It's a Living By, sweet garbonzo ^_^
This was a gift for my friend Kayla. I wrote it a few months ago, but now I've finally posted it. Enjoy.
*****
On friday nights in Alba city, the lights were always blazing and it seemed the entire town
came out for the night life. Clubs were filled to the brim with excited teenagers and
young barhoppers. Rain began pelting down, so the latenighters were taking refuge in
whatever place they could find that would take them in. The weekend was certainly the
best part of the week.
But one lone figure, huddled in a thin transparent rainjacket, wouldn't be spending her
Friday night in fun. A teenager, riddled with zits and freckles, jogged angrily through the
rain. Her light red hair was soaked and clinging to her neck. The rain trickling down her
back was making her shiver, but the cold outside was nothing to the red hot anger boiling
inside this girl's soul. Apparently finding her destination, she opened the door of a
convienence store and shut it behind her.
The bell that signalled a customer caught the attention of a young man dressed in an
eyecatching blue button-up jacket that seemed to sparkle as he walked. He had on a
sleek pair of sunglasses for God knows what reason. He smiled smoothly at the rumpled up
girl in the wet raincoat with her arms crossed dangerously. The look on her face was just as
hazardous.
"Oh good! I was wondering when you'd get here," he greeted her, dazzling smile and all.
She stripped off the raincoat and threw it on the counter displaying various chewing gums
and candies.
"This is your shift. This is your night to work. You better have a damn good excuse for calling
me in. And since you're not dead, it had better be extra original." Her blue eyes flashed
like sharp steel against his twinkling green ones.
"Listen Kay," he began, "Tonight's my granny's birthday. I'd hate to work on Granny's
birthday. Especially since it's probably her last-"
"Fuck you Mac! What grandson goes to visit his family in that outfit? You just want to go
barhopping." He smiled and winked as he tossed the keys to her. She caught them deftly,
without taking an eye off him.
"Lock up when you're done sugar," He told her as he breezed through the door.
Miraculously, the rain had stopped seconds before he left. The left side of her face gave a
little twitch before she finally relented and took her post behind the counter. Hopefully, it
would be a slow night.
And at first, it was. Most of the customers she had to serve were quiet and quick about
their business. A young man came in, for an emergency diaper run it appeared, and a
young woman wearing a dark veil was browsing the aisle for snack chips. Kay only had to
check id once, for a lanky fuzzy haired man who wanted some Marlboro Reds. The man
he came in with stood silently by the door, as if waiting for something. She brushed off his
weird behavior while the fuzzy haired one paid for his smokes and some instant ramen.
"Would you be interested in our Consumer Club Card?" Kay asked monotonously. The
fuzzhead nodded. She blinked, shook her head, and asked "Really?"
"Yeah, whatever," he replied.
"But...nobody ever wants the Consumer Club Card. They just make me ask all the
customers."
"Explain the whole thing to me then," he said. It was not a question. She rolled her eyes at
him and cleared her throat, glancing at his buddy by the door.
"Are you guys waiting for someone?" she asked. "There's a no loitering policy. Sorry, but
unless you buy something more, you have to leave. Not my law, I just enforce it." The
bulkier guy by the door huffed like she was ruining his day.
"Just get something, Spike," he told his partner. "If he doesn't show up in 5 minutes we'll try
somewhere else."
"Jet," the fuzzhead hissed at him, "I don't have anymore money."
"Then get out!" the redhead yelled. "We only like paying customers." Her bad mood was
creeping back into her cheeks, and she didn't want to deal with some stupid thugs that
wanted to bum the merchandise off of her. The woman from the back glanced up at the
front counter.
"Christ, Spike!" the gruff one said, and moving from the door, he grabbed random things off
the shelves and threw them at the counter next to the cigarettes and the instant ramen.
"Here! Ring it up!"
Kay's patience was running thin. She plastered on a fake smile and nodded her head.
After ringing up 27 packs of chewing gum and some kid's playing cards, the gruff man was
still waiting impatiently. The lanky man, however, took a cigarette from the pack he
hadn't yet paid for, lit it up, and took a long drag from it. He leaned against the counter
and puffed to himself.
"Now it's come to 3,417 woolongs. Please pay, and leave," she told them briskly. "I'm really,
really not in the mood for this. And there's no smoking." The fuzzhead ignored her. Just as
the gruff man pulled a wallet from his back pocket, the woman in the snack aisle came
with a bag of chips and a soda to the front counter. She waited behind the gruff man,
who was grabbing the items he'd paid for.
"Come on, Spike," he grumbled irritably. "He's not coming." The fuzzhead shrugged and
headed towards the door. Just as he passed the woman paying for her snack, he drew a
gun and pointed it at her head.
"Didn't think we'd recognize you, Maxim Gilberto?" he teased darkly, keeping the gun as
close to the woman's temple as possible. She faintly smiled and raised her hands in the air.
"Let me make a guess," she said in an unusually low and husky voice. "Bounty Hunter?"
"Good job," the fuzzhead replied. "Your prize: a nice warm jail cell. If you'll just come with us-"
Before the fuzzhead could finish his sentence, the woman kicked him in the groin and
grabbed his gun.
"You're dead bounty boy!" the psuedo woman screeched. The fuzzhead winced. She
laughed hysterically and aimed the gun at his head. "That's a good boy. Just sit still. In a
few minutes you'll blow up with the rest of this place."
The gruff man rolled his eyes and grabbed the criminal from behind. His metal arm
squeezed the bounty head's neck, causing her to panic and shoot off a few rounds.
Meanwhile, Kay stood behind her counter and rolled her eyes. She was too angry to be
phased by the confrontation in front of her. She was just hoping they'd leave soon.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, to try to calm her anger. It wasn't working.
In the struggle, the woman's wig fell off and revealed a short, ugly man. He reached for
his pocket, and pulled out a small remote control. He pushed a small red button and
waited for a reaction. The reaction never came, however, and he kept jamming his finger
on the button.
"What the hell?!" he shrieked. "It should work! This place should be totaled!" His confusion
was quickly replaced with rage, as he pointed his finger at the bounty hunters. "You!"
The fuzzhead got up to his feet, grabbed the gun from the bounty head's hand, and
chuckled. "Yep. Thanks to a hacker friend of ours, your bomb circuitry is scrambled. Now
please, let us lead you to your new home." To emphasize his point, he briskly shoved his gun
in the bounty head's face again. He sighed and stuck his arms out, and the gruff man
released his grip.
"Fine," he muttered in his defeat. After they put handcuffs on him, he asked, "How much am I worth?"
The fuzzhead rolled his eyes. "A measly 2 million. Barely worth it."
"ENOUGH!" a yell startled the three people in front of the counter. Kay the cashier pointed
to the door. "Get OUT! And never come back!" They stood there frozen for a moment,
until the gruff man led the trio out the door.
"Think she'd appreciate the gesture," the fuzzhead mumbled. "Not everyday I manage to
save someone's life." Kay glared at his backside as he left.
The bell jingled behind them. She could hear their muffled voices through the glass
windows. She sighed and rested her elbows on the counter.
"I hate my fucking job."
*****
Woot!That was fun, wasn't it? Now, review and go eat some ice cream.