A.N. please leave a review, would you kindly.
Before the Storm
Brick had just handed Boomer the $60 and was walking into his bedroom. He was a minimalist, and his room reflected it. His room had plain white walls with no posters or pictures hanging on them. His bed consisted of a full size with a red comforter and the closest thing to a luxury was his silk red pillowcase. He had a dresser parked by the door, and a closet with a few nice pants, dress shirts and his jacket and hoodie. He slipped off his shoes and kicked them by the dresser. He then peeled off his dress shirt putting it in the laundry basket he kept by his closet. With a yawn he went and brushed his teeth, and changed into some pajama bottoms. He fell onto his bed, but before he fell asleep he felt something under his pillow.
He slid his hand under and pulled out a small little box with an orange bow attached. A note was taped to it reading, Congrats on early graduation you rock, S.B.
"A gift from the mayor?" he asked inside his head while he looked at the object with the one eye not deep inside his pillow. He sat up and removed the bow and note, seeing it was an mp3 player and headphones he pulled it out and inspected the piece. It was only about as big as a flash drive, and turning it on it already had some songs put onto it.
He noticed they were mostly rock songs, both contemporary and classic, but it had a little bit of every genre put into it. He looked through the list deleting any songs he didn't care about then set it aside. He laid back in his bed and almost as quickly as his head hit the pillow he passed out. His sleep lasted for about four hours as he heard the sound of someone knocking on the door.
With fatigue apparent in his groan he made his way to the door, placing a black T-shirt on with a red bat on the chest. Looking through the peephole he saw it was Langston.
"Afternoon Doc," Brick said trying to make it seem like he hadn't been just sleeping.
"Ah Brick kinda weird to see you're still in PJs this late in the day." Langston said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, after graduation, and my paper route I just felt like I deserved a lazy day, ya know?" He lied.
"Fair enough, Is Butch home I have something for him." Langston said walking in and looking around the apartment. If he didn't personally know the tenants he would never believe three teenage boys lived here. The boys, being used to being forced to maintain a clean cell, had translated into keeping their apartment in pristine shape. Well at least the parts where guests would be. He imagined Butch and Boomer's room to be at least a little messy, But he saw Brick's room Yesterday when he hid the Mayors gift under his bed.
"I'll see, I haven't seen him all morning." Brick said walking to the door. Langston could hear Brick pounding and calling out Butches name at his door. After a few minutes He could hear the door open. Him and Brick exchanged some words, then Brick came out. "He'll be out in a minute."
"Well let's talk Mr. Graduate." Langston said motioning to the living room. The two took seats across from each other. "So what are you going to do now?"
"You mean without school?" Langston gave a nod to his question, "Well the plan is too wait until my brothers get outta school and go from there."
"Well, what do you boys want to be when that happens?" Brick seemed to be confused about the question. He was thinking mercenary, but couldn't tell Langston that. But the question did spark a question inside the youth.
"I don't know. I guess I got 2 years until then." The boys had a birthday mid April, and were all now 16, it would only be a few more years being trapped here. The doctor was wanting to probe further, he wanted to be sure his boys would be okay after he no longer had a legal obligation to see them, not that he had much of one right now, but Butch came out, and both Langston and Butch soon walked out of the apartment bidding Brick farewell.
The conversation left a bad taste in Brick's mouth. He never felt so unsure about anything, and it was maddening feeling worthless. He had dedicated so much to one upping Blossom, and she seemed nearly unfazed by it. With a grimaced look on his face he went back to his room and changed into his street clothes. He was up for the day and he knew sleep wouldn't come now even if he wanted it.
He grabbed his new MP3 player and further inspected it. It was designed much like a flash drive having one side to plug into a computer to both charge and transfer data to and from. His visits to the library had given him the chance to borrow some CD's so he added a few songs from his music library, and was surfing the web for a while before Butch burst through the door. Brick was not in the mood to fix anything he broke so he looked at his brother with a cautious glare.
"Hey Bro? What's got you so pissed?" Malcontent for his brother's mood was overflowing from Brick's tone of voice.
"That stupid Puff-" He said, but was was interrupted.
"Which one?"
"Buttercup, She tricked me into racing her at the ocean."
"And that's got you mad? A race?" Brick didn't want to believe something so stupidly petty sparked so much rage.
"The fact I was tricked, and now if I don't show I will be labeled a coward."
Brick looked at his brother, he knew there was more to it than that, and he wasn't having his brother beat around the bush near him. "OK real talk; what's really got you so mad?"
"She called me a prison rat." He mumbled.
