Kezef needed to duck a little before he could enter the house. Which was nothing more than four pieces of rotting wood and a rusty metal roof. It was also not that big, he needed to keep his head down so that he didn't touch the roof. Dina pointed to something in the corner of the room. Which was a beaten down mattress, was this a joke? Did she at one point in time live here? He wanted to ask her this and so much more. But maybe this was not the time nor place for them.

"My father moved into this one-room house, when I left for school." She started to explain on her own. "One of the families with children are now living in our old one. Which is pretty common here, we do not take up more space then we need. The family in return has promised me that they keep an eye on him. Which they did." Kezef lay a hand on her shoulder.

"You do not need to explain..." He started, but she shook her head.

"No I should. Now that have you see where I had to grow up and in which kind of crowed. After my father got punished, we ended up here. Nobody in here wanted use, but we didn't have anywhere else to go. I myself was eight years old at the time, and my father was partly paralyzed." She said, and he gasped. He had known that Joael hadn't walked out of the incident unharmed, but he didn't know that it was that severe. "So I started to odd jobs, in and around the Slums to get some food on the table and to take care of him. That is how I got to know the Jersey Boys, I did some jobs for them, before going to school. Some even said that I was part of the gang myself, but this isn't true. Even they say that this is not the case. But when I told Sorath about my father's agreement with the Dean of our high school, well, it is easier to say that he wasn't happy about it. But I believed that he understood that this was a way for me to make something off myself." She stood up from the mattress and sighed. "I should have known that he would never keep his word. "How could I be so stupid?" She slammed her hand against the wall, dust started to come down. "But I do not know what else I can do. I do not earn enough money to get him out of here."

"You shouldn't spend that money on me at all." Kezef wanted to jump up, he had forgotten that her father was still in the same room. "It is supposed to be my job to take care of you, not the other way around." Dina turned towards him.

"But you do not even earn enough, to support yourself." She snapped at him. "What was I supposed to do, let you starve?" Tears started to appear in her eyes, Kezef stood up and took her in his arms. He didn't care that he hadn't introduced himself to her father yet, right now she needed him. He wished that he could help her, but knew that she wouldn't except it. She was the one who stepped away, after a brief moment. "Dad, I wanted to introduce you to someone." Kezef turned himself back to the man on the mattress.

"Hello sir, I am sorry for not doing this right away..." Kezef started.

"I already know who you are, so there is no need to introduce yourself. Prentum didn't know how to shut up about you, when he asked my permission to work for you. Not that he needed that in the first place. But then again, that man had always an odd sense of honor." Joael said. "I heard you called my daughter your girlfriend at the track today." Kezef nodded.

"I tried to protect her against some nasty people." Kezef replied. Her father smiled slightly.

"And calling her your girlfriend, did the trick." He said. "I know that one all too well, but now you two are stuck in that lie."

"I wouldn't call it stuck." Kezef said with a smile. "It is true, that I do not know your daughter that long. But we have become great friends, over the short period of time."

"You mean after she got beaten up, and you saved her butt. Not only that, you paid her medical fees. For which I am more than grateful." Her father said, Dina's mouth fall open.

"How..." She started.

"Your dean told me, how else. But it those not matter, do you agree with him?" Her father pointed at him, and to his relief she nodded. She wrapped her arms around his waist.

"And I do not mind him calling me his girlfriend. You should have seen the look on Abamil, and mom's faces." She said with a big smile. Her father looked a bit shocked. "What those are nasty people."

"You are talking about your mother, young lady." Father said, he tried to sound stern, but even Kezef could tell that he failed in this.

******

Kezef stepped out of the house, giving Dina and her father some privacy. Not that the door was holding much sound.But he tried hard not to listen to their words. He looked up towards the sky, which was starting to get dark orange. It would be evening soon, and they still needed to find their way towards school. Well it wouldn't be a bad idea for them getting their back late, maybe they avoid others. Which of course will only last a night and after that she would become the prime target for bullies, again. And this time it was his fault, he sighed. He was glad that she trusted him enough to tell him about her past, which definitely would come back to hunt her. But could somebody who know the whole story blame her, she needed to find ways to survive. There was nowhere else she could turn, no one who helped her. This would be his response if somebody digs it up and throws it at her feet.

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"Did she tell you?" Someone out of nowhere asked. He looked down and to his surprise it was Sorath.

"You mean that she worked for you, yes she has." Kezef replied, Sorath nodded and sighed.

"Good that means that she trust you, and with that you have earned my trust." Sorath said, why did he need to earn this gang member's trust? Maybe there was something more going on then that Dina had told him.

"I do not know what she did in detail, but she told me the basics." Kezef said, it was better to be honest with this man. Who was willing to break his promise.

