*****
*****
CHAPTER NINE
"One Night at Crash"
"So what's Cree's dealio?" Cindy maneuvered her foosball men to intercept the ball. "Seems too wound up for a nice lookin' gurl"
Max glanced up from their game to the woman sipping a beer at a table. "She's got issues"
"Define that girl" Cindy scored a point.
"She-" Max looked around to make sure no one would hear her "was a prostitute"
Cindy looked shocked, but not upset "Someone want more then she wanted to put out?" her hands turned the bar mechanisms on the table.
"She wasn't workin' street corners" Max scored a point "She ran away from a brothel"
Now Cindy looked upset "Some sick freaks in this world doin' that to a girl"
Max nodded in agreement "Logan says their's a tale on her, so she's keepin' it quiet for a while, so keep this on the DL kay?"
"Hey Original Cindy knows when to keep her mouth shut" Cindy abandoned the game after Max scored the wining shot "C'mon, let's go hang with sista girl"
"Who won?" Cree asked as Cindy and Max claimed chairs at the table
"Max did" Cindy informed "My girl's got skills"
"All 4 One" Cree made reference to the old R&B group she used to listen to as a kid, singing snatches of one of their songs "Got the potion in the motion to cure my ills, she's got" she tapped her hand on the table three times "skills"
Cindy laughed, "Remember that one. My mom's use to hate it cause I blew up the base of my radio when I had it playin'"
"Liked that group as a kid Max?" Cree asked the other woman at the table
"Didn't listen to that kind of music that much music then," Max stated. Music was never introduced at Manticore, except for the classical kind used during battle royals to keep the mind "sharp" When Logan had played Mozart's Requiem once, she could still hear the of gunfire and cries of those who were hit during a long gruesome training mission. "Mostly it was classical, Brahms, Chopin, Bizet. Had peeps who liked to beat intelligence into my head with that stuff"
Cree's expression changed at the word "beat" "Know that feeling" she began to play with the drops of water that had formed on the outside her mug. In the early days of her life in hell she had often hummed a song under her breath while a client was abusing her. One guy got so fed up with it that he busted her lip open to get her to be quiet. He only paid half of what she was "worth" so she had a solid beating that night by her pimp. "Got messed with a lot to be someone"
"Why don't you write a song bout that Cree?" Cindy suggested "Got the voice for it"
Cree laughed at the idea "Don't mean I can write songs, just like to sing'em"
"Sounds just like my boo here" Cindy shot Max a look out of the corner of her eye "Claims she has no voice, but Original Cindy knows different, she's got pipes, proves it every time she lays out losers"
"Not the same thing" Max objected
Cindy blew her off "Don't give me none of that." She nudged her friend with her shoulder "Lay some on suga angel"
Max shot her a look "You gotta be kidding"
"Unless Original Cindy's goin' straight tonight by kickin' it with one of these morons, I'm true."
Max looked at her with the same face she had when she couldn't get her baby started "No chance of
changin' your thoughts?"
Cindy shook her head "no"
Max sighed "Fine, but if anyone starts throwing vegetables, I'm out" she paused briefly before starting to sing:
"Some people say that I am not the same girl
They say I think that I am in my own world
What makes them think that I have changed, yeah-"
Max's voice did not fluctuate in pitch as well as Cree's but it was surprisingly good. Her pitch was deeper as well, but still velvety with a hint of vibrato
"A little dough cannot erase my problems
Me like you I have to try and solve them
Yes everything is quite the same"
"I'm just trying to be me
Doing what I've got to do
Some people think that I'm
Just sittin' on top of the world"
Cindy did a step back at Max's singing. She then got the biggest smile on her face "Keep bringin' it girl"
"I'm just trying to be me-" Max went on in the song-"Proving what I've got to prove. Some people think that I'm Just sittin' on top of the world-" she couldn't finish the rest because of the hands that grabbed her by her shirt front
"I have something else you can sit on top of baby" the man who had grabbed Max looked her up and down "You are one HOT lookin' bitch, so much to work"
"Scuse me?" Cindy stated in a high pitch "say what?" voice. She stood up "Dumb and dumber reject, you best get your nasty hands off my girl go before I lay a smack down on your ass" she pulled her hand back in a readied position.
