AA Chapter 1.1 || Magical Scissors

Tennessee stealing a car from the 7-Eleven parking lot was an act he did impulsively.

Perhaps ‘impulsively’ isn’t the right word. It wasn’t due to kleptomania or a whim, but rather some kind of intuition.

Until that moment that day, Tennessee’s ‘business’ had been running smoothly.

Everything was going according to plan and proceeding well. However, right after finishing the job, his intuition sent a warning. Though it was a faint warning, Tennessee, whose sixth sense was developed like an animal’s and who thoroughly trusted his intuition, immediately turned around and left that place.

I have a bad feeling.

Tennessee frowned.

Now that this job was finished, he planned to stay in his hideout for at least a few months. Tennessee also planned to meet with the broker who gave him this job to check if there were any issues.

Tennessee searched his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. While lighting it, he slowly organized what needed to be done. It would be a road trip that would take several full days. Since he’d already stolen one car, he’d need to switch cars diligently before arriving, but that much was necessary.

After pulling over to the shoulder and checking the front seat interior, Tennessee clicked his tongue.

The owner seemed to be neat, as there weren’t any notable items in the car. Glancing back, there was a box, but it only seemed to contain useless things like soccer shoes and children’s clothes.

‘First, I’ll drive to another state and then buy what I need.’

After making that decision, Tennessee drove for a full six hours.

Not knowing what was in that car.

It didn’t even take 10 minutes for Tennessee to return from buying necessities at a small grocery store. He only bought what was absolutely necessary and knew exactly what he needed.

Tennessee took out bread from his purchases, took a big bite, and started the engine.

—Growl.

Tennessee’s movement of rustling while eating bread stopped. It wasn’t a sound that could come from starting a car.

—Growwwl.

Tennessee quickly drew his gun. Tennessee always kept his gun within reach. You never know what might happen.

After smoothly stopping the car, Tennessee opened the back door. It looked no different from what he’d seen in the rearview mirror. Empty back seat, a box filled with things like soccer balls, baseball gloves, and lacrosse goggles. But now he could see an awkward space floating under the leg room and box in the back seat.

Tennessee carelessly threw away his cigarette butt and effortlessly lifted the box.

“…”

And discovered a terrified child.

A child threateningly holding up scissors as if it were a lifeline.

The child shouted.

“D-don’t move!”

Tennessee had a gun in his hand ready to shoot at any time, but he decided to play along with the child first. He slowly lifted the box onto the back seat.

Though Tennessee’s appearance – with his hair neatly slicked back with pomade and wearing what seemed to be a tailored suit – remained calm and composed, his mind was racing.

During the over 6 hour journey, had there been a chance for the child to get in the car? He’d only stopped at the grocery store for less than 10 minutes, so it would have been difficult to unlock the car and crawl under the box in the back seat during that time. There was no reason for that either.

In other words, the child had been in this car from the beginning. And it also meant that he, instead of being just a common car thief, had become a serious criminal who had kidnapped a minor.

He briefly closed his eyes as he realized that ‘kidnapping’ would be added to his charges.

“If you move, I’ll stab you.”

The moment the child said that while trembling, Tennessee felt a surge of irritation.

Right now was when he needed to lay low. That’s why he was planning to go into hiding in a cave, enduring all this trouble. But because of one child who had been hiding in the car for over six hours, I suddenly became a kidnapper, and now he is saying he’ll stab me too?

Clicking his tongue, Tennessee immediately aimed his gun. The movement was so natural, as if he’d been waiting for it, that the child didn’t realize he was facing the barrel of a gun until it was too late.

“How long have you been here?”

It wasn’t the child’s fault. He was just unlucky. Just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“From the beginning.”

That’s what I thought.

Tennessee slowly examined the trembling child. The child was wearing just a short-sleeve t-shirt and shorts. No coat or anything else, and even barefoot. At most a second or third grader?¹

“Put those scissors down. Can’t you see I have a gun?”

“N-no. If you shoot, I’ll attack too.”

Don’t you know what a gun is? Tennessee seriously wondered. He’s got a gun pointed at him, yet he’s holding on to a pair of scissors like they’re the horn of a unicorn with incredible strength.

Should I just kill him now? If I kill him, how would I handle the cleanup? While Tennessee was contemplating this…

—Growl.

At that sound, the same one that had made him look at the back seat in the first place, Tennessee suddenly felt a sense of futility. For a moment, all this quarreling seemed pointless.

Right, what’s the point of killing a kid who got caught because he couldn’t bear his hunger even after hiding for six hours?

Putting away his gun, he opened the driver’s side door. Following his movement, the child held his breath while holding up the scissors.