"That is enough, you really do not need to know more. Dina is like a little sister to use, and yes I was mad that she went away to study. Actually I was more jealous than mad, she got out most wouldn't get the change. Do not tell her that." Sorath pointed at him. If they saw Dina as their little sister than why did they hurt her father. "You need to understand that there are more dangerous gangs inside the Slums than the Jersey boys. But for some reason those gangs are leaving the people we pick on alone. Joael 21 knows this, and that is what he is telling Dina right now. And I am also telling you because you are Dina's friend, I am not going as far by calling you her boyfriend." Kezef frowned, he didn't understand the reason behind it.

"So you hurt Joael an old man that barely can walk, to keep him safe?" Kezef asked and Sorath nodded.

"I know it sounds strange, but we of the gang all love that old man. He is always willing to tell use a story about his racing days. We also love to watch the races with him, he always points things out. Or tells a funny fact. Today however we saw him in tears, when he heard Dina's voice over your radio." Sorath chuckled. "She always has been a force of nature, so smart. I really hope to see her behind the wheel someday."

"You and me both." Kezef said. "But for that she needs a car, a fast one." Sorath nodded.

"I think I have seen a body of a Volkswagen Atreon at the junkyard the other day." Sorath said softly. "I have also some credits to rent a garage, so that she can work on it." Kezef sighed.

"Good then I will teach her how to drive a car like that." Kezef said while smiling. If someone had told him that something like this would happen, he wouldn't have believed it. But right now he was planning to get Dina in a racing car with a gang member.

"I better go and put this idea of our in action. Otherwise, it will never happen." Sorath said, and he walked away. The door behind Kezef opened, he quickly stepped aside so that Dina could leave the house.

"Did I hear Sorath's voice just now?" She asked and he nodded.

"He was here to explain himself to me." Kezef said, Joael appeared also in the doorway and nodded.

"They aren't bad kids, they have so much potential in them. Only they will never get the change to show it. I swear Dina, what you saw today happens not that often and they only do it when one of them sees a member of those other gangs near my house." Joael said.

"It is still wrong, dad." Dina replied. And her father shrugged.

"It is all what they can do for me, without pulling me into their gang." Her father said. "If they are going to do that, how would that reflect on you?" Kezef needed to say that the man had a good point. She already had enough on her plate.

"Your father knows what he is doing, and we will be back next week to check up on him." Kezef said. Dina nodded, and her father gave him a soft smile.

"Really, I am already looking forward to it." He said, and looked up to the sky. "It is getting late, you can better go before it gets too dark." Kezef reached out his hand so that Dina could take it.

"I will protect her, sir. Do not worry about her." Kezef said, her father started to chuckle softly. Dina looked at his hand, and narrowed her eyes.

"But if you are protecting me, who is protecting you?" She said, and Kezef started to chuckle as well. He knew that she was joking, and that she didn't want a real reply, but the two of them can play this game.

"I thought you were?" He replied. "I thought we protected each other." Her father's chuckle became even louder. Her laughter joined in, but she took his hand. It felt so good, her skin touching his. Was she also feeling the sparks, or was he the only one feeling them?

"Alright, then now that we have cleared that up. Let's go home." She sighed. He could hear the reluctance in her voice. They didn't know what would wait for them once they got back. Hopefully the rest of the student body would be in their rooms, but then they would face them tomorrow. But she needed to work in the cafeteria, and he wasn't allowed to go behind the counter during service hours. But then again so was nobody else, so he didn't need to protect her. But what would he do when they have class, they are not in the same group. They left the gate that marked the entrence of the Slums behind them. The street latarns were burning brightly. He needed to push his worries aside for now and enjoy this extra time of peace that they had left. He looked around and his eyes fall on the buildings oposite of the Slums. Factories, and the large junkyard. But it didn't take long for them to leave those behind them as well. It was so strange that this almost forgotten corner of the world excited. And what was even stranger it was at walking distance of their school. They entered the working class subdivision, which contained out of mostly appartement complex buildings. This was the place that he grow up in, which was so strange. Their neighboorhoods were so close by, but it almost seems like a worlds apart from each other. He shook his head, this type of thinking brought him in even a more sour mood. And he didn't know if that was even posible. He had won his first race earlier, but what he had heard and seen after that. Well lets say that it brings everyones mood down.

"Are you alright?" Dina asked, while softly squeezing his hand. He sighed and shock his head, there was no piont in hiding this all from her. She was after all his girlfriend.

"I was just thinking about how unfair the world is." He replied. He pointed to a building with his free hand. "Do you see that building, I lived their with my grandparents. My parents passed away when I was three years old. But that is not the story I wanted to tell. I grew up here, my grandfather used to work in one of those factories we just passed by. In other words we lived not so far apart, but it almost seems like a world away." Dina nodded and sighed.

"You are right about that. But then again, I lived there because of my father's down fall. Otherwise I would have lived in one of those big ass mansions." She said. He nodded. "Do they still live there, your grandparents?" He shook his head.

"They past away, right after my first race." He said, softly.

"I am sorry, I didn't know." She started to apologize, he lifted her hand and kissed softly the back of it.

"Thank you." He whispered.