"Relax honey" the man pushed her hand down "You'll get your turn next"
Max felt one of his hands grope her through her shirt. /son-of-a/ She crushed his wandering hand in-between her fist "Wanna watch it with the hands jerk?"
"You just got such big melons, can't resist a nice sensation-" he was cut off by Max grabbing his neck
"Yeah well if I feel them anywhere on me again, down south won't be able to feel any nice sensations for a long time" she threw him to the floor "Don't ever touch me again"
"HEY!" a man's voice shouted, "Now why'd you have to do that to my boy?" a tall blonde stood up, walking slowly towards Max. "That wasn't smart babe" he rolled up the sleeves of his flannel t-shirt.
"News flash, your boy deserved it" Cindy snapped back
"Sure you want to run your mouth girl?" the man growled, he was now face to face with Max "That friend of yours better shut up before I do to her what I'm about to do to you"
"Not gonna do anything to me" Max informed, "So just take to steppin' back to your hole Farmer Brown"
The man's face got angrier "You got a big mouth baby," he shoved her back "don't think that's right in a bitch"
Max dodged the punch he threw at her, "I ain't a bitch" she kicked him in the ribs, he reeled back but didn't fall.
"That the way it is" he pulled out a knife "Just because I'd enjoy doin' you don't mean I'm not gonna mess you up" he slashed at her.
Max slammed his own hand into his forehead before back flipping in the air to land behind him. She jumped up and kicked his feet out from under him. He tripped her, but she caught herself on her hands "Not that easy" she broke wood with his arm taking the knife from him "Now" she had the blade pointed at his jugular vein "Back the hell off of us, or I'm gonna carve out a new pocket for your knife" She got off him closing the knife hard in her fist.
"You aiight?" Cindy looked at Max, knowing that physically she was unscratched, but she looked pissed.
"Coo'" Max fell back into her seat "I should've just taken the vegetable throwing"
Cree laughed, drinking from her beer mug. "You are strong girl" she complimented "And your voice
is great"
Max shrugged "Not nutin' special" she patted the younger girl on the shoulder "You got the vocals"
Cree smiled a bit. Her eyes raised, and then she suddenly sucked in her breath, nearly knocking the beer mug off the table.
Max saw the frantic look in her eyes "What's up?" she touched her shoulder again "You okay?"
"Cree?" Cindy started to become suspicious.
Cree kept looking straight ahead, at the man who had just entered the bar "Whisky boy, make it strong"
/FLASH: "Don't like'em with a lot of hair" he grabbed at her/ Those same hands now grasped the glass of whisky.
"Guys I gotta go" Cree jumped up from her chair "Have to take care of something"
"Only got in a week ago and you'z gots business already" Cindy stated
"Yeah I do" Cree snapped back "Look sorry for cutting it short, but the placed I'm crashed out is
right near a Sector station, they'll ride me if I break curfew, I'm gone, I'm sorry" she her jacket and all but ran out the door.
"Something's up with her" Cindy informed after Cree disappeared "Think it has somethin' to do with three legs over there" she nodded towards the man who had just entered the bar "Wanna check it?"
"Defiantly" Max took a last sip of her drink "Catch ya at work"
"Kay" Cindy said as Max stood up "late suga"
"Cree hold up!" Max called out to the girl on the sidewalk "Wanna tell me what's the dealio?"
"I need to go Max" Cree sounded really keyed up, she was running her hand jerkily through her black hair.
"Who was that guy?" Max asked up front
Cree looked away at the street signs for a second, before shifting her attention back to Max. She
still didn't say anything.
"Is he a-"
"No he's not" Cree knew what she was going to say "But he might as well be. He had my number
before I ran" she was biting her lip so hard that Max expected to see blood "I keyed his car to get out. He musta talked to someone." she started to pace "Now he knows where I am, and he'll tell that pimp" her voice cracked "Son of a bitch will take me back I know it!" she was getting hysterical
"Calm it down" Max broke in "No one's doin' anything to you so long as I have a say in it"
"You don't know these guys Max!" Cree returned hastily "I'm worth one g" she pointed to her chest, my pimp probably offered him the head money to bring me back" she was back to pulling at her hair.