What did I buy that a kid could eat? Tennessee took out a lunchable and threw it to the back seat.

“Eat that.”

Tennessee’s mouth was already full of the bread he’d been eating earlier.

Without lowering the scissors, the child fumbled to reach out. Looking at him, it almost seemed like the child was the one holding a gun.

His blue eyes seemed to spark with flames.

Those are living eyes. A living child. Even though he can’t do anything with just scissors, he’s desperately holding onto them. Tennessee named them magical scissors in his mind and smirked.

Soon after, the sound of crackers being crunched could be heard.

What to do with this little one. While Tennessee was thinking about this, a wary voice came from behind.

“Where are we going?”

“Texas.”

“Where in Texas?”

“Austin, Texas.”

Originally, Tennessee’s answer would have been something like ‘why do you need to know,’ but maybe because the child was so frightened, he was answering without giving it much thought.

He would make quite a good interrogator. Tennessee thought this while checking the rearview mirror. The child was still holding those scissors while munching away.

Throwing away his finished cigarette butt, Tennessee turned on the radio. The child’s gaze followed the cigarette butt. He kept switching between news channels and various others, checking if there were any reports about the man he killed or this child.

How weird.

Tennessee checked on the child.

Having satisfied his hunger and somewhat relaxed his tension, the child’s eyes were half-closed as sleepiness seemed to be setting in. Only now that those eyes, filled with unusual determination for his age, were closing could he properly see the child. Was it because of his dark hair that his pale skin stood out?

With a child like this being kidnapped late at night, there should be an uproar by now. Normally, there would be policemen not only at state borders but at every checkpoint.

In America, when a young child goes missing or is kidnapped, an Amber Alert is issued. It’s a system that broadcasts the child’s information through emergency alerts via 911, police, radio, and TV news media to help find the child quickly.

In this case, since it’s not just a missing person but clearly a kidnapping, it should have caused an uproar across the entire country immediately. But it was too quiet. As if no guardian had reported it.

“Hey.”

The child, whose eyes were very squinted from drowsiness, suddenly stiffened in surprise. Not forgetting to raise those magical scissors either.

“What’s your name?”

“…I won’t tell you. You’ll laugh.”

“How do you know I’ll laugh when you haven’t told me?”

“…I still don’t want to.”

“Did your dad make those bruises?”

Tennessee asked, looking at the bruises on the child’s arms. They had been hidden by the t-shirt originally, but became visible whenever the child raised his arms. They were handprints.

“No. Mr. Hurston did.”

Mr. Hurston, huh. Not even his first name.

“Foster home?”

A silent affirmation came.

“But why have you been switching radio channels?”

“To see if there’s an Amber Alert. Usually when kids get kidnapped, an Amber Alert goes out.”

The public doesn’t care at all if an adult goes missing, gets kidnapped, or gets dragged to some underground dungeon for torture. But children are different.

“Mr. Hurston won’t care if I disappear. He might even be happy about it.”

Seems that way. A good guardian wouldn’t leave a child alone in a car late at night to go shopping. Or maybe the child had snuck in secretly.

I accidentally kidnapped a child who turned out to be half-abandoned. Don’t know if that’s lucky or unlucky. Tennessee took out another lunchable and threw it to the child.

“What will you do if the police find me?”

The child fumbled to reach out again.

“I’ll kill you, dispose of your body to eliminate evidence, and then continue on my way.”

The cracker fell from the child’s hand.

“Just kidding.”

“That’s not funny.”

“You have those magical scissors, they’ll protect you.”

The child’s expression suddenly contorted. But while he dropped the food, he didn’t drop the scissors.

“Right, that’s how you should protect yourself. You did well holding those scissors when I first found you.”

The child was puzzled. Confusion clearly showed on his face, not knowing whether this was teasing or sincere praise, and if the latter, why such praise was being given.

“What’s your name then?”

“Tennessee.”

“Is that your first name or last name?”

“You don’t need to know.”

While opening the window for his cigarette, Tennessee checked the surroundings. On the empty road with only occasional streetlights, there wasn’t a single sign of life in the wasteland. If he dropped the kid off here, he would likely die.

But if he left the child in a town, wouldn’t that really trigger an Amber Alert?

Tennessee rubbed his forehead. In his long time doing this work, he’d experienced many mind-boggling situations, but ‘accidentally’ kidnapping a child was a first. Perhaps because it was so unexpected, his mind wasn’t working as quickly as usual.

“Uhm, Mr. Tennessee…”

The child’s tone was cautious as he added the ‘Mr.’

Tennessee smirked. The child, who had heard everything about him stealing the car, couldn’t let go of his wariness.

However, since he gave him food and didn’t seem like he would attack right away, his guard was halfway down. That’s why he could say Mr. Tennessee while still holding the scissors.

