Yung Lee: Chapter VI

Li Santo is on the healing path.

Created by: Gio Aranda
Written by: Gio Aranda
Edited by: Gio Aranda

Yung Lee: Chapter VI | Twice the Stars

July 19th, 2027. I don’t know why I turned down the option to wipe my memory. I guess I was too scared. Scared of the lies. Maybe I was scared of having a good life. I regret my decision now. I don’t sleep. But unlike before when I couldn’t sleep because I was out kickin’ ass now I can't sleep because if I doze off all I do is dream. Well I don’t dream, I have nightmares. Kash shootin’ and carving me. Being tied up all day. I was watching a movie the other day with grandma. A kid had a balloon in the movie and it popped. I almost cried when I heard the noise, too similar to Kash’s gun. I heard it and I was tied up again, being used as a shooting target. I began panicking inside. Thankfully she didn’t notice.

August 15th, 2027. I’ve been getting in touch with Connor and Frankie. It is good to have two close friends that care for me. They don’t know my secret. I wish I could tell them. Everytime I turn on the shower, the water droplets remind me of the bullets. Cold and hard and piercing. Every time I close my eyes all I see is Kash and her. Behind her beautiful face, her head was split in two. All I think of is Autumn and Kash and Anti-Lee. I have nightmares and zone out in the middle of the day about weird things like John’s men almost killing me and Jack’s hard punches. Things I thought didn’t even affect me.

September 20th, 2027. I’ve started freshman year at UCSD. I met someone. Devin Village. Good guy, I hope. I don’t like being away from grandma. I don’t like being away from home. I am scared.

October 21st, 2027. Frankie and Connor are like brothers to me again. I am very grateful to at least still have them. I wish I could tell them about my nightmares and daydreams and everything else. Ha. “Dreams”. Not really. Me and Devin are getting sort of close. He is a really good guy I think. I haven’t trained since Kash caught me. My arms are skinny and without muscle and my abdomen is flabby. I couldn’t win a fight against anyone nowadays. UCSD is a big party school. Connor parties without me. Honestly, I’m too scared to talk to anyone. Terrified. The frat guys have been bullying me for a bit of time now. I haven’t bothered trying to fight back. I don’t think anything would succeed if I tried. I am weak, out and in.

November 13th, 2027. Devin and I have fun. I have fun with all of my friends. One night the frat guys were hassling me. Hitting me pretty hard. I tried to defend myself and to no surprise they put a bad beating on me. Connor and Devin don’t know about the bullying. Especially not Frankie. They still don’t know about everything else. I’m an insomniac. There’s no use sleeping. All there is is pain when I close my eyes. I don’t shower very often because of the water — the bullets. My grades are horrible. All I think about is Autumn… and everything else that’s happened. I should’ve accepted that offer to wipe my memory. I should’ve.

December 2027. Nothing changes. I’ve been at my lowest for months. All I think about is the past. I really try not to. I can't. I’m still keeping the bullying a secret from my friends. Rick and his guys beat me pretty bad pretty frequently. They’re a bunch of racist jerks. Bullies.

January 6th, 2028. I visited grandma. I opened up to her about the frat bullying. She held me as I sobbed in her arms. It’s all I could open up about. It’s the first time I’ve ever done that in my life. I sobbed and sobbed, knowing that the pain goes far beyond the bullying.

January 15, 2028. I was walking to my dorm room after class when a familiar face stopped me. Atticus. He told me he’s been spying on me since after what happened with Kash. He didn’t want to interfere but he said he can’t take it anymore. We talked for a while.
 “I can’t see you go through all this. It’s pathetic!” He put it plainly. “You’re a warrior.” He said sternly.
         “Yeah… Some warrior.” I responded, running my fingers through my hair and then wincing because I accidentally touched a head bruise that was gifted to me from Rick and his guys last night.
         “Being fat and pathetic! Getting bullied! This isn’t the life you were made for! You’re a winner, like me! And I’m gonna get you back on top, you don’t have a choice.”
         I was resistant at first, nervous and hesitant. Scared. I wanted to say no but there was no way I could. Atticus is forcing me. I had no choice.

         February 2028. Training has been steady. It takes my mind off of Autumn, Kash, Anti-Lee and… everything else. The nightmares and daydreams don’t end. The bullets of the shower and gunshots of popping balloons don’t end. But this, this is a little bit better. The training makes it a little better.