"That's all? Sheesh Butch I thought Boomer was the emotional one." Brick smirked. "Look just don't do anything to actually fight her, just win the stupid race then fly away." The fact the solution was so simple angered Brick, but he knew he was the best thinker of his brothers, even when sleep deprived. Hell at this point he thrived on it.
Butch let out a sigh, "You're right, I mean it's just a swim I can do that in my sleep. Hell most people do that before they die, so it can't be that hard." He walked off to his room, and left Brick looking at some news reports, hoping for a crime to attend to.
"Before you go what did the doc want?" He asked when Butch returned to the room with a change of clothes.
"He gave me another car to work on." Brick didn't know why he would do that, and Butch must have seen the look of doubt o Brick's face. "It was payment for helping him out last week." He said stopping his exit.
"That's nice of him," Brick squinted at his brother, "You're not taking advantage of the good Doc are ya?" He knew the Doc wouldn't just randomly do something like so he must have earned it.
"You know me better than that dude." He squinted back with a hateful glare. "Besides I flew him home after he left." he said like it was payment for the car. Then his gaze changed to a more concerned one, "Did you know he lives in a shitty part of town?"
"Never occurred to ask him about his living situation, so no I did not." Brick said with a brow raised. He was surprised to hear something like that. When he thought Doctors he thought of a lot of money and big houses. Langston seemed to have plenty of money so what kept him stuck to some shitty part of town?
"Yeah, it was kinda weird to see, anyways I better get going, or I'll be late." Butch called out breaking Brick's questioning thoughts.
"Okay have fun with Buttercup!" Brick yelled out as his brother left the apartment. Brick could only imagine the angry look on his face. Soon he looked out the window and saw a green streak leap into the sky and head to the beach.
He normally found the silence freeing, but left him alone with his thoughts. Why was Langston living in some shitty part of town? Hell what is even Langston's first name? Why was there so little known about this man that had done so much for him and his brothers? The thoughts started to play on repeat in his head, until the door yet again opened. The first thing to break Bricks concentration was the foul stench radiating from Boomer.
He grabbed his nose and fell dramatically out of his chair. "For the love of all that is unholy what did you sit in?" Brick yelled playing up the stench coming from Boomer.
"A kangaroo pouch." Boomer laughed. "Yeah I know I reek, but it was worth it." Brick just looked at his brother with a shocked face and eye twitching. Before he could order his brother to shower Boomer spoke, "I'm on my was to the mall I just had to come home and shower and change."
"Burn the clothes while your at it!" Brick called out with a laugh. The image of Boomer popping his head out of a kangaroo was amusing, but the stench was rank. After about 25 minutes Boomer stepped out into the living room. HE opened the window leading to the fire escape and Blasted the clothes with his heat vision disintegrating the fabric instantly.
"Happy now?" Boomer called out with a smile on his face.
"Dude, I shouldn't know what that smell is like, why did you do that?"
"To make Bubbles laugh." Boomer said as-a-matter-of-factually. Brick's eyes widened.
"You're hanging out with a Puff?" Hearing those words actually made Boomer think about that. For the first time since he was invited to the mall with Bubbles, he thought of her as a Puff.
"Yeah I am. What's the harm, she isn't so bad. Me and her both love animals. Maybe we could be friends." Boomer said.
Brick had no way to counter it. He wanted his brothers to make some friends, but both of his brothers getting chummy with the girls he was working on taking out, made his stomach churn. Sure, Butch was racing Buttercup in some competition he was tricked into, but who knows if he was going to befriend her too. He was about to let out another protest to try and convince Boomer no, but the image of the blood soaked bandages and machines thrashed about in his mind. "You're not gonna betray us are ya Boomer?"
"Oh please you two are my brothers, I ain't gonna abandon you for a skirt. We all made that pact remember?" It was true. When they got out of prison they did notice how much they caught themselves checking out women in the streets. Brick was the one who decided that no matter what their brotherhood comes before anything even girlfriends.
"Well," Brick paused, "Have fun I guess." And with that Boomer smiled and flew out the window. Brick kept it open hoping to hear police sirens or some cry for help after his brother left. As silence filled the room again, Brick's thoughts returned. Somehow he found more evidence of his stagnant life choices. His brothers seemed to be giving up hating the girls. Boomer for sure, but something told Brick if he didn't have some respect for her, Butch wouldn't be caught dead being seen with Buttercup. Brick, however, Had held on to this blood feud since incarceration. It made him question more things about himself. He was winning, he was making those girls irrelevant, he beat them down in a fight, he was winning, so why did he feel so much contempt for his redheaded counterpart. Was this the girls' retaliation? He figured not, seeing as they hadn't confronted him about anything yet. It had to be a weird coincidence. They are counterparts after all, they were bound to have stuff in common.