The doors of the bar suddenly opened, and the sandy haired man stepped out into the night.
"Max get outta here!" she hissed "You're too nice looking, you'd be 2 g's easy" she backed up against the building, frantically watching the man comb over the night.
"Not leavin' you here as fresh meat" Max yanked her hand "C'mon" she pulled Cree over to her Ninja. "Get on"
"Max you're insane!" Cree hissed, "You'll get yourself sold off"
"Just get on!" Max barked, cranking the engine.
The sandy haired man turned as the Ninja revved up "Hey! that's MY bitch!"
/So sick of that damn word!/ Max raised her kick stand, and took off.
The man pulled out onto the road beside Max, honking loudly "Slut! You're mine!" he sideswiped
the Ninja, making it dip on the road.
Max threw force with her body onto the Ninja's other side to balance the bike "You okay?" she
stated to Cree
"Hell no!" Cree stated honestly
"There's an alley comin' up that's too narrow for an El Camino, gonna be tighter then a matchbox, but there's an access road after it"
"You ever ridden this thing through it before?" Cree asked in a yell
"No" Max admitted "But we don't have a choice" she revved up bike, pushing up the speed to eighty-five "Hang on!" Max spotted the alley a few feet ahead of them. The whole thing was only one and half foot in width.
"BITCH!" the sandy haired man pulled out a revolver and started to shoot at the tires of the Ninja
"Max watch it!" Cree called out as the tires of the Ninja squelched into a turn
*****
SORRY! I know this is a terrible place to end this after waiting this long for new chapters. I'll
get the next chapters sooner then these promise! Just that REAL Dark Angel is commin' on soon,
and I need to get this spell checked and sent before 9:00.
Oh and the song Max was singing was "Sittin' on Top of the World" by Brandy and Mace. Took a while to find the "right song" Wanted something that reflects Max's life, not some random pop princess stuff, (which isn't bad, but c'mon, can you see Max singing "Oops! I did it again"?
please!)
Will get more chapters hopefully this weekend, which is now. I'm not a review junkie, who will
stop production and unleash my evil minions if I don't have my review quota in, but I appreciate
them just the same.
*****
CHAPTER NINE
"One Night at Crash"
"So what's Cree's dealio?" Cindy maneuvered her foosball men to intercept the ball. "Seems too wound up for a nice lookin' gurl"
Max glanced up from their game to the woman sipping a beer at a table. "She's got issues"
"Define that girl" Cindy scored a point.
"She-" Max looked around to make sure no one would hear her "was a prostitute"
Cindy looked shocked, but not upset "Someone want more then she wanted to put out?" her hands turned the bar mechanisms on the table.
"She wasn't workin' street corners" Max scored a point "She ran away from a brothel"
Now Cindy looked upset "Some sick freaks in this world doin' that to a girl"
Max nodded in agreement "Logan says their's a tale on her, so she's keepin' it quiet for a while, so keep this on the DL kay?"
"Hey Original Cindy knows when to keep her mouth shut" Cindy abandoned the game after Max scored the wining shot "C'mon, let's go hang with sista girl"
"Who won?" Cree asked as Cindy and Max claimed chairs at the table
"Max did" Cindy informed "My girl's got skills"
"All 4 One" Cree made reference to the old R&B group she used to listen to as a kid, singing snatches of one of their songs "Got the potion in the motion to cure my ills, she's got" she tapped her hand on the table three times "skills"
Cindy laughed, "Remember that one. My mom's use to hate it cause I blew up the base of my radio when I had it playin'"
"Liked that group as a kid Max?" Cree asked the other woman at the table
"Didn't listen to that kind of music that much music then," Max stated. Music was never introduced at Manticore, except for the classical kind used during battle royals to keep the mind "sharp" When Logan had played Mozart's Requiem once, she could still hear the of gunfire and cries of those who were hit during a long gruesome training mission. "Mostly it was classical, Brahms, Chopin, Bizet. Had peeps who liked to beat intelligence into my head with that stuff"
Cree's expression changed at the word "beat" "Know that feeling" she began to play with the drops of water that had formed on the outside her mug. In the early days of her life in hell she had often hummed a song under her breath while a client was abusing her. One guy got so fed up with it that he busted her lip open to get her to be quiet. He only paid half of what she was "worth" so she had a solid beating that night by her pimp. "Got messed with a lot to be someone"
"Why don't you write a song bout that Cree?" Cindy suggested "Got the voice for it"
Cree laughed at the idea "Don't mean I can write songs, just like to sing'em"
"Sounds just like my boo here" Cindy shot Max a look out of the corner of her eye "Claims she has no voice, but Original Cindy knows different, she's got pipes, proves it every time she lays out losers"
"Not the same thing" Max objected
Cindy blew her off "Don't give me none of that." She nudged her friend with her shoulder "Lay some on suga angel"
Max shot her a look "You gotta be kidding"
"Unless Original Cindy's goin' straight tonight by kickin' it with one of these morons, I'm true."