         March 9th, 2028. The Tiger somehow is turning my life around. I am feeling better. More… capable. I hadn’t seen Rick and his guys since January. Almost two months ago. I hadn’t seen Rick until today. He was pushing around a kid outside. Rick was with his girlfriend. The kid was half his size. He was pressing and pushing and shoving. I felt I had to do something. I am changing. I have to. My heart was beating rapidly. Anxiety and adrenaline burst through my skin. I went up to Rick.
         “Why don’t you leave the guy alone, Rick.” I said.
         “The fuck you say to me, Chink?” The steroid college senior growled.
         “Let him go.”
         Rick punched me. It hurt like hell. We fought. It was a hard fight. In my prime I could’ve killed him in a fraction of a second, but now, it took more like 23 seconds. Neither of us really won. I guess it was a tie. We kind of just decided to stop. I could tell he was surprised and a bit scared. Adrenaline ran through me like blood. I have his girlfriend in my next class and since the class is so crowded there are no empty seats. She just so happens to sit next to me. I was nervous at what might’ve happened, what she might’ve said, “Maybe she didn’t even notice me at all, so she wouldn’t know it was me who just threw hands with her boyfriend while she watched. I mean I went to the same two high schools as her and now I’m at college with her and I don’t think she’s noticed me at all. I might be fine.” I thought to myself. I was sitting in class laying with my head down on the table, embarrassed and also tired. She sat down. I was looking at the side of her face as she looked straight at the professor as he was lecturing. Honestly, she was always pretty. Then she turned to me and I tried to turn away quickly but I was too late.
         “What you did was a real deal.”
         I didn’t exactly know what she meant.
         “Oh I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-to do anything wrong, I-” I said before I got interrupted.
         “No, I’m-I’m saying it was good.”
         I was silent for a moment and a bit surprised.
         “Uhh… Y-You think so?”
         “Yeah.”
         She turned her head forward. Then she turned back at me.
         “Are you okay? You… Look a bit rough.”
         “Uhh-yeah. Yeah, I’m-I’m good… Your boyfriend’s real strong.” I said, chuckling and touching my face where he hit me.
         “Oh-he’s-he’s not-no he’s-he’s-not-He’s not my boyfriend.”
         I didn’t say anything. She turned around and then back at me.
         “I’m assuming your name isn’t Chink?”
 I smiled, “No, I’m uhh-I’m Li.”
 She chuckled, “I know. That’s my last name.”
         And turned back around.
 “Isn’t… your last name spelled L-E-E?”
         She turned back at me.
         “Yeah.” She smiled. “Is uhh-is your’s not spelled like that?”
         “No it’s uhh-it’s L-I.” I said shyly.
         “Ohh, I had no idea.”
         “You're… Madison, right?” I asked.
 She turned back at me.
 “My friends call me Maddy.”

         Nothing has changed with the nightmares and everything else. But, that night, for the first time in forever, I slept. I slept with no punches, no knives, no ropes, and no bullets.

March 16th, 2028. Saw that girl Maddy during the middle of the day. We talked for a bit. She is full of surprises. I don’t know what it is and I don’t know what’s happening. She is to say the least… cool. Training has been steady. Friendships have been good. Frankie, Devon, Connor. Nightmares and daydreams and insomnia have been slimfully diminishing. Finally, it has been getting a little bit better.

March 29th, 2028. Rick tried to fight me again. He didn’t come with his frat friends or anyone else, just him. He wanted to prove a point. I know he’s surprised by me and slightly afraid. He’s cautious now, and still, he came alone, which is… somewhat respectable. We fought. I won by a hair. No draw, this time, I won.

The dean was talking with me about it. He let me out of his office. On my way to my dorm I ran into that girl Madison.
 “I saw the fight.” She said.
 “Aww, man, you did?” I said playfully.
 She giggled.
 “Are you getting suspended?”
 “No-no I just got a warning.”
 “Aww.” She said, looking into my eyes and giggling.
 It was silent for a little while. We were kinda just looking at each other and then looking away, then back at each other. She has this sense of fun and playfulness that’s welcoming and exciting. I broke the silence.
 “Uhh-I was wondering-uh did you wanna-I mean, y’know, would you wanna-like some time- we could-like, hang out?
 “Yeah.”
 “W-wha-okay. Yyyyeah.”
 “Another day, though… I gotta study.”
 “No-no yeah, of course-silly-I-I’m swamped. Grades… terrible.”
 She just smiled and turned around and began walking. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I turned around and ran. I jumped from rooftop to rooftop and traversed the tops of the city with pure excitement. I didn’t even realize I still had my school bag on. I screamed from the top of the city. I am becoming alive again. I am forgetting you, Autumn, and I am sorry. I hope you can forgive me, and somehow, someway, I know you already have. I loved you and I’ll never forget the experiences you gave me. I am very grateful to have you as my first love.

