JD: I know last chapter was depressing and so will next few but it gets better! This is mainly explaining why Ray is Ray. Why she hates her name, Myra, and why she is broken but holds herself together just barely around people.
Sunny: It really is depressing, so be prepared when you read it…. :'(
iii: Family
Myra sat under the stairs to the main bedrooms and sighs softly. Not many know about this nook in the house. Myra found it once upon a time ago when she was looking for a hiding place. Mags and her were playing hide and seek. Now she is there to think.
She can't help but feel guilty about her step-mother dying. "My-My?" Joseph called as he pulled up the board and looked in to the nook at her.
She didn't look up at him as she fiddled with her hands. He climbed in sitting beside her and pulling her into a one arm hug. "How did you find me?" She asked as she kept tying her fingers together and apart with a piece of string.
He sighs softly keeping a hold on her. "Myra, I have known you for years..." he stopped when she shot him a dark look. This made him smirk. "The wood was crooked." He replied motioning to the board he re-closed. She tried hiding the smile but it was harder than expected.
Joseph always can make her smile. He knows her to well. He is like the grandfather she never had. She lean to his shoulder and tried not to cry. "How am I supposed to live with myself?" She asked as tears formed.
Joseph holds her closer. "Did I ever tell you about my war days?" He asked. She nodded head as he stroke her hair. "Well then, did I tell you what my Sargent told me when I asked him a similar question to that?" He asked. She shook her head.
This made him smile then disappeared just as fast. "In the war I've killed men, men that had families and loved ones that they wanted to get back home to. I was a kid to the men in my unit so when I went to my Sargent with my guilt he laugh saying that it's a kill or be killed world. You have to fight to survive. The guilt is part of it and you just have survived it day by day." He told her with a grim voice. "I survived with that knowledge and now I'm passing it on to you. Live like today is your last and day by day. Don't stress over the past. You have to keep moving forward so you don't die yourself."
She looked up to him misty eyed as he spoke and smiled weakly. "You want me to keep my head up and keep moving forward?" She asked just as weakly.
He nodded his head as he pushed her hair from her face. "You need to. You are so good and innocent yet you carry more guilt and shame than anyone I know."
She frowned but nod. He motioned them to get out of the nook and join the rest of the world. As they left closing up the hide away Magaline came rushing around the corner. "Graydon is here, he's pissed about something. He demands to see both of us." She said out of breath.
Joseph paled some as he placed his hands on Magaline's shoulders and then look to Myra. "You two go around back and get in to the shed. I'll talk to him. If it's what I think it is I'll get Angie to go out to you two. I want you two to leave and let Angie and I handle this. If it's not I'll come and get you." He made it perfectly clear. They nod their heads and went out the back door to the shed.
He straightened up and walked in to the kitchen area where Graydon is pacing. His hair is wild like an animal and way he is makes even the old man fear him. "Joseph, where is Myra and Magaline?" He snapped at the old man.
"They are doing some chores for me. What is it you need to speak to them about?" Joseph lied easily.
He growled in a way that sounded more like a roar. "Where are they?"
Joseph didn't let this phased him much as he looked at the man who looks like his sanity is unravelling. "They are doing chores. You said so yourself that Myra needs things to stay busy and there isn't much for her to do out here." He kept his voice even to keep the man from realizing he's lying.
The man was furious and threw a chair across the room. Angie screamed covering her mouth after she notice what she screamed at him. "What do you want with my daughter?!"
He roared at her his answer. "They lied to me!"
"Angie, go get the girls." Joseph spoke clearly and calmly. She was about to argue with him but saw the look in his eye. She knew he had a plan. She started to walked pass him and heard him say. "Outside."
She walked straight to the back door after getting out of line of sight. Going out she closed the door as softly as she could before running to the shed. "No." Myra said in a heartbroken voice.
Angie looked down as she took a deep breath. "He sent me out to get you but knowing him he told you something else."
Myra got on to one of the newly fuel four-wheeler. "He told us to get out of here." Magaline answered as she climbed on the second one. "Come on, mom." She said waiting for her mom to join them.
The woman shook her head in a fast motion. "You two get out of here. It'll be faster with just you two. As soon as you can leave the four-wheelers and get to the nearest city. Keep running and don't look back. Don't worry about dad and me. We can handle ourselves. Don't go back to where we lived before. In fact, go to New York. We will see you at the Royal Diner. Our booth." She said with a warm smile as she motioned them to leave.
