Third chapter up! Enjoy!
Chapter 3: What now?
Suddenly, a voice interrupted my self pity. A scream. Coming from the alley behind me. Then, more voices.
"We had a deal!" a boy's voice yelled. He had a strong New York accent, or at least an accent like the men from New York on the radio.
"I know! Just give us more time!" a different boy yelled this time.
"Please! Just a little more time!" a girl's shaky voice said. She had been crying, I could tell.
"I don't know boss," another girl's voice said, quieter, as if she could hear people listening, "We already gave them 3 weeks. That's enough time, don't ya' think?"
"Guys, just a little more time is all they need." Yet another girl spoke up, talking so quietly, that I had to strain to hear what she was saying. She and the girl that just spoke also had a New York accent.
"Fine." The boy with the accent said. "We'll give them more time…"
There was a sigh from the boy and girl, obviously the victims here.
Then, the accented boy spoke again. "Time's up! Olivia! Rachel! You take down the girl! This one's all mine." He was obviously talking about the boy, but I peered over the fence just to make sure. What I saw will scar me for life.
Two girls in brown were physically beating a girl dressed in a pink tutu type costume, aiming for her feet. A boy in a suit was attacking a boy in a leotard, a black one. I was watching the boys when I heard a sickening snap from the side of the alley that the girls were fighting on. Then a thud as something hit the ground. It was the girl in the tutu, which was now stained red with her own blood. She was in a heap at the ground and, with a final scream, she stopped moving.
"Mary!" the leotarded boy yelled. He pushed the man in the suit off him and ran over to the dead body.
"Don't worry," said one of the girls, "You'll be with her soon enough."
When the boy looked up, she fired a shotgun straight through his heart. He fell on top of the already dead girl, breathing his final words in a whisper so soft that I couldn't hear what he had said.
"Ehh, we was headed there anyway!" the other girl said.
"I must say, that was a very good shot Rachel." The boy said.
"I learned from the best."
They laughed. "Very true." The other girl, whose name must be Olivia, stated. "After all, Pat taught you and me. He might not have lots of brains, but he knows his way around a gun, that's for sure!"
It was all too much for me. They had just killed two innocent people, and now they were joking? What was this world coming to? I let out a strangled moan, and felt weak, dizzy almost. All three people left standing swiveled their heads to the source of the sound. The fervent anger that was present in their eyes made me snap out of my dizziness and weakness. I tried to hop down off the fence, but ended up falling on my face inside the alley. The boy, named Pat apparently, picked me up.
"Well well well, what have we here?"
"Looks like a spectator to me" Olivia said.
I couldn't help it. This was the second act of violence that I had witnessed today, I would probably never see my father or mother again, I had just run from the next town over into this one, and now these three people were going to hurt me.
"Please don't hurt me!" I cried. "I didn't mean to! I just heard someone yelling and-"
Olivia cut me off by slapping Pat on the back of the head. "I told you that we had to be quieter!"
"Shut up!"
"You shut up!"
"Hey!" Rachel interjected. "Both of you shut up! Let the girl speak!"
I was now visibly trembling in Pat's grip. These people were monsters! "And… I just wanted to know what happened. I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Pat said. "Sorry doesn't get you away from the jailhouse!"
At the word jail, I started crying harder. The earlier events were coming back to me, filling up my head until it felt like it would burst! The group just looked at each other in confusion.
"What's the matta' with her?" Pat asked.
"What's the matter with her? She's a little girl all by herself in Arkansas! She probably hates the coppers!" Rachel said.
"Why?" asked Pat.
"Who knows!"
"They took away my mommy and daddy!" I said, and began to cry harder. "They were going to take me too, but my mama told me to run so I did. And they beat up my daddy and ransacked my mama's new dress shop and…" I started thinking about the man responsible, "and it's all Mr. Ricky's fault! Oh! I wish that there was no such thing as police officers!"
"You and me both kid," Olivia replied to this, "you and me both."
Rachel started questioning me immetially after Olivia said this. "Where did you live before you came here?"
"Arkansas?"
"Ok, what town?"
"Fouke, I think"
"You're in Fouke right now, so, no. Think harder."
"Hammons! That's it!"
"Good. Now, how old are you?"
"Why does it matter?" Olivia's voice in the background said.
"She ran from Hammons to Fouke! She's at least six-"
"Actually, I am six."
"She's six! She's six and she ran from Hammons to Fouke! She just witnessed a major crime, committed by us I may add, her mother and father got arrested, she almost did as well, and she escaped…
"Twenty."
"Twenty cops! She's six. She doesn't need any more abuse on her right now. No punishment."
"What!" Olivia and Pat said at the same time.
"You'd really give her a punishment after all that?"
"I…" the argument won itself. "Fine. But, what do we do with her?"
"Introduce us, I guess." Olivia stepped forward. She put out her hand for it to be shaken.
"I'm Olivia."
Shakily, I shook it. "I know."
She looked at me, confused.
"When he told you to get the other girl, he said 'Olivia! Rachel!' So I figured that your name was either Olivia or Rachel. And after the firing of the shot gun by Rachel, the boy said 'Good shot Rachel'. You didn't fire the gun, so that meant that you were Olivia." Then I pointed to Rachel. "And you are Rachel." Finally, I pointed to Pat. "When Olivia said that Rachel learned from the best, she said that you didn't have a lot of brains, but you knew your way around a gun, whatever that means. So, I figured that you were the person who taught her, so your name must be Pat."
He just stared at me. Then, he broke out into a grin. "Wow, I could have never done that when I was six," Olivia was going to say something, but he put up a hand to silence her. "What's your name kid?"
"Maren." I said, addressing all of them. "And, I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."
"Neither do we." Pat said. "Well, I guess we find some more suckers to play for their money."
"What about the kid?" Olivia said.
"We can't just leave her here by herself!" Rachel said.
"Why not?" Pat asked, earning him a slap on the head from both girls at the same time. "Ow!"
"Cause she's a kid, stupid!" Rachel said harshly.
"What if she came with us?" Olivia suggested.
"That's not a bad idea!" Rachel agreed, taking Olivia's side without question. "It would make us seem less threatening!"
"But, what if people ask who's it is?" Pat pointed out.
"Easy," Rachel said, "Yours and Olivia's."
"What? Why?" both said at the same time.
"Well, you're the obvious couple! Besides, you can always say that you adopted her. She even kind of looks like you."
They all immediately looked to me. I just waved and managed a 'hi'. I honstally thought that they had forgotten about me. I didn't see the remblesense, but I was happy that they would let me stay. Then, Pat came over and kneeled in close, like my daddy use to.
"Can you act like I'm your dad?" he said.
I nodded.
"Then, I guess you can stay."
I brightened up at this. A grin took over my face and I threw my arms around him and hugged him. With such force, apparently, that I knocked him to the ground. Olivia and Rachel laughed.
"Taken down by a six year old," Rachel teased, "Fatherhood is getting to you, Pat!"
"Ha ha ha." Pat grumbled in a sarcastic tone. He pushed me off and got to his feet. "Come on kid, you're with us now."
He put his arm around me and all four of us walked out of the alley.
Personal thanks to Maren for whipping me until I wrote this. *whip cracks* OW! Hey!
Review!
NO WHIPS!
MAREN: Awwww! No fair! Ah! I know... *starts rummaging through closet*
THAT'S DOUBLE FOR FLAMETHROWERS! TRIPLE FOR CARDBOARD GUNS WITH ELECTRICAL TAPE!
MAREN: OH COME ON!
;D Works every time! =D