"Okay Brick let's look at this in third person." He said aloud to the silent emptiness. He often spoke to himself and argued with himself to try and see more than one perspective. It was self counseling in his mind. "Why do we hate those girls?"
"Cause we do. What more do we need than that. She called us dumb, beat us, and gotten us locked up."
"Sound reasoning so why are our brothers hanging out with them." But instead of an answer that he found satisfying he was met with a blank mind. It bothered him he couldn't answer the question, much less even if an answer came about it would shine weakness upon Brick himself. With a vexed expression he floated out of the apartment himself. He was just enjoying the city breeze cooling himself and his thoughts when he heard police sirens. Looking for the source he saw a cop cars chasing a swerving car.
He sped up to catch up to the cars, he motioned to the cars with a questioning look. The police officer just signed, 5-0-2 and 5-0-3. Brick knew those meant both a drunk driver and stolen car, so he flew ahead to take care of it before anyone on the sidewalks got hurt. Thankful for the distraction. It didn't take him long to catch up to the car and yank it up into the air. He threw it into the air, and caught it so he could yank the driver out. He floated down gently placing the car down and dropping the suspect.
The cops thanked him and began reading the man his rights. The man cried saying he was only trying to see his daughter, but Brick found only more venom in himself for the man. He should have thought about that before getting wasted and stealing a car. Flying off without pity he soon landed back in his apartment. As he landed inside he felt himself feeling hypocritical, he had a past and made more mistakes than that guy, who was Brick to pass that kind of judgment. He angrily shook the thoughts away and he grabbed his MP3 player and used the music to drown out the thoughts plaguing his mind. He relaxed in his room listening to his new device for the remainder of the night. Barely coming out to grab a bite to eat, even when his brothers returned. He really didn't want to hear about their adventures with puffs, he just wanted to drown out the voices and fill this weird empty feeling that was growing inside him.
Across town within the familiar suburban home Blossom sat within her room focused on her computer. She had narrowed it down to two main vacation plans, visiting Chicago, they had plenty of museums both science and art for her and Bubbles respectfully. Plus a theater with the blues mobile would be something Buttercup would want to see.
A camping trip in the western mountains, all three could enjoy hiking u the mountains and seeing the beautiful valleys. That one was the simplest and cheapest option.
She did keep in mind other cities and locations, but these seemed like the best two starting points. She just needed her sisters input. As she checked out different vacation ideas she also had a website open that would broadcast live police radio signals, and soon she heard a voice break the long silence she was in.
"This is car A1-14 we are in pursuit of a possible code 5-0-2 and confirmed 5-0-3. I repeat we are in pursuit of a stolen vehicle driven by a man suspected to be under the influence. Was caught running a red light nearly causing a collision. Plates scan confirms the car to be stolen." Blossom heard, she was throwing on her shoes when then voice broke through again. "Update: The red Rowdyruff has joined us on the scene as is currently neutralizing the vehicle." Blossom wondered how much damage the boy was going to do to the man as she listened hoping they would say he was getting out of hand. "The suspect and car are neutralized, the man is outside the vehicle and car was gently parked on the street, moving in to arrest." After the audio cut out she stood there with one shoe on, and simply kicked it off with a pout.
Returning to her computer, she suddenly felt very bored planning a trip, and couldn't plan much without asking her sisters which one they should attend. She turned off her computer, and floated back to her books. It was another 45 minutes before she heard the front door opening up, and close. Leaving her room she saw Buttercup walking up the stairs. She was actually smiling a bit, a welcomed alternative to the indifferent scowl she often had.
"What's got you so happy today?" Blossom took note of her gym bag, as well as her shorts covering the bottom half of her swim suit. It was obvious she just came from a swim, but there was pride behind her smile Blossom noticed.
"I beat Butch." She said her smile never fading.
"You assaulted a Ruff again?" Blossom was scared, she didn't need big brother Brick hunting them down.
"Not like that," Buttercup said dropping her smile for an annoyed frown. "I raced him in swimming."
"Oh, how did you do that?"
"Ran into him at the strip mall when I was looking at the sports store. He claimed to be searching for some auto parts. I guess he has a car or something." She said. Blossom looked at her to continue her story. "Anyways I approached him, we exchanged insults, and I challenged him to a swim race after he called me lazy, And I kicked his butt."
"Well, I guess as long as it doesn't lead to anything bad, that's good. I'm proud of you." Blossom said. She found it hard to believe it her and Butch were cordial in any sense, but why would she lie about it.