The girls the rode off. Magaline wanted to look back, turn around and get her mom and grandfather, she didn't. She knew she had to do what they said. They got to the edge of Creed property than ditched the four-wheelers taking the overgrowth.
They had found the highway and walked on it heading north. South would be getting close to Creed property. An old beat up car pulled over beside them. The man behind the wheel rolled down the window and smiled to them. "It looks like you two need a ride." He said and the girls shared a look.
The man gave both of them bad feeling so they shook their heads. "No, sir. Our camp isn't far from here." Magaline lied with a warm smile. The man tried to talk them in to the car and they start to run. He drove after them till another car, nicer, pulled in front of him cutting him off from the girls.
A man in what can only be describe as a cowboy's outfit came out of the car and stepped in front of the girls as the scary man did too. "Girls, are ya okay?" He asked his thick country accent making Maga calm down some as she saw the man throw a punch at the man as he was distracted. He easily dodged the man's punch and glare at him as he did. "Leave, 'em be." He growl at the man as the girls softly gripped each other hands.
The older man started to throw a punch at him again but stopped and began backing up visibly panicked. "What was that about?" Myra whisper to Magaline. Magaline just shrug her shoulders.
The man who just saved them turned to face the two. "Ya two shouldn't be on the road by ya selves." He said as he went back to his car.
Magaline was looking over the brown car as he climbed in. It's an old style one, she's not sure what the details of it is but she knows it's an off road type. "Sir, we need a ride. Where are you going?" Magaline asked real fast to the man behind the wheel.
His bright blue eyes shined more as he looked at them. "Just traveling. I go a little anywhere needed." He told them. "Climb in." The two shared a look before doing so. "Where ya heading?" He asked as Magaline buckled up and smile warmly to him.
Myra sat in the backseat and made sure that she was buckle in before looking around the clean car. She doesn't get it. He basically said he lived out of his car but it's nearly spotless inside of it. "New York." Magaline answered him. "I'm Magaline, this is my uh," She stopped looking to Myra. "Sister, Myra." She said covering her tracks.
"Ya can call me Brawns." He said with a warm smile as they start to drive. "What in New York for ya?" He asked as he drove, not letting the two girls know he knows they are somewhat lying to him. He can tell that they are harmless and in danger so he wants to help them. He also doesn't want to see creeps like the one he just chased down hurt these two younglings.
Myra was the one that answered this time. "Her mom, my adopted mom is supposed to pick us up there. Something bad happen and we had to leave. She sent us off without her." He could tell she was telling the truth with that as they drove.
The ride for part of the way was silent then he broke it. "If ya two ain't gonna talk than I'm gonna turn on music." He said in a teasing tone that made the girls smile slightly though just as fast as the smiles appeared they disappeared. Something that didn't go unnoticed by him. He flipped on the radio to a country station and it played but the girls still seem depressed. He knows it's not him and he saved them in more ways than he even knows.
Two days passed by quickly for the girls and Brawns. He pulled up in to the area of the City close to the Diner they are heading to. "Ya sure, ya don't want me to come?" He asked as he looked at the two young girls who were dirty and tired but excited to be in New York, to be one step closer to their family, even if one isn't by blood.
Myra was the one that spoke as she looked around the city area. "You said before you want to find your brothers while you can." She said as she stretched. "Wouldn't exploring New York might help you find them? If anything you'll know if they are here or not." She pointed out. He nodded his head and then gave the girls a stern look. "Don't worry, Brawnsy, will be careful." She gave him a wide grin. "Hope you find them!" She yelled as they start to run off to the way the Diner is.
They walked down the street till they got to the Diner. The red tarp type thing over them was old and worn down. Above it is an apartment complex. Going inside they saw a counter on one side and booths along the windows. Another booth was beside the counter on the edge of the stools. A table was also on other side of the counter too. A woman with long black hair and dark brown eyes was walking around in a red shirt with the blue crown on her shirt and under it; it says 'Royal.'
The woman is obviously Hispanic with her darker traits and tanned skin, and accent as she spoke. "How may I help you two?" She asked as she looked over the girls.
Magaline smiled up to her, her dark brown eyes being warm and loving, that reminds Magaline of her own mom. "We are waiting for our mom. She's supposed to meet us up here." She said as they start to walk to a booth in the corner of the window. As they got closer Magaline point to the bathroom. "I'm going to try to get some of this gunk off." She said as she headed to the bathroom from the booth. When she came back Myra did the same. Washed faces and arms they look better.
