cycled through his webcomic bookmarks and got caught up while he chewed on some pork and fries. A tear rode down his cheek, but just one.