-I don't own Hey Arnold!-
9:30 am
"does it still hurt that bad?" Doug asked Arnold as he entered the kitchen. Arnold was seated at the table with a ice pack on his left eye.
"no, a big dude punched me multiple times in the face and i feel GREAT!" his voice dripped with sarcasim.
"hey man, i was just asking" Doug continued rummaging through the cabinets. " so, tell me how it all went down last night! You didn't give me details last night!" He found the pop tarts and sat down in front of Arnold.
"there's nothing to tell...i got caught" his voice was lackadaisical. " God knows why im not dead..." Doug stared at him very un-interested. If there wasn't any blood or guts talk, he wasn't interested.
"by the way.." Doug interrupted " Beckem called last night to say your fake birth certificate has been created"
Arnold's eyes brightened up for split second "that's great!...i don't know what good it'll do me now.."
"that sucks" doug responded with a mouth full of pop tart.
"im going for a walk..." Arnold stood up setting the ice pack on the table. His eye was black and swollen. He could barely see out of it. He had other bruised covering his body as well. One huge one on his chest.
"see ya later!" Doug waved.
Arnold zipped up his jacket as he closed the door to his apartment. It was extremely frigid this morning. He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked down the steps onto the sidewalk. Halloween would be here soon. He hated Halloween. Nothing good ever happened to him around this time. His Grandma died around this time, He found out his parents were dead around this time, and he got the shit beat out of him. As far as he was concerned when the pumpkin carving time came around, crawling into a hole and hibernating was his best alternative.
Each stoop he passed had a Jacko-lantern. Each with a different face. It gave color to each stoop, as well as expressing the personality of each family. Different halloween reefs hung on select doors. Along with the fake spider webbing. He enjoyed walking around looking at the different decorations. He may hate the holiday but he wasn't going to be down about everything. He was the same with Christmas. He didn't hate christmas though. But his favorite part about it was walking around and observing the different light arrangements. He'd always been a believer that you could learn a lot about somebody by their decorations. If any.
He was interrupted from his thoughts by a loud car creeping behind him. He turned to face it. It was a very gorgeous red mustang. It revved its engine up. The person obviously wanted his attention. Arnold walked over and peeked into the passenger window. It was Tessa driving. Arnold was at loss of words.
"iv been looking for you" she looked very relaxed. "hop in, we need to talk..." Arnold look around skeptical. He wasn't sure if he wanted to hop into a car with an eleged killer.
"what? I wont bite.." she smiled. Arnold opened the door and got in. This would be his last day. He knew it. Doug was going to open up the front door tomorrow and find a duffle bag full of him. She sped off down the street. Either the heat didn't work or she didn't like using it.
"so, what do we need to...talk about" his voice was shaky.
"about last night. You struck a nerve in me. That and you are one of the only people that have ever looked me right in the eye. That's a plus. I want to know a little about you."
"well, my names.... Dante' Bonadventure...im 26..um...im single.." he paused. Helga chuckled.
"no offense but you don't exactly look-"
"italian? Yeah i know. My mom was. My dad wasn't. Her idea naming me this..." he lied "so, i know about you. Who doesn't. Your Tessa, your 27...single i suppose?"
"im a member of the widowhood..." she sighed. Arnold was shocked. This had slipped through his file. She was married? When?
"when? what happened?" he asked gently. He didn't want to upset her.
"2 years ago. He was shot over a mugging in his car, this car..." her voice was flushed with sadness and guilt.
"so..." Arnold thought hard for a suitable subject change. Everything around the car failed to aid his current situation. Except of one thing. He glanced to the floor board below him and saw a open cd holder with several 'Red Hot Chilly Peppers' discs. "..you like The Red Hot Chilly Peppers eh?"
"ah, yeah they're my favorite band" she idly nodded.
"yeah i noticed by your...cd thing here.." he picked it up and flipped through it. "you don't look like a chilly pepper fan."
"what? You expect The Godfather music in there?" she perked up as she snickered.
"well..." Arnold cocked and eyebrow sarcastically.
"one of the minor ways i am so misunderstood..."
"how so?"
"D. im not as malign as people make me out to be. I mean, i don't just go after somebody because they're there. Besides, everybody has they're own way of making a living..."
" i guess so..." Arnold replied quietly. He turned onto the last page of the little cd booklet. A pink CD-R occupied the last plastic slip. Neatly penned onto it was: ' ya always want to know what im thinkin'. Here ya go babe. -Enzo'
Arnold felt the car come to a stop, and looked up. She had pulled into the drive way of a very expensive looking town house. She reached onto the dash board and pressed a button. The garage door, connected to the house, slowly lifted. This mustang wasn't the only hot car she owned. Parked in her garage was a polar white Corvette. Arnold's eyes widened, as he adored Corvettes.
"wow..." he mouthed
"nice isn't it" she smiled very proudly
" hell yeah!" Helga pulled into the garage. Arnold's eyes stayed glued to sports car. He couldn't see much inside, seeing as the windows were heavily tinted. For a short while he briefly forgot about why he was there, in hopes of maybe she would let him take a peek inside the car. Arnold stepped out of the mustang.
"can i..."
"get in it?.." Helga leaned over the hood of the mustang. She read his mind perfectly. "sure..but, you mess up anything you die..." She fiddled with her key ring until she found the tiny keyless entry gadget, and pressed a button. The car started up and the windows rolled down. Inside was a light baby blue color tweed fabric. The dash and door panels matched the car color. Arnold's stomach did a flip.
Arnold opened up the door and sat down in the sports car. He gripped the stirring wheel, imagining the adrenaline rush he'd get if he were out driving. He thought about how cool it'd be to get into a high speed chase with the 'Vette.
"this is so nice..you're lucky.." Arnold toyed with all the gadgets on the console.
"yeah, i guess i am..." Helga still assumed her position of leaning across the Mustang.
"is this stolen?" Arnold blurted out not realizing it.
"neither of these are. Enzo bought the 'Vette for my brithday..." Arnold stepped back out of the car, for he didn't want to out stay his welcome. Or become to attached to it. He observed that there were four wooden crates, similar to the ones he saw last night, sitting against the wall in front of the Mustang.
"well D...." Helga took in a deep breath and walked to the crates. "im gonna send you on a run for me" she flipped the top back on one crate. Arnold watched, very puzzled, as she rummaged through the crate. Finally her facial expression told all. She had found what she was seeking. She pulled out a small bag containing a fluffy white substance.
"what the-"
"this is your bag of cocaine. I want you to get rid of it. And im mean sell it. By tomorrow that is..." Helga barked
"but..."
" no cops...if i found out you went to the cops with this stuff, lets just say the next time you sweet little italian mother sees you, you'll be in assorted pieces. You come back to me tomorrow with my money will talk some more. Your time today is up so get the hell out my garage..." she harshly tossed the bag to him. Arnold juggled it like it was hot, or some vile contamination.
"just get out?"
"did i stutter?!" she mocked him back
"you're crazy! Your like bi-polar or something!" he said backing out of the garage.
"well talk tomorrow...maybe. Not cops!" with that, she waved and lowered her garage door leaving Arnold alone on the driveway...