Chapter 5
Prepare the feast
Man,I tore up real hard in that meeting Chloe thought as she stretched her sore,cramped limbs. He looked at her arm and saw the long scar. That'll teach me not to fight off more than I can take. She chuckled to herself. Who am I kidding? Of course it won't. She got up and headed to her window.
For an October day it sure was nice. Plenty of sunshine,nice breeze and the annoying typical honks and shouts of people in the streets. She smiled to herself before leaving her room and going downstairs. "It's almost ThanksGiving!"Warren's voice shouted. "Warren calm down! It's just a day where you sit around a table and eat."Victoria said. "He's probably just excited to eat the food."Rachel joked. "I'm not just excited for the eating part!"Warren protested. "Sure."Kate said. "As long as we don't get that poor excuse of a casserole that Victoria made this year,i'm good."Chloe said. Everyone chuckled while Victoria glared at Chloe. "That 'poor excuse of a casserole' is healthy and high in iron and calcium."Victoria stated. "Yeah and it's also high in getting me to become sick."Chloe replied,making everyone chuckle once more.
A knock on the door caused them to stop laughing. "Who is it?"Nathan asked. "Me."a man voice answered. "Me who?"Nathan asked slightly annoyed as he went to the door. Rachel and Max covered their mouths to hide their giggles. "Mark Jefferson and spy of the TimeWarrior gang that's who."Mark said. Nathan smiled as he opened a door revealing a handsome man.
Mark was a tall man,pale,had short brown hair in that sort of 'bad boy' style,glasses and brown eyes. He was one of Nathan's spy friends meaning Nathan would tell him to do something only he could do then Mark would report back to him and whatever else. He was also a photographer at some old school but something happened and he ended up working for Nathan.
"You guys cooking for ThanksGiving?"Mark asked. "You bet!"Warren said. "Well,I already got all the stuff to cook at my place,one of my places to be exact. So you all can come over and celebrate."Mark said. "Sure thing Mark,"Nathan said. He looked at the others. "You guys good with this?" "Hell yeah!"they all exclaimed. "Well then let's get going."Nathan said. They walked out of the building and Mark lead the way to his place. They had to go through multiple alleys before Mark finally told them that they were almost there. "You better shut your mouth right now!"an angry male voice yelled.
Everyone froze.
"Behind here!"Mark said,pointing at a long,tall trash can. They all dove behind it. Chloe peeked her head slightly over the top and saw what was happening. Three kids were huddling near a wall while another dark-skinned boy was standing in front them facing two grown men. "Or what?"the dark-skinned boy taunted. One of the men swung right at his jaw and the boy staggered back. Not giving him a chance to recovery,the other man punched him in the stomach. "This is what'll happen!"the man snarled. "What's going on Chloe?"Mark whispered. "Some kid is getting beat up real bad."Chloe whispered back.
"Let me see!"Victoria said and poked her head up. She gasped. "Drew…"she whispered. "Drew? Who the hell is Drew?"Chloe asked. But Victoria jumped over the trash can and shouted,"Hey!" Both men turned to Victoria. "What the hell are you doing Victoria?!"Nathan whispered angrily but she didn't respond. "Victoria?"the dark-skinned boy,supposedly named Drew,whispered confused. One of the men smirked. "You know this chick,boy?"he asked. Drew looked at him but remained silent. The man shrugged. "Well no matter. I'll take her out myself." "No!"Drew shouted and the other man punched him. The man came charging at Victoria. She waited until the last second then swerved to the side and kicked the back of his knees. He nearly fell onto the ground but regained balance and swung his fist at her.
She blocked it with her arm then punched the man in his stomach,hard. He doubled over and groaned,giving Victoria the perfect angle to kick him in the forehead. He collapsed on the ground unconscious. The other man snuck up behind her and kicked her back. She fell on her stomach. She tasted the salty tang of blood in her mouth. "Victoria!"Warren said. He jumped from behind the trash can and ran to Victoria. The man pulled out a gun and pointed it at him. "A step closer and i'll blow her head off."the man warned. Warren stood still. "If anyone else is behind that trash can come out. Or the boy and girl die."he said. All of them looked at Nathan and he nodded. They moved from behind the trash can,holding their hands up.