Max looked at her with the same face she had when she couldn't get her baby started "No chance of
changin' your thoughts?"
Cindy shook her head "no"
Max sighed "Fine, but if anyone starts throwing vegetables, I'm out" she paused briefly before starting to sing:
"Some people say that I am not the same girl
They say I think that I am in my own world
What makes them think that I have changed, yeah-"
Max's voice did not fluctuate in pitch as well as Cree's but it was surprisingly good. Her pitch was deeper as well, but still velvety with a hint of vibrato
"A little dough cannot erase my problems
Me like you I have to try and solve them
Yes everything is quite the same"
"I'm just trying to be me
Doing what I've got to do
Some people think that I'm
Just sittin' on top of the world"
Cindy did a step back at Max's singing. She then got the biggest smile on her face "Keep bringin' it girl"
"I'm just trying to be me-" Max went on in the song-"Proving what I've got to prove. Some people think that I'm Just sittin' on top of the world-" she couldn't finish the rest because of the hands that grabbed her by her shirt front
"I have something else you can sit on top of baby" the man who had grabbed Max looked her up and down "You are one HOT lookin' bitch, so much to work"
"Scuse me?" Cindy stated in a high pitch "say what?" voice. She stood up "Dumb and dumber reject, you best get your nasty hands off my girl go before I lay a smack down on your ass" she pulled her hand back in a readied position.
"Relax honey" the man pushed her hand down "You'll get your turn next"
Max felt one of his hands grope her through her shirt. /son-of-a/ She crushed his wandering hand in-between her fist "Wanna watch it with the hands jerk?"
"You just got such big melons, can't resist a nice sensation-" he was cut off by Max grabbing his neck
"Yeah well if I feel them anywhere on me again, down south won't be able to feel any nice sensations for a long time" she threw him to the floor "Don't ever touch me again"
"HEY!" a man's voice shouted, "Now why'd you have to do that to my boy?" a tall blonde stood up, walking slowly towards Max. "That wasn't smart babe" he rolled up the sleeves of his flannel t-shirt.
"News flash, your boy deserved it" Cindy snapped back
"Sure you want to run your mouth girl?" the man growled, he was now face to face with Max "That friend of yours better shut up before I do to her what I'm about to do to you"
"Not gonna do anything to me" Max informed, "So just take to steppin' back to your hole Farmer Brown"
The man's face got angrier "You got a big mouth baby," he shoved her back "don't think that's right in a bitch"
Max dodged the punch he threw at her, "I ain't a bitch" she kicked him in the ribs, he reeled back but didn't fall.
"That the way it is" he pulled out a knife "Just because I'd enjoy doin' you don't mean I'm not gonna mess you up" he slashed at her.
Max slammed his own hand into his forehead before back flipping in the air to land behind him. She jumped up and kicked his feet out from under him. He tripped her, but she caught herself on her hands "Not that easy" she broke wood with his arm taking the knife from him "Now" she had the blade pointed at his jugular vein "Back the hell off of us, or I'm gonna carve out a new pocket for your knife" She got off him closing the knife hard in her fist.
"You aiight?" Cindy looked at Max, knowing that physically she was unscratched, but she looked pissed.
"Coo'" Max fell back into her seat "I should've just taken the vegetable throwing"
Cree laughed, drinking from her beer mug. "You are strong girl" she complimented "And your voice
is great"
Max shrugged "Not nutin' special" she patted the younger girl on the shoulder "You got the vocals"
Cree smiled a bit. Her eyes raised, and then she suddenly sucked in her breath, nearly knocking the beer mug off the table.
