So Gen started panicking when I told her that I had to continue writing the scenes with her and Steph in close quarters. You'll see how badly down the page. I hope she calms down soon. It must be really hard for her to want her mother so much but be so afraid of allowing her to get close.
Chapter 50
Steph's POV
After Magenta shrugged my hand off her shoulder and turned her back on me I drifted in and out of sleep for a while longer, finally waking up as Tank pulled the SUV into a gas station. The lights were blinding after travelling in the dark for so long, and the fact that I'd just woken up didn't help matters either. I ground sleep from my eyes and looked out the window at the complete darkness beyond the gas station, wondering how long we'd been on the road. Finally, Tank cut the engine and turned around in his seat. He looked over at me first, displaying a nice smile that almost made the situation seem normal.
"Hey," he said simply and quite frankly I felt like I would have fallen to the floor had I not been firmly strapped into my seat. My memory of the Merry Men was then staring and nodding and silently communicating, using words only when it was absolutely necessary. That Tank would choose to initiate verbal communication that could turn into an actual conversation shocked me. I held my breath, not wanting to startle him into silence. "Are you hungry?" he asked and when I again didn't answer, he added, "It's past dinner time by a couple of hours at least. We had to drive straight through because of time issues, plus you were both sleeping. If you're hungry now we can get you something to tide you over until we get to the house."
I felt like such an idiot. Sitting there in the back seat with my mouth agape, gazing at Tank like one of us didn't speak English. While I struggled to find the link between my brain and my mouth, Tank handed the other guy a card and told him to get a dozen doughnuts and some packets of potato crisps while he was inside.
A sigh sounded from the other side of the car and I looked over to Magenta. She was still curled on the seat, looking small and alone. My heart reached out for her in the way that my hands wanted to, but she'd been avoiding my touch ever since we'd left Ranger's office. I didn't want to drive her away with continual attempts at closeness she obviously didn't want, but it didn't stop me from wishing I could wrap my arms around her and make it all better.
"If Mama's just gonna sit and gape uselessly for a while longer could I go use restroom?" Magenta asked. Her voice was muffled due to the position of her face against the cushion, but her tone came through loud and clear. Dispassionate. Had I caused this with my carelessness? She had seemed so full of life when I'd met her in the lobby a few days ago. Easy to grin and laugh and make jokes. Now she was sullen at best.
"I can't leave you alone," Tank apologised.
"I wouldn't mind using the restroom as well," I said quickly. "I'll take her and you can stay with the car while Igor gets the food." I'll admit it. The main reason I offered was to show Magenta that I was sympathetic to her needs. It was all I could think of as a starter point to get back into her good graces at the moment. Tank said she's not allowed to be left alone, so I'd offer to take her to relieve herself. I felt sure she would jump at the chance, because, to me, it seemed better than the alternative of having Tank take her to the bathroom. The Merry Men could be intimidating at the best of time, let alone when you're trying to do your business.
"I'd rather Tank take me if I have to have an escort," she stated flatly, sitting up in her seat and undoing her belt. "I don't see why I would need an escort to use the bathroom, since I'm almost fifteen, but if I have to have one, I'd prefer Tank." With that, she simply got out of the car and started walking swiftly toward the gas station building.
Tank, still twisted around in his seat, gazed over his shoulder as she left, then let out a barely audible curse. "I can't leave you alone either," he said, and I assumed he was talking to me, since I was the only other soul around to hear him. "You'll have to come with. Just try to keep your distance for now. Gen can be a little impossible when she gets like this, and unfortunately, I don't think your proximity, after the scene you caused today, is helping the situation."
Great. Thanks for that, Big Man, but I think I already figured half of that out on my own. I didn't bother responding, simply slipped from the back seat and followed him to the back of the main building where the toilets were located. He was already knocking on the outer door to the ladies room when I came around the corner.
"Gen?" he called. "You in there?" He glanced at me pointedly and I stopped a few feet away. Far enough again to not be a threat, but close enough that I could hear everything that they said.
"Yes," came Magenta's muffled voice. She was obviously irritated, which to me was an improvement on the lack of care she seemed to be exhibiting when she left. "And to answer your next question: No, I have not been attacked by rogue biker zombies with vampiric tendencies."
A small smile played at his lips for a moment and he moved closer to the door. "That wasn't going to be my next question," he informed her.
"Close enough," Gen's retort filtered through the door.
"Are you alright?" Tank asked, leaning against the wall and cracking the door open an inch.
I clearly heard her groan and bang something against something else, probably her hand against a wall or something. "See?" she called. "I told you. I'm fine.
He cut his eyes to me once more, holding my gaze for a few seconds as if he were contemplating his next move regarding me. I didn't think it was me he was concerned with at the moment though. Clearly, he cared a great deal about my daughter and was worried about her current behaviour. Finally, he turned his head slightly back toward the door beside him like he could heard something that I couldn't. "Is there something you want to talk about?" he asked her gently.
It was then that Magenta burst through the door, startling me back a few extra feet and causing Tank to abruptly push off the wall. "As a matter of fact," she said, pinning him with a glare that looked decidedly moist. "there is. Where would you like me to start? With the fact that you drugged me and shoved me into the back seat of a car to take me God-knows-where for God-knows-what-reason? Or maybe the fact that Papa, who always claims to have my best interests at heart, practically lied to my face?"
