Chapter 17
It had been an early dinner so we made it Brooklyn before dark. Just before. I mean basically as dark was settling over the city, holding its reign…err…I grabbed Bumlets' hand. He looked at me in surprise. Amanda then grabbed mine. "This city is very scary at night." I nodded.
Jack sidled up next to Bumlets careful not to look at Amanda. "Come with me to get Spot." I swear he winked. Bumlets let go of my hand and they disappeared into the gloom.
"Wait a sec! You're leaving us here all alone in the dark in BROOKLYN?!!!" Mel shouted after them.
Me, Mel, and Amanda continued carefully towards the bridge. "I don't like cities," I said.
"Oh I love them," said Mel, "when I can see them." She was fiddling nervously with her plastic beaded necklace. It was the one her four year old buddy back home had made for her with Mel's name on it, she wore it everywhere.
"I don't think Jack really likes me," said Amanda quietly.
Mel and I contradicted her at the same time. "Of course he does!" We stopped our progress and gave her a hard look.
"No, he doesn't. I mean he doesn't even look sorry about yesterday-"
"He is. I promise," said I, "Now stop thinking negatively or the bridge is gonna disappear."
"What?" said Mel confused. But then there was the bridge. Mel saw it first and started to run. I ran after her pulling Amanda after me. The infrastructure amazed me; it was huge. Ugly kinda, but big and definitely solid. Mel ran down the sidewalk to the very middle and screamed off it. We could only shake our heads in wonderment. She came back soon after. "Alright. We can go now; I'm satisfied."
"Not so fast." We spun around at the noise and saw dark shapes in the dusk.
"Whoa! Who's that?"
"I'm offended! How could you not know who I am?" said the feminine voice, "I'm your worst nightmare morons, now hand over all jewels and property that might be valuable to me." She added,
"Now!" I guess because we weren't moving fast enough. The only person wearing jewelry was Mel and I knew she was loath to take the necklace off. The voice stepped into the light and revealed itself as Sapphire, our one women campaign to ruin our vacation.
"Sorry dude, jewelry stays with us," said Amanda sounding braver then she probably was. She was on the other side of Mel. I heard the click of a gun being loaded. Oh boy, we're in trouble. "I took Tai Kwon Do," said Amanda a little too loudly, her voice shaking, "Don't mess with us." People were approaching us from behind. Damn! No way out.
"What are we going to do?" whispered Melanie. "I knew Sapphire was bad."
"I'm not quite sure." Suddenly arms were around my neck and dragging me to the ground. I tried to tell them that I was moneyless and had no jewelry, but they were cutting off the circulation. Oh man this was gonna suck. I couldn't see what was happening to Mel and Amanda but I hoped she had given up the jewelry. Right after I thought that, I blacked out.
*******
"RAVEN!!!!" I sat up straight and hit my head on someone's shoulder. It didn't help the humungous headache I had.
"What happened?" I asked shakily.
"You don't remember the bunch of thugs?" That was Mel. "They came out of nowhere and attacked us."
"Yes yes I remember that. What happened after that?" I probably sounded annoyed. I looked around, as my vision cleared, I saw Spot, Jack, Amanda, Melanie, and my head was in Bumlets' lap.
Amanda cleared up my confusion. "Well they grabbed you and I saw you fall to the ground. They grabbed Mel and pulled the necklace off her neck, and I beat off my attackers with my tae kwon do. Then out of nowhere Bumlets Jack and Spot appeared and helped me finish the job."
Mel looked sad as she said, "they got my necklace though."
Spot made some movement out of the corner of my eye. "No they didn't," he contradicted her and he handed her the necklace she thought was lost. "I grabbed it back from the dope I was chasing."
Mel's face erupted in a huge smile. "Thanks, Spot."
"Not a problem," he replied. "We'd better get out of here in case they come back." He winked at Jack. Bumlets helped me to my feet and we began to walk home.