Max saw the frantic look in her eyes "What's up?" she touched her shoulder again "You okay?"
"Cree?" Cindy started to become suspicious.
Cree kept looking straight ahead, at the man who had just entered the bar "Whisky boy, make it strong"
/FLASH: "Don't like'em with a lot of hair" he grabbed at her/ Those same hands now grasped the glass of whisky.
"Guys I gotta go" Cree jumped up from her chair "Have to take care of something"
"Only got in a week ago and you'z gots business already" Cindy stated
"Yeah I do" Cree snapped back "Look sorry for cutting it short, but the placed I'm crashed out is
right near a Sector station, they'll ride me if I break curfew, I'm gone, I'm sorry" she her jacket and all but ran out the door.
"Something's up with her" Cindy informed after Cree disappeared "Think it has somethin' to do with three legs over there" she nodded towards the man who had just entered the bar "Wanna check it?"
"Defiantly" Max took a last sip of her drink "Catch ya at work"
"Kay" Cindy said as Max stood up "late suga"
"Cree hold up!" Max called out to the girl on the sidewalk "Wanna tell me what's the dealio?"
"I need to go Max" Cree sounded really keyed up, she was running her hand jerkily through her black hair.
"Who was that guy?" Max asked up front
Cree looked away at the street signs for a second, before shifting her attention back to Max. She
still didn't say anything.
"Is he a-"
"No he's not" Cree knew what she was going to say "But he might as well be. He had my number
before I ran" she was biting her lip so hard that Max expected to see blood "I keyed his car to get out. He musta talked to someone." she started to pace "Now he knows where I am, and he'll tell that pimp" her voice cracked "Son of a bitch will take me back I know it!" she was getting hysterical
"Calm it down" Max broke in "No one's doin' anything to you so long as I have a say in it"
"You don't know these guys Max!" Cree returned hastily "I'm worth one g" she pointed to her chest, my pimp probably offered him the head money to bring me back" she was back to pulling at her hair.
The doors of the bar suddenly opened, and the sandy haired man stepped out into the night.
"Max get outta here!" she hissed "You're too nice looking, you'd be 2 g's easy" she backed up against the building, frantically watching the man comb over the night.
"Not leavin' you here as fresh meat" Max yanked her hand "C'mon" she pulled Cree over to her Ninja. "Get on"
"Max you're insane!" Cree hissed, "You'll get yourself sold off"
"Just get on!" Max barked, cranking the engine.
The sandy haired man turned as the Ninja revved up "Hey! that's MY bitch!"
/So sick of that damn word!/ Max raised her kick stand, and took off.
The man pulled out onto the road beside Max, honking loudly "Slut! You're mine!" he sideswiped
the Ninja, making it dip on the road.
Max threw force with her body onto the Ninja's other side to balance the bike "You okay?" she
stated to Cree
"Hell no!" Cree stated honestly
"There's an alley comin' up that's too narrow for an El Camino, gonna be tighter then a matchbox, but there's an access road after it"
"You ever ridden this thing through it before?" Cree asked in a yell
"No" Max admitted "But we don't have a choice" she revved up bike, pushing up the speed to eighty-five "Hang on!" Max spotted the alley a few feet ahead of them. The whole thing was only one and half foot in width.
"BITCH!" the sandy haired man pulled out a revolver and started to shoot at the tires of the Ninja
"Max watch it!" Cree called out as the tires of the Ninja squelched into a turn
*****
SORRY! I know this is a terrible place to end this after waiting this long for new chapters. I'll
get the next chapters sooner then these promise! Just that REAL Dark Angel is commin' on soon,
and I need to get this spell checked and sent before 9:00.
Oh and the song Max was singing was "Sittin' on Top of the World" by Brandy and Mace. Took a while to find the "right song" Wanted something that reflects Max's life, not some random pop princess stuff, (which isn't bad, but c'mon, can you see Max singing "Oops! I did it again"?
please!)
Will get more chapters hopefully this weekend, which is now. I'm not a review junkie, who will
stop production and unleash my evil minions if I don't have my review quota in, but I appreciate
them just the same.