Chapter 11- Aftermath
They hadn't moved in over a month, and she was starting to let herself feel at home. Sure they lived in a run-down house that was little more then a glorified shack, but hell, it wasn't the car. She had a room. With a bed. Okay, so it was a futon with one leg that was evened out with an old copy of Moby Dick, but it wasn't the backseat. She even had a dresser to put her clothes in. True, she didn't have a lot of clothes to put in it, but if they stayed a while, maybe Mom would take her shopping. Shopping. Not shoplifting. Receipts meant permanence in her head, something solid that she could hold onto and recall her place and time. Those two things were so often lost to her as she currently lived without a clear construct of either.
"Sam! Samantha!" Her father called into the crappy hole of a kitchen where the seven year old was sitting on a stool with a foolish grin on her face. She turned to him and said in the most innocent, and pure voice, "Yes, daddy?"
"Bed time, Sugar." Sawyer couldn't decide whether she was up to mischief or being sincere, and was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. She hopped down from the stool and lifted her arms to him to be picked up. When he swept her off her feet she swung her arms around his neck and squeezed with all her might. He returned the hug without knowing why he received it and she promptly untangled herself from the embrace and flounced off to bed.
Kate came in to watch Sam's joyful exit and followed the girl's light steps with wary eyes.
"What's she so excited about?"
"Beats me." Sawyer shrugged and looped a finger in Kate's jeans, pulling her closer, "How bout I get you excited?"
Kate pushed off of his chest with a firm shake of her head, "We'd probably cause the roof to collapse if we rocked the bed too hard…not exactly an opportune event."
"Might be fun." Sawyer began trailing kisses down her neck, "Be one," Kiss. "Hell." Kiss. "Of." Kiss. "A notch in the belt."
She pulled away, "Only you'd be turned on by demolition."
"You'd be turned on by it too, if you let me have the chance to show you how good it can be…"
"Sawyer, please don't try and seduce me in this shit hole. I hate living here, I don't think the potential impregnation that results from running out of the pill is really high on my list of fun activities right now."
"Ain't a shit hole." Sawyer kind of liked the run-down homely look of the place. Wasn't the Ritz, but hell…he liked having some roots.
"Then what is?" Kate, on the other hand, could live without roots. Especially broke-down ones.
"Kid likes it." Sawyer shrugged.
"Goddamn, Bride of Chucky! Can't you take a joke?"
Sam's eyes sprang open, ready for action, ready for the hit, but only found her father nursing a slapped cheek and her mother holding in a great wave of laughter. Cocking her head like a confused owl Sam tried to see what was going on, but didn't have time to analyze it before a large mango was dropped onto her stomach.
"Good morning, sunshine." Aaron sang as he squatted down next to her and she smiled, humming the song as she took out a pocket knife and started carving the fruit.'
"Why don't you sing it?"
"No thanks." Sam blushed as she offered a piece to Aaron. He took it and continued pestering her, "You should sing it."
"If anyone should sing it is one of the two people who have platinum records."
Aaron smirked, "But I'm not a pretty girl with a pretty voice…there's the difference."
"Since I'm a girl I have to sing? I didn't think I'd have to have my 'sexism deserves to be met with the same tolerance as nipple tweaking' talk with you."
He laughed so hard he choked on his mango, forcing Sam to pat him on the back until he settled down. When the coughing subsided he reclined, laying his head in her lap and looking up at her.
"Comfortable, Ringo?"
"Immensely." He took another piece of mango from her, "Can you please sing? … I'll sing with you."
Sam wore a smug face, "You want it that bad?"
"I want it pretty bad."
She pretended to contemplate it, "When we sing, things are going to get out of hand very quickly."
Aaron sat up and adjusted himself so that he was leaning over her legs, inches from her face, "That's fine with me."
Sam leaned closer and Aaron stared at her lips, failing to see the mischievous twinkle in her eye, as she said, "I don't sing for a crowd."
He leaned in as if to kiss her, "Than let's disappear…"
Suddenly he was pulled up by the scruff of his neck, "What in the hell do you think you're doing, Axl?"
Sawyer had recovered from whatever injury he had sustained from Claire and was dragging Aaron bodily away from Sam. She gave Aaron a faux sad wave goodbye and stood up, walking over to the water pool for a drink.
"I see you don't waste time." Marita slinked over to the water and eyed Sam.
"Early girl gets the worm." Sam winked at her.
Rolling her eyes Marita said, "Talvez un cuero desde ahora." (1)
"Juega bien con los demas, Marita, o salte del juego." (2)A voice came up behind her and Christian stepped into the light, some leaves in his hair from the night.
