Sylvia Wayne
Gotham Academy
January 24, 2011
I stared into the dauntless void of high school, barely shivering in my shiny new oxfords. Alfred thought I would feel better if a few things were different when I got back to school. I had all new binders, a new black herschel backpack with red leather straps keeping the pack closed. I looked off at the school as everyone came in from circle drive. I could feel all eyes on me. This was the first time I had set foot at this school in eight weeks. Two of those weeks were winter break, but still. Everyone thinks I got some sort of illness that sent me to the hospital. The day I got out of Gotham General, the paparazzi found my dad, which means they found me. They took photos of how frail and bony I looked. But I've been on a special diet, so ever since they found me, I put back on 30 lbs, some in fat, but most in muscle. Ever since I got home, it was working out and training three times a day, and eating as much food as I could. The higher the protein and iron the better. It was vegetables upon fruit upon steaks and ribs. Alfred cooked without question, seemingly happy to do it, as long as I was home with him while Dick was at school and Dad was at work.
I stood there, the cold barely affecting me as I struggled to bring myself to walk in. My school uniform hung a little loose, as I was not quite back to the weight I was before. A few wisps of my black hair that escaped my french braid blew around my face as I stood there, my winter coat catching a few stray snowflakes here and there. Students passed by me, staring. But I could pick out two sets of eyes staring at me from the rest. Dick and Alfred were behind me, waiting for me to go forward. But Dick walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. I faced him and he gave me a brief smile.
"How do I look? Everything look the same?" I asked, worried about my eyes. The drugs Savage had me on had robbed them of their color, but it was coming back. I didn't want anyone to find something different about me.
"You look great, Sylvie. Let's get to class." He walked with me, but it felt more like he was dragging me to an execution. Disdain welled up inside me as I moved through the courtyard and made my way inside to my locker. Dick stopped and waited as I dialed my locker combination, the second I opened my locker and put my coat away, I turned to him.
"Alright, you can go, I have a handle on this." I forced a smile, and he took it as a victory.
"Okay then, I'll see you at lunch." He was quick about hugging me before disappearing off into the see of other students, making his way to the freshmen lockers. I locked my locker and disappeared into the sea as well, finding my way to my first class, avoiding Bette, Artemis, and the girls. It was class after class, not saying a single word. I stopped by to teacher after teacher to drop off all of my made up work from my time out of school. I managed to go the whole day without talking to anyone except Dick. When Alfred had pulled up to come get us, I went straight to him, not stopping to say goodbye to anyone. I had this itch I was dying to scratch, but it was the kind of thing I needed to get away from supervision to do. I was quick to do my homework, train and eat dinner. I made the excuse that I was going to go to bed early tonight. But I chuckled at my blatant lie as I locked the door to my bedroom. I went and pulled out the burner phone that my mother had given me.
"Hello?" Selina answered, some club music in the background. I could feel the itch coming on.
"It's your daughter. I want to do something fun." I told her, walking with the burner to my closet.
"Didn't you just get out of the hospital?" She asked with half hearted concern. I started stripping down, pulling out a pair of leather leggings, a lace white long sleeve crop top and dark red parka.
"Does it sound like I care? I'm fine." I told her as I got dressed. I pulled on a pair of black heeled combat boots.
"Alright, I'm at the club. Just come by and I'll give you the Christmas present I couldn't get to you." I could hear the smile in her voice, excited for me to be the one reaching out.
"Cool, I'll be there in a little less than an hour." I told her as I pulled my hair out of it's braid, the fresh waves cascading down my back. I pulled out my makeup and effortlessly put on smokey eye shadow and dark lipstick. I turned off all the lights in my room and made my way to my window. But before I could open my window, my normal phone started to ring. It was Wally.
"Hey, babe. I'm actually going to bed right now, but is there something you need?" I asked, trying to get rid of him. I needed to do something, but he couldn't know. He would worry about me too much, so I was going to spare his feelings.
"I… uh… I was just checking in." He seemed tired from school. Unless they had a mission, but I wasn't going to ask. I needed to get out of this house and this phone call was standing in my way.
"Is everything okay?" I asked, forcing a yawn to make my story feasible.
"Oh, yeah everything's fine. I just wanted to make sure you were okay, first day back to school and all." He was so sweet, and I had half a mind to invite him along with me, but seeing him wasn't the point of tonight.
