Eezo and Baby Spice sat in the back of the alley on Silver street with two foam food containers of spaghetti from Mama Amedea's Italian Restaurant. This was Eezo's favorite place to get food these days. It had the style of an Italian restaurant but none of the gravitas and fancifulness one would come to expect from one. You ordered food over the counter and if you were going to sit you were sitting outside, in the back.
Sitting outside worked fine because both Eezo and Baby Spice's appearances betrayed the fact that they were both hard gang members. Eezo had one sleeve of tattoos on his arm and a red star tattooed onto his left cheek. His hair was cut short and dyed red. He had light brown skin and looked like he could've been of several ethnicities. His ears were covered in piercings, and one ring pierced his lip. He wore a bright red hoodie with a star on it and some form fitting pants.
Baby Spice was a very tanned woman of Asian descent. She was covered in tattoos from her neck to her legs and the limbless jumpsuit she wore revealed this very clearly. Her hair was bleached blonde and one streak was dyed pink over the blonde. It was long and went down to her back.
They opened their containers and began eating. As Eezo twirled a large bundle of spaghetti around his plastic fork, Baby Spice grabbed a fistful of spaghetti and ate it out of her hand. Eezo gasped and dropped his fork in surprise.
"Baby Spice!" he said derisively.
"Wha?" Baby Spice spoke through a mouthful of food.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm eating…" Baby Spice explained.
"No. Why are you eating with your hands." Eezo said.
"Uh,It's better."
"It's better?" Eezo asked dumbly.
"Yeah, 'cause…you get spaghetti sauce all over your fingers…and then when you're done you get to lick it all off." Baby Spice explained.
"That is so gross and so weird, man," Eezo said.
"No it's not," Baby Spice scoffed.
"Uh, yeah it really, really is," Eezo said.
"Shhhhh." Baby Spice said.
She placed a sauce coated finger over his lips. Then she patted the star on his cheek with her vodka sauce drenched hand, getting plenty of vodka sauce on his face. Eezo scowled and grabbed napkin. He wiped himself off.
"So, what. Is that what you do on dates?" Eezo asked mockingly.
"I'd rather just smoke spice on a date, man. Y'know, somethin' intimate for me my lover. Guys like that, you know. That's why the boys keep coming back and that's why I'm a player," Baby Spice said.
She made the gang sign of the Reds with her hands.
"You know, that gang sign works really well," Eezo said. "Because the vodka sauce makes your fingers red."
"Oh, shut up Shepard." Baby Spice said. "You're so condescending."
"I am not. Besides, using my real name is pretty condescending, isn't it? Isn't it Angelica?"
"Ew, don't call me that," Baby Spice said. "You're making me feel like a grandma."
After they had eaten, they made their way down Spooner street on hover boards and floated under the hot sun. It was another scorcher in the city of New Dallas. Some people shirked the sun, within the safety of their front porches. They sat and drank beer or slept or just watched the world go by. Some children played in their sprinkler systems or chased each other around the sidewalk.
New Dallas was a poor city. A booming shuttle industry brought prosperity to the city at first. Then, when the company that manufactured closed down the city went straight to hell. Now it was a jungle of slums overshadowing the strip of remaining prosperity in the section called East-Town. In this slum the Reds, Eezo and Baby Spice's gang, prospered considerably amidst the squalor. Their operations had become wide and varied in recent years and the gang had really begun to expand.
Eezo and Baby Spice made their way to Boom House. Boom House was a squatter's
commune where a hive of people who either refused or couldn't pay rent lived. It was a large blue house covered in graffiti and burn marks. A busted window hung in front of a ripped blanket. Baby Spice knocked on the front door with several hard bangs. After a few moments, the door opened and a young man covered in elaborate piercings and sporting a Mohawk answered.
"Hey, Mikey," Baby Spice said. "We're here for Digits. Is he here?"
"Yeah, yeah," Mikey answered. "One second, I'll be right back."
Soon Digits came out with his hover board. He was short, and blond haired. He had tattoos of tear drops on both his eyes and braces over his teeth. He wore a red hoodie and red pants covered in the logo of his favorite Urban Combat Championship team—the Edmonton Blood Dragons. He hugged both Eezo and Baby Spice and they went on their way to pick up their final companion.
As they glided along on their hoverboards they chatted to pass the time.
"So, I got myself a little job," Digits said
"You got, like, a real job?" Eezo asked.
"Yeah. It's nothing big or anything. It's a sales gig," Digits replied.
"Huh. But, when are you gonna have time for that?" Baby Spice asked.
"All the time," Digits answered. "I just need an ear piece to do it. It's one of those on the phone jobs. It's a real bummer 'cause the pay is by commissions only."
"That's rough," Baby Spice noted.
"Nah. I'm a pretty good pusher already. I should be fine," Digits said.
"Well I say it's a good idea," Baby Spice said. "Man, I could definitely use some extra credits."
"Why? So you can smoke more spice?" Digits asked knowingly.
"So I could do lots of things," Baby Spice said defensively. "Maybe I'll smoke a little more spice—what's it to you?"
"Absolutely nothing. I'm not your dealer, I'm not your doctor and I damn sure am not your father," Digits said. "Which is a huge relief, cause you're such a ho."
They finally stopped in front of a small hovel of a house. It was an old looking shack with chipped brown paint all over it. One window was severely cracked and the side of the house had been covered in red graffiti. Amongst many rude declarations was the tag name of Owl.
Digits knocked on the door with four hard pounds. After waiting a full minute for a response, he knocked again. Still, no one came to the door. Digits scowled and went to the side of the house. He fished a key from under a rock and used it to open the door.
"Owl?" Digits called. "Are you here?"
"Hey, Owl!" Eezo called. "He's probably still asleep."
"Owl sort of disappeared recently, hasn't he?" Baby Spice noted.
"Yeah, probably on one of his drug binges again," Eezo noted.
"That guy's really fuckin' renegade," Digits said.
"Why? I do drugs. Digits, you do drugs too," Baby Spice said.
"Nobody does drugs like Owl," Digits replied.
As they entered the house they heard the sound of a television blaring throughout the place. They moved through and called for Owl, receiving no response. They walked up the stairs towards Owl's room. Upon reaching the door they were greeted by the pungent smell of vomit. Digits opened the door and they found Owl lying on the floor. He was blue in the face and as dead. His face was screwed up in a horrifying expression. His eyes stared vacantly at the ceiling. There was vomit in his mouth as well as caked down the side of his face.
"No, God, NO. Oooh no," Baby Spice said with wide eyes.