"A ti no te interesa, Christian, no te metas." (3)
"Tu si me importas, hermanita, no quiero verte con otro ojo moretiado."(4)
"Podría hacerle daño a tu noviecita si quisiera." (5) Marita puffed up in defense and stalked away, her face red with anger and embarrassment.
Sam looked confused, as though she was trying to decipher the barking of dogs.
"Sorry about that," Christian turned to her, "Must be annoying being the third wheel to a conversation you can't understand."
"Little bit…she doesn't like me, does she?" Sam nodded after Marita.
"Not really…but she doesn't like girls. Apparently they're all bitches."
"That's true enough."
Christian laughed and stepped closer, putting up a finger to gently trace the new scabs on Sam's cheek. A shiver passed over her as he did and she backed away from his hand.
"It's healing up pretty good." He nodded at it, mentally crossing something of a list.
"I thought your old man was the doctor…you in training or something?"
"In a way…it's a bit genetic. Shepard men tend to be doctors."
"Why?" Sam studied his face as he spoke, a mixture of joy and terror.
"We love to be the heroes."
"Are you a hero, daddy?" Sam asked looking at her father with big eyes as her mother finished the story about how he nearly died on the raft that was trying to save those stranded on the island.
A dark look came over his face, "Honey, your daddy ain't a hero."
"Sawyer," Kate chastised, "Don't tell her that."
He ignored her and put two hands on Sam's shoulders, "Baby, don't trust heroes."
"Why?"
"'Cause there ain't a hero alive that ain't as human as you or me."
Sam's eyes studied Christian, "I don't trust heroes."
He couldn't tell whether to smile or frown, "Why not?"
She looked past him, "They're all fake."
From a distance Aaron was breaking a stick into a thousand pieces, trying to decide whether he was angry or excited. Charlie walked over to him and followed his eyes, "She's cute."
Aaron started and looked at the man who had always been his father, "Pardon?"
"Looks like her mum. I might be married, but I'm not blind…she's a good looking girl."
"Who Sam?" Aaron tried to play off his racing heart at being cornered by his father. It wasn't often Charlie butted into Aaron's love affairs.
"You're a piss poor liar, Aaron…which makes my job a bit easier."
"She's a pretty girl…is there that much more to it?" Aaron nibbled on the stick he'd been breaking.
"How about you come back to talk to me when you know the answer to that one, eh mate?" Charlie patted Aaron on the back and walked back to Seth and Ewan, both somberly throwing sand in a pile after their mother tried to get them to build a sandcastle.
Meanwhile Marita had huffed away from her brother and right into her mother. She nearly bashed skulls with Ana Lucia who, although being in a hurry to go somewhere, saw the anger and dejection in her daughter's eyes and stopped for a moment to brush a stray hair away from her face and asked her what was wrong.
"Nothing." She wouldn't meet her mother's eyes.
Instead of inquiring further, Ana asked, "You busy?"
"Yeah I have a pedicure in twenty minutes." Marita rolled her eyes.
Ana smiled, "Come with me."
Ana led her to a clearing where a pile of guns sat with some cleaning rags and ammunition. They sat there for twenty minutes cleaning guns, something both found oddly calming. Soon Marita began to talk to her mother.
"Cómo es que siempre soy la maldita dama y nunca la novia." (6)
Stroking the long barrel thoughtfully Ana did not speak, merely looked at Marita. The girl was scrubbing the gun harshly and snapping the various parts of it into place sharply, muttering indiscernible things. When the gun was spotless and all the rust was worked away Ana took the gun, loaded a chiseled rock into it and fired it into a trunk, testing to make sure all mechanisms were fully functioning. Then she placed the gun in a pile and handed Marita another. When the pile of ten guns were all immaculate Marita stood and let out a breath, significantly calmer.
"Thank you." Marita sighed, wrapping an arm around her mother's waist, "That helped…a lot."
"Your welcome, baby." Ana kissed her daughter's head and slung an arm around her shoulders. Ana had cleaned a lot of guns in her time…and worked off a lot of anger.
Sometimes…sometimes you just had to get your hands dirty and work off the aftermath.
TBC
Spanish Translations- Thank you to Christina for doing these for me!
"Early slut, maybe."
"Play nice, Marita, or leave the playground."
"This isn't your business, Christian, butt out."
"You're my business, little sister. I don't want to see you get another black eye."
"I could damage your little girlfriend if I wanted to!"
"How is it that I'm always the goddamned bridesmaid and never the bride!"
BIG Thanks to Christina for those translations, can't thank her enough!
BIG Thanks to Butterfly for continually poking me….without her you would all have significantly fewer chapters!
BIG thanks to the Oscars for giving me a cover for saying cowboys are sexy to the cowboy I'm trying to snag for my own
BIG thanks to Macy's for having a GORGEOUS Prom Dress in my size and …
BIG THANKS!
LoL
Please review!