The child, biting his lower lip, lowered his head. He also lowered the scissors he was holding.

“…I need to go to the bathroom.”

Oh my god, this is ridiculous.

Tennessee rummaged through the purchased items with a gesture that couldn’t hide his irritation. While searching between the things his fingertips touched, he found a water bottle. He stretched his arm out the window and poured out the water. After roughly shaking out the water, Tennessee threw the bottle to the back.

“Use that.”

“…Won’t you stop the car?”

“If you run away and report me, I’ll have to shoot you dead. The cleanup would be troublesome.”

The child received the water bottle with a face that seemed to have a lot to say. Tennessee checked on the child through the rearview mirror.

With a sulky expression and a pout, the child seemed both embarrassed and dissatisfied in many ways.

“This water bottle is too small.”

At this point, Tennessee was genuinely dumbfounded.

“When did I tell you to stick your dick in the water bottle? Just aim and pee. Or should I personally check if the bottle will fit your size or not?”

“…That’s not it, I’ve been holding it so long that the bottle is too small.”

Tennessee slammed on the brakes.

“Ack!”

The child looked up, annoyed, after hitting his head, but Tennessee had already left the driver’s seat.

“Get out.”

Tennessee opened the back door himself and gestured with his chin. The child, barefoot, got out of the car and blankly stared at the barren landscape where truly nothing lived except grass.

“Pee here.”

Wariness filled the child’s blue eyes again. Tennessee was exasperated.

“I won’t look, your thing is too small to see anyway. Just pee.”

After saying that and waving his hand dismissively, the child took a step to the side. Tennessee silently showed the gun in his hand. The child stopped walking and adjusted his shorts.

Soon after, the sound of trickling was heard. The child glanced at Tennessee with anxious eyes. Tennessee laughed quietly in his throat.

He thought about how he had heard somewhere that dogs do this. In their case, it apparently means ‘I’m in a vulnerable state while pooping, so you need to protect me.’ This kid must be thinking hard in his own way too.

Tennessee inhaled his cigarette until his cheeks hollowed. This was truly a proper headache. He had no idea what to do with this one.

***

“Get out. We’re switching to this car.”

As soon as the lonely road that could drive people crazy ended, Tennessee stole another vehicle. Usually, stolen vehicles get reported, so traveling continuously in one car was impossible.

When he opened the car door, the child hopped out. The child’s white toes wiggled as they touched the cold asphalt.

Ah, right, he’s barefoot. When Tennessee gestured with his chin, the child jumped into the car barefoot.

After closing the car door, Tennessee pondered for a moment. He already had water and food, and even packed blankets and spare clothes, so there was nothing else to buy. Then Tennessee remembered the child who had been in short sleeves, shorts, and barefoot for a full day.

How annoying. Tennessee pushed the items into the passenger seat and called the child from the back seat.

“What’s your shoe size?”

“…Five.”

That should be easy enough to buy.

“I’m going to buy you shoes. And clothes. Do you need anything?”

Taking the child along would reduce the risk of escape, but his attire was too conspicuous for the bright and crowded Walmart. The contrast was even starker since he himself was properly dressed in a suit.

“…Uhm, a Mountain Dew?”

“That’s something you want, not something you need.”

The child’s face turned gloomy. Then Tennessee noticed what was in the child’s right hand. That damn magical scissors. He had managed to grab the scissors while switching cars. Tennessee burst into laughter, finding it ridiculous that someone who could trust people so little would say ‘Mountain Dew.’

“Stay right here.”

Maybe because he said he wouldn’t buy Mountain Dew, the child’s cheeks seemed to have puffed up 1.5 times their normal size. Tennessee didn’t even glance at those cheeks as he spoke.

“If you don’t answer, I’ll have no choice but to leave. You won’t die without shoes.”

“I’ll stay here! Right here!”

A desperate voice burst out as he pretended to head to the driver’s seat.

“Right here?”

“Yes, like I’m dead.”

“…What will you do if the police come?”

“I’ll hide under here, like last time. Even if other people come, I’ll hide.”

The child pointed to under the back seat. Tennessee first put child locks on each side of the back seat to prevent the door from opening from the inside.

If the police got involved it would make things noisy. Though he would be cleared of kidnapping charges after investigation, nothing good would come from catching the attention of the police.

“Just in case you’re wondering.”

Tennessee looked down at the child without erasing the thought of how he’d shoot if necessary.

“If you ask people for help, I’ll kill them too.”

The child’s hands trembled a bit.

