Caelan looked back at the kid. He didn't trust him. And he was right not to for he saw that the boy turned around. So while he was originally gonna put the sling shot somewhere on the ground, he decided to keep it. The boy didn't answer his questions. Well, okay, he did but Caelan was sure he was lying to him. And he didn't like liars. Maybe his brother would give him truthful answers if he didn't just elect to getting back the sling shot. Caelan thought the brother might be stronger than he was. While he didn't want to have a knife fight with him, he was surprised that he decided to run instead of fight. Maybe he would do the same thing when they met again. Maybe they could have a conversation and become friends. Maybe. But he would want to get his lil brother's sling shot back for him. Anybody would. After all, he needed to protect himself from the likes of those three lil menaces.

So he decided to leave with the sling shot. It would mean they had to meet again. And Caelan expected to be hurt when they did. But he also expected to hurt the kid if he needed to also. Everybody needed to protect themselves, whether they were nine, or fifteen or however old the other kid was. And so Caelan walked out of the alley.