"I'm good and I'm ready to sleep. It's been a long day." I paused for a sleepy effect. "I love you." I told him, waiting for the response.
"I love you, too. I'll see you tomorrow?" He was dragging on. Wally was probably as tired as I was pretending to be.
"I'll see you tomorrow." I said before hanging up. To keep up with gps appearances, I left my phone on my bed before opening up the window and slipping out. I shut it behind me, but not all the way so it wouldn't lock me out. I dropped and rolled into the thin blanket of snow, three stories below as I snuck around the house to the garage. Without making a sound, I grabbed my helmet and motorcycle, pushing it to the end of the driveway, and then a block before starting the engine to avoid getting caught. I sped through the street and down the highway to get to the Narrows. There, I pulled up to Selena's… Ladies… club, and walked in. She was in the back room, hanging around as she reviewed security cameras of her girls working the men attending the brothel.
"Itching for a good night, my darling Sylvia?" She asked, getting up to hug me. She was warm and smelled of some sort of flowery perfume.
"You took the words right out of my mouth." I smiled, starting to pull off my red parka.
"Don't remove that just yet. We're going outside." She grinned perversely, tossing me a small silver object. Upon further inspection, I found that it was a car key with the logo for Bugatti on it. With hesitation, I followed her to a hidden garage where she pulled the sheet concealing the car. I couldn't believe my eyes.
"This is a Bugatti Veyron 16. 4 Super Sport… in black with chromatic silver accents no less." I was in aw. "Did you steal this for my Christmas present?" I asked in suspicion, but I almost didn't care. My mother just laughed.
"I didn't steal it. I bought it with my own money." She seemed to take pride in that statement.
"So the blood money from the Calabrese Crime family." I assumed and she smirked.
"It's your money also. You are the last of the Calabrese line. No one else can take that from you. When the time comes, the business is yours, if you want it." She told me, but I just ignored it, unlocking the car and opening the door, it sliding up instead of out. The interior had red leather seats and wheel with black paneling.
"All I know right now, is that it's time for a joy ride." I grinned like a child, climbing in. She opened the passenger door and climbed in next to me. I pressed a button and both doors closed automatically. I started the engine, and the immediate purr was electrifying.
"Let's put it to the test. There's a street race in half an hour across town. I've got money for the pot, and there's not doubt that you'll win. None of the contending cars will have a chance, but you're abilities will give you even more of an edge against them." She proposed the plan and I smiled, finally finding something that might cure my inane desire for something… interesting. I might finally find something to scratch my itch. I slowly pulled out of the garage, driving like a normal human being to get to the race. It took everything I had not to slam down on the gas. One turn after another, light after light, we made it to the massive crowd of people surrounding three other cars. I waited as Selina stepped out of the car and set up the entry. The tinted windows hid my identity from the other drivers, which helped, but we couldn't risk me getting out of the car, well, I wasn't supposed to risk it. But I didn't have a care in the world.
"All set up?" I asked as she got back in the car.
"We are a go. Just pull up in line with the other drivers, crack the windows a bit so you can hear the navigational instructions." She told me, and I did as she said. Not a few moments later, a girl who must have been freezing in her skimpy outfit, waltzed out with a racing flag.
"We all know what to do. Tonight is the Gotham Circuit. Make the loop around downtown and make it back here. Obviously, the first one back gets the cash prize of 50 K. Is everyone ready?" The girl asked, and one by one, everyone revved their engines. I followed suit and the girl smiled. "Ready?" She raised an eyebrow. "Set?" She wiggled her hips, trying to be provocative. "Go!" She screamed and I slammed my foot down on the accelerator. The car lurched forward with a rawr and I was forced back into the red leather seat. I couldn't stop smiling as I quickly spead ahead the other racers like it was nothing. The car was performing like a dream and I couldn't help but outrun the other racers. It took me fifteen minutes to do the circuit. I finished about three minutes earlier than the other racers. The whole time, Selina and I were laughing and squealing with excitement as I drove. Even the tight corners were fun, the tired on the car were perfect for tight drifting and control all at the same time. The feeling i got from the racing, the closest I ever got to this was when Wally and I got a little two heavy and had to stop.
