Shadow Games

Chapter 3 – Fueling The Fire

Ryan woke up ridiculously early the next morning, well, eight a.m. felt ridiculously early considering he was used to sleeping in until about eleven. Staying in the night before and getting to bed early for some much needed sleep worked wonders on him. He felt like a new person.

With Trey still asleep on the couch, Ryan snuck out the door and pedaled down to the market side of Chino. Stopping at the fruit market, he dismounted his bike and walked next to it. Ryan felt the glare of the store's owner looming on him as he looked at the bins of fresh fruit that lined the sidewalk. They had knocked heads in the past when Ryan stole fruit from this stand and got caught one time.

"I thought I told you to never come back here," the owner warned, grabbing Ryan by the arm.

Ryan looked at the man before reaching into his pocket and retrieving a ten-dollar bill. "I've got money."

"I don't want your money punk! Get out of here before I call the cops!"

Swallowing hard, Ryan shoved the money back in his pocket and backed away from the owner. He couldn't even do the right thing even when he tried. He either screwed it up himself or other people stood as obstacles in his path. He was definitely a product of his environment, and his environment sucked.

After a brief stare down Ryan turned and continued walking with his bike. When he reached the corner of the building he turned down the alley and leaned his bike against the wall. Angry with the owner, 'Ryan the con' took over the situation and he lie in waiting for the right opportunity. Being a good con took patience and today, Ryan had all the time in the world. He wasn't leaving without getting what he came for.

After leaning against the side of the building for about twenty minutes, Ryan heard a scuffle and peered around the corner of the building. The owner was arguing with yet another customer and it didn't take long before outsiders jumped into the argument, choosing sides and causing a complete spectacle.

Keeping his head down Ryan stepped onto the sidewalk, grabbed a brown bag and started to fill it with fruit just like all the other paying customers…only, at this point, Ryan had no intention of paying for his fruit. He managed to get a few apples and oranges, a cantaloupe and a bunch of bananas in his bag before he headed back to the end of the crates near the corner of the building. Pretending to glance at a few more bins, Ryan ran his eyes in the owner's direction at the raucous that was still going on before vanishing around the corner undetected.

Smirking to himself, Ryan rolled the bag closed and stuck it in his backpack. Jumping on his bike, he continued down the alley to the next stop. Coasting through the parking lot, Ryan surveyed the area for any problems, specifically, for cops. Ray's convenience store was the place to go in Chino if you wanted something you shouldn't have, especially if you were underage. Cigarettes, drugs, booze, Ray could get anything…for a price of course.

Laying his bike down on the sidewalk, Ryan entered the store, nodded at Ray behind the counter and held up his hand in a "peace" sign. Ray nodded back and went to work behind the counter while Ryan took the opportunity to walk to the cooler in the back and retrieve a small, cardboard carton of eggs.

Hanging back, Ryan waited until the counter was clear of customers before he approached.

"Hey Ray."

"Ryan. How ya been?"

Ryan only raised his eyebrows.

Laughing, "I hear that! It's a bad week for everyone."

Pulling a bill from his pocket, Ryan slid twenty dollars across the counter. Immediately, Ray grabbed the bill, stuffed it in his pocket and passed two packs of cigarettes to Ryan. The fee was high, but that was the cost of convenience.

"The eggs are on the house man. Go home and eat something will ya, you're gettin' skinny."

Ryan laughed tossing the cigarette packs in his bag. "Thanks Ray."

Back at Trey's apartment, Ryan stood in front of the stove scrambling some of the eggs. The aroma of the cooking food roused Trey from the couch and had him shuffling to the kitchen to locate the source.

Standing in the doorway to the kitchen, Trey watched his little brother cook. Slices of cantaloupe and buttered toast were already on the table.

"You got a girl in your bed this morning?" Trey asked, startling Ryan.

"I wish."

"So what's all of this for then?"

Sighing as he wiped his hands on a kitchen towel, "It's…a thank you. For letting me stay here for a few days. I just wanted you to know that I appreciate it."

Smiling, "That's what brothers are for, right?" Trey's smile quickly faded when another thought entered his head. "Are you leaving?"

"Soon, probably right after the job. It's time."

Disappointment was apparent on Trey's face. "You're gonna stay and have breakfast though, right?"

"Of course. Think I cooked all of this just for your sorry ass? I'm hungry too."

Taking a playful swat at Ryan's head the brothers sat down to eat. Trey took the time to pay extra attention to his brother, how he looked, what he liked, even how he ate. He knew if Ryan kept to his word, and he usually did, if he made it out of Chino Trey knew he'd probably never see him again.

