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Chapter Six

By

Furry Sith Lord

I could feel Shinto tightly grip my hand as we walked over to Baron. I could not blame him because knowing his reputation did not make it any easier for me either. Baron saw us approach and he crossed his arms across his chest. I understood his meaning that he was not going to put up with any nonsense.

We continued on because I wanted this to be a learning experience for Shinto. He needed to learn how to interact with boys his own age because soon he was going to have to go to regular school. He was going to have to learn that there are some good boys and some that are bad. I just hoped Baron wasn’t going to be too mean to him.

“What do you two want?” Baron said gruffly. He seemed to be ignoring me and focused on Shinto who was staring at him.

“Your name is Baron, right?” I asked patiently.

“Yeah, what of it?”

“This is my younger foster brother Shinto,” I explained.

“Shinto.” Shinto said repeating his name and Baron gave him a strange look.

“He was found abandoned in the woods for years it seems. Raised by wolves and all that. My mother adopted him and we’ve been trying to teach him what it’s like to be human. He doesn’t talk well but he’s trying and learning.

He saw you and was interested because you’re roughly his age. I think he’s wondering what you are like. So I brought him over to introduce him. He doesn’t have friends and I don’t expect you to be one but just be nice because he doesn’t know better…yet.” I said.

“So he’s stupid?”

“No, not stupid, but he’s never been to school so I’m trying to help him catch up.” I said but Baron still ignored me and Shinto hid himself behind me but stuck his head out to continue to watch Baron. He was scared but too curious at the same time.

“Sometimes I wish I never had to go to school.” He said then he stuck his hand out towards Shinto. “Baron.” He said his name and I knelt on the ground and showed Shinto how to hold his hand out. Baron grabbed it and shook it and smiled which made Shinto smile.

“Tell him your name.” I instructed Shinto.

“Shinto.” my brother repeated. He watched with curiosity as Baron shook his hand and when Baron released it he stuck out his hand to me and repeated his name.

“Shion.” I said as I shook his hand and I saw his expression that he understood the meaning.

“He catches on quick. How tough is he?” Baron asked.

“That’s a good question, I never thought about it before.” I replied.

“Does he know how to arm wrestle?”

“No, but he’ll pick it up in a minute. Arm wrestle me and please go easy on me, I’m an old man. We just want him to get the idea so he knows what to do.” I said and we found a spot where we could do it. We clasped hands then I shouted.

“1…2…3…GO!” And we both applied pressure and I seemed to be holding my own but I knew I wasn’t physically strong so I guessed that Baron was going easy on me. I was slowly lowering his arm to the ground but when we got close he locked his arm and I couldn’t budge it. I briefly glanced over at my brother and saw the worried expression on his face as he saw Baron was pushing back and the lead that I had I was losing.

Baron then winked at me and all of a sudden his arm went limp and I was given the victory. It took Shinto a moment then he realized that I had won. He got really excited and I heard Baron mutter to me.

“Couldn’t let him think his brother is a weakling, now could I?”

“Thanks.” I replied. “Shinto, your turn.” I said and got up then had him site and I placed his arm on the table. He and Baron clasped hands and they waited for me.

“1…2…3…GO!” I shouted and Baron began to press with what seemed like his full force but Shinto’s arm never moved; he just seemed to have it locked in place. Baron looked like he was struggling then I saw an evil grin appear on my brother’s face. I saw Baron flinch as he saw it too.

“What the?” Baron cried as Shinto began to use his strength and easily pushed Baron’s arm to the ground no matter how much he tried to stop him.

“Arm Wrestle.” Shinto said in triumph. We both stared in wonder at him trying to figure out how he knew about this.

“Maybe one of the kids at the orphanage taught him how to do it.” I remarked.

“Damn, you one tough little guy.” Baron said and Shinto took Baron’s hand and put it on top of his head. Baron looked at me wondering what he was doing.

“Oh, well he was raised by wolves, we think, and he likes it when I do that. I’ve been trying to break him of the habit but I guess I haven’t succeeded yet.” Baron began to pet Shinto making my brother happy.

