Chapter 36- Like Old Times
Rehtaf studied himself in the mirror. His new beard and died hair disguised him perfectly. He nearly couldn't recognize himself.
His hair was now a black and grey salt and pepper look trimmed neatly and parted to the side with the help of a little gel. He had a small, clean looking beard and put grey flecks in that too, giving him the look of a college professor. The final touch was a pair of dark rimmed glasses.
The suit he had gotten from Raul fit well once he'd altered the pants a bit. He was a bit disappointed that the shoes didn't fit, but with the money that he'd gotten from the two newlyweds, combined with the money from the fortune teller, he had more than enough to buy new shoes.
He had decided to be nice and give Tasha (and he supposed Raul too) some food to last them until he got back. They'd begged him to let them go and promised that they wouldn't say anything, but he refused to take that chance-- not when he was so close.
With his excitement rising every second, he grabbed a few things that he thought he might need, and headed out to the car. He calculated, from the time that the drive took him last time, that if he left now, he would get to West City Thursday around noon. He thought it odd that every time he decided to kill Vegeta, it ended up on a Thursday-- exceptfor the whole Locke thing anyway. Perhaps, for a change of pace, he would wait a day. It couldn't hurt.
"Enjoy you last days boy. I'm comin'"
Vegeta looked at the clock beside his bed, and finally decided to give up trying to sleep. He didn't have any reason to get up early, so it didn't really matter if he got to sleep or not. He didn't hear any noise down the hall, so he assumed that the woman wasn't awake. He was thankful for that--she was surely aggravating.
The week had drug on for him. There was only so much idle sitting that he could take. He was getting lazy and out of shape. He had been wanting to go somewhere, just to get out, but every time, Mr. or Mrs. Briefs would find some reason to keep him in the house. He couldn't wait until he could move back into his own apartment, and could go out whenever he wanted. Sure, he was living in the lap of luxury here, but it wasn't the life he was used to.
As quietly as he could, he slipped out of bed and pulled on a pair of pants and a T-shirt. After thinking it over for a second, he decided to wear his jacket too--the temperature had been dropping a lot lately. He grabbed his boots, although he didn't put them on, and tiptoed out of his room.
He went silently down the hall, trying not to wake Bulma up. Her parents were at the other end of the building, so he didn't have to worry about them. He knew they would be upset if they knew he was sneaking out in the middle of the night, but there wasn't much they could do to him if they found out.
He reached the front door and finally slipped his shoes on. He stared at the keypad on the side of the door trying to remember the code he'd seen Mrs. Briefs put in the other day. Praying, he typed in five numbers and opened the door. When he didn't hear the alarm go off, he let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Quickly, he closed the door, reactivated the alarm, and walked down the sidewalk.
The weather was decidedly cold, he noticed, and in response zipped up his jacket. The sky was still overcast, and although it wasn't raining, it looked like it would soon. It was odd how on one side of West City there was a bay and on the other, there was a desert. He knew it had something to do with the mountains to the east of the city, but he didn't really know or care what.
He didn't know where he was going, but he just wanted to get out of the house. Looking around, he noticed that he was heading downtown. Maybe he could stop by his apartment, or even Gee's. If he felt like walking that far, that was. It was completely across town. It would probably take him an hour, or maybe even two since it still hurt a little for him to walk.
He was already getting tired, and with disgust, looked behind him to see that he wasn't that far from Capsule Corp. He was definitely out of shape. After walking nine blocks, he realized that he was near his school. He didn't know whether to be excited or not that he was going to start school again the next Monday. He supposed that he dreaded it, because everyone would probably ask him things and want to talk to him. He shuddered at the thought. But if it got him playing football again, he supposed he could deal with it. Giving the front of the school one more glance, he walked around to the back where the football field was. It was fenced off, so he couldn't go in. He stood looking through the chain link fence for a few minutes, feeling much like a washed up old man as he recalled his glory days. Then, with a sigh, he walked on.
He decided to head to Gee's. It would be nice to see the old man again. Chuckie had visited a couple times, but she had been too busy to stay very long. As he walked, the buildings were becoming less fancy, signaling that he was nearing his destination.
Nearly an hour and a half later, he could see his apartment building. Gee's was three blocks away. He was glad that he'd decided to walk in the middle of the night, even though it was cold and dark. There wasn't much traffic. Glancing at the street, and seeing no cars nearby, he walked across. He continued to head toward Gee's letting his feet take him on his well trodden path.
Without really realizing it, he found himself at the entrance of the alleyway where he was shot. He stopped walking and stood frozen, remembering that horrible night. A car driving by splashed him, pulling him from his haunted reverie. Looking back at the street to make sure that no one was there, he set off with determination into the alleyway.
The walk seemed to take forever, and was much darker than he ever remembered it being. He wanted to collapse in joy when he finally reached the back door to Gee's. Finding it locked, he started knocking. He heard a voice inside that sounded like Gee, and then the door swung open, a sawed off shotgun aimed right between his eyes.
Vegeta froze, his breath caught in his throat. He clenched his eyes shut, images of the last time he had seen a gun pointed to him flying through his mind.
