Chapter 18: Can You Give Me A Nice Surprise, Please?
Ali looked out the window as she watched the football team climb into their cars and drive off to where they were going to meet the Serpents. With a sigh, Ali closed the curtain and looked back at the empty family room. Veronica walked back in after placing the pizza boxes in the kitchen to see Ali standing by the window with a worried expression.
"You look worried." Veronica pointed out the blatantly obvious.
"And you're not?" Ali questioned with a little more anger than she had anticipated.
"My boyfriend is going off to fight a bunch of thugs. Of course I'm worried." Thugs. That word had such a negative connotation and it always bothered Ali, but she bit her tongue.
"Then let's go and stop them." Ali suggested.
"How are we going to do that? We don't have a car or any form of transportation." Veronica pointed out. Ali looked around – hoping to find an answer to this problem, but she turned around and placed her forehead on the window in defeat. Her eyes saw the truck that was sitting in the driveway.
"That truck!" Ali practically yelled as she pointed out the window. Veronica rushed towards the window and looked outside to see Mr. Andrew's truck outside.
"But where's the keys?" Veronica looked at Ali like she would know the answer. Ali looked around the family room and tried to think about where the keys would be placed. Veronica watched as Ali's eyes widened before she bolted into the kitchen.
"Fuck!" Veronica ran to the kitchen and saw Ali slam her fist onto the countertop. "The keys aren't here." Ali began to think about what to do again. She looked up at Veronica and let the words fly out before she could stop them, "I'll hot wire the truck."
"You can do that?" Veronica looked at Ali with a raised eyebrow.
"We'll discuss that later, but we need to get a move on." Ali turned around and made her way out of the house and towards the truck. She pulled on the drivers door and it opened. Ali looked at it with a confused face a she wondered why the door wasn't locked. She quickly climbed in and unhooked the bottom of the steering wheel. Ali got out of the truck and sat on the floor of the truck in order to look at the wires.
Meanwhile, Veronica walked over to her purse and unzipped it carefully. Her hand reached in and pulled out the plastic bag that held a handgun in it. Veronica stared at it with wide eyes as her hands began to shake. When she heard the sound of a revving truck she quickly put the gun back in her purse and walked out of the house to see that Ali was successful in her hotwiring.
"You're full of surprises, huh?" Veronica asked as she got into the car. Ali clicked in her seatbelt and placed her hands on the steering wheel."Wait…can you drive on this side of the road?"
"We drive on the right side in France." Ali said before putting the truck into drive and turning right onto the road. "You're going to have to direct me." Ali told Veronica as they reached a stop sign.
"Go left." Veronica instructed. Ali followed Veronica's instructions as she drove them to the destination. Veronica clutched onto her purse as she continued to think about the gun that was sitting in her lap.
"You and Archie seem happy." Ali said. She felt the nervousness in the air and wanted to diffuse it before it became anymore unbearable.
"We are. You and Reggie seem…close." Veronica said as she remembered seeing Reggie pull Ali into his lap back at the house.
"It's definitely not something I wanted right now." Ali sighed.
"Then why worry about what's happening to Reggie?" Veronica questioned. Ali didn't know the answer to that question. She didn't want Reggie to get hurt, but she also didn't want Sweet Pea to cause any more problems. With the negative rumours spreading about the Serpents – they really didn't need any more flack for their behaviour.
"He's an idiot, but an idiot that is kind of nice." Ali answered.
"It's raining pretty hard all of a sudden." Veronica switched the topic of conversation to the weather.
"Weird. It always seems to rain like this when something bad is going to happen in the movies." Ali added. The rain pelted the windshield as Ali drove to the destination. Nerves began to boil in Ali's stomach as the seconds continued to pass. She was going to try to break-up the fight, but she also didn't want Sweet Pea to think that she was choosing one side over the other. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened at the thought of the Serpents not wanting her around any more.
"It's a good thing I have this then." Veronica said as she pulled out a plastic poncho for her to slip on in the truck.
"You don't happen to have one for me, do you?" Ali joked. Veronica was surprised that a joke would come out of Ali's mouth when she barely smiled as is.
"Shouldn't you be used to the rain? Doesn't it rain all the time in England?" Veronica asked.
"It doesn't rain like this all the time." Ali pointed out.