April 30th, 2028. Maddy and I went on our first date. We ate Frankie’s pizza at the rooftop of the tallest building in the city as the sun set. She was skeptical and hesitant when we were making our way up here.
 “How do you know about this place?” She asked.
 “What do you mean? It’s the tallest building in the city. All I had to do was look up.”
 “No-I mean, like, how did you know how to get up here?”
 “Ohh-I’ve-I dunno. I’ve been up here before.”
 “Ummm, a lot of times?”
 “Haha, yeah.”
 “H-how? Why?”
 “It was mainly in high school. I uhh-I had a lot more time back then.”
 We ate our pizza up there and had a good time. After some hours,the sun was setting and it was the perfect gold.
 “Can I tell you something?” I asked her.
 She tilted her head sideways and grinned.
 “What’s up?” She responded.
 “I’ve uhh- I wanna- I feel like-I- I need-I feel-I- I wanna. I, uhmm, I’m-I’m-I’ve got-”
 “What’s going on?”
 “I just- phew- listen, listen, listen I just- I- I’m-”
 She kissed me.

May 2028. The news this morning was talking about how it’s nearing two years since the disappearance of Yung Lee. I guess nothing interesting happened today so they decided to conjure up this bullshit. All they were saying was bad. Bad stuff. Everything along the lines of “I’m glad he’s gone, and he better stay gone.” When you’re wearing a mask, some love you, most hate you. I learned it when I was 14 and ot disturbed me. The funny thing is, it still disturbs me. I was walking to class with Maddy. We were talking. I blurted out what was on my mind.
 “Do you-I mean-do you agree with all that, that everyone’s saying… About Yung Lee.”
 “N-I mean, no. No, I-I don’t. Why?”
 “Mmmm, nothing. I just. I dunno, I’ve-I’ve just had mixed feelings a-about him.”
 “Oh, well, I-I always thought he was-I mean- a hero, you know?”
 My heart warmed.
 “Y-yeah.”
 This month I turned 19… Gosh, 19. I didn’t think I’d make it this far. Maddy and I are madly in love.

June 2028. Nightmares are slowly fading as is everything else. I can sleep about 6 hours a night now. Yes, there is still depression and trauma, yes, every night is almost like hell, but it all is getting… better.

July 2028. Things are getting better… And I am not alone.

August 2028. My life is being rebuilt and I am rebuilding myself as well, thanks to the Tiger and the rest of my friends. Especially thanks to the Tiger, he has changed my life, he has changed me, he has picked me up off the floor.

September 2028. I start Sophomore year of college in about a week. I am very grateful for Atticus, Maddy, Frankie, Connor, and Devin. My life has been re-built, and I am nearly fixed. My mind, heart, soul, and body feel strong, capable. I met with Frankie earlier at the shop. I told him I’m Yung Lee. I was on the bench outside the shop with him.. We talked and I soon began with a personal subject.
         “I had a dream last night… I uhh… I was out as Yung Lee for some reason. At the-at the top of the city. And when I was up there, I looked down and it all got… real quiet. I jumped to another building nearby, and for-for that split second in the air, when I was neither falling nor rising, when I was bound by nothing, it felt like… like I was everything. I could grab the stars.” I laughed. “I could-I could grab twice the stars.” I stayed silent for a few seconds. “But I feel like I’m done with all that. Why does-what-what does it mean? Am I supposed to seek.. Something? Something new? Ughh. What am I even supposed to seek?
         He wrapped his arm around me like an older brother. He was silent for a moment and I think he didn’t really know how to answer. He gave one of those half-pieces of advice and half “ I don’t know what I’m doing either but I’ve got to say something to make him feel better” kind of responses that I assume a dad gives his son when he’s young and troubled.
         “You’re — you're more than what’s happened to you. You are… Someone young. Next, you just-you just… You seek love, kid. ”
         I started laughing. I laughed out loud and looked up at the sky while tearing up. It was that. It was as simple as it sounded.

         That night I went home and pulled out my grandmother's old sewing machine. And it was all like before.

         I am a kid again.
         
And I will be a superhero.









Yung Lee is reborn.