Tank sighed, rubbing a hand over his bald head and leaned back against the wall again. "Gen, Ric didn't lie to you either."
"Oh really?" she shouted, throwing her arms up in the air and then letting them fall lifelessly to her sides. "Were you there in the control room when Mama went completely loco?"
That hit me hard. She thought I was crazy? I'd done more damage than I thought. How was I ever going to make this right? I took three more steps away from them both so that I stood in the shadows cast by the trees at the fence line.
"She said that she wanted me back so that she could leave Papa behind," she continued, her voice thick but angry at the same time. "Papa said that no one was forcing me to do anything. And the other day he said that if he had to he would protect me against her. But now look!"
Tank reached out to caress her cheek, but she stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him. "He was telling the truth, Genny. Nobody is forcing you to become best buds with your mother and simply leave the rest of us behind. And if –."
"I'm no expert," Magenta seethed. "But drugging me and dragging me to some house in the middle of nowhere, where I'm bound to be in close quarters with my mother, feels a lot like forcing to me." She was speaking so softly that I had to strain to make out her words. I almost wished I hadn't bothered. I wasn't sure which hurt more, her words or her tone. I know her anger was currently aimed toward Ranger, but the fact that she didn't trust me at all because of one misguided exclamation... I didn't think I could handle it.
"That's not it at all," Tank said, trying to sooth her. "He wants to make sure you're both safe while he -."
"How am I supposed to feel safe knowing she wants to steal me away?" she exclaimed shrilly.
I didn't have to even try to hear that one. It was loud as the night was dark. A small sob escaped me unbidden and I crumpled to the ground as my knees decided they could no longer support me. When I could sink no lower, I allowed my tears to flow freely, streaming down my face in little rivers.
Genny's POV
I glared at Tank, willing him to come up with some kind of proof that Mama wasn't evil. I needed physical evidence to show that my Mama was the woman everyone said that she was and not a crazy woman bent on taking back what's hers. I desperately wanted to believe in the image the Lost Boys and Papa and everyone else who knew here before had painted for me, but I couldn't see it. Every time I looked at her, I panicked, remember the cold look in her eyes as she looked at Papa this afternoon.
He didn't have anything to say. He just gazed at me, trying to figure me out. Trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I felt like asking him to let me know if he came across my problem. I could certainly use the information.
"Go back to the car," he said firmly. "We need to get a move on." I could tell he was displeased with me. With everything I'd said and all the accusations I'd made. But I couldn't do anything to rectify the situation at the moment. If I said anything more at that moment I would burst into tears like a baby, so I just turned and made my way back around the building to the car.
Russian Lost Boy was the only one there. Sitting in the driver's seat and staring straight ahead. I slid into the passenger side of the back seat and buckled up, taking a page out of RLB's book and stared straight at the back of the seat in front of me. Minutes passed in silence as we waited for Tank and Mama to return. One thing I'd learned over the years was how to sit still when all I really wanted to do was run.
"You should not be so hard on your mother," RLB suddenly said.
I moved my gaze to look at him, but was still staring at the building in front of us. "What do you know about my mother?" I asked, suspiciously.
There was a slight lift to his shoulders indicating a shrug as he responded. "I don't know her. Nor do you."
"I've heard countless stories about her," I countered. "I know all about her life."
"But you don't know her," he said knowingly. He glanced at me in the rear view mirror. "I heard all that you said during your rest stop," he informed me, tapping his ear piece. "I think you should give your mother a chance."
"You don't understand," I told him. "She-."
"I have heard of her unfortunate current condition. She must have been quite shocked and hurt this afternoon when she realised what had happened under her nose."
"It doesn't make it any easier for me," I muttered. "I don't know how to act around her. She's my own freaking mother and I don't know what to say to her! I look at her and all I see is her threatening to take me away from Papa. I want to put it behind me but I'm not sure I can! And now this." I gestured around the car and our surroundings. "Papa sent me away with her. Isn't that a clear enough message?" I'd always felt guilty for taking up his time.
"Ranger is trying to..." he paused in thought, looking for the right words. "solve problem. He needs to focus on the... problem and nothing else. He sent you and mother with me to protect you."
Mama and Tank came around the corner of the building then. As they approached the car, I made a show of adjusting my hair around my face so that Mama couldn't see the puffiness of my eyes and know that I'd been crying. It would be too awkward if she were to offer comfort right now, so it was better that she didn't know I was upset.
Once everyone was settled in their seats, Russian Lost Boy pulled the car out onto the road again. "Doughnuts are in bag at your feet," RLB told Tank, who promptly retrieved them and passed them back. There was an awkward moment when Mama and I both reached for the bag, but I quickly sat back and let her take it. She grabbed out a Boston Cream and pushed the bag across the middle seat toward me as RLB spoke again. "We play twenty questions now."
Did you all go and check out "D Bomb" by Shreek? Isn't she awesome? If you haven't read her chapter you should go do it now and review and let her knbow what you think... Also, if you could review me as well, that's be grawesome (great+awesome=grawesome)