It was mid evening by the time Dawn had gotten her act together. Throwing the mop bucket out the back door into the grass, she leaned against the door jam, disgusted with herself. The downside of partying was cleaning up the aftermath and today there was a lot of aftermath. Lighting a cigarette, she sat down on the concrete stoop and gazed across the unruly lawn, her mind fluttered randomly back into the past. She remembered Trey playing in a little plastic swimming pool back in Fresno, how he liked to sink his toy trucks in the water. Her mind jogged forward then to Ryan crawling through the grass, still in diapers, pulling out her planted flowers. How he'd hold them up to her, proud of himself for picking them and all she could do was laugh at his little innocent face. They were happy then. She was the Mom of two little boys and proud to say so. Looking at her yard now, the small stretch of grass resembled her life…burnt out, wilted and in some spots, absent altogether.

She forced herself to think about her boys. She didn't do it often because it hurt too much. Trey had been gone for some time now and he never made any contact. She knew he wanted it that way. But now Ryan was starting to pull away too. Ryan was always the strong one, tough as nails he was from little on. Dawn knew that boy could withstand almost anything, he'd already proven that. But now Ryan was starting to give up, specifically on her. She could see it in his face and hear it in his tone. She was an embarrassment to him. But, how do you stop a freight train that's rolling down hill at full speed? You can't. You can only jump aside and escape it for the time being or allow yourself to get run over by it.

Dawn wished she had Ryan's strength. She wished she had the desire to change things. But that wasn't who she was.

"Hey Mama," AJ greeted from the back door, snapping Dawn out of her daydream. "It's almost time for happy hour, you comin'?"

Hesitating briefly, "Yeah, sure. Just let me finish this cigarette and I'll be right in."

Stretching her legs out in front of her, she tried to hold onto the vision of her young boys. But the setting sun beat down hard on the neglected lawn and reminded her, instead, that her boys were neglected too. So much for happy thoughts.

Extinguishing her cigarette on the side of the step, she stood up and yelled into the house as she entered, "You ready to go babe? I could really use a drink."

The bar was crowded when the brothers entered. Deciding to stay in for another night was a great idea until they ran out of beer. Promising they were just going to slip out for one or two quick drinks, they headed to one of Chino's popular watering holes. Enjoying their second round, Ryan laughed with Trey about miscellaneous incidents until his line of vision zoned in on his Mother across the bar. He went pale in an instant.

"What's the matter? What's wrong?" Trey asked.

"She's here."

"Who's here?"

"Mom."

"What!" Choking on his drink he scanned the bar until he found what Ryan was staring at.

The spectacle was hard to miss. His Mom, the only woman at a table full of men, was giggling loudly and downing shot after shot after shot, much to the pleasure of the guys.

Picking up his own beer, Ryan slammed down the remainder of the liquid inside and stood up. "I'm done."

"Me too, let's get the hell out of here," Trey agreed, disturbed as well.

Making their way toward the door, they encountered their second frustration of the evening.

"Ryan Atwood," the bully greeted. He couldn't have caught Ryan at a worse time, certainly, not in a worse mood. "I hear you're spreading stories about me, telling everyone I suck at pool," the boy explained, giving Ryan a firm shove.

"They're not stories. You do suck at pool," Ryan admitted freely, still holding his ground.

"Oh boy, here we go," Trey mumbled from behind Ryan.

"Care to put your money where your mouth is, punk?"

"I already did, and you lost. Like I said, you suck."

"Stop saying that!" the bully threatened, taking a swing at Ryan and missing.

"Apparently you suck at fighting too," Ryan antagonized, connecting a solid one-two punch to the bully's face, sending him crashing to the floor with his eyes spinning. "Better learn how to control that mouth of yours," Ryan instructed, stepping over the bully.

Out in the parking lot, Trey broke into a jog to catch up to a stewing Ryan when he noticed his brother paying particular attention to a car near the back of the lot.

"No joy riding tonight Ry, stop gawking. You gotta be available to work tomorrow…you're contract…remember?"

"I'm not gawking, that car belongs to that asshole in there," Ryan explained.

Trey stopped walking. "Really? You don't say. Maybe we should…pay it some respect…"

"Trey…Trey…" Ryan called after him in a warning tone.

"Remember that old Tootsie Pop commercial Ryan? How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?"

"Yeah," Ryan answered hesitantly.

"Well, how many bricks do you think it takes to break the windshield on an asshole's car?" Bending down Trey picked up a brick and flipped it over in his hand before looking back at Ryan with an inviting and instigating look on his face.

Ryan smiled, walked over to Trey and picked up a brick. "I had no idea you were into Math problems," Ryan mocked.

"Math sucks Ryan! Fucking up asshole's car? Now that I'm in to! After you Mr. Atwood," Trey joked, glancing around the parking lot making sure it was free of any witnesses. "All clear."