A strong hand on his shoulder brought him back to the present.
"Hey little buddy. Hope I didn't scare you." Thomas said propping the gun over his shoulder and motioning him inside. "It's just that you're the only person who ever uses the back door besides us, and we all figured you wouldn't be here at 3 o'clock in the morning."
Trying to get his breathing back to normal, Vegeta followed him inside.
"Who is it!" He heard Gee yell from out front.
"A stray!" Thomas yelled back, with a smirk at Vegeta. "You wanna keep it!" He had noticed the way Vegeta had gone pale at the sight of the gun, and how his eyes looked haunted and troubled. Thomas wasn't one to be comforting, but he still tried to lighten the mood, maybe get a smile out of his traumatized friend. He placed the gun on the rack.
"No!" Gee called, not for a second questioning how an animal could knock on the door. "Toss it out!"
"Wait!" Chuckie said hurrying into the back. "I'll get it something to ea...Vegeta!" She ran to him throwing her arms around him. "What on earth are you doing here at this time of night? And why are you all wet?"
"Vegeta!" Gee exclaimed, coming in after hearing all the ruckus. "I hope Thomas didn't scare you with the gun." Thomas stole a glance at Vegeta. "We really didn't think it would be you."
Vegeta shrugged and Thomas draped an arm around his shoulder in a brotherly way.
Neither Chuckie nor Gee missed the significance of the action and how shaken Vegeta seemed.
"Let's go out front." Chuckie suggested.
There were a few men scattered about the bar, all regulars who Vegeta had known for years. When they saw him walk in, all conversation stopped. They all greeted him, each in their own way-- whether with a wave, handshake, or a pat on the back. They were all welcoming, if a bit tipsy, and none said anything about where he'd been. They all knew. They knew he wouldn't like the attention, and they figured that he wouldn't want to think about it.
There was a long silence, which quickly turned awkward, as no one went back to their conversations.
Vegeta was just starting to grow uncomfortable, when Gee spoke up.
"Did I ever tell anyone about the time I went camping with Don and Irvin?"
Everyone groaned, but Gee pretended not to notice. "I believe we were all around 15…no, no wait…we were 14."
Vegeta rolled his eyes, but he wasn't annoyed in the least. He had heard this story at least a thousand times, as had everyone else in the room, and any other time he would have hated to sit there and listen to it. Now, however he was content to just sit and listen.
Gee began to ramble on about how none of them had ever been camping without their parents, and about all their misadventures on their trip.
A small smile was on Vegeta's face as he looked at all the familiar faces. He'd never realized how close these people came to being like family, and he almost felt guilty for not realizing it before. Everyone was laughing as they imagined Gee setting his shoes on fire or falling into the lake, and Vegeta laughed as well.
Time flew by, and as soon as Gee finished his story, one of the patrons started with his own.
Everyone laughed again.
"Albert!" Tasha called. "Albert come open the door. PLEASE!"
Raul rolled his eyes. "Tasha." He snapped. "The little ghost….he doesn't exist."
"Well it was worth a try." She said. "Are you hungry?"
"No." Raul sighed.
"Don't worry." Tasha said scooting over to sit by him. "I'm sure someone will find us."
The story telling had gone on for hours, although no one had noticed. The bar didn't have a clock, by strategy, so that the customers would lose track of the time. Vegeta had been totally shocked when Chucky told him it was already 7 am. Fortunately she'd offered him a ride back to Capsule Corp.
Vegeta quietly slipped through the front door, and tried to stealthily get to his room. He hadn't gotten two steps, however, when Bulma rounded the corner. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, before Bulma spoke. "Where have you been?"
"I just took a walk." Vegeta said, his voice turning more haughty with each word. "not that it's anybody's business."
Bulma pretended not to notice the tone. "Well I don't think anyone's noticed that you were gone yet, so you'd better get to your room…and change."
"You won't say anything?" Vegeta said, eyeing her warily.
She gave him a sweet smile. "Not if you promise me something."
"What?" He should have guessed there'd be a catch.
"Come to the game with me Friday?"
"I was going to go anyway."
"I know. But now you'll be with me."
"Uhh…" Vegeta said stupidly. He thought he was getting off kind of easy.
"Oh." Bulma said as if just thinking of it. "And you have to do everything I say the entire night."
He should have known. He stared at her for a few seconds, contemplating the offer. Dr. Briefs would be pretty pissed if he found out about Vegeta sneaking out, and he doubted that Bulma could think of anything too embarrassing for him to do. "Fine." He finally said, rolling his eyes.
Bulma graced him with a brilliant smile. "Great! We're going to have so much fun!" Se gave him a quick peck on the cheek and ran past him out the door, on her way to school.
Vegeta stared after her, redfaced. He knew that thewhole dating thingwas just a game, but he kind of enjoyed it...a little more than he knewhe should have.And he was starting to think that she did too. Maybe...maybe it didn't have to end when ChiChi and Goku went on their trip.
Or maybe he was letting it all get out of hand.
With conflicting emotions, Vegeta turned and crept silently toward his room.