Chapter 10: Choices
Kimberly sighed as she looked over the bills. She rubbed her forehead and let out a heavy sigh. "How am I going to pay for all of these bills?" She mumbled. Her substitute teaching job was a great job along with doing the Odd Jobs with the Rangers, but sometimes they weren't enough. Especially when she's raising three teenagers and a little girl
"Hey mom," Hunter greeted.
Kimberly looked up at her son with a smile. "Hey, Hunter," she greeted. Hunter sat next to her and looked over the bills.
"How's it going?" He asked.
"Not so good, honey, the substituting and the odd jobs just aren't enough to pay for these bills."
Hunter sighed as he tried to think of what he should do to help his mother. "Anything I could do to help?" He asked. Kimberly smiled as she kissed her son's forehead.
"No, I don't want you guys to worry about this," she assured him.
Hunter sighed as he got up and went upstairs.
Blake was reading a motocross magazine when Hunter came in. "Did you tell her?" He asked. Hunter sighed as he held the letter in his hands.
"No, now's not the time to tell her," Hunter replied.
Blake looked at him slightly confused. Hunter sat on his bed as he looked at his brother. "Blake, mom's in trouble," he informed. Blake sat up and put his magazine on the bed.
"What do you mean she's in trouble?" He asked.
"I mean, mom's having trouble paying the bills. She doesn't want us to worry about it though."
Blake sighed. "So...what do we do?" Blake asked.
"I don't know. Mom's had it rough during the past couple of months with Trini dying and everything," Hunter replied.
"Yeah and these bills piling on top of it won't make her feel any better," Blake agreed.
Hunter nodded and stood up. "Where are you going?" Blake asked.
"I'm going out to the track. I need to figure out what to do to help mom," he replied.
Blake grabbed his jacket. "Wait, I'm coming with you," Blake informed. Hunter nodded before they left the house.
Later that day, Kimberly was working at the office at Odd Jobs trying to think of what else to do. Today was a very, very, very bad day. Nadira once against escaped from them and not only that, they had met the Silver Guardians that Mr. Collins was telling her about. They met one particular Silver Guardian, Eric Myers, one of the rudest men she ever met in her life. To top it off, she hadn't seen her sons all day.
Kimberly rubbed her forehead as she tried to concentrate at the job at hand when the door opened. Kimberly looked up and sighed. A Silver Guardian stood there staring at her.
He had black hair that was slicked back, brown eyes; he was wearing a Silver Guardian uniform, sunglasses, and a baseball cap with SGA written across the front.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Eric Myers himself," she stated. Eric removed his sunglasses and stood in front of her.
"You're Miss Hart right?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm Miss Hart," Kimberly replied.
"Well, I need you to come with me, ma'am. Mr. Collins would like to speak to you."
Kimberly sighed and nodded. "Kim, where are you going?" Lucas asked as he came downstairs.
"I'm going to talk to Mr. Collins, could you watch Kylie for me?" Kimberly answered with another question.
"Yeah, sure," Lucas replied.
Kimberly followed Eric out of the clock tower and went towards Silver Guardians' Headquarters.
Once they arrived, Kimberly knocked on the door to find Mr. Collins at the desk. "Ah! Miss Kimberly Hart, come in come in, would you like anything to drink?" He asked. Kimberly sat down.
"No, I'm fine thank you," she replied.
Mr. Collins nodded as he stood up and shook her hand. "Miss Hart, it is an honor to see you again," he stated. Kimberly shook his hand with a confused look on her face.
"Could you tell me why I'm here?" She asked.
"Of course," he replied.
He sat down at his desk and looked at Kimberly. "Miss Hart..." he started.
"Kimberly," she insisted.
"Kimberly, excuse me, I have spoken to your father, Captain William Mitchell. Everyone knows of your last job working with the Lightspeed Rangers in Mariner Bay. I have asked him of your brief history, a lot of his was confidential, but he gave me enough."
"Enough for what?"
"I am going to ask you to work at the Silver Guardians to help us fight these evil that's there."
Kimberly sighed and remembered the last time they spoke about this. "I could give you a good paycheck to help you take care of your four children," he stated. He wrote down some of the money that he'd give her and Kimberly's eyes widened.
"This could pay off all my bills and be able to take care of my children," she stated.
He nodded with a smile. "I---I'll have to think about it," she informed. Mr. Collins nodded and then Kimberly was about to hand the check back.
"No, keep it," he insisted.
Kimberly sighed as she placed the check in her purse. Then she went back to odd jobs.
Lucas was playing with Kylie when Kimberly came back. "Hey, Kim," he greeted. Kimberly nodded and sat down. "Kylie, how about you go play with your toys for awhile?" He asked. Kylie nodded and went off to play while Lucas went to talk to his girlfriend. "Kim, what's going on?" He asked.
"Lucas, Mr. Collins asked me to join the Silver Guardians again, but this time, he showed me how much he was willing to pay me," she replied.
She showed him the check and Lucas's eyes widened. "This could pay off my bills and I'd be able to take care of my kids," she informed. Lucas nodded in amazement.
"But Kim, what about the team?" He asked.
Kimberly's smile faded. "Oh wow! You know what, I never thought of that," she replied. Lucas sighed as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm still thinking about it," she assured him. Just then, Hunter and Blake came up the stairs. "And where have you two been?" She asked.
"We were at the track," Blake replied.
"Mom, we've been talking and the other day, Blake and I got these letters," he informed.
They handed Kimberly the letter and Kimberly opened it. Her eyes widened as she looked up at her boys. "You two have been accepted into a karate school?" She asked. They nodded.
"Here's the thing, its all the way in Blue Bay Harbor," Hunter replied.
Kimberly sighed as she folded up the letter. She had a lot to think about. She didn't want to lose her sons, but she didn't want them to lose this chance. "Let me think about it and I'll let you guys know," she informed. The boys nodded and they got Kylie and Hannah before heading home. Kimberly sighed as she looked out the window. "So much is happening, why won't it stop?" She asked. She wrapped her arms around herself. "I don't want to lose my boys," she whispered. She got up and walked off.
Kimberly sat at the lake sadly as she looked at the water. "First Trine dies, now Mr. Collins wants me to join his team, and now my boys want to go to this karate school. Why is this happening? Why is this all happening so fast?" She asked. She looked into the water and let out a small sigh.
Hunter and Blake were once again at the racetrack practicing some more. Hannah was there, but Kylie was over at a friend's house. They were enjoying the sunny day, thinking that nothing could go wrong, however, as Hunter went over a jump, he lost control of his bike. "HUNTER!" Hannah and Blake shouted. It was too late, Hunter ran right into a fence. "HUNTER! HUNTER!" Hannah screamed. She jumped over the fence and ran over to her brother. "Blake, call mom," she insisted. Blake nodded and called Kimberly.
Kimberly picked up her ringing cell-phone. "Hello?" She answered.
"Mom, come down to the track. It's Hunter, there's been an accident," Blake informed.
Kimberly didn't need anymore information. She jumped off her bench and ran towards her car. She got in and sped off towards the racetrack.
She arrived at the racetrack and her heart stopped when she saw her son lying on the ground. "HUNTER!" She screamed. She ran over to him. "Did you call an ambulance?" She asked.
"Yeah," Blake replied.
Kimberly removed the helmet with tears in her eyes. "Hunter, talk to me baby," she begged.
To Be Continued...
