REVIEWER SHOUT-OUTS

ottomatic21: That's a fantastic idea! That may be my next project.

NumbuhOneHoney07: Your wish is my command. ;-)

The sun rose over the sleeping form of a certain freckled-faced redhead. Twister groggily realized he no longer felt Val's comforting weight lying across his body. A look around revealed she hadn't rolled off him in order to sleep by herself.

Twister sleepily staggered into the kitchen. Lars stood by the window, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts. It goes without saying this wasn't the most appetizing thing to see first thing in the morning.

"Do you know what happened to Val?" Twister asked his brother.

"I ain't her secretary, but try looking on the fridge," said Lars.

Twister looked over his shoulder at the Post-it note on the refrigerator door. In small printing were the words: 'Umm, hanging out and stuff. I'll be back sometime this morning.'

"I wonder if that's code for 'making out behind my back'," Twister muttered angrily.

He slumped into a kitchen chair, propping his feet on the table.

"I think you're bein' kinda harsh...though I'd sure worry if I had a girl that fine," said Lars.

"You said she's ugly," said Twister.

Lars sat across from him. "Never mind what I said."

"I don't like that Jesus guy." Twister blurted out.

"You've known Val for...how many years?" Lars said slowly.

"About twelve," Twister replied.

"And you really think she'd cheat on you?" Lars asked.

Twister didn't have an answer for that. He didn't want to think Val would do something like that. Signs were there, though. She kept making excuses to be with Chuy and had been avoiding the younger Rodriguez for over a day. Should he wait it out? Should he just confront her and ask if she was fooling around?

Val entered the foyer, attempting to balance a large box from Krispy Kreme, her skateboard, and a hot cup of coffee. Lars moved in for the rescue, relieving Val of the doughtnuts.

"Nifty shorts," she quipped dryly.

Lars promptly dropped the box of doughnuts, grabbed a pair of ripped jeans from his suitcase, and scrambled into them.

Once breakfast was over, Val led the gang out to the garage. The kids laced up their blades or stepped onto their skateboards. Presumably, Val was about to conduct a grand tour of her hometown.

For the first several blocks, the majority of passersby were Latino. Val called out greetings as she pedaled past them. She eyed some bandanna-wearing teens warily.

"Want a little excitement?" one questioned. "Our goods are very reasonably priced."

Val ignored them. "Scarface wanna-be's," she said under her breath.

"Who were those guys?" Reggie wanted to know.

"The West L.A. Hombres," her cousin responded.

"The who?" said Otto.

"The West L.A. Hombres," Val repeated. "Gangbangers. They've been busted at least ten times. LAPD can't seem to make any charges stick. Witnesses tend to develop 'permanent amnesia.'"
She made the throat-slicing gesture. "Every so often, they drive drunk past our subdivision, firing guns this way and that. Half the time, they do it in broad daylight. It makes me worry that one of those bullets is gonna end up in someone I care about."

Twister posed an obvious question. "If gangs are such a problem, why hasn't your family moved?"

"Dad likes being close to the reservation where he grew up, which is somewhere in the Anaheim area." said Val.

The gang rolled past a construction site. Val's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Hey, there's Chuy!" she screamed.

Chuy had exchanged his flannel shirt for a work shirt. There was a tool belt around his waist.
Chuy had decided to spend his summer working at the site for extra money. It had been easy to get a job because his uncle was the foreman.

Val snuck up behind Chuy, covering his eyes with her hands.

"OW!" Chuy yelped as he pounded his thumb with a hammer.

"Poor baby," Val said in motherly tone. "Let me kiss it better."

After kissing Chuy's sore thumb, Val gave him a big hug, even though he was disgustingly sweaty.

"You know what I want," she whispered in his ear.

"Fine, just don't let my uncle catch you," Chuy said with a sigh.

"You're a real pal," Val said, patting his cheek.

She crossed the site to a ditch with a number of concrete pipes in the bottom of it. The pipes were about the size of the tunnel at Madtown. Val mounted her skateboard, kicked at the ground to get some speed, then proceeded to do loops inside the pipes.

A burly man who had a black walrus mustache appeared at the edge of the ditch. Swiftly and silently, Val caught up with the rest of the gang.

"Let's go." she said. "I'll see you, Chuy."

"Adios," he said, going back to hammering nails.

0-0-0-0-0

Over the course of the day, Val showed them some of tourist places around town such as Mann's Chinese Theater, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and Rodeo Drive.

Otto began to complain about the heat. He suggested they head for Huntington Beach, which was sort of nearby. Val stomped on that idea.

"Huntington is for shoobies. There's no waves there. Venice Beach is usually infested, but the swells are worth it."

During their time at Venice Beach, Twister noticed lots of teenage boys admiring the way Val looked in her bathing suit. It made him upset when Val smiled and nodded "hello" to the other dudes.

Maybe she doesn't like me anymore, he thought sadly.

I know this chapter wasn't good, but I promise the next part will be better. I love seeing reviews, so keep clicking!