"Well ain't this a shock."the man laughed. "How should I end the lives of miserable gang members?"he asked no one in particular. Suddenly he roared in pain. Drew pushed the man's elbow from his socket and quickly grabbed the gun. The man dropped to his wings and held his popped elbow while glaring at Drew. "Don't ever mess with me or my family again!"Drew growled. Then pulled the trigger and the man dropped to the ground lifeless.
Silence crept over all of them as no one knew what to say.
Drew looked at the dead man a while later then dropped the gun. Victoria got up from the ground and wiped the blood from her mouth. Then she turned to Drew. "You ok?"she asked. Instead of answering,he hugged her. "Thank you."he whispered. She smiled. "Anytime."she whispered back. "Ahem." They both pulled away and turned around. Nathan and Mark were watching them in confusion while the others smirked at her knowingly. "Who are you?"Nathan asked staring at Drew. "My name is Drew."he answered. "And who are they behind you?"Nathan gestured to the three people behind Drew. "My brother Mikey and my two friends,Steph and Elliot."he answered.
Mikey was a small,dark-skinned and skinny boy with glasses,dark brown hair and brown eyes. Steph was the same height as Mikey,pale,had auburn hair a bit below her ears and blue eyes. She also wore a beanie with a small flames on it. Eliot was Chloe's height,pale,short light brown and green eyes. Mikey stepped forward and looked at Victoria. "Thank you for saving my brother."he said. "Your welcome." "Next time you pull a stunt like that Victoria I'll put you out of the gang."Nathan threatened. Victoria nodded. Drew looked between Nathan and Victoria. "You're in a gang?"he asked. "Yeah. Is there a problem?"Victoria said. "I just did not except you to be in a gang."Drew replied. "I'm a girl of my secrets."Victoria said with a laugh. "That you are."Drew said with a wink. Victoria smiled shyly and looked at her feet. "As much as we would love to stay and chat,"Mark said. "We must be going."
"Nah it's cool,we'll leave."Drew said. Mark nodded then picked up the gun and give it to Drew. "Keep it. You'll need some protection out there." Drew nodded and took the gun. They continued walking away. "Wait!"Victoria said. They turned around and looked at her. "We should let them come with us."she said,pointing at Drew and the others. "Are. You. Insane?!"Chloe nearly shouted. Nathan silenced her with a look before turning to Victoria. "Victoria,you know we only bring people in when they're going to join the gang."he said softly,like a father trying to reason with his child. "So let them join us!"Victoria insisted,baffled that Nathan was resisting to let people join them. "Victoria you don't have to do this…"Drew said but no one listened. "Victoria listen…"Nathan started but she cut him off. "No you listen Nathan. What's the problem with them joining us? Do you like seeing them like this? Starving,alone and scared? Just let them join us." For a long moment no one said anything. No one,as far as they could remember,had denied Nathan,not even Mark. To everyone's shock Rachel said,"I think we should let them join us."
"Please tell me you're not in this as well?"Chloe groaned. "Chloe stop,"she said to turning to her. "You may not understand what it's like to live like this but I do. I know what it's like to be scared,alone,fighting to survive every single day and getting beating up. If Nathan hadn't taken me in,I might have not been alive today." She turned to Nathan. He looked at her with almost a sad expression. "Nathan I beg you. Please let them join us."she said softly. Nathan face now was expressionless.
He looked at Drew,then Mikey,Steph and Eliot. At last he spoke,"For now they can come with us. I'll decide later if they'll join us permanently." Victoria smiled. It wasn't exactly a yes but it wasn't a no either. Drew smiled. "Thank you sir."he said gratefully. Nathan looked at him but didn't reply. "Well now that that's settled,can we please go?"Warren asked. "Yes Warren,we can go."Mark laughed. Everyone turned and followed Mark. Victoria walked up until she was side-by-side with Rachel. "Thank you."she whispered. "For what?"Rachel whispered back. "For getting him to bring them with us at least."Victoria said. "Don't mention it."Rachel said then went back to silence.
