This is my original work. Please do not copy, repost, or share it on other platforms without permission. Thank you for respecting the work.
The generator coughed like it had something stuck in its throat.
A radio argued back from somewhere behind it. Not music. Just noise pretending to be music.
Kai stood between both sounds, nylon bag hooked around his fingers, watching a woman count change she didn't trust.
"Count am again," she said.
"I don count am," the boy replied, already counting again.
Coins dropped into his palm.
One.
Two.
Three...
Four landed before three settled.
Kai's eyes stayed there a second too long.
The boy closed his fist like everything was complete.
"Next!" the woman snapped.
Kai stepped forward.
His body followed.
A beat late.
He stopped.
Not obvious. Just enough to feel it.
Someone brushed his shoulder.
Kai turned.
"Guy..."
The person wasn't where the contact should have taken them.
Not gone.
Just… misplaced.
Kai's mouth opened, then closed. His fingers tightened around the nylon. The plastic stretched, thin, almost tearing...
Then snapped back.
Late.
He looked down at it.
Then up again.
A plastic bottle tipped off a table nearby.
Fell.
Hit the ground.
Nothing.
Then...
clack.
A man bent to pick it up, smooth like the fall had behaved itself.
Kai's jaw held.
He shifted his weight again. Left. Right.
The ground stayed where it should.
His body didn't quite meet it on time.
Someone laughed.
It cut off.
Then finished.
Kai dragged his tongue across his teeth, slow.
"Abeg shift," someone muttered behind him.
He moved.
Half a second after deciding to.
He didn't like that.
Didn't say it.
Just stood there, breathing like everything was fine.
"Kai."
He heard it.
Didn't turn.
"Kai."
Same voice.
Not the same.
Kai turned.
The man standing there wasn't looking around. Wasn't reacting to the noise, the argument, the heat pressing into everyone's skin.
Just him.
Still.
Like the rest of the street had been edited around him.
Kai held his gaze.
Didn't speak.
The man stepped closer.
Not careful.
Not slow.
Exact.
"You felt it."
Kai's lips parted.
Closed.
His eyes slid past the man...quick...checking.
Everything behind him still moved.
Still sounded.
Still… off.
"…felt what."
The man didn't blink.
"You paused," he said. "Twice."
Kai's shoulders shifted.
"People pause."
"Not like that."
A small silence sat between them.
Kai looked at him properly now.
Nothing about him dragged.
Nothing doubled.
Even his breathing… landed where it should.
Kai swallowed once.
"What do you want."
The man's head tilted, just enough to study him differently.
"You're new to it."
Kai almost smiled.
Didn't.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
The man didn't push.
Didn't argue.
Just watched him like he was waiting for something to line up.
Then...
"Don't stay here too long."
Kai's brows pulled slightly.
"Why."
The man glanced past him.
Brief.
Then back.
"Because it gets worse when you act like you don't see it."
Kai didn't turn.
Didn't follow the glance.
His grip on the nylon tightened again.
This time, it didn't snap back.
He noticed.
His eyes dropped.
Stayed there a second.
Then lifted.
The man was still watching him.
Quiet.
Too quiet for this place.
"What's your name," Kai said.
A pause.
Short.
"Sami."
The name landed clean.
No split.
No delay.
Kai repeated it under his breath.
Barely sound.
Sami's eyes shifted again.
Longer this time.
Kai followed it.
Didn't want to.
But did.
A man stood near the edge of the stall.
Not buying.
Not speaking.
Just there.
Watching.
Not directly.
But not hiding either.
Kai's eyes stayed on him.
The man adjusted his stance.
A second late.
Kai's chest pulled tight.
Not sharp.
Just enough.
He looked back at Sami.
Sami was already looking at him.
"Walk."
No rush in his voice.
But something under it didn't wait.
Kai didn't move.
"Who is that."
Sami didn't look back again.
"Not someone you should let watch you for long."
Kai's fingers loosened from the nylon.
Then tightened again.
He shifted his weight.
This time...
his body followed immediately.
Clean.
He noticed that too.
His eyes flicked to Sami.
Sami had already started moving.
Didn't check if Kai followed.
Didn't slow.
Kai stood there a second longer.
The man by the stall took a step.
Then corrected it.
Like he'd stepped twice and kept one.
Kai exhaled.
Low.
Then moved.
Fell in beside Sami.
Not close.
Not far.
Just enough.
The street pressed back into them.
Voices.
Engines.
Metal hitting metal.
All of it slightly out of place.
Kai glanced sideways.
Sami moved like nothing around him was broken.
"Does it stop?," Kai asked.
Sami didn't look at him.
"No."
Kai's jaw set.
"For you?"
A beat.
"I learned where not to stand."
Kai let out something that almost passed for a laugh.
Almost.
"And me?"
Sami looked at him then.
Brief.
Measured.
"That depends on how long you take to stop pretending."
Kai faced forward again.
A boy ran past them.
Fast.
Too fast.
For a second...
Kai saw him ahead of where he actually was.
Then the body caught up.
Kai slowed.
Not fully.
His hand lifted.
Didn't finish the movement.
"…you saw that."
Sami didn't answer immediately.
"You're starting to."
Kai's chest rose.
Held.
Dropped.
Behind them...
a sound snapped early.
Then repeated softer.
Kai didn't turn.
Didn't need to.
He could feel it now.
Closer.
Sami slowed slightly.
"Don't look back."
Kai's throat tightened.
He turned anyway.
Just a fraction.
The man was closer now.
Too close.
Standing still...
but not fully where he stood.
Like he couldn't agree with himself.
Kai faced forward again.
His steps matched the ground.
Perfect.
For now.
Sami's voice dropped.
"If he gets too close…"
Kai glanced at him.
Sami's eyes stayed ahead.
"…don't let him touch you."
Kai's fingers curled slowly.
"What happens if he does."
Sami didn't answer.
They kept moving.
The noise dragged behind itself.
Then caught up.
Then slipped again.
Kai swallowed.
His mouth dry now.
Behind them...
a footstep.
Then another.
Closer.
Kai didn't look back.
Didn't slow.
Didn't speak.
But something in his chest had started counting.
Not seconds.
Not distance.
Something else.
Sami's voice again.
Quieter.
"Stay close."
Kai didn't respond.
He stepped nearer anyway.
Not touching.
Just enough.
The air between them held.
Steady.
For a moment.
Then...
shifted.
Behind them...
another step.
Too close now.
Kai's breath caught.
Not fully.
Just enough.
Sami stopped.
Kai almost walked into him.
Didn't.
Sami turned.
Slow.
Precise.
The man behind them stopped too.
For a second...
he stood in two places.
Then chose one.
Sami's shoulders settled.
Not relaxed.
Just… ready.
Kai felt it before he understood it.
Something about to happen.
Something that wouldn't correct itself after.
Sami spoke without looking at him.
"If I say run..."
The man moved.
Not forward.
Closer.
Without crossing the space.
Kai's chest tightened.
Sami didn't finish the sentence.
Didn't need to.
Kai already knew.