DC: Crystalizing

Adrian sat cross-legged on the living room rug, his crayons spread across the floor in a messy rainbow. His little hand gripped a red crayon tightly as he focused on his masterpiece: a picture of his mom, dad, and himself standing in front of their apartment. He made sure to draw their apartment door exactly right—a crooked "4B" written in black marker above the peephole. His mom always said it made their door look cheap, but Adrian liked it because it was theirs.

"Adrian, don't sit so close to the TV. You'll ruin your eyes," his mom called from the kitchen. She sounded tired. She always sounded tired.

"It's not even on!" Adrian yelled back, his words tumbling over each other like they were in a race. It was true; the screen was black and dusty, reflecting his picture back at him. He didn't like the news anyway. They always talked about scary stuff, like the people who were going missing. He thought about that sometimes—what if someone tried to take him? But he had his dad for that. Dad wouldn't let anything bad happen.

"Don't yell at me, boy," his mom shot back, her voice sharp as the clatter of dishes in the sink. Adrian winced, even though he wasn't scared of her. Not really. His mom was all bark. That's what Dad said.

The apartment door rattled, the deadbolt clicking loose, and Adrian shot to his feet, a grin spreading across his face. "Daddy!" he yelled, his little legs carrying him to the door.

"Hey, big man!" His dad stepped inside, smelling like sweat and cold air. He worked at the docks, unloading cargo from the big ships that came in at all hours. His jacket was fraying at the cuffs, and his boots left little specks of mud on the carpet, but Adrian didn't care. He jumped up, arms wrapping around his dad's waist.

"Did you bring me anything?" Adrian asked, tilting his head up, his gap-toothed smile wide and expectant.

His dad laughed, deep and warm, and ruffled Adrian's hair. "I'm not made of money, boy. But—" He dug into his pocket and pulled out a little plastic soldier, its green paint chipped but still intact. "Found this in one of the crates. Figured you'd like it."

Adrian snatched it up like it was gold. "Thanks, Daddy!" He ran back to his crayons, immediately setting the soldier on the edge of his picture. Now their family had protection.

"Did you wash your hands?" his mom's voice cut in as she walked into the living room, drying her hands on a dish towel. She had her hair wrapped up in a scarf, and she was still wearing her house slippers. "You're not about to touch my baby with those dirty dock hands."

"Give me a second, Brenda, I just walked in," his dad said, exasperation creeping into his tone.

Brenda crossed her arms, leaning against the doorway. "That's what you always say. And you'll sit your behind on my couch and mess it up before you do anything."

Adrian ducked his head, his crayons forgotten as he watched them like he was peeking into a movie. They fought sometimes—not in a scary way, but in the way the characters on TV did. Like they both wanted to win.

His dad sighed, kicking off his boots by the door. "It's been a long day, Brenda. I'm not in the mood."

"Oh, and I am?" she shot back. "I've been here all day, cleaning up after him—" She waved a hand toward Adrian, who shrank into himself. "—and cooking and doing everything else while you're off doing God-knows-what at that job."

"Don't talk about my job like that," his dad said, his voice getting harder. Adrian hated when his voice got like that. It made his stomach twist up.

"I'm not saying it's not work," Brenda said, her tone softer now but still sharp. "I'm just saying it's not enough. Rent's due in two weeks, and I'm not seeing enough to cover it. What am I supposed to do, Jerome? Pull money out of thin air?"

"We'll figure it out," Jerome said, scrubbing a hand over his face. "We always do."

Adrian watched his mom's face, her lips pressed tight like she wanted to say more but was holding it back. She always did that when she was mad but didn't want to yell. She looked over at Adrian and sighed. "Go wash up. Dinner's almost ready."

Jerome walked past her into the kitchen, muttering something Adrian couldn't hear. His mom followed, and their voices turned into a low hum of back-and-forth that Adrian couldn't make out. He stayed on the floor, staring at his picture. It didn't feel so happy anymore.

That night, dinner was macaroni and cheese with little bits of hot dog mixed in. It was Adrian's favorite, even though he could tell his parents weren't in a good mood. His dad kept looking at the TV, where the news lady was talking about how another person had gone missing in Gotham Heights.

"They still think it's the Batman?" his dad asked, shaking his head. "That don't make any sense."

"You think they're wrong?" Brenda said, her eyebrows raising. "A man running around dressed like a bat, beating people up in the middle of the night? I wouldn't put it past him."

"Batman doesn't take people," Jerome said, his fork scraping his plate. "He's just trying to keep this city together, far as I can tell. If he wasn't out there, it'd be chaos."

"It's already chaos," Brenda muttered, her voice low but pointed. "People disappearing left and right, rent going up every month, jobs paying nothing…this city eats people alive."

Adrian looked between them, chewing slowly. "Does Batman eat people?" he asked, his eyes wide.

Both his parents laughed, and for a second, the tension broke. Brenda reached over to ruffle his hair, her fingers gentle. "No, baby, he doesn't eat people. He's not a monster."

"He's kinda scary," Adrian said, twirling his fork in his macaroni. "But maybe he's a good guy, like on TV. Like Superman."

"Superman doesn't live in Gotham," Jerome said, finishing his plate. "This city don't get heroes like that. All we got is the Bat. And he's…" He trailed off, staring at the TV again.

Adrian followed his dad's gaze. The news lady was showing a picture of a girl who had gone missing. She looked young, maybe a teenager. Adrian wondered if she had a family who missed her.

[ Adrian's Dad " Jerome" ]

[ Adrian's Mother " Brenda" ]

Author Note: More chapters on [email protected]/LordCampione.