People don’t get very scared just by the words ‘I’ll kill you.’ Everyone says things like that. I’ll kill you, I’ll teach you a lesson, I’ll make you pay…

However, fear comes when it’s sincere without any exaggeration. That’s closer to a prophecy than a warning with vague probability.

“And if you run away, I’ll kill you too.”

Tennessee hoped the child wouldn’t take his words as bluster. Killing one child was much cheaper than drawing attention. His words about getting rid of problems if things went wrong were sincere.

“So stay put.”

Still, Tennessee knew the child wouldn’t completely give up on escaping because of the uncertainty of the situation. Anxiety about the unknown makes people confused.

While at Walmart, Tennessee bought food for two. He also kept checking the security guards’ movements. If the child had asked someone for help, the guards’ movements would be different.

The worst-case scenario would be the child entering Walmart and asking people for help. Of course, the best option would be the child quietly waiting in the car.

When Tennessee arrived at the car with both hands full of bags, he piled them on the passenger seat. Let’s see. He turned his head back and opened the back door with a sigh. Empty. He checked both the seat and under it. Nothing.

“Haah…”

I told you not to. I didn’t want to have to kill you.

Tennessee took out his gun and removed the safety, looking around. There weren’t many people due to the late hour. Only about ten minutes had passed, so the child couldn’t have gone far. It wouldn’t be difficult to find him.

As Tennessee was about to close the car door, there was a rustling sound from somewhere. Then the armrest between the back seats popped out on its own. Soon after, like in a horror movie, one thin, white arm shot out.

“Phew-!”

…Come to think of it, this car’s a sedan.

Tennessee quietly put away his gun. The child poked his head out from the pass-through. He had gone into the space connecting to the trunk through the middle of the seats. A small laugh escaped him. The child pulled his body out with grunting sounds.

“Drink.”

With a sigh, Tennessee handed over an entire bundle of six drinks. The child, who had completely pulled his upper body from the trunk, was awkwardly crumpled in the back seat.

“Woah, Mountain Dew!”

At the sight of it, even the child’s legs popped out of the trunk.

“It was on sale.”

“Thank you.”

It felt like the right time to give him a carrot anyway.² Tennessee then threw the bag containing long pants, socks, shoes, and a jacket for the kid to the back. The child made a light ‘ah’ sound after catching the bag with his face.

“Do they fit?”

“Yes, they fit perfectly.”

The child nodded vigorously while tying the shoelaces. The magical scissors weren’t even visible behind the Walmart bags. The child rolled his feet to check the shoes. He put on the jacket that still had its price tag attached and changed into the pants.

“Where are we going now?”

“We’ll rest at a motel after driving a bit more.”

After driving for a full day straight, Tennessee felt stiff too. Usually, this level of exertion wouldn’t be much for Tennessee, who had been through all sorts of wars and training. But he was particularly tired because of the child who casually asked ‘where are we going now’ while being a half-captive.

Tennessee decided to think positively. Though the child was tagging along, they wouldn’t stand out much for now. Coincidentally, their appearances were quite similar.

Father and son might be too much, but they looked similar enough to pass as relatives or younger siblings. His unusually pale skin, black hair, and even eye color were similar. In America where siblings with different hair and skin colors were common, this was enough to look like family.

***

Getting a room at a roadside motel was easy. Though they had to put on a bit of a show since they couldn’t sneak the child in secretly.

‘Come here.’

‘…What?’

As the child backed away, the price tag dangled on his newly worn jacket. While lightly tearing it off, Tennessee stretched out both arms.

‘Shut up and just come here.’

When he growled, not wanting to argue, the child hesitantly came into his arms despite being wary.

‘Keep your mouth shut until I say it’s okay.’

‘Yes.’

Though he answered well, the child’s body was completely tense. No one except a robot would sleep like this. Tennessee pressed the child’s head against his chest, making him lean on him properly while pretending to sleep.

‘Put your arms around me properly.’

The child’s hands, which had been awkwardly resting on Tennessee like a toilet lid, relaxed more naturally.

‘Don’t be tense. Pretend to sleep.’

If only the child acted well, it wouldn’t be difficult to imitate siblings on a road trip.

Tennessee held an armful of items in one hand and the child in his other arm. He could feel the tension gradually leaving the child’s body. While adjusting his hold on the child leaning against him, Tennessee naturally conversed with the staff and received the key.

He locked the door and laid the child on the bed. The child was breathing regularly. While taking out a beer, Tennessee said it was okay now, and the child’s eyes snapped open.

“How was I?”

He was quite good. A cooperating kidnapping victim deserved a reward. When he gave him a Mountain Dew, the child opened the can with joy.

Tennessee lay down and turned on the TV. Ignoring the ‘No Smoking’ sign, he lit a cigarette. Hazy smoke rose in the small motel room.