I leaned my back against the railing of the boardwalk and let my head fall back. I enjoyed the light breeze with eyes closed and let all the different smells and noises sink in. So this was it. Santa Carla – my new home. Actually the third one in two years. Maybe this could be the fresh start I so desperately needed.
I opened my eyes and concentrated on the hustle and bustle in front of me, I didn't want to think about the reasons for being here. I noticed the way some people looked at me. I couldn't care less. I always stood out a bit with my bright red dyed and curly hair. At least during the day and when there were only a few young people.
"Kimberley! Get moving." I turned towards the female voice.
I'm coming aunt Lucy." I slowly strolled towards the short haired woman. Besides her my two cousins grinned stupidly. Michael and Sam knew perfectly well how much I hated it to be called by my full name.
"I will be looking for work. I'd be glad if Michael and Kimberly would do the same. And don't let Sam out of your sight…"
"Mom! I don't need a babysitter. I can take care of myself. On top this is so embarrassing in the middle of the day." Sam complained.
"What about I take off with him and you can go looking for jobs with Kim? And later we meet up at the video shop." Michael tried to intervene. Giving up Lucy agreed and hooked her arm around mine, which prevented that she saw me sticking out my tongue towards the boys.
Slowly the sun was beginning to set and the boardwalk seemed to come to life more and more. Up until now we didn't get lucky finding someone who was hiring. Of course we strolled through a couple of stores and I was planning on returning to the record store later on. The boys were still running around somewhere when we reached the video shop.
"Hey, take a look aunt Lucy." I pointed towards a small 'Help wanted' request in the window.
"Let's give it a shot." She smiled at me and pulled me into the shop. My aunt walked towards the cashier to ask about the announcement.
"That's just great, darling. Good evening my name is Max. I own this shop." A middle aged man addressed Lucy. He just looked as if this store belonged to him, I thought. Somewhat too smooth and kind of way too much on point.
The conversation would take some more time, so I looked around the shop. The movie collection wasn't especially to my liking, even if there were a few horror movies that I liked. My gaze drifted towards a corner in which a rack with music magazines, some records and CDs.
Intrigued I strolled towards the rack. I didn't bother to look up, when I heard the doorbell and skimmed through the current edition of the Rolling Stone Magazine.
"I told you I don't want to see you again. Get out boys!" Now I looked up from behind the rack. The owner, Max, hat paused his conversation with my aunt and was arguing with a bleached blond boy. Behind him were standing three more boys, all smirking, seemingly some kind of gang. All four the living image of a bad boy.
Lucy turned towards me. Oh please don't do it, I prayed.
"You're coming Kimberley?"
She did it! I bit my lip and was confident that my face had the same colour as my hair as I darted towards the exit.
I could feel their eyes on me and could hear a low whistle behind me. Then I was outside, the feeling of being watched immediately faded.
We walked a few meters towards a china restaurant, where my cousins were waiting and waving. Perfect timing, I was starting to feel hungry.