As the adrenaline ebbed from Alex's body, his knees felt weak. His usually strong, confident frame sagged against the wall, his face vacant with shock. 

[i]Alexander Black [b]never[/b] loses control,[/i] he thought to himself, and tears welled in his eyes as he sank to his knees and buried his face in his hands. 

Eight years ago, he'd been living with his sister, Penny, in a group home in London. As many state-run homes can be, it was a rough, mean existence. Alex was a scrawny ten-year-old, still innocent to much of street life, still never yet been in a fist fight. His sister was blonde like him (blonde like Ellie), just fourteen at the time, doing her best to protect her little brother from the cold, cruel world. The group home housed about fifteen other children, a few younger than Alex, and some older than Ellie. The home was supposed to be supervised, but the Council didn't have the funds to staff its homes (or anything else for that matter), so the children largely took care of themselves. The group home where Alex and Penny lived was mostly governed by a trio of boys who were almost old enough to be released from the home. They were all quite large for their age, and living on the fringes of society had hardened them.

The kids had the beginnings of an organized crime syndicate. You had to earn your keep. But Penny wasn't much of a thief; their parents had raised them to be honest to a fault. She was pure, too, not exactly prostitute material (and young, to boot, but that didn't stop some other girls). Instead of spending her days thieving, pushing drugs, or selling her body, Penny tirelessly sought out an employer which would hire someone her age. Alex went to school sometimes, but he, too, spent many days on his own looking for ways to earn some money to help his sister. Unfortunately, in that world, the honest ones starved, and were picked off, one by one, by stronger people.

And so, one day, the ringleader of Alex's group home decided that he'd had enough of Penny's "honesty" and "virtue," which to him simply translated as a lack of income. The ringleader had grabbed Penny's ass, then her breasts, then beat her brutally in front of the other residents, and violated her too just to make a point. Penny was never the same after that.

All the painful memories that Alex worked so hard to suppress came rushing back. The other students simply stared at him and began to walk away, wondering what this psycho's problem was that he would assault another student and then sit on the floor and cry.

Brian happened to be passing by and saw Alex crumpled against the wall. He came over and crouched down, bewildered by this ice-cold Brit's sudden, unrestrained display of emotion.

"Hey, hey man," he said, gently shaking Alex's shoulder. "What's goin' on?"

Alex came to his senses, roughly swiping a sleeve across his face. He swallowed hard, setting his face into an impassable mask of neutrality.

"Fuckin' nuthin," Alex said roughly, straightening his jacket. He quirked an eyebrow at Brian. "D'you want to help me do some business?"

******************************************************************************

Two periods later, Alex and Brian met up in the cafeteria. Alex had never explained himself, and Brian didn't ask, per the Bro Code. With Brian's help, Alex had given away or sold all forty tabs, and made just under $300 cash. He'd never so much as held an American dollar before, but he liked the way they looked and smelled. Americans liked to spend money, too, he reckoned. He'd never sold so much so fast. 

[i]I think I like this country,[/i] Alex thought, as he took out his phone to text one of his mates back home that very thought. Brian sat next to him with a tray of food and took out his phone as well only to fire up his Sublime Pandora station. Without wanting to admit it to himself, Alex found himself scanning the groups of students, looking for Ellie so that he could try to apologize.