#bibi said he looks buff

[fcllenflowers]

Description: Progression drabble leading towards the climax of this arc (Finally xD). Lots of backstory here and Bibi experimenting with the first person narrative. Hope you enjoy!

Words: 3.352

Trigger Warnings: child abuse, mentions of child abuse, bullying, mild violence, smoking, drug use, racism, racist slur, misgendering, possible triggers within

‘The first years of my life I went to school, like other kids. The kids in my class didn’t pay me much mind. They left me alone and I did my thing, playing with my pens and bugs. The teachers ignored me in class, because I was a bad student. I couldn’t read and I was bad at writing words. My letters were too small or too big. My drawings were never on the classroom wall, the teachers took them to the special teacher, you know, the one bad students get after school. He always asked me stuff about my drawings.’

‘ My momma never came to parent meetings. The teachers stopped asking me t’a tell her after a while. They asked if m’ah pappa wanted t’a come, but I said he works a lot. The moms of other kids would point a’ me 'cus I smelled bad. They didn’t want their kids in the same school as me.

Around second grade a girl came close t’a me a day, her name is Sam. She was nice an’ very pretty. She sat next to me on the desk. I felt embarrassed, ‘cus I smelled bad. But she didn’t say anything ‘bout it. She helped me find the page on our reading book. I felt embarrassed, 'cus I couldn’t read. But she didn’t say anything about it...

The next days Sam joine me on the grass on breaks. I met bugs there. She liked bugs too and we met ‘em together. Sam had long hair, blonde, an’ very clean. She had nice clothes, a nice shirt wit’ a dog on it. I liked that shirt. She told me, on my birthday, I can do a party so she will give me a shirt like that for gift. I didn’t kno’ when my birthday was. She told me ‘cus I had ginger hair, it must be autumn. I said, maybe November.

Sam had other friends too. She was smart and pretty. Everyone wanted t’a be her friend. The other girls, tho, they didn’t like me very much. So one day, they came to the grass and they told her ‘Come play with us!’. Sam told them ‘We can play all together, on the grass. I like hunting bugs!’ The other girl made a face, she was disgusted. She said “Bugs are dirty...Come play with us on the playground!”

Sam looked at me and got up, then held her hand out for me. I reach to take it but, the girl said, “Wew, no, not you! We don’t want gypsies in the playground! You’re going to steal our lunch and get dirt on the swings!”  

The other kids laughed. Sam looked at them and then a’ me. I don’t remember, but I don’t think I cried. I had heard my pappa’s boss call him a gypsy. I knew it was a bad thing to be called, something about my family I thought. The girl took Sam’s hand and pulled her along. “It smells bad.”, she pointed to me. “Come, let’s play hide and seek!”

I wanted to take her hand. I wanted to tell them I wash up twice a week sometimes even! I use the pool showers! I shampoo my hair! But Sam took her hand away and walked with them. She didn’t even look back a’ me.

For a week I’d run to the school bathrooms first thing in the morning. I’d get there earlier to wash my face in the sinks before other kids came. I thought, maybe if I did that she’d come back and play with me. I saved her the seat next to me in class...but she sat with another girl. And she never sat with me again.

It was the first time I felt it. That pain in the chest. I thought I was sick and stole some medicine from school doctor’s office. But it just made me sleep. I missed school for a few days. I lied to mom and ran off to the park nearby and hid on a tree. I didn’t want mom to know, I felt so embarrassed that I smelled bad! I tried to steal a perfume, but got caught. The officers let me go when they found out my dad was a gypsy. ‘You can’t deal with these people’, they whispered. ‘They don’t even have papers, the lot of ‘em.’

Things at school got worse in the third year. I was already 9, a grown man. The other boys had gotten taller too, though, and more angry. They liked pushing me around. If it was one of them, I’d push back. But more..I knew I couldn’t win. So I just sat there and took it, hoping they’d get bored if I didn’t react. Sometimes it worked.

That year wasn’t nice. But now I know the reason. Destiny was preparing me; shaping me to accept the first sign of Purpose.

One cloudy day I found a matchbox on my way home.

