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Murphy's Law
I had walked all over town and then back again to try and fill my time. It was now eleven thirty and I was currently walking down the long, crooked street heading towards Santo street. I could see my destination a few blocks away and I couldn't help, but laugh at what it was I was heading towards.
Of course it would be a graveyard. It had to be something so grim because it was Clay, our ever dramatic leader.
I hop up onto the sidewalk and head into the graveyard, the bottom of the dress I wore swaying as I walked. I wasn't exactly thrilled with the dress since it hugged me a little more then I liked, but I had to admit it did look good on me.
"There she is!" I lift my head from the ground at Pooch's voice. He stood up the little cobble street, waving at me, "Hey Rhos! Over here!"
I give a small wave back to him and continue at my pace. I was in no hurry to get to them or to the tombs they currently stood at. I spot Clay standing a little further in the graveyard, hands in the same suit he had been wearing the night before. Off to the far right was Roque sitting on a tomb, playing with one of his many knives.
"Where's Jensen and Cougar? I thought they would have beaten me for sure." I ask as I walk up to them, sitting down on a tomb beneath a tree. My legs dangle a little above the ground, giving them a break from all the walking I had done.
"Don't know." Clay responds and walks closer to the rest of us. I nod my head and then look out across the graveyard. It was a nice graveyard with it's stone markers and beautifully crafted angels in various spots, but it was still a graveyard and that still meant it was creepy.
"This is a little spooky." I give a small laugh and lay my hands in my lap, "Being in a graveyard I mean. Especially since we're 'dead' and all."
"I didn't pick the spot." Clay gives a small laugh and looks over at me. His eyebrows knit together as he gives me a once over, "Are you really wearing a bright yellow dress?"
"No, you're just seeing things. Vision is the first thing to go at your age." I smile brightly as I bash my eyelashes. Clay nods his head and then laughs, some smart ass comment obviously making it's way into his head.
"Yeah you're right. You wearing a dress would mean you're actually a girl." Clay gives another laugh and shoves his hands into his pants pocket. I give a sarcastic laugh and shake my head at him, leaning back on the tomb I sat on.
"What do you mean you didn't pick the spot?" I ask and sit up straighter. Clay gives a small shrug and looks out across the graveyard.
"This girl we're meeting with, Aisha, picked it." Roque spoke up from his spot so far away. I look passed Clay and Pooch, smiling.
"Oh my God! Is that you, Roque? I thought you were another statue." I continue to stare at Roque's back and try to stifle my laughter when I see him slowly sheath his knife to his hip. He slowly turns around and stares at me blankly.
"Rhos," He starts with as his face stays serious. Slowly his eyebrows knit together and his face twists in mock confusion, "you're a girl?"
My face immediately falls and I look back at Clay, nostrils flared and eyes hard. I glare at him for a long moment and then shake my head stiffly.
"Why are you glarin' at me? He said it." Clay gives a small laugh and thrusts a thumb in Roque's direction.
"Don't mind them. I think you look nice in a bright banana yellow dress, Rose." Pooch pipes up with a small smirk playing on his lips. I grit my teeth and roll my eyes at him, crossing my arms over my chest.
The sound of a moped slowly fills the air, causing each of us to look down the cobble street. Cougar and Jensen sat shotgun on the back of the blue and yellow mopeds, two women driving them.
"Wow, and you say I'm tomboy..?" I ask softly, looking over at Clay with slightly wide eyes. These two women, beautifully yes, were also slightly...masculine. The one driving Jensen was far more masculine then the other, or at least I thought so. Clay gives a small laugh and looks down at the ground. I shake my head and look back at the mopeds as they stop by the curb to the street.
"Sorry, sorry! There was a party at the doll factory." Jensen apologizes as he climbs off the back of the blue moped, unlatching his hands from the woman driving. He grabs his jacket from the seat and looks back at us with a grin, "Carlito's birthday."
Cougar hops off of the yellow moped and kisses the woman who drove him. Jensen turns back around to the woman, who and driven him, and leans towards her, not realizing she was already lip locked with Cougar.
He turns back around and makes a small 'nah', giving us a shrug. We all let out small laughs at Jensen as Cougar finishes saying goodbye to the girls. Jensen walks up to me and leans against the tomb I sat on, tossing his jacket in between us.
My eyes latch on him, another laugh building up in my throat. Jensen crosses his arms over his chest and looks over at me. His eyebrows knit together as he gives a small unsure laugh.
"What?" He asks carefully as I try to hold my laughter in. I outstretch my arms and pout my lips, my body lightly shaking with laughter.
"Poor Jensen. Wanna hug?" I ask as a laugh escapes through my pouted lips. Jensen stares at me a moment and then pushes himself away from the tomb.
"Yeah. Actually that'd be great." Jensen quickly wraps his arms around me tightly. I laugh and wrap my arms around him as he sways us left and right playfully, sighing dramatically as he let me go finally. He leans back against the tomb again, fixing his glasses and looks around at the others, "So she wanted to meet in a cemetery? That's not like...foreboding at all."
Each of us stay quiet, my eyes locking onto the bright pink shirt with a large pink flower printed on it that Jensen was wearing. I slowly look up at at the others, silently questioning if I was really seeing what I thought I was.
"Am I the only one that sees his shirt?" Roque suddenly asks and then looks to the rest of us. I shake my head and look back at Jensen.
"Nah man." Pooch replies and stares at Jensen's shirt. Jensen looks around at each of us and then down at his shirt. He pulls it out a little so he can see it and then looks back up.
"Oh! It's my niece's soccer team." Jensen explains and points to the spelling on his shirt that said 'Go Petunias', "They're eight and under. I checked their scores online and I-"
Jensen's ramble stops at the looks the others were giving him. Each of them stared at him with blank expressions, almost as if they couldn't believe that Jensen was really talking about this. I personally thought it was cute, how much he cared about his niece, but then again I was a girl and I too had had a niece at one point.
"Real men wear pink!" I burst out with a smile and hop off the tomb, walking away from Jensen. I look over at Clay and give a laugh, seeing he knew I was purposefully changing the subject. I continue on passed Roque and soon I hear the others behind me. I can't help but look behind me at Jensen, who stood with his arms out and watching as the other walked away.
"What? They're in the playoffs!" He calls out and then scoffs, throwing his jacket on over his shirt, popping the collar. I give a small laugh and face forward again.
"What do we have on Aisha?" Clay asks as he walks passed me, leading us further into the graveyard.
"Aisha? That's a strange name." I comment and squint my eyes slightly to keep the glare of the sun down as I look behind me at Jensen, Cougar, and Pooch.
"So far besides a pant busting crush?" Jensen calls from the back as I spot a palm pilot in his hands, "Her company file is blank. CIA has a standing kill order on her as does the Hamas, ShenFeng, and pretty much everyone other then PETA wants this chick amscrayed."
Roque suddenly walks passed me and up beside Clay. In his hand he held one of his many knives, scraping it underneath his nails. He elbows Clay gently, looking around as we all continued to walk.
"Hey, you thinking clear on this?" He asks somewhat quietly and I try to walk a little closer to hear, "Cause every time you mess up it's because some woman."
"What? No way!" I suddenly laugh and look to Clay for an explanation. He supplies none and I can't help but narrow my eyes in suspicion, "You've actually messed up a mission because of a woman?"
Clay gives a shrug and continues walking, leaving me standing rooted to my spot. I shake my head, mouth agape in awe. I continue to watch him walk away, along with the others, