Chapter Two: Bobby and Vex
"You look...presentable."
The girl looked ridiculous, but Beka wasn't going to say that in front of Rev. She didn't want any more of those looks meant to make her exceedingly guilty. So she said nothing, even though Allie was wearing one of Beka's shirts rolled up at the sleeves and tied at the waist, and a pair of Bobby's shorts that had somehow been left on the Maruand came all the way down to below Allie's knees.
"Why can't I just wear my clothes?" Allie asked, looking just as sullen as she had when she and Beka had first met, only thinner and paler. Space--well, mostly slipstream--hadn't been kind to the girl, though she at least managed to make it to the bathroom nine times out of ten.
"They don't look like clothes anymore, they look like rags. That's why we're going to buy you some new ones," Beka said.
Allie's face lit up. "Really?"
"Really. Rev, buy everything on the list this time, okay? No giving our money away to the hungry, or we're going to actually become the hungry," Beka told him, pulling Allie along by the arm. She didn't want the kid to get lost like she had the first time she'd been on a Drift. Awed by all the sights, sounds, and people--mostly all the species she'd never seen before, which included just about everything besides humans and Magogs--Allie had been lured away from Beka, sweet-talked by a Chichin, and nearly sold to a Nightsider looking for a servant before Beka had managed to convince the Nightsider that Allie had a rare disease. At least she'd discovered Allie's acting ability, the only thing good to come from that situation. The moment Beka had started talking about Allie's mysterious 'affliction,' Allie had started acting it out, causing Beka to think that the girl might have more use than as just a cook. But that was for later, when Allie stopped being freaked out by Nightsiders and Chichins.
Allie still looked around, though, even as she hid behind Beka whenever they came across the two species of slimeballs. "Look at that, Beka. What is it? And what's that?"
"Allie, we don't have time today," Beka said with a sigh. "Remember? We're going to be late for that meeting if we're not careful. Look, here's the clothes store and here's the credit. You know enough math to figure out how many clothes you can get?" Allie rolled her eyes and nodded.
"I'm thirteen, not an idiot."
Beka glared at her. "I can still take you back to your planet. Go on. Shop." And Allie quickly disappeared, which was good for her, because Beka wasn't in the best of moods. Her mood only deteriorated when Vex wasn't where he was supposed to be when he was supposed to be. She should've known he wasn't going to show on time. Sure, he'd be at the Marueventually, but on his own time, and she couldn't exactly yell at him because he'd been on the crew of the Maru since before Beka was born.
And when she ran into the last person she wanted to see, her mood just got worse.
----------------------------------------
When Allie got back to the Maru, she was humming. Like the majority of the Valentines, or so Beka said, she had a decent voice--not great, but decent. Even if she had a bad voice, though, nothing would've stopped her. She had a bunch of new clothes and new boots, and her clothes were fun. She'd gotten various fun-looking shirts, some shorts, pants, and a skirt...she'd had a good day.
Until she stepped into the kitchen.
"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously to the burly guy standing in front of her, practically chugging a bottle of beer. He turned on her with a glare.
"Who are you, kid?"
She shrunk back. He was humongous, and she was short even for a thirteen-year-old. "I'm...um...Allie."
He stepped closer to her and looked down, and she backed all the way into the wall, shivering. "Allie...what do you think you're doing here?"
"I'm Allie Valentine," she whispered. "Beka's cousin. I live here now."
"Do you." She nodded. "I think you're just stealing from me and my ship."
"Your ship?" she exclaimed, forgetting that she was terrified. "This is Beka's ship!"
Before she knew it, her feet were off the ground and Bobby was holding her up in the air by her neck. "Let's get this straight, kid. Whether you live here or not, I own this ship, I own you, and I own Beka. And there isn't anything you can do to change that. So if I were you, I'd stay out of my way, or--"
Allie didn't get to find out what he'd do, because someone's voice came from behind them. "Bobby! What are you doing?" Beka exclaimed.
Bobby dropped Allie to the ground and she started coughing, rubbing her neck. "Just getting to know each other. This really your cousin?"
"Yep, that's Allie. You two getting along well?"
"We're--" Allie looked up at Bobby, who gave her a murderous look and fingered the gun at his side, and she revised her statement. "Getting along great."
Beka smiled happily and took Bobby's arm. "Well, that's good, because Bobby's going to be living here. Isn't that great? Come on, Bobby, let's put your things away and get reacquainted."
Allie watched them go and sat in the corner, pulling her knees up to her chest and feeling very small. That was Bobby? She could understand why Beka had hated him; what she couldn't understand why Beka took him back. "He's horrible," she whispered. She wondered if he was going to kill her. She wondered if Beka would even care.
"You a stowaway?"
Someone's face was suddenly in front of hers, and she screamed. "Don't kill me!" To her surprise, the person laughed, and she looked up to see that it wasn't Bobby, just some lanky guy who wasn't even carrying a gun.
"Don't worry, sunburst, I won't kill you even if you are a stowaway," he said with a smile. "But I'd get out before Beka finds you, if I were you."
"You know Beka?"
"Do you?"
Allie nodded. "I'm her cousin, Allie." Something suddenly clicked. "Are you Vex? Beka told me someone named Vex was coming today."
"Fred Vexpag, at your service, little fireball. Just call me Vex, like Beka does," he told her, extending a hand and helping her up. "Beka's cousin, hey? You look like her. Especially the hair. So where is she?"
"With Bobby," Allie said, making a face, feeling comfortable with Vex. He certainly wasn't anything like Bobby, and Allie needed an ally a lot more than she needed to be paranoid and mistrustful.
"Bobby." Vex shook his head. "Back together with him, then, is she? As long as I've known her, she's always had a remarkable talent for picking exactly the wrong man."
Allie nodded vigorously. "He tried to kill me."
"Well, you stick with me, cherry tomato. He won't kill you when there's a witness." Allie giggled, and they went to sit at the table, instant friends and allies against Bobby. And that, Allie would realize later, was the only thing she would ever have to thank Bobby for.
To Be Continued…