And everything changed. ‘

Seth had begun to notice those small changes in the way Steel acted around the other kids lately. It didn’t make much sense to him. For all he knew, they hated everyone in that school almost as much as he did; especially the popular groups, the ones that had outcasted kids like him and Martha that didn’t live in Barbie doll houses and lead perfect lives with their perpetually smiling American Dream family. It’d be a lie to say he hadn’t felt betrayed by that sudden change of action, but what bothered him more were those annoying voices in the back of his subconscious pointing out how suspicious Steel’s behavior was.

Especially after that one news report.

 Recently, two of the girls from the popular cheerleading group had started to hang around Steel a lot. They said it was to use him as revenge for Robert, Martha’s old bully and nemesis, since Steel was a friend of Martha and someone Rob despised. Seth had reasons to doubt Steel was talking to them out of any reason other than vanity. Until recently, with those news reports...He’d started to think maybe the shift in Steel’s behavior was fueled by something other than just a sudden desire to be part of the popular group.

 It was one of those days Mathilda would pester Steel after school, following the trio all the way up to the gateway and clinging to Steel with her giggles. Seth hated her long hair and her pretty smile and he wasn’t shy to admit he was jealous of her. She was much prettier and closer to earning the boy’s affections than he could ever be, after all. This time, however, Mathilda was becoming particularly persistent to drag Steel with her to smoke.

 Steel’s initial response had been a dry ‘no’, but she kept pushing. Seth just wished he’d shove her off and get out of there already, honestly.

Mathilda insisted and grabbed Steel’s arm, a movement that should have earned her a nice slap across the face. But Steel barely turned around to glance at her. Even though he wasn’t very tall or particularly buff, he was obviously stronger than her and could shove her off across the schoolyard if he wanted to; Seth knew. He’d now been left to wonder why he didn’t, why he put up with the touch and didn’t even look uncomfortable.

Steel’s hands remained on Martha’s wheelchair, pushing it forward as he kept walking and ignoring both the girl latched to his arm and Martha’s confused glances.

“Come oooooon, Steel, show us the vape tricks! Please?!” Mat begged, leaning her head against his bicep. She looked like she had jumped out of an anime, with her little skirt and small, cute face laced by dyed orange bangs. Perfect words to describe her included ‘neko’ and ‘stereotype’. Steel finally pulled his arm away and opened his good eye just a slit.

“’K Imma show ‘ya if ‘ya promise t’a stop bein’ such’a cutie. ‘Might melt m’heart an’ all.” There was a small snicker. Mat faked a squeal and grabbed both her cheeks -they weren’t even pink, because the excitement was fake, just like anything else about her. Seth felt vomit crawling on the back of his throat. He was jealous and bitter, sure, but above all he was confused and angry. He wanted to push Mat aside and demand an explanation for this odd behavior. His hazel eyes turned to Martha, that was also watching with bewilderment. She didn’t seem angry, however, because despite all Martha wasn’t bitter towards anyone at the school.

Steel didn’t return the looks anymore, but closed his eye and let go of Martha’s wheelchair instead. The girl turned her wheels around to look at him and was about to say something, when Mat’s enthusiastic ‘bestie’, Tina, showed up. Tina was as skinny as a sixteen year old could get and always liked to show off her belly and the jewel around her belly button. Steel liked that jewel and had been inspired by the piercing to get one on himself. Of course, Tina had gotten in a shop, with sterilized equipment and a piercing specialist. Steel had gotten it for 2$ from a homeless man in an alley, with a knitting needle.

Tina grabbed Mat’s free arm and leaned on her shoulder, throwing Steel a playful glance and smile.

“Come oooon weed kid, we know you like showing off!”, she stretched her words and clicked her tongue, playfully poking Steel’s chest. The boy raised a thick brow slightly and looked to his hands before giving a small shrug.

“A’ight. You gots a vape?”, came the raspy response.

Seth’s eyes had gone wide by then and he took a few steps closer to Martha to whisper-yell a ‘what’s going on’ into her ear. The girl shrugged in confusion. Tina reached into the pocket of her baggy bomber jacket and pulled out an e-cig, full of vanilla scented liquid. She held it out between her forefinger and thumb with a smirk.