"Does it hurt?" he asked me.
"No, but there's something fishy going on between you three guys." I got the most innocent look ever in return. "Explain." I grabbed his arm and slowed our pace considerably so that we lagged behind the rest.
"Jack's plan, of course."
I groaned. "And what exactly is Jack's plan?"
"It's to get Mel and Spot together because they like each other real bad." I decided not to point out the Jack's love life left something to be desired. "The thing with Sapphire in the park? Completely bogus to show Spot that she liked him because she would get all mad and everything and we could tell him her reactions. He didn't believe us that she liked him. Plus he's got the whole reputation as a lady's man so it really worked out good." I could only marvel at the stupidity. "Tonight," Bumlets started grinning, "We got to bunch of Brooklyn newsies to pretend to rob you guys so Spot could come in and save the day for Melanie."
"WHAT?!?!?! I almost died." I glared at Bumlets.
"I know. I'm kinda mad about that part. They weren't supposed to go that far."
"And furthermore although the Sapphire thing makes sense in a roundabout MALE way, it doesn't really matter anyway because Amanda likes Jack and he's making out with Sapphire."
"What! No. Who told you that?"
I stopped walking and turned to face him. "Yesterday morning Jack was up on the roof in a close and cuddly position with Sapphire just in time for Amanda to come see. That was probably the best planning of all." I had my hands on my hips and everything.
Bumlets muttered in wonderment, "We all just thought Curly had commitment issues." To me he said, "That's not it at all. Sapphire was the head of our little plan. Remember she was here tonight? Jack needed to tell her what to do and when to come next. Just in case Spot liked her, we showed him that she was purely and truly evil. Because she is. Jack likes Curly and can't figure out why she got so cold. Just wait until I tell him! He'll be hysterically happy. That's so easily fixable."
I sighed. "That's so marvelously complicated. We could've just had a meeting and played truth or dare."
Bumlets was not to be disappointed. "Will you come to Medda's with me tomorrow as a date?"
It had been an early dinner so we made it Brooklyn before dark. Just before. I mean basically as dark was settling over the city, holding its reign…err…I grabbed Bumlets' hand. He looked at me in surprise. Amanda then grabbed mine. "This city is very scary at night." I nodded.
Jack sidled up next to Bumlets careful not to look at Amanda. "Come with me to get Spot." I swear he winked. Bumlets let go of my hand and they disappeared into the gloom.
"Wait a sec! You're leaving us here all alone in the dark in BROOKLYN?!!!" Mel shouted after them.
Me, Mel, and Amanda continued carefully towards the bridge. "I don't like cities," I said.
"Oh I love them," said Mel, "when I can see them." She was fiddling nervously with her plastic beaded necklace. It was the one her four year old buddy back home had made for her with Mel's name on it, she wore it everywhere.
"I don't think Jack really likes me," said Amanda quietly.
Mel and I contradicted her at the same time. "Of course he does!" We stopped our progress and gave her a hard look.
"No, he doesn't. I mean he doesn't even look sorry about yesterday-"
"He is. I promise," said I, "Now stop thinking negatively or the bridge is gonna disappear."
"What?" said Mel confused. But then there was the bridge. Mel saw it first and started to run. I ran after her pulling Amanda after me. The infrastructure amazed me; it was huge. Ugly kinda, but big and definitely solid. Mel ran down the sidewalk to the very middle and screamed off it. We could only shake our heads in wonderment. She came back soon after. "Alright. We can go now; I'm satisfied."
"Not so fast." We spun around at the noise and saw dark shapes in the dusk.
"Whoa! Who's that?"
"I'm offended! How could you not know who I am?" said the feminine voice, "I'm your worst nightmare morons, now hand over all jewels and property that might be valuable to me." She added,
"Now!" I guess because we weren't moving fast enough. The only person wearing jewelry was Mel and I knew she was loath to take the necklace off. The voice stepped into the light and revealed itself as Sapphire, our one women campaign to ruin our vacation.