The woman that was working kept watching them in a worried way. Before long she brought the two shakes. "Don't worry about paying, Darlings." She said with a warm smile. "You see, I'm a mom. My baby isn't as old as you two but she is still my baby." She said as she looked over the girls. "Mi hija and hermanita should be here soon." She told them as she looked over the girls.
She went in to the back and talked to a man in the kitchen. He looked out of the door to them and nodded his head at her as they talked. The girls saw them but didn't know what they were saying. Within ten minutes she came out and picked up a phone calling someone and talking to the person on the other line. None of this time the girls have felt threaten or unsafe in that small hole in the wall diner.
An hour pass and a tall man with dark red skin came in with a girl about six years old asleep in his arms. She's taller than most girls her age, or about her age, but she looks about age, just tall. "Bebe!" The waitress said walking around the counter and kissed the girl who woke up head. "Estoy feliz de que usted podría recogerla para mí, mi amor." She spoke Spanish a way that made both of the teenage girls think it's the most beautiful thing they ever heard.
He replied in English and he has a thick country accent when he did. "Anythin' for you, darlin'." The sleepy girl was put down in on a stool as her mom got her some chocolate milk and a burger. The man looked at the girls as the woman spoke to him. He nodded his head and then a woman came in. Also Hispanic origins as she looked at the tall woman in the Diner. The man laughed at her as she tripped over her own two feet. "Ya need help, Rey?" He asked as she nodded her head. He grabbed the bags in one go.
The mother behind the counter looked to the short hair dark hair girl that was falling asleep sitting at the counter. "Evie, why don't you go meet those two girls in booth seven." She spoke clear enough where the two girls could hear her.
The little girl shook her head real fast to wake up and she looked and smiled up to her mom. "Okay, Mama!" She said happily jumping up and running to the girls. "Hi, I'm Evangeline but everyone calls me Eva or Evie!" She said happily as she started to bounce around. The two teenage girls laugh at the cute girl. Her shirt is army green and army like pants.
When she span around in a circle Magaline notice the back of her shirt. "You're hero wears combat boots?" Magaline asked her. The little girl nodded her head real fast as she pulled at a chain that's under her shirt.
It was dog tags. "Daddy is ex-military. He is the best fighter in the whole wide world." She said happily showing them the dog tags. "I don't go nowhere without these cause they're my daddy's." She flipped the dog tags over her fingers slightly as she looks at them.
Magaline smiled warmly at the girl. "My grandpa was military. I had his dog tags but the chain broke." She said warmly as Evie climbed in to the booth with them. "I'm Magaline this is my best friend in whole wide world Myra."
"Hi." Myra said warmly waving at the little girl who's now bouncing besides Magaline. She then started to talk real fast in mixed of Spanish, English, and another language they aren't sure what is. It sounds somewhat like Spanish but they are not sure. "What are you speaking?" Myra asked finally. "I can tell Spanish and English but what else?"
"Showy. We don't really live here. Daddy is a fighter and we moved here for the year. Back home everyone speaks Daddy's people's language." Evie explained as she kept bouncing in her seat.
Magaline nod her head as she looked at the small girl. "So you all speak a Native American language?" She asked slightly confused. The little girl start to nod still bouncing, then she bounced right off of the booth seat. Magaline laugh as did Myra. The mother walked over to them and put her hands on her hips. "Your daughter is interesting." Magaline had to admit.
"That she is, always full of energy." She laughed herself as she helped the six year old up. "If anyone comes in looking for you two we'll tell them you are upstairs. My husband and hermana will show you were our apartment is. Shower, get clean and Reyna has clothes for you two." She told them with warm smiles. "When you get back we will get food in to you."
Myra and Magaline shared a look and shook their heads. "No, you don't...-"
The woman placed her hands on her hips. "Now, you listen here, I am the mother here and I am telling you to do so. We don't want you to look sick and be weak. You need food and a good shower. Now go!" She went in to mother bear mode making the little girl giggle as she waved goodbye at the two girls as they walked away with the other Hispanic woman. This one was obviously not related to the mother one and her daughter.
The second one is giggling in to her hand. "Sorry about Rosa. She gets protective when she is in her Mama Bear mode as we call it. Any kid that needs help she has to help them. You two sure look like you need the help."
The two girls nod their heads looking at the second woman. "I'm Myra, this is Magaline." Myra spoke up and motion between them.
The second woman stuck her hand out to them. "I am Reyna this is Dirk, Rosa's husband. You already met their kid, my goddaughter, Evan." The man, Dirk, nod his head at them as he walked up the stairs to the apartments.