“Come with us in the back yard, if y’want this, baby~”

The lack of expression on Steel’s face made things pretty awkward for the two onlookers. But he finally nodded and muttered an “I’ll catch ‘ya later guys.” towards them before following the girls. Needless to say Seth already knew that he’d spend the rest of his day obsessing over this and cry himself to sleep. But he couldn’t really say any of this out loud. Martha turned her wheels around and set off, as if this situation wasn’t troubling her. Part of her was glad that Steel was being social. That’s a sign of a healthy psychological development, right? She wasn’t possessive, much unlike their other friend.

Worn out leather boots quietly followed the girls’ matching white sneakers to the back schoolyard. That was where all the cool kids hang out. Steel had been there before, once, to smoke weed with Seth. But he hadn’t liked it that much, hence why they never repeated the experience. The only ones there apart from him and the girls was Rob’s gang of seniors in the football team and a couple of their girlfriends that’d strayed off to gossip and smoke in a corner. All these kids had one thing in common; they were from middle-class or wealthy families and had nice clothes. They all followed the trend of 80s grunge, but compared to Steel’s outfit they suddenly looked like cheap rip offs. Steel carried the authenticity of a broke punk teen, because their pants hadn’t been bought torn, they’d just gotten ripped to shreds in some parts after countless falls and fights. Their plain white tee had stains on it that weren’t painted on, he just wore the same shirt all through the week and got it dirty. Their oversized leather jacket hadn’t been purposely and carefully scratched, it’d just gotten ripped in tree branches. They also wore a variety of different cheap jewellery including a fau golden chain around their neck and multiple rings on their fingers. All in all, these kids wanted to be outcasts. But Steel, a born and raised alien to society, desperately wanted to be like them.

Despite appearance being a key factor in most teenage relationships, his style didn’t earn him respect. If anything, the kids hated him even more for daring to attempt a cheap imitation and regarded him as poor and filthy. He was used to that. Save for the occasional misgendering, nothing about it bothered him much at this point.

The trio received various glances and glares as they made their way to the brick wall behind school. Steel leaned his back against it and stomped the bottom of his boot into the bricks. He stuffed both hands in his pockets, tugging the low-hanging jeans even lower despite the belt and stretching back slightly, stomach exposed as the white tee got pulled along with his shoulders. Tina stood opposite him while Mat approached from beside. The vape was handed to him and he worked it between his fingers before popping it in his mouth for a long drag. Tina and Mat had already sparked up conversation about the upcoming school football game. They were cheerleaders. Steel thought they were both very pretty despite having the iq of a broccoli- no, wait, maybe broccoli is actually smarter than them, he thought, while puffing out a thick cloud of pure white smoke. He started blowing a few rings and the girls seemed impressed already. Then he pushed his jaw forward a bit and blew the smoke up into his nostrils, recycling it before blowing it out. Mat clapped her hands squealing “Do the ghost inhale!”

Of course Rob’s gang was sending poisonous vibes from across the schoolyard. Rob was already pissed, because Steel for one belonged to the loser club and not in the backyard and for another, even though he’d been the one to break up with Mathilda, this didn’t mean some filthy sissy ‘boy’ was allowed to hit on her. His smoke tricks weren’t even impressive -though Rob didn’t know any vape tricks, because vape tricks were stupid and not his kind of thing. However, his pride had been insulted now so eventually he gave into impulse and stomped his way over there, followed by his little gang.

Those were football players, apart from two senior girls. Steel knew them by name but never talked to them, but they were big and bulky compared to him and could probably send him to the hospital. Regardless, he just kept doing his tricks without much care and Tina was the first to turn around and glare at the boys. A hand rested on her waist as she bent it to rest her weight on one leg.

“Ugh, what the fuck do you guys want here? Don’t you have a game to catch or whatever?”, she spat out. Steel noticed that an odd accent had suddenly appeared in her voice, like she was chewing bubblegum whilst talking, even though she wasn’t at that moment.

Rob was busy staring at Steel, who had his eyes closed so he wouldn’t return the glare anyway, and then to Mat. His voice was laced in bitterness and poison, though he didn’t sound angry, there was powerful malice in it aiming to wound Steel’s soul.

“Fuck, Mattie, didn’t know you’re a lesbian now.”