Minutes later,they finally made it to Mark's place. It was a big,spacious house with lots of decors. It had a homey feeling to it. "Welcome to my humble abode."Mark announced. "Dam! How much does Nathan pay you for this spy job?"Max asked him. "Enough for me to keep doing this spy job."Mark replied. He walked over to his fridge,opened it and grabbed some things before putting them on the counter. Then he went to the cabinet and grabbed a few things then put them on the counter. There was a turkey,ham,loaves of bread,a pack of mash potato,cranberry sauce,corn,salt,pepper,green peppers,butter,dough,flour,squashed pumpkin,sugar,milk,eggs,nutmeg,cheese,macaroni and italian sausages.
"Ok before we start who here doesn't know how to cook?"Mark asked. Drew,Mikey,Eliot and Warren raised their hands. "Wow Warren,"Kate said. "You wanted to eat this so badly but ya can't even cook." "I can cook!"he protested. "I just can't cook without burning something." "Ok no problem. Nathan you supervise Drew and Mickey and i'll supervise Warren and Eliot."Mark said. Nathan nodded. "Ok. Chloe you're gonna do the stuffing. Rachel you'll do the mash potatoes,Victoria you'll do the ham,Kate and Max,you two will do the turkey. Warren and Eliot you two will do the pumpkin pie. Drew and Mikey will do the macaroni pie and Steph you'll do the corn." They nodded. "Now let's make this feast!"Mark exclaimed.
They immediately went to their stations and worked. Chloe took out a big,wide pan and put it on the stove. Then she took two loaves breads,teared them into tiny pieces and threw them into the pan. She took three green peppers and chopped them into diced pieces and tossed them into the pan. She sprinkled some pepper on it then turned the stove on medium. She walked over to Rachel. "Need any help?"she asked her. "Yeah,could you pass me the butter."she said. Chloe got the butter then handed it to her. "Thanks."Rachel said. She scooped out a chunk of butter then put it in the pan. It sizzled and popped as it spread on the pan. She took the packet then ripped the top off and dumped the contaminants in the pan. "Pass me the milk please."Rachel said. Chloe went to the fridge and grabbed the container of milk. "Here you are chef."Chloe joked as she gave Rachel the milk. "Much appreciated co-chef."Rachel said with a smile. Pouring the milk in the pan she took out a whippet and whipped the mash potatoes.
Chloe looked at Rachel and a smile crept on her face. She was so happy and carefree when she was helping someone or doing the things she loved. Chloe couldn't have asked for anything better. She walked up behind Rachel and wrapped her arms across her waist. Rachel smiled and snuggled into Chloe's embrace. About a hour and a half later they finished making everything. Mark took them and put them in the fridge. "They'll be ready for tomorrow,"Mark said. "What time will you be coming?" "6:00 sharp,"Nathan told him. "These four have a lot of training to do."he added looking at Drew,Mikey,Steph and Eliot with a smile.
"What...are you saying that we can stay?"Mikey asked. "Yes. You can stay."Nathan said. Mikey cried out happily while the others smiled. "Thank you sir,"Drew said gratefully. "I don't know how to thank you." "Thank me by not making me regret this."Nathan replied. Drew nodded. "Well we should be going."Nathan said. "Wait!"Mark exclaimed. He opened back his fridge then gave Nathan to boxes of pizza. "I had ordered three boxes back I could only eat one whole pizza and I didn't want it to go to waste."Mark said.
"Thank you Mark."Nathan said. He took the boxes under each arm. "Goodnight friend."Nathan said to Mark. "Goodnight Nathan."Mark replied and they left the house. Chloe looked at the four new recruits with newfound interest. Let's see how these four can put up with the lifestyle of a gang Chloe thought.