"Sorry dude, jewelry stays with us," said Amanda sounding braver then she probably was. She was on the other side of Mel. I heard the click of a gun being loaded. Oh boy, we're in trouble. "I took Tai Kwon Do," said Amanda a little too loudly, her voice shaking, "Don't mess with us." People were approaching us from behind. Damn! No way out.
"What are we going to do?" whispered Melanie. "I knew Sapphire was bad."
"I'm not quite sure." Suddenly arms were around my neck and dragging me to the ground. I tried to tell them that I was moneyless and had no jewelry, but they were cutting off the circulation. Oh man this was gonna suck. I couldn't see what was happening to Mel and Amanda but I hoped she had given up the jewelry. Right after I thought that, I blacked out.
*******
"RAVEN!!!!" I sat up straight and hit my head on someone's shoulder. It didn't help the humungous headache I had.
"What happened?" I asked shakily.
"You don't remember the bunch of thugs?" That was Mel. "They came out of nowhere and attacked us."
"Yes yes I remember that. What happened after that?" I probably sounded annoyed. I looked around, as my vision cleared, I saw Spot, Jack, Amanda, Melanie, and my head was in Bumlets' lap.
Amanda cleared up my confusion. "Well they grabbed you and I saw you fall to the ground. They grabbed Mel and pulled the necklace off her neck, and I beat off my attackers with my tae kwon do. Then out of nowhere Bumlets Jack and Spot appeared and helped me finish the job."
Mel looked sad as she said, "they got my necklace though."
Spot made some movement out of the corner of my eye. "No they didn't," he contradicted her and he handed her the necklace she thought was lost. "I grabbed it back from the dope I was chasing."
Mel's face erupted in a huge smile. "Thanks, Spot."
"Not a problem," he replied. "We'd better get out of here in case they come back." He winked at Jack. Bumlets helped me to my feet and we began to walk home.
"Does it hurt?" he asked me.
"No, but there's something fishy going on between you three guys." I got the most innocent look ever in return. "Explain." I grabbed his arm and slowed our pace considerably so that we lagged behind the rest.
"Jack's plan, of course."
I groaned. "And what exactly is Jack's plan?"
"It's to get Mel and Spot together because they like each other real bad." I decided not to point out the Jack's love life left something to be desired. "The thing with Sapphire in the park? Completely bogus to show Spot that she liked him because she would get all mad and everything and we could tell him her reactions. He didn't believe us that she liked him. Plus he's got the whole reputation as a lady's man so it really worked out good." I could only marvel at the stupidity. "Tonight," Bumlets started grinning, "We got to bunch of Brooklyn newsies to pretend to rob you guys so Spot could come in and save the day for Melanie."
"WHAT?!?!?! I almost died." I glared at Bumlets.
"I know. I'm kinda mad about that part. They weren't supposed to go that far."
"And furthermore although the Sapphire thing makes sense in a roundabout MALE way, it doesn't really matter anyway because Amanda likes Jack and he's making out with Sapphire."
"What! No. Who told you that?"
I stopped walking and turned to face him. "Yesterday morning Jack was up on the roof in a close and cuddly position with Sapphire just in time for Amanda to come see. That was probably the best planning of all." I had my hands on my hips and everything.
Bumlets muttered in wonderment, "We all just thought Curly had commitment issues." To me he said, "That's not it at all. Sapphire was the head of our little plan. Remember she was here tonight? Jack needed to tell her what to do and when to come next. Just in case Spot liked her, we showed him that she was purely and truly evil. Because she is. Jack likes Curly and can't figure out why she got so cold. Just wait until I tell him! He'll be hysterically happy. That's so easily fixable."
I sighed. "That's so marvelously complicated. We could've just had a meeting and played truth or dare."
Bumlets was not to be disappointed. "Will you come to Medda's with me tomorrow as a date?"