Last Day

by mileslacey

When Ron Stoppable got out of bed that morning he knew it was going to be a really bad day but he had no idea just what was in store for him.

Last Day

by mileslacey

(Juche)

Kim Possible characters © Disney Studios

I'm Ron Stoppable. I'm nineteen and I live with my parents and my baby sister on Benjamin Franklin Drive in Middleton, Colorado. In less than twenty-four hours I will be dead but, of course, I don't know that yet and, in a way, I'm already dead.

You know it's going to be a lousy day when your alarm doesn't go off and a naked mole rat scratches your face to remind you to get up. I'm car-pooling with Bonnie Rockwaller so being late is one thing I don't want to be. My shower and shave is very short and I get dressed in my Smarty Mart uniform pretty quickly then dash out the door, not even bothering to grab some breakfast.

Mom cries out, 'You need some breakfast. You know it's the most important meal of the day.'

'I'll grab something on the way to work,' I shout back, waving to my mother and my little sister Hannah.

Bonnie is waiting, scowling, because she actually had to wait for a whole minute. The shaggy haired brunette is scary at the best of times but when she's scowling all those stories the rabbi reads from the Talmud about hell don't seem so scary after all.

'You're late,' she snarls.

'I'm sorry, my alarm -.'

'Just get in the car, Stoppable.'

Car pooling with her was her idea. She said she needed to have a passenger so she could use the car pooling lane and I was the closest person she knew. There's a lot of rules but the ones that matter the most is don't touch the stereo and no eating in the car. Rufus doesn't like car pooling with her but he spends most of his time in my pocket anyway. Since I began car pooling with her I've discovered she's much more complicated than you would think for someone who seems to have been born with a sneer on her face.

She doesn't talk much. When she does it's usually to tell me not to do something or to bark 'School Bus Rules, Stoppable!' In other words, shut up.

On the car stereo she's playing some country singer who acted in a sitcom. She normally played either classical or rap so I wasn't sure what to make of this development. As I got in she notices I'm really down. It was exactly two years since Kim and I began dating. We had broken up about three months ago. Bonnie never brought it up just as I never mentioned Junior.

We're racing down the car pooling lane on the Interchange when she suddenly blurts out, 'I'm not surprised Possible dumped you. You've always been a loser. But you deserved better than to be dumped by tweet.'

'Geez, thanks,' I reply sarcastically.

'When I dumped Junior I did it to his face,' she states. 'There were a lot of tears but a few months later he told me he was thankful that I told him to his face because no one had ever done that before.'

'Why did you dump him anyway? He's rich, he's handsome and he's -.'

'An immature man-child with a steroid abuse problem who cared more about being a teenage singing sensation than he ever did about me. In the entire time we were going out we only had sex three times.'

'Whoa there, too much information,' I say to her. The idea of Bonnie and Junior having sex is an image that I seriously don't need.

Surprisingly, she bursts into laughter. 'Come on, you're not exactly innocent.'

'We only did it once.' I say. It sounds really lame even as I'm saying it but Bonnie only seemed to laugh louder.

We pull into Smarty Mart, a large building that looks like a gigantic wooden box. We drive to a series of car parks with the words EMPLOYEES ONLY painted on the parks. She hangs the disk they give to employees with vehicles from the rear view mirror then says to me, 'I'm leaving at five. Don't be late or you're catching the bus home.'

Yip, that's the Bonnie I know.

As always, like Master and Servant, she walks a few paces ahead of me because she doesn't want to be seen with me any more than absolutely necessary. But, now that we're both single, seeing her walking ahead of me has its perks. She's kinda cute with a nice butt and curvy hips with long, slender legs. Of course, I would never go out with her. She's mean.

'Stoppable! Rockwaller!'

We thought that Mr Barkin would remain one of those bad high school memories we could forget but he lost his job due to budget cuts so he ended up working full time at Smarty Mart as the Shop Floor Manager. He stands by the elevator, glaring at us.

'Yes, Mr Barkin,' I ask instinctively.

'Management wants to see you two upstairs now!'

Bonnie and I exchange glances as we make our way to the elevators but Mr Barkin points to the stairs.

'Sorry, peoples, but the elevator is out of order.'

So we walk up the stairs. Only two flights of stairs. At the top we walk through a door into the Reception area. At the desk the receptionist looks up over her glasses and says, 'Hello, can I help you?'

'We were sent up here by Mr Barkin,' I say.

The lady adjusts her glasses. She asks, 'And your name is...?'

'Ron Stoppable,' I reply. 'And she is Bonnie Rockwaller.'

'Please take a seat. I'll let John know you've arrived.'

We both take a seat on the imitation leather sofa. There's nothing we want to say to each other, even when I pick up the old Human magazine which has KP on the front cover with me almost cropped out of it. I check the date: July 10th, 2008. Just a few days before me and KP graduated and the Lorwardians attacked us. Only a few weeks later she accepted an invitation to study at the Sorbonne in Paris. I put the magazine down again. It was bringing back too many painful memories.