"Holy shit! Is that them?" Ali and Veronica squinted as they looked through the windshield. Cars and motorcycles were all parked while the boys were rolling around on the ground – punching, kicking, shoving and throwing each other. Ali quickly braked and put the truck in Park before getting out. Veronica pulled the gun out of the plastic bag and stepped out of the truck. Ali ran over to Veronica to see her holding a gun.
"What the fuck, Veronica?" Ali yelled at her over the sound of the rain hammering on the ground.
"It's not mine." Veronica explained.
"Do you even know how to use a gun?" Ali questioned. Veronica didn't answer. "Give it to me."
"Do you-"
"Give it to me!" Without another word, Veronica handed Ali the gun. Ali walked over to the group of guys and raised the gun with two hands on the handle. She pointed towards the sky and pulled the trigger – everyone stopped in their place and turned to see Ali and Veronica. Ali passed the gun back to Veronica, so she could do whatever she wanted with the deadly weapon that she owned. The boys stared at Ali and Veronica. Reggie and Sweet Pea were both surprised to see Ali standing there, but they were more surprised by the fact that she had a gun in her hand and just took a shot in the air.
"Let's go!" Sweet Pea told him friends as he quickly got up to his feet and turned around to run away. The other Serpents all followed the head of the pack.
"Help me. Help!" Ali's eyes darted to the sound and saw someone limping as he clutched his thigh. Ali saw a knife sticking out of his leg. Reggie grabbed the boy and helped him limp to his car. Ali quickly pulled open the car door and jumped into the back, so Reggie could place the boy into the passenger seat.
"Reggie, we need to get him to the hospital!" Ali yelled to the Korean boy as he jumped into the driver seat and put the car in gear.
"No shit, Ali!" Reggie yelled back. Reggie turned his steering wheel and slammed his foot on the accelerator, so the car would blast forward. "What the fuck are you doing here? Where the fuck did you get that gun? Why the fuck do you have a gun?" Reggie yelled at Ali as Reggie drove frantically through the town of Riverdale to get to the hospital.
"I came to make sure you were okay! And that's not even my gun! It's Veronica's!" Ali yelled back as she gripped onto the leather seats in front of her, so she could check on the guy in front of her. "Don't look at it. Look at me." Ali instructed the boy as she moved his head. He looked at her with a surprised face until he saw her give him a stern look. He watched the exchange between Reggie and this new girl, so the girl sitting behind him wouldn't hit him in the head.
"Come on! Veronica doesn't have a gun!" Reggie was frustrated with Ali because he didn't believe what was coming out of her mouth.
"I'm telling you the truth! I was planning on just coming and stopping you guys, but Veronica pulled out a fucking gun from her purse!" Ali explained what had happened.
"So why did you shoot it?" Reggie questioned.
"Because Veronica doesn't know how to use a gun and we didn't need her shooting any of you guys." Ali answered.
"And you fucking do?" Reggie was blown away by what Ali was saying. Did she really just imply that she knows how to use a gun? Questions were flying through Reggie's head and he continued to drive.
"That's not important right now! What's important is getting this guy to the hospital!" Ali placed her hand on the boys shoulder and smiled at him, "I'm Ali."
"I-I'm Dilton." Dilton stuttered. He just watched Ali and Reggie yell at each other and now she was smiling at him? Dilton believed that Ali was mentally insane at that point.
"When they ask you at the hospital…" Reggie began to speak as he looked at Dilton, but he cut into his sentence,
"I was minding my business when Serpents jumped me for no reason." Dilton finished.
"Hold on, you're going to blame the Serpents?" Ali asked.
"They're the ones who did this, Ali! What do you want him to do?" Reggie yelled as he raised his hand in disbelief.
"Well if the cops start snooping and they point it towards you guys then-"
"They won't." Reggie was stern with his words. Ali saw his jaw clench with frustration as he made it to the hospital parking lot.
"Thanks for the ride, I got it." Dilton opened the door and brought his legs outside of the car.
"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" Ali asked.
"No, I need to go in alone." Dilton said before closing the door and limping away. Dilton just wanted to get away from the two in the car because he didn't want to listen to them yelling at each other anymore.
Damn...so...Ali can hot wire a car and shoot a gun, huh? Just what else does this girl know how to do? How do you think Reggie will react now?