A few weeks later, Javier walked out of the prison, without handcuffs.
"I was sentenced to three years and I didn't serve as much as three months!"he said to himself. "Well, like I've said before, it's just my luck."
He walked away from the building, and taking one last look at it said, "You couldn't hold me more than a few months, could you? And to think they thought you could teach me a lesson. As if I needed to be taught!"
He didn't have anything to do in New York City, so he immediately decided to be on his way to Bayville. Besides, he wanted to get away from the city as soon as possible.
"Well, it's been fun knowing you, New York, but let's see what awaits me in Bayville."
"Ah, very nice."said a young girl, as she set her purse on one of the chairs in the room. "I guess it'll be lonely in a certain fashion."she said to herself.
She took off her shoes, and made herself comfortable.
"I'd better get he unpacking done first. I hate to see the suitcases on the floor."
She had finally convinced her parents to let her do the pre-veterinary program here, in Bayville, New York. She looked forward to not having to put up with them and her brother, and living on her own, doing what she pleased when she pleased, even though she knew she'd miss them. She was already missing the cat and the dog. Here, in Bayville, she moved into her grandmother's old apartment. Her grandparents had lived here for some time, but now that they were both retired, they lived spend most of their time traveling and visiting relatives. Thanks to this apartment, she wouldn't have to pay a rent.
The flight from Arizona to New York had been long, though Ma. del Carmen had enjoyed the flight very much. The only bad thing about it was all that stupid airport security, which she though ridiculous. In her opinion, the terrorist weren't stupid enough to try the same thing twice. She loved to fly, even though she was inside a plane. She could still enjoy the scenery from the heights. The only reason she went to climb the mountains when she had lived in Arizona, because her parents said that was great exercise was just because she enjoyed being at the top, and looking down on the houses, stores, or whatever was at the foot of the mountain. Besides, there would be the slight chance that she could get the money together to go to New York City one of these days and see her cousin, Javier, who was in prison there. He was her favorite relative, despite the fact that everyone referred to him as the black sheep of the family. She already had a job here, as a veterinary assistant, as she had studied that career back in Arizona. Now the real challenge was to get into veterinary medical school. She hoped she would be able to get accepted somewhere in Mexico. It would feel so good, to be able to be home again. Despite all her years in the US, it had never felt like home, the way Mexico always did.
"You have any idea where I can find this address?"Javier asked just about everyone in sight.
It had taken him almost forever to get from New York City all the way to Bayville. Why this stupid woman hadn't given the money and ticket to travel by plane and get there in no time, he didn't know, but it annoyed him. The time in the taxi, in New York City traffic, to the bus station, the wait, the long, long ride, to the bus station in Bayville, and now, he couldn't find the address the stupid woman had given him. He hoped to get there soon, but it looked like he wasn't going to get there until maybe after nightfall. Finally, he found it.
"Doesn't look like much."he said to himself, thinking this was probably why she couldn't afford to give him the money for a plane ticket. "The Boarding House of the Bayville Brotherhood."he read, and chuckled. "Well, since when do people give their houses names? Only on TV, or in books, maybe, but in real life? Get real. I knew the lady was retarded when I saw here, but so retarded, I had no idea."
He opened the door and stepped inside.
"I was right. It just doesn't look like much, my God, it isn't much. And to think the lady look so distinguished, and elegant. Well, at least she had good manners, giving the impression that perhaps she was cultivated. Hmm, probably has some other people living here with her. Let me see."
He didn't bother to look for those instructions, but decided to look around the house.
"And which bedroom is mine?"he asked, as he looked into the rooms. "Oh, Jesus,"he said, when he looked in one of them. "She certainly has pigs living here. You'd have thought that at least, there would be some service to help clean up, now, wouldn't you?"
He opened another door, and immediately closed it, coughing, from the disgusting smell that came from the room.
"My God! It's either the lady, or whoever lives here that needs to learn at least a little about hygiene. I know I'm not exactly the person to judge on that particular issue, but, well, not even Edgar would bear to live in such conditions."
The door at the end of the hall wouldn't open. He knocked, he tried lockpicks, he slammed against the door, but it wouldn't budge. Finally, he gave up.
"Well, I'm guessing those instructions will probably have to wait until morning."he looked at the clock. "Too darn late, I'm thinking. Besides, you don't want someone on the job unless they were well rested. One second of micro-sleep could cost you the whole thing. Which is why I'm thinking I should get some sleep."