A man walks out of his office.

'Hey, Ron Stoppable!' He says. 'I'm John. Glad you could spare a few minutes.'

'How's it hangin'?' I say as I hi-5 him.

Bonnie and John exchange glances. It's obvious they have met before and, knowing Bonnie, it was probably not a pleasant exchange. She seems to have the ability to rub people up the wrong way.

'Bonnie,' John says.

'John,' Bonnie replies.

'Can you two come into my office?' He says.

In his office he invites us to take a seat. We both take a seat on the sofa in front of his desk. There's nothing impressive about this place. It's actually rather dark and spooky with blue, black and grey everywhere. It reminds me of my father's office.

John says in a chirpy voice, 'I've invited you two here to tell you that management has been evaluating your performance and your departments have been performing below the standards that management have come to expect.' He pauses for dramatic effect in the same way supervillains often do. 'Of course, this cannot be blamed on you two because management is aware that in tough economic times tough decisions have to be made. People just don't buy brand new fashions or exotic pets when they fear for their jobs and their homes. However, as you two were the last employees to be hired -.'

'- we're going to be the first to be fired,' Bonnie interrupts.

'Whoa there, Bonnie!' John retorts, caught by surprise by Bonnie's outburst. 'No one said anything about being fired.'

'Cut the bullshit, John,' Bonnie snaps. 'Lloyd invested the staff pension fund in a Ponzi scheme that went bust. We've got to pay the price because management mismanaged our money.'

I'm speechless as I listen to Bonnie backchats John. I have often been on the receiving end of Bonnie's vicious tongue but this is new. There's an edge to it that I've never heard before and it scares me.

I say to her, 'Calm down, Bon-Bon. He said he's...' I stop mid-sentence. What is John saying?

Bonnie gets to her feet. She says, 'My family needs the money I'm bringing in from this job. I'm not going to let you take that away from us.'

John beams his friendly smile and says, 'Hey, Bonnie, all I'm saying is that you and Ron have to fill out an evaluation form by the end of the day and drop it on my desk. Then management will decide what they will do with you.'

She says something in Spanish that I don't catch then storms out.

John shakes his head pityingly. 'With an attitude like that she'll be down the road by the end of the day.'

I say in defence of Bonnie, 'She's been through a lot this year.'

He says, 'She doesn't understand the tough economic times we're living in.'

I can only say, 'I think she understands how bad things are better than both of us.' Then I add, 'Can I have the evaluation forms?'

Without further comment John hands me the forms and I leave the office so I can give Bonnie the form. I'm half way down the stairs when I see Barkin. As I try to pass him he stops me. He looks at me then says the four words every man dreads to hear. 'We need to talk.'

He leads me to the staff room then invites me to take a seat. Without asking if I want one he makes me a coffee. 'Milk and sugar, Stoppable?'

'I prefer it black with three sugars.'

'Riiiiight,' he replies. Once he has poured the coffee he puts it on the table and takes a seat. He says, 'I presume you know about Rockwaller Finance?'

Everyone knows about that. Her father owned Rockwaller Finance which provided loans to local businesses. When the Lorwardians trashed Middleton most of the businesses were destroyed. With no money coming in Rockwaller Finance couldn't pay its debts and went bankrupt. It was on the news for nearly three weeks. Her family lost everything. Of course Bonnie was too obsessed with Junior to worry about these things. Her family was tough and family business always stayed in the family. Then shortly after she broke up with Junior I noticed that Bonnie changed dramatically. She had started to dress in Smarty Mart clothes and she lost a lot of weight. I knew something was up but I didn't know how to ask her.

Barkin looks at me and says, 'I know you're a good lad at heart so I know you will do the right thing and give up your job if it comes down to you and her.'

I almost choke on my coffee. 'Why I should I give up my job for that bitch?'

He recoils from my bark. Then he explains, 'Bonnie's father committed suicide a few months ago and her mother had a nervous breakdown as a result. Without Bonnie's wages they'll be out in the street.'

I look at him. I know that Barkin is right but after all the mean and horrible things that she had done to me and all the hurtful things she had said about me and KP I didn't feel in the mood to give up my job for her. But, just as I'm about to tell him to go to hell, I see Bonnie sobbing in the corner. Then I hear Sensei's voice saying, 'Stoppable-san, sometimes doing the right thing may involve having to make the ultimate sacrifice.'

I look around the staff room. Hovering near the door is Sensei, surrounded by a pale blue light that neither Barkin nor Bonnie can see.

'Oh, man,' I protest but I know that he is right. I get up from the chair and walk over to Bonnie and comfort her. I expect to be pushed aside but she buries her head in my lap and sobs heartbreakingly as she babbles something I don't understand. As I rub her back I notice she's not wearing a bra but this is not the time to think of such things. I'm completely weirded out by this because I really don't know what to do but I sense that I'm doing the right thing. 'If it comes down to a battle between you and me I'll let you have the job.'

Barkin says, 'Enough of the mushy stuff you two! Get back to work!'

I help Bonnie to her feet and Rufus gives her a tissue to wipe away the tears. She manages to say 'Thanks.'

We return to work but nothing seems the same. I can't imagine how someone could kill themselves. We had a few suicides at Middleton High but I never knew those kids. But I knew her father. Bonnie's father was a hard-working man who never learned to just to take it easy and relax. Sometimes my father would invite the Rockwallers over for a barbeque and he was one of the few people who didn't turn his back on them when things went wrong for the Rockwallers.

For once Barkin leaves me alone.

When things are a little quiet I read the evaluation form. Rufus helps me to fill it out. Once I finish it I fold it up and put it in my pocket. Then I check my smartphone. It's time for morning tea. I walk out to grab a coffee.

In the employee car park I notice that Bonnie is in her car. I walk over then tap on the window but she doesn't answer. I get in on the passenger side. I take out her evaluation form. She snatches it out of my hand.

'Got a pen?' She snaps.

I give her a pen. She fills out the form then hands back the pen.

'I'm sorry to hear about your father. I didn't know.'

'Drop it, Stoppable,' she warns. 'I don't want to talk about it.'

'You can't keep your emotions bottled up,' I say to her. 'You need to talk about it.'

'I said I don't want to talk about it!' She yells at me angrily.

I decide it's best to leave her alone but, as I'm about to get out, she grabs my arm. 'Can you please stay?'

'Not if you're going to yell at me,' I tell her.

'I'm sorry,' she replies. 'I just don't want to talk about that.'

'Then what do you want to talk about?'

'Did you notice I wasn't wearing a bra when you ran your hand down my back?'

She sees me blushing. 'You want to talk about that?' I ask incredulously.

'Ever since we began to carpool and work together I've started to like you,' she says, gazing at me intently. 'You're not a total loser but I was too stupid to see that until you offered to give up your job for me, despite all the nasty things I said and did to you over the years.'

She reaches over to me, close enough for me to smell the perfume she has dabbed on her neck. It's the same perfume that KP wore at our graduation. She kisses me gently on my lips. When she pulls away she says, 'Let's go for a drive.'

I protest nervously, 'We've got to get back to work.'

She guffaws. 'Just tell them you had to go on one of those world saving missions.'

I blink. 'Tell a lie?'

'In a way you are on a world saving mission. You're saving me.' She laughs again. She reverses out of the car park and speeds out of the car park. She puts on some classical music, which I recognise as her happy music, as she taps on the steering wheel in rhythm to the song. This is the first time I've seen her happy in a long time but it scares me. Lurching from upset to excessively happy reminds me of my Uncle Barry who's bi-polar.

'Why did you kiss me?' I ask her, still confused as to why she did that.

'Because I like you.' It sounds weird but I swear she means it when she says that.

'But you spend most of your time being nasty to me.'

She pauses then turns off the music. 'I know you've been checking me out since you broke up with Kim. It's nice having someone admire me in that way. If I had a problem with that I would've smacked you.'

I've turn bright red. I don't feel comfortable with Bonnie talking about such things like that around me. Especially about me checking her out. It feels sick and wrong.

Suddenly she screams, 'OH FUCK!'

You know how they say your entire life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die. Well, it doesn't. It lasts for a very long time.

I remember the first day at pre-K when I met KP. She was being bullied by a couple of kids so I stood up for her. I was beaten up but she came over afterwards and took me to the nurse's room. I remember when a typing error resulted in our first mission helping some rich man deactivate his security system. I remember when I saw Rufus in the exotic pets department at Smarty Mart for the first time and I knew I had to buy him. My father said I could have a pet as long as it didn't affect his allergies. It wasn't until after high school that Barkin told me he was the product of a failed science experiment, which is why he is so smart and active when most naked mole rats are useless as pets as they are blind and mosly live underground in burrows. And I remembered when KP and I had our first kiss when we began to date. But the last memory that I had was of the first time we made love. We did it on the beach at Lake Middleton late one night after a mission.

How bizarre that in the last few seconds of my life that they are mostly filled by fond memories of a certain red haired girl who meant more to me than anyone else in this world. My last conscious thought was, 'Please break the news gently to KP and look after her.'

Bonnie ducks just in time but I react a milli-second too late as the car roof is crushed by a bridge above the Interchange collapsing on top of it. As my bodily functions cease to function I feel my spiritual body rising upwards. Then I find myself sitting opposite Sensei and Yori.

Sensei says, 'Welcome home, Stoppable-san.'

I feel around my pockets and realise that Rufus isn't with me. 'Rufus! Rufus! Where are you buddy?'

Sensei says, 'It wasn't his time, Stoppable-san. Come with me, we have much to do.'

I ask, 'Am I dead?'

'Lesser life forms call it death but the more advanced life forms call it a transition,' he replied in his usual cryptic way.

I let him lead the way as we set off on the next stage of this crazy little adventure we call death.

THE END