“Stop it Rob!”, Tina steps in. She grabs Rob’s arm only to be violently pushed back. Mat scoots from Steel’s side to grab her friend and hold her up. The opening is exploited by Rob’s friends, who instantly surround Steel and tower over him meaninglessly. The boy doesn’t move much, if anything he seems uninterested in the situation.

“Careful guys, she’s gonna steal your wallets.”, Rob laughs. His friends snort. Steel finally opens his eye just a bit and throws a lazy glance towards Rob. If he tries to move, his friends will surely grab him.

“Did you really think Mat would be interested in you? You’re not even a real boy. And we all kno’ how much she loves to suck dick.”

 More laughter. Steel’s eye momentarily darted to Mat, who was sobbing now. Of course she couldn’t care less to help him. Maybe she seemed like Rob’s victim now, but Steel wasn’t stupid. He knew full well that she was at fault too, for leading him here, for using him to make Rob jealous, for dating an asshole like that to begin with, just to be cool and make a name for herself. She deserved this. He didn’t, but it was okay. It’d be worth it in the long run.

“What are you looking at shit scum? Why don’t you crawl back into your rathole and die? We don’t want gypsies here.”

 At that Steel’s eye finally returned to Rob and he swallowed lightly, the corners of his lips flinching. His hands were now in his pockets, shoulders loose, relaxed. He didn’t seem alert, unlike the others, because he knew he didn’t have much to fear from them anyway. They’d just beat him up.

“Y’kno they say hate is jus’ love gon’ wrong, Robs. How’s yo’ momma, by the way?”

“Hold his arms.”

 There wasn’t much of a resistance. The other boys were much larger than Steel anyway, but he didn’t put the merest effort to resist their hold. The first punch sunk straight into his stomach, forcing him to fold in two. He stumbled to the side, shoulders strained from the pull as Rob’s thugs held him up on his feet by force. The second punch spun his jaw around, he winced lightly and choked back a tear that threatened to emerge. It was pure reflex, however, because Steel wouldn’t lie if he confessed to feeling nothing at that moment. They felt absolutely empty of emotion, even as Rob got more violent and laughed at them, joined by his thugs soon after. At some point, after he’d been ridiculed for a few good solid minutes, Mat finally screamed something at Rob that Steel’s blurred senses barely caught onto. The boy pushed her aside but retreated soon after with a scoff.

 The next thing he felt was his knees crush against the pavement and then Mat’s breath close to his cheek.

“Are you okay?”

 A weak smile, a nod of the head. His jaw was bruised and stomach hurt like hell. He wanted to retch, but swallowed it along with his pride. It’d be worth it, in the long run. He was so close-

“Oh, Frisk, I’m so sorry! So sorry for dragging you into this mess...”

 There it comes. The confession. Her voice is full of guilt, she’s crying softly. Steel’s hand reaches  out to cup her wet cheek and brush some tears away with their thumb. Mat looks surprised by the compassion, the affection in his act.

“I’m so sorry, I’d do anything to mak-”

“Can I com’ see ‘ya tomorrow...at practice?”, they ask.

 Mathilda’s eyes shine, glisten from both the tears and surprise. She bites her lower lip and whimpers, finally giving in and crushing her body against the boy’s with a loud wince.

“Yes! Of course...”, she’s shivering. She must have really felt bad for this, he thinks. In the momentary glance they shared, he saw something change in her expression. Steel’s one hand reluctantly rises to cup her back and squeeze her lightly against him. Unlike her, he feels no guilt whatsoever for what he’s about to do, what he’s planning. He thinks she probably feels guilty just because he made it sound like he’s more interested in her than getting beat up, just because it’s about her.

 Does it matter if she feels bad now, anyway?

 She’s going to be ash soon, like the lot of them.

#tw; child abuse mention #tw; child abuse #tw; bullying #tw; smoking #tw; possible triggers within #tw; long post #❁.: Can't spell reason without ARSON | MainVerse Arc :.❁ #*Backstory* #tw; g slur #tw; racism #tw; racist slur #tw; pyromania #tw; misgendering

[businessweekme]

How to Travel the New, $800 Billion Silk Road

Thanks to more than a trillion dollars of prospective investment—led by China’s $800 billion Belt and Road Initiative linking countries stretching between East Asia and Europe—the Silk Road is rising again. The series of once-legendary pathways connecting cities, from Kashgar to Paro to Constantinople, which originated at the dawn of the common era and collapsed with the fall of the Mongol empire in the early 16th century, is now being reborn as a network of highways, railways, and airports linking 65 countries. Add improved safety and easier-to-access visas, and the bazaar-filled cities of Central Asia are more accessible than ever.

