CHAPTER 2
The following Tuesday, Martha and Emilie went to Metropolis for a shopping trip to get some new school clothes before the start of the year. Generally,
Emilie was exuberant about shopping for new clothes, but today she was incredibly bored. Finally, she took her camera out of the truck, and went to go and
film the buskers, while Martha paid for the clothes. As she was filming a cellist-violinist duo, something caught her attention in the alley running
alongside 4th Avenue. A short, burly man was leaning against the brick wall, waiting for someone. Emilie turned on her video camera, and started to film
him. A few minutes later, a young teenager joined the first in the alley. She zoomed in on his face. He had a shock of messy, brown hair, and a pale
complexion. Emilie was intrigued by his face, and by his lanky body, with just a hint of muscular build. He looked to be about the same age as Emilie -
fifteen years old. She wondered what a boy of that age would be doing, having a meeting in an alley.
"Have you got it?" the man asked the teenager, staring at him with a hostile expression.
"I have it, Gerald."
"Hand it over, then."
"Pay me first," the youth told him, taking a step back.
Gerald pulled out a wad of bills from his back pocket, and slapped two bills into the youth's outstretched hand. The boy nodded, then took off his backpack.
He reached inside, and pulled out a faded-looking leather satchel bag. The boy gave it to Gerald, then walked away. As he left the alley, and entered the street, the first thing he noticed was Emilie standing across the busy, traffic-filled street with her video camera still filming. He ran into the traffic, nearly getting hit by a taxi, then a minivan.
"Hey!" He called out to her. His voice was neither menacing, nor was it friendly. Nonetheless Emilie feared talking to him, and quickly ran down the busy sidewalk, narrowly dodging businessmen, tourists, and homeless.
"Wait up!" she heard behind her, but Emilie continued running. Finally, she reached the truck, and she quickly opened the passenger seat, and slid down to the floor, unseen by the boy as he ran past, confused as to where she had disappeared to. The driver's door opened, and Emilie looked up to see Martha staring at her, puzzled.
"What on earth…" Martha spoke, as she closed the cab door, and revved the engine. Emilie sat up in her seat, and put on her seatbelt. She felt weird not explaining herself in full-detail as she was accustomed to doing with Martha, so she stared out of the window to watch all the people on the sidewalk.
Martha left it alone for the time being, which made Emilie glad, even though Martha was puzzled herself why Emilie was acting so erratically. Soon, they had reached the store that Johnathan and Clark were shopping. Martha stopped the truck, and they both entered the store, searching the store quickly for any sign of the two males. They were standing by the jacket display.
That afternoon at lunch, Martha and Johnathan left in the truck to get some lunch at Pizza Hut. Clark and Emilie decided to walk the few blocks up to the Dairy Queen. They agreed to meet up in a few hours to go back to Smallville. Emilie didn't get a chance to tell Clark about what she had witnessed, as they wolfed down burgers and pop.
As the two of them were walking, Emilie convinced Clark to go into the Toys R Us , on Clifford St. She was looking at a display of action figures, when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. "Yes?" She asked, turning around to see who it was.
It wasn't Clark, as she had expected. It was the boy from the alley.