“It’s probably something else the orphanage taught him. Good boy Shinto.” He said as my brother smiled.

“OK Shinto, we gotta get going,” I said but Baron stuck out his arm to stop me.

“Hold on, he and I just became friends. You can’t go yet when the score is 0-1 his lead. Let’s see what else he can do.” Baron said and I sat nearby as Baron explained how to play different sports before he challenged him. Baron first got a tennis ball and they tried playing catch. This led to stickball and Baron pulled off his shirt as sweat dripped from his face.

“Shower.” Shinto said.

“No Shinto, Baron is warm and wants to cool off.” I explained.

“Sorry Baron. He's used to seeing boys undress before they take a shower. I don’t think he had any friends at the orphanage and they never bothered to teach him anything.” I explained.

“Well then we have a lot to teach him then.” Baron said and he stepped up to Shinto and removed his shirt. He then blew some air against his chest and gave him back his shirt.

“See, it feels good.” Baron explained as he used his own shirt to wipe the sweat from his face. I watched as they went back to playing but instead of focussing on my brother I was more interested in Baron. It seems he volunteered himself to help Teach Shinto and that really surprised me. I would never have expected that out of someone like him.

As this went on I noticed that Shinto had begun sweating and he used his shirt to wipe away the sweat. I had been left in charge of watching their shirts while they continued to play. I saw the sun begin to set and knew we had to go.

“Alright guys, time to call it a day.” I said as they both stopped and leaned forward breathing heavily.

“So you’ll be back here tomorrow, right? I still have things to show him.” Baron asked.

“I have some lessons to go over with him in the morning but after lunch we can meet here.” I replied and Baron nodded.

When we arrived home I saw Fen Ju sitting at the front steps waiting. I groaned to myself because I had hoped to avoid her as much as possible but now I was going to have to be careful about how to explain why we are late returning.

“Looks like someone had fun today.” She said as she watched Shinto standing next to me still holding his shirt in his hand.

“Baron, friend.” he said and she smiled then turned to look at me.

“He made a friend while we went for a walk. The two of them were playing and we lost track of the time.” I explained and she gave Shinto a big hug.

“I’m so proud of you.” She said and the jealousy returned. I don’t know why her praising him bothered me but it did. I guessed since she never said anything like that to me it would explain things.

“Since I have you here, there is something I want to talk to you about.”

“Oh?” She replied. “Shinto why don’t you go wash up because you are one stinky boy.” She said and he turned to look at me.

“Shinto, shower.” He shook his head and went off in the direction of the bathroom. I had trained him enough to know that he understood what to do. He was going to get clean clothes then wash himself in the bathroom and put the used clothing in a hamper.

“What do you need?” She asked and I sighed trying to not let that comment bother me.

“Jennifer wants to meet Shinto, for some reason, and we were thinking that it might be a nice idea to have a sleep over at my place.” I said.

“I dunno if that’s a good idea.” She replied.

“We need to expose him to others because he’s gonna have to learn how to socialize. He learned quite a bit today being with a kid his own age. You didn’t see how happy he was… And, his friend wants to play with him again tomorrow. You shouldn’t deny him that.” I insisted.

“This boy, is that the trouble maker named Baron?” She asked harshly.

“Yes, you should have seen them together. Baron was teaching Shinto how to play sports and if you saw them, you’d never know that Baron was a troublemaker. Maybe all he needed was the right friend.”

“I will think about it.” She said coldly and had the feeling she was not listening to me.

“Then come with us tomorrow, seeing them together will show you the need for him to find friends his own age. If you love him, then you will.” I said and she swiftly rose and slapped me across my face. I stumbled backward and held my cheek as I was trying to calm myself. I had no idea what I had said that brought this on.

“I hear a few of my friends may have found you a job. You won’t be needed for much longer so I wouldn’t worry about your brother. He will have to learn to be apart from you, eventually.” she said.

“I see. Well, that is good news to hear. Wish I had known sooner that I could get away by doing this. Since you talk to Jennifer all the time then perhaps you can explain why her idea of a sleepover is out of the question. I don’t want her thinking I’m lying.” I turned and walked away.

To Be Continued…