For travelers, this means a wealth of new destinations to explore—some sprung from deserts overnight and others that have for too long been left off tourist maps. Uzbekistan is reporting a 40 percent year-on-year rise in tourism; Baku, Azerbaijan, has also awakened from its post-Soviet slumber to rank among the fastest-growing tourism destinations in Europe and Central Asia. The growth had been simmering for years; now it’s boiling hot.

Bloomberg Pursuits: The New Silk Road…

According to Jonny Bealby, founder of luxury travel outfit Wild Frontiers, the region is also emerging in response to “people looking further and further afield to see places that are more authentic, less spoiled, and less on the beaten track.”

His company is just one of several tour operators—including Ker & Downey, Abercrombie & Kent, and Remote Lands—helping travelers realize a suddenly buzzy fantasy of traveling the Silk Road. But completing that journey end-to-end can take anywhere from six weeks to three months. Here, a few locations to prioritize if your vacation days aren’t quite that plentiful.

For Food Lovers: Xi’an, China

The heart of the original Silk Road was inarguably the central Chinese city of Chang’an, or modern-day Xi’an. In the eighth century, it was the largest and most cosmopolitan city in the world—a beacon for traders from all corners of Asia. Now an international trade hub with 12 million residents, Xi’an is reclaiming its former glory as the eastern terminus of the Belt and Road—perhaps no surprise, considering it’s the hometown of President Xi Jinping.

How much time you’ll need: Three to five days

What to see and do: While most visitors know Xi’an for its iconic terra cotta army, there is much more to the place. Start at Tang West Market, which is said to have been the precise, historic start of the old Silk Road; today, it’s a shopping bonanza where you’ll find everything from faux antique daggers to jade-bejeweled brass pots. Make a pit stop at the Tang West Market Museum, which has one of the world’s biggest displays of relics from all sides of the Silk Road. Then make your way to the city’s Muslim quarter, where narrow alleyways are lined elbow-to-elbow with traditional shops and street food stalls.

Be adventurous and try foods you’ve never tasted before: spicy camel skewers, wholesome quarter-inch-wide biang biang noodles, and delicately sweet persimmon doughnuts. Want a glimpse of the city’s modern edge? Head to Chanba Ecological Zone, a landfill that’s been converted into a sparkling new urban area. It’s the epicenter of Xi’an’s Belt and Road endeavors and features a massive wetland park that’s perfect for boating and birdwatching.

Where to stay: The five-star Gran Melia Xi’an offers all the comforts associated with an international brand; the Eastern House Boutique Hotel, meanwhile, offers a sleek but still local-feeling experience.

For Architecture Buffs: Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan’s ancient cities still stand remarkably intact—along with their ornate, mosaic-laden monuments. As a result, this country brims with a fascinating sense of history, layers of architectural and religious heritage, and a global mélange of cultural traditions forged over millennia.

Quality hotels are a relatively new prospect here, says Bealby. There’s been an uptick in creatively designed accommodations tucked into old caravansaries—where ancient traders would work and sleep—in the old town of Samarkand and in the old walled city of Kiva. And the best newcomers have been exceptional. “They’re on par with anywhere in Paris, London, India, whatever you choose to look at,” he exclaims.

How much time you’ll need: Seven to ten days

What to see and do: Though you’ll fly in via Tashkent, it’s best to connect straight through to Samarkand—a 2,500-year-old city 200 miles to the capital’s south. There, you can see where Genghis Khan sacked the city of Afrosiab in the 13th century, watch daily life unfold against a backdrop of mud-brick Uzbek houses in the medieval quarter, and visit such eye-popping sites as the 15th century Registan Mosque. Then it’s off to Bukhara, a city studded with glistening turquoise domes, ornate mosques, ancient forts, and layer upon layer of living history. It’s one of the region’s best-preserved medieval cities—with several significant monuments, such as the Indian-influenced, four-minaret Char Minar, in close proximity to one another. If you still have time left, Khiva is your last stop. It’s an incredible example of traditional Islamic urban design, and its 200-year-old inner fortress, the Itchan Kala, will send you traveling back through time.