Not needing any further prompting, Ryan cocked his arm back and hurled his brick with all his might. The contact with the windshield crystallized the point of immediate impact and created spider web style veins across the rest of the windshield.

"Tsk, tsk, Ryan…temper, temper," Trey jestered again.

"Shut up and gimme your brick."

Throwing the second brick in the same vicinity as the first, with the same results, the windshield was now useless. It would be impossible for anyone driving the car to see where they were going unless they stuck their head out the driver's window.

"Looks like someone's gonna have to call the auto club."

Trey's comment got Ryan to burst out in laughter. "Yeah, well, he had that coming."

"Let's see what the dickhead has in his car."

Picking up his own brick, Trey stood next to the car and smashed the driver's side window. Chunks of shattered glass fell to the ground, clinking as they landed. Leaning into the car, Trey surveyed the findings, much to his disappoint.

"This guy really is an asshole! There's nothing in his car! And I mean nothing!"

"Fuck 'em. Let's get out of here," Ryan proposed.

"Not yet."

"We're done. He can't drive his car. Let's go."

"Oh sure, you're satisfied because you got to smash the windshield! Give me one more minute."

Ryan watched as Trey unzipped his jeans, walked up to the driver's door and leaned against the car.

"You're not…really…going to…"

"Too late Ry."

Ryan could only laugh and let his mouth drop open in shock as he quickly did another scan of the parking lot, hoping they wouldn't get caught. By the time he turned back to Trey, his brother was already dressed again and walking toward him.

"I do not…believe…you just did that," Ryan admitted, still bewildered by his brother's actions.

"Ryan, when you gotta go, you gotta go. He picked on the wrong little brother tonight, that's all. Besides, he'll come out of there drunk off his ass and he won't even realize what happened until tomorrow. He'll think he did it."

"You're sick and you need help, you know that?" Ryan laughed.

Slapping Ryan on the back, "Yeah well, add it to my ever-growing list of flaws. Let's go home."

Back at the apartment, Ryan lay on the bed wide awake, his mind running in a hundred and one directions. He thought about the old man at the fruit market, he thought about his Mom at the bar making a fool out of herself, he though about the bully he'd leveled and about the incidents out in the parking lot, which made him snicker to himself.

"What's so funny?" Trey asked, interrupting his thoughts and sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"I still can't believe you pissed in that guy's car. God that was funny as hell."

Laughing himself, "Yeah it was. I would have paid good money to see his face on that one."

There was an awkward silence in the air before Trey addressed the obvious. "You're not sleeping. You worried about tomorrow…the contract?"

"No, not the contract. I'm fine with that."

"Well what then? Your eyes are telling stories that your mouth isn't sharing man. I know you."

Ryan turned his eyes to his brother. Trey knew him better than anyone. "I said I was going to leave after the job was done," Ryan admitted quietly, dropping his eyes down to his twiddling thumbs on his chest, he offered no further explanation.

Trey nodded. He understood completely. "I know how you feel Ry. You want out so bad you're willing to do anything and yet, how do you leave the only thing you've ever known…right?"

Ryan nodded.

"The game in Chino may suck, but not only do you know how it's played, you're good at it. Leaving would mean you'd have to learn a new game all over again, find the weaknesses and draw your power from it. I envy you for even thinking about that."

"I'm nothing but a con, Trey. I can be a con anywhere. I can get anything from anyone at any time. Just gotta be patient."

Laughing, "Right, and that's what makes you a better con than I'll ever be. Patience is not my thing. Look, I'll always have your back, no matter what. Whether you stay in Chino or if you leave…brothers for life man." Trey offered a guy handshake to his little brother, and Ryan took it without hesitating.

"Brothers for life," he agreed.

"Just make sure you say goodbye before you go man. There isn't a day that goes by that I didn't regret not telling you I was leaving."

Ryan nodded as Trey stood up.

"Get some rest little brother. You gotta go to work tomorrow."

"You too."

After Trey left the room, Ryan laid in the dark a while longer thinking about the next day, the contract and the possibility of leaving Chino. He was anxious to see what the next couple of days would bring.

TBC…

A/N – This was one of those short little 'transition' chapters! Look for 'The Job' (Chapter 4) to arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday. : D (The volcano is starting to steam…): D

For those who asked…My blanket's just missing the border now. It's huge! (Approximately 5 ft x6ft). It's out of orange and yellow sort of tie-dyed fleece with the big black OC logo in the middle with fuzzy black trim. The rest looks like a giant scrapbook page…below the OC letters are 9 misc photos of the cast, and above the OC are 9 photos of Ben (since he's my favorite!)! All photos are trimmed in crème colored fur and the border will be out of the same fur. It's cute! Another day or so and it should be done! YAY: D