When we pulled up the the finish line, the crowd was cheering, and people were drunk or getting there. The girl with the racing flag waved it in our victory. The ringleader, the coordinator, walked up to the window and rapped on the glass. Selina laughed and opened the glove compartment, pulling out a pair of pitch black sunglasses, handing them to me with a calculated smile. I put them on and found that I easily could see through them, but they hid my eyes well. With the concealment, I stepped out of the car and faced the crowd. The sound of cheering amplified as I felt brisk wind touch my midriff. The man grabbed my wrist and raised it into the air, showing me as the champion of the night's race. The other racers pulled up, one by one, all with looks of defeat plastered across their faces.
"Tonight's King, well Queen in this case, is the beautiful Scarlet!" He announced and everyone cheered, whooping and hollering and music from someone's car blared. I looked back as Selina.
"Scarlet?" I snorted, and she laughed.
"I was thinking on my feet and your coat and the interior of the car is red so just go with it." She told me quickly before the flag girl walked up to me with a duffel full of cash. I happily took the cash and cried out in excitement. Everything was just peachy until the three other racers came up to me, one with a gun pulled. I could tell that the other two were armed, but the weapons weren't at the ready. This was going to be easy.
"You think you can steal from us?" The one with the gun asked. I recognized him as one of the Falcone Crime family. He was Carmine's grandson, but his name kept slipping my mind. I simply laughed at his tough facade.
"I won it, fair and square. If you'd like a rematch, I'd be happy to prove it to you by kicking your asses again." I taunted, throwing the money into the front end trunk of the car.
"Don't move, bitch. I'm warning you." He threatened in a deep and commanding voice, like he was used to getting what he wants. I snorted, walking right up to him and placing my head right at the barrel of his gun.
"You will not say, don't move, bitch, to me. Got it? I am warning you, you sad sack of shit." I told him. Everything slowed down as I saw his finger move for the trigger. I duck and fanned up my leg at the same time, wrapping my leg around his arm and grabbing the gun from his hand. I aimed it back at him, right between the eyes as my leg constricted, getting his arm close to breaking. He cried out in pain.
"Let him go." One of his guys tried to order me, just like his boss. I have him a snide look.
"Even if you shoot me, I will immediately break his arm and even then, you won't be able to stop me from executing the prince of the Falcone crime family. If I were you, I slide your guns over to me." I felt my incisors sharpen and extend as I smiled at them. The look of fear that filled all three sets of eyes was exhilarating. They slid the guns over to me and I bent down the pick them up. I switched on the safety and tossed them to Selina, who put them in the car with the money.
"Darling, it's time we made our exit. Scanner in the car says the cops are coming." My mother reported as I kept the gun trained on the guys head, right between the eyes.
"Sorry." I pursed my lips, tilting my head to the side. "Time to go." I flashed a fear inducing grin before contracting my leg more, breaking his arm before letting him fall to the ground as my mother and I climbed into the car. I revved the engine and pulled away, speeding back to the club.
"That was unexpected. You know, I could really use you in my next job." My mother smiled, looking out the window at the blurring light of the city beyond the car.
"I might actually take you up on that offer, but its maybe. I might have training or a mission. If I don't, I'm totally in." I shrugged, debating what I could do with her while I pulled into the garage. "So, should I leave the car here with you or…?" I asked, opening the door to step out with her.
"Leave it with me, I'll drop it off at the Manor as a welcome home present. Big bow and everything along with the legality papers and such, as they are all in your name. I'll call you when it's in the driveway so you can be the first to find it. I'll keep the guns, you can take the cash, I don't really need it and you might want to save it for a rainy day." When she finished speaking, I watched as she took the duffel of money out and tossed it to me. I dropped it on the ground and walked over to her. We both hesitated at first, but I was the first to move, hugging her.
"Thank you, for tonight. I needed it. I'll call you the next time I can do this?" She smiled as I spoke.
"Yeah, anytime. You're always welcome here. I'll call you with the details of my next job and we'll see if you can make it." She smiled and I picked up the duffel, ready to head back to my motorcycle. "And Sylvia?" She called after me as I was heading out.
"Yeah?" I stopped, looking back at her as she pocketed the keys to the car after locking it.
"I'm really glad you called." She smiled and I felt this new, warm feeling in my chest. I had just spent the night out with my mother. That was something I've never been able to do. The night I met her didn't count. We were on the job and that never counts. I felt… happy… that this was who my mother turned out to be. She might actually want to be my mother from here on out. I couldn't stop thinking about tonight as I found my bike, put on the helmet, and rode home to sneak back into the house.
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