Where to stay: In Samarkand, the Grand Samarkand offers a sense of Silk Road history with modern sensibilities; in Bukhara, Bealby recommends either the Minzifa Hotel, the Bibi Khanum, or the Malika Bukhara; and in Khiva, the character-packed Orient Star Hotel and Qosha Darvoza are the best games in town.

For Adventure Seekers: Azerbaijan

Many Silk Road destinations claim to be “the place where the east meets the west,” but Azerbaijan has the best geographical claim to that title. Just as in antiquity, it remains a place where minds from all sorts of far-off lands converge—though these days they’re more likely drilling for oil or shopping at fashionable boutiques than trading wares. The capital, Baku, is somewhat like Dubai: It’s ripe with old world charm and modern-day glitz, but it’s the adventurous day trips waiting just outside the city that you might remember most.

How much time you’ll need: Three to five days

What to see and do: Baku’s architecture spells the capital’s history like an open book. The winding streets of the Islamic old city, a Unesco World Heritage Site, are packed elbow-to-elbow with matching stone buildings that date to the 12th century; some of the original caravansaries still stand and have been converted into fine-dining spots.

The outer city, meanwhile, was built by imperial Russians with impressive Baroque, Gothic, and postmodern buildings lining massive, gridded boulevards. Downtown are skyscrapers pulled from a futuristic era. If all those contrasts leave you exhausted and feeling you’re gone through several wormholes, chill along the revitalized waterfront district, which provides ample lookouts where you can sit and relax.

Then get out of town. From the new port of Alat, 40 miles south, you can take a beautiful ferry ride across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan or Turkmenbashi in Turkmenistan. Who do you know that has ever done that? And make time to hit Gobustan National Park, an hour’s drive south from Baku; it has thousands of 5,000- to 20,000-year-old rock carvings, plus volcanic mud pools for therapeutic (and skin-softening) soaks.

Where to stay: Fairmont, JW Marriott, and Four Seasons all have solid options in town.

For Europhiles: Northern Greece

History buffs who come to Greece think first of Zeus, Homer, and the Parthenon. But another claim to fame is that the country was the trailhead for one of the first iterations of the Silk Road, dating to Alexander the Great’s conquests in the 4th century B.C. Glimmers of that legacy remain in the north, in such little-visited destinations as Vergina and Soufli. The new Belt and Road is emerging as an important narrative here, too, particularly in Piraeus, a bustling port city since ancient times. The port itself was purchased by the Chinese in 2016 and was subsequently built up to be one of Europe’s busiest marine hubs—more than quadrupling the port’s container traffic since 2010.

How much time you’ll need: A week

What to see and do: Vergina—which has been inhabited since the 3rd millennium B.C.—claims historic sites that are outstanding, even by Greek standards. It was the first capital of ancient Macedonia, lending it a fascinating acropolis, theater, and palace. East is Thessaloniki, a thriving urban center that served as an ancient shipment hub for silk and spices. See how that pervades Thessaloniki’s contemporary culture on a stroll through Modiano, the city’s predominant foodie thoroughfare; sampling its souvlaki, gyros, cheese and meat-stuffed bougatsa pastries, feta-stuffed squid, and smoked eggplant will prove why this is considered the “gourmet capital of Greece.”

Culminate in the easternmost city of Soufli, Greece’s capital of viniculture and silk production. Three museums here are dedicated to the Silk Road, affirming the legacy of the trade routes that still live today. And when you’re done with that, you can see the silk trade springing back to life in this charming town, where modern workshops now supply Greece’s leading designers.

Where to stay: In Vergina, the rustic but lovely Ktima Kalaitzi has its own winery. In Thessaloniki, stay in the grand (if slightly dated) Electra Palace Thessaloniki or right by the sea at the hyper-modern Makedonia Palace.

The post How to Travel the New, $800 Billion Silk Road appeared first on Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East.

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