"Evie is adorable." Magaline admitted looking back to the little girl who is now arguing with her mom and the man in the kitchen can be heard laughing at them.
They got to the apartment and Dirk went in to the bathroom taking down towels for the two along with other stuff they may need. Reyna bounce around the living area dumping out bags. In all of them are clothes. "I had to stop by my home to get some clothes for you two after Rosa called me. You two are too short to fit in any of her clothes." She explained as she looked the girls up and down then grabbed a few clothes and holds it up to them. "Magaline, this should look good on you." She said handing her a blue button up top and then found a pair of black stretch pants. "Sorry you look a little bit wider than me. You have great curves by the way." She said as she looked the girl up and down shaking her head. "I'm a stick and yet you have curves at the age of what? Seventeen?" She asked scoffing.
"I'm only fifteen." The girl blushed.
The woman gasped as she looked Myra up and down. "How old are you? If I have to guess I would say about sixteen." She said eying the girl carefully.
Myra smiled as she nodded her head. "You would be right." She admitted. "I am only a year and half older than Magaline." She admitted as Reyna gave her clothes that would fit her better than would fit Magaline.
Magaline took a shower and got dressed as fast as she could. As she came out Dirk had Evie in his lap. "No, Reese's is better." He said and she kept shaking her head laughing.
"No, Skittles!" She screamed with her arms in the air falling backwards.
He laughed as he shook his head amused. "M&M's?" He asked and she stuck her tongue out at him. "I still say Reese's."
She frowned shaking her head. "Skittles! They are rainbow!" Evie said ever the hyperactive one.
The man laugh as his whole body shook. "What about Twix?" He asked.
She frowned at him. "No, they are icky."
"Explains how we only have Twix on Halloween to give out." Rosa said sitting down beside her husband laughing with him at the faces Evie is making at her parents.
Myra was already shower and dressed sitting on the floor munching on some carrots as they laugh and joked around with their daughter. "What's that about?" Magaline asked taking a carrot from Myra and watching the kid with her parents.
Myra smirked to the girl. "She asked for candy so to distract her Dirk got in to a conversation about what type of candy is the best." She told her and Magaline had to laugh at that. "Ever wonder what your father was like?" Myra asked as she watched Dirk with his daughter laughing and joking around like children; in a way they are, or at least he is acting like one and she is one.
Magaline ate the carrot slowly so she didn't have to answer but she knew she had to eventually. "He was a butt-wipe from what I was told. Mom never spoke about him and Gramps only told me something's to make me stop asking questions about him." She told her best friend as she closed her eyes. "Gramps said that he was in the army and he was a good man till he joined a mercenary group."
Myra softly gripped the girl's hand. "What was his name again? I know you told me millions of times before but I can never remember." She said hitting her head like it'll help her remember.
"Chris Bradley." She answered without hesitation.
Myra lean against her shoulder as the two stayed quiet for a while. Myra knows that her dad is a touchy subject but Magaline is a better person because of her dad. Magaline just needs to remember that sometimes. When it started to get dark the two went back down to the Diner with Dirk and Reyna. "I have to get back home; I swear my husband can't function when I am not there to keep him from spoiling his niece. She is going to turn out to be evil when she's older!" Reyna declared as she left.
Dirk turned to the two and sat down beside them. He smiled at them warmly as he spoke. "Ya two really did an impression on my wife and kid." He admits as they looked out the window waiting for Angie or Joseph to show up.
Magaline smiled warmly at the thought of what Joseph and Angie would think of them. "They are really great people. Sorry if we imposed on you. We are just waiting for our guardians."
He nodded his head and then looked up to the man in the kitchen. "Friend of mine, Logan, is going to let you two stay in his spare apartment upstairs for a few nights till your guardians come out. Don't abuse his kindness. The old grunt never is kind. Lucky us, he has a soft spot for kids." He said as he got up. "Don't worry about Logan showing up he's in Canada right now. Damn man won't give up a fight if he doesn't have to." He laughed as he walked away.
Evan: Awww…. I was a cute kid! LOOK AT THE PIGTAILS! No wonder I'm so adorable.
Maga: *Monotonously* Evan, now is not the time for jokes.
Evan: *Happily* I'm not joking.
Maga: *seriously* Evaaan.
Evan: Yes, ma'am. JD, nor any of the Mechies own Marvel, transformers, or anything else in this story that is own by some large company. Thank You and please review!