Suddenly, he heard voices, and a car go into the driveway.
"Uh-oh. She's back early, or I'm late. Or maybe she's changed her mind."he said hopefully.
He stood by the stairs, looking at the front door, as he heard whoever it was, climb out of the car, and come towards the door. It couldn't be her, since there was no female voice heard. Just about four male voices. The front door opened, and four guys came in, wearing the most unusual collection of garments he had ever seen on anyone.
"There's no trick-or-treat here."he said. "I think it's not even the right time of the year for trick-or-treat."
"Who are you?"asked a skinny guy with silver-blond hair.
"I should be asking the same. I'm here, because in exchange for my freedom, I'm supposed to do some job for someone who I'm guessing lives here. She said the place would be deserted when I got here, though."
"Oh. We didn't know you were in prison. She didn't say she was going to get you out."
"Well, she did. Look, do you people know anyone who goes by the name Crow, or no, wait, well, some lady with dark hair, dark eyes, I can't really seem to think of any other features?"
"Yeah, we do. She was our school principal. And she lived here."said the only other normal looking guy. The other two, one seemed to crouch like he was going to leap, and the other, well, he could lose some weight.
"Oh, well. Look, just, can any of you explain exactly what I'm supposed to do? I haven't read it, but it would save a lot of time if you just told me."
"Nothing."
"What?"
"You aren't supposed to do anything anymore. Everything's just been destroyed."
"Now you're confusing me even more."
"Well, it's complicated, but there's no point in talking about it now. Now it's just back to our daily lives, I guess."
"Uh-huh. I'd like to speak to this school principal of yours."
"I don't think that'll be possible."
"And it won't be possible because…?"
"Because she died."
The other three guys looked at him.
"Oh. Well…"began Javier. "Great. This is just absolutely great! Now what I going to do? I was hoping that after I finished the job, I'd be able to go to the Capital. Can anybody here lend me any cash?"
They just shook their heads.
"Aw, great. Well, I guess I'm on a mission to get the money together. So, you guys would be the ones who live here?"
"Yeah."
"You wouldn't mind if I stayed here for a while, would you? See, I have no where to go. I was in prison, and, well, who knows, I may just come in handy here. I'll repay you back for your kindness as soon as I can. Getting the money shouldn't be too hard. It shouldn't take too long."
"Sure."said one of them.
"Thanks. My name is Luis Armando Javier Medina Acosta."
"That's a long name. How are we supposed to remember it? I never knew someone with four names."
"Three. Medina is my surname. Oh, just call me Javier. That's what everyone in the family calls me."
"But you had another one after it."
"Yes, that's my mother's name. Medina's my father's surname, Acosta, my mother's maiden name."
"Oh."they just looked confused.
"Whatever. So, what about you guys? You guys got names?"
"Yes. I'm Pietro. Pietro Maximoff."said the guy with the silver blond hair. "This is Lance Alvers,"he gestured at the other normal guy. "Fred,"the one who could do with losing some weight. "And Todd, but they go by Blob and Toad. You can probably see why."
"Yeah, I can."said Javier, lighting a cigarette. "So,"he began. "Then where am I supposed to sleep, to begin with."
"Oh, well, there's another spare bedroom. No one goes into the one at the end of the hall. That's Mystique's."said Pietro.
"That's who's?"
"You know, the lady. She went by Mystique."
"Well, she didn't hold much mystique for me."
"That was because she was a shape shifter, you know, she could take any form."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, well, you see, she was a mutant."
"Oh? She didn't say a word."
"When she told us about you, we thought you were a mutant, too."said Lance.
"Oh, no, I don't think so."
Pietro ran across the room, and was back next to Javier in about a second.
"Wow! So all of you can move fast? Wow, my cousin would go nuts. She'd love you. She's always complained that people move slower than snails."
"Well, not all of us. Each of us has our own special ability."
Toad swallowed a fly.
"Ugh. Well, so long as this guy doesn't enjoy those meals in front of me, that's fine, okay."
"No problem, sometimes we feel the same way."
"Excellent."
"You know, I imagine that I might just change my mind about going to Mexico! I have a feeling I'm going to like it here. I might just stay, or just bring you guys along with me!"