"Bobby, what were you thinking? You just left her there! Now we'll all get caught!" Aaron screamed. "Bobby?" he asked a despondent teenage boy.
"Huh?" Bobby asked, abruptly flinging his head up. "Are you talking to me?"
"Yeah," Aaron said, rolling his eyes. "There he goes again; off in his own little world."
"Yo, man, are you okay?" Sydney asked in a tender voice. "You don't look so swift."
"I'm fine," Bobby answered and nodded. "Just a little shaken."
"Why? It's not like you've never shot anyone before," Ron said, adjusting his glasses onto his eyes. "Just because it was a woman doesn't make any difference. They're all low life creatures, not even human beings through our eyes, right?"
"No," Bobby hollered and stood up. "You just don't understand, do you?" Ron and Sydney shook their heads while Aaron laughed hysterically.
"Of course they don't, wimp," he laughed. "They've never seen your mother."
"You mean to say that she was your mom?" Sydney asked in disbelief. "Why didn't you say something last night. It's already morning, Bobby." Bobby said nothing but walked over to a tree. He surveyed the wood with his dark eyes and smiled.
"Hey," he murmured. "At least my dad won't be at her anymore," he said to Sydney as she walked up next to him.
"Is that what this is all about?" she asked gently. For a moment, you wouldn't have been able to tell that she was part of a gang and a "tough" girl. "Is that why you've been acting so strangely lately? You haven't been yourself and when you decided to join us, I couldn't figure it. You were mad and frustrated, weren't you?"
"Sydney, get off my back. I don't need some girl hanging around me. You should be a psychiatrist not a punk like the rest of us," Bobby snapped, accepting a cigarette from Ron. He puffed out circles of smoke in Sydney's face. Her eyes trembled with anger.
"What about you? Huh? What ever happened to that dream that you had?" she asked.
"What dream, Bob," Ron asked. "Come on, man, reveal the top secret info."
"I had no dream!" Bobby stormed, his cheeks turning red with embarrassment.
"Yes, you did, Bobby Parmeter! Whether you like it or not, I know it too. You wanted to become a firefighter like your older brother, didn't you? Or, you wanted to join the army all so you could make a difference!" she said, giving him a hard punch in the arm. "Give me one of those!" she ordered to Ron. Ron nodded and threw her the cigarette pack.
"Maybe, once upon a time, but now that's over with! It's gone!" Bobby yelled, walking off.
"He doesn't deserve to be here with us," Sydney said. "He deserves a better life."
"What better life can you get?" Aaron laughed.
"I know why you're here too!" Sydney said, walking over to him and grabbing his collar. "You're parents both died! Now, you are a street punk since you refused to go into child care."
"What do you know about my life, hun?" Aaron asked, throwing his cigarette onto the ground, fury rustling his expression.
"I know lots about all you guys. Now scram and go pick him up and get him onto his feet. He needs a few pointers about self-esteem." Sydney crossed her arms and fell down onto the ground with a thump.
"Fine then, Miss In-charge," Aaron said sarcastically. He stomped after Bobby who lurked somewhere in the forest.
"Angel Girl," Tess said, coming up behind a shaken young woman. Her auburn hair was tied back and out of her tear stained face.
"Tess," Monica whispered. "Just go, I need to be alone right now."
"Good, then I'll stay with you," Tess said, trying to cheer her angel baby up. "What's on your mind?" Her voice was now a little more serious.
"I think you know," Monica sobbed. "Nothing like that has ever happened, so why now?"
"Oh, Angel Girl." Tess wrapped her arms around Monica's shoulders and the Irish angel leaned back into her supervisor. "Something like this is bound to happen to anyone, anytime. It was just like Jane and Greg. Even the happiest marriage can fall apart."
"But Andrew and I used to be best friends," Monica prompted. She gazed into her supervisor's dark eyes, trying to find the answers she needed.
"Used to?" Tess asked in a surprised tone. "What about are friends. Just because your friendship was shaken doesn't mean that you two can't still love each other and care for one another."
"But, Tess, he probably hates me for all this and I still can't find forgiveness. If I'm around him, now, I feel so…so…"
"Afraid?" Tess asked her angel girl sternly.
"I don't know. I can't tell. It's just an odd feeling, like something inside of me doesn't want to be around him," Monica wept.
"Oh, Baby, that's because you're holding a grudge."
"A grudge?" Monica asked. "But I don't want to be holding a grudge."
"You know, Miss Wings, grudges don't hold themselves. There's always someone holding on to them. That's why some fights may last so long."
"I don't want this to last a long time, Tess," Monica cried. She looked up at her supervisor with blurry brown eyes.
"That's why you need to forgive him," Tess pointed out. A tear ran down her dark skin. "I hate to see you two like this."
"But I don't want to forgive him until he forgives me!" Monica said, her tone now changing back into an angry one.
"I think I'll leave you to figure this out on your own," Tess mumbled. She sat up and pushed Monica's auburn locks out of her wet face. "Please ask the Father for guidance, Monica, Baby. It's the only way out of this."
Tess left Monica sitting in a field of grass, leaving only God and the Irish angel to work things out. For a moment, Monica sat in silence, but then whispered a silent prayer to the Heavens. The prayer wasn't what it could've been. Instead of asking God for help to forgive Andrew, she prayed for the angel of death to forgive her.
"Oh, God, why is this happening to us? Why won't she forgive me? What's stopping it?" Andrew asked his Heavenly Father. His voice trembled as tears rolled down his red cheeks.
"Because she is asking God for you to forgive her, while you are asking God for her to forgive you. You're not going to get too far like that, Andy," a male voice behind him said.
"Adam? What are you doing here?" Andrew asked surprised as his friend sat down beside him.
"Tess convinced me to come and talk to you, though I, myself, don't think I'm a good talker. But, God forbid me to, at least that's what Tess said." Adam joked. Andrew broke out in a quiet laugh.
"I just don't know, Adam. I can't forgive her. It's too hard."
"Yo, dude, earth to Andrew!" Adam exclaimed. "If it's too hard for you to forgive her, how do you expect her to forgive you?"
"I guess I never thought about that," Andrew sighed. "Anyway, it's not any of your business. Can't you just leave me be for a while?"
"Hey, just trying to be friendly," Adam said. "You know, one of these days you're going to have to trust her to do something for you and then you're going to find that your anger will get in the way." Andrew gave a disgusted glance to his fellow angel of death.
"Yeah, when would that happen?"
"Maybe sooner than you think. Hey, just trying to help, man," Adam said and he stood up. Andrew watched his friend through his green eye walk off and he gave a sudden sigh.
"Is it true?" he prayed. "Will I have to trust her?"