"Yeah, though I did lose 20 bucks on hot-dogs afterwards." Buttercup said, with a slight smile. Before she could explain more she decided to change. "Anyways I need to change, so I guess talk to you later." She said in a hurry before closing the door. She wanted to leave out the talk she had with Butch. She just didn't want her sisters thinking she couldn't go to them about those things, but she just didn't want to let her sisters see what the others kids said and thought got to her. Butch probably could use it as ammo against her but she trusted him not to. Something about the way he smiled at her told her he understood.
Blossom stood at her sisters door for a bit. It was surreal that her sister seemed to enjoy the company of a Ruff, but who was she to talk, she kissed one on the cheek only yesterday. She walked down the stairs and went into the professors lab. He was busy tinkering away at some device, it looked like a watch, but he was firing a small, but powerful, laser at some sheet metal cutting a square out.
"Hey Professor." She said with a cheery smile. "Practicing to be James Bond?"
"Hey sweetie, and maybe a little." He said with a chuckle. "So what do you need?"
"Oh nothing, I was just coming to let you know, I think we should either take a trip to Chicago, for the museums and culture, Or take a trip to the mountains to do some hiking. Which one would you prefer?"
"I don't mind any one is fine, though if your sisters vote Chicago, we will have to visit the planetarium." He said his attention returning to his watch.
"Okay, well I'll let you get back to work then." She said with a smile and floated up the stairs. She floated back upstairs and could hear the shower going, figuring Buttercup was in it she returned to her room. She picked up The Other End of Time by Frederik Pohl, and tried to concentrate, but found her thoughts to be invading and distracting. After a few hours struggling just to get past the chapter, she looked out the window. She almost missed the Baby blue light streak racing across the sky. "Here comes Bubbles." She grinned and waited for her blonde sister to arrive.
Bubbles shot through the door, skipping as she moved across the living room. "Hey Bubbles." Blossom greeted. She saw Buttercup parked on the couch her towel still draped on her head. Her attention glued to the show on TV.
"Hey Blossom, how was your day?" She said skipping past the stairs to get a drink of water.
"Okay, hey the professor trusted me to plan our vacation soon, so which would you prefer a trip to another city or mountain camping trip?" She called out.
"What city?" She called out from the kitchen.
"Chicago, the mountains would be on the western half of the country."
"My vote is the mountains," Buttercup said from the couch, half paying attention.
"I'm with Buttercup, you've seen one city you've seen 'em all, I think the mountains and nature would be better." Bubbles said walking into the living room, "But in other news guess who I ran into today."
In Blossoms mind she was already trying to figure out which mountain and state to camp out in, but she didn't ignore Bubbles. "Who?"
"Actually I ran into one of the boys at the Zoo. Boomer specifically." She said with a slight giggle, "Turns out he likes animals too. Albeit the gross crawly kind." Her opinion on the spiders and insects did change a bit, but she still wouldn't want one outside a glass tank anywhere near her.
"You too? How did you both end up spending time with a Ruff today?" Blossom asked bewildered.
"Well first I thought he was up to something, so I followed him. He didn't take long to catch on to my tailing, but after we talked for a bit I got to learn a few things about him. Like he can talk to animals too!" She informed full of excitement. "Anyways after a few hours at the Zoo he had to go shower after doing something kinda dumb," She started but was interrupted by her green sister.
"There's a surprise." Buttercup laughed with heavy sarcasm.
"Anyways," Bubbles said rolling her eyes, "after we parted ways at first I came home dropped off my art stuff, and we spent some more time at the mall. We mostly just windowed shopped but he did by me some teriyaki chicken at the food court." She laughed.
Blossom just stood there listening, Both of her sisters were having a wonderful day with what only a short time ago was their mortal enemies, while she sulked in her room. Her sister noticed her melancholic look, "You okay Blossom?" Bubbles asked.
She decided to lie and cover it up, "Sorry, I was just wondering which camping site would be the best. I'm happy to hear you had a good day." She gave a smile hoping it wasn't too forced. "I should be checking on it, I'm thinking Oregon, I hear they have some good beaches and forests. What do you all think?"
"Sounds great!" exclaimed both sisters, and Blossom headed upstairs.
Once upstairs she closed the door. She walked over to her computer and proceeded to figure out the details. She was filled with a few emotions. Anger, at herself that she was letting someone else seemingly control her life. She felt resentment to Brick to be able to do what he was doing. Whether or not he knew what he was doing to her ate her up inside. Sadness that she felt she was being left behind, happiness that her sisters were making friends with them, but it was melancholic. She shook her head and just focused on the task at hand and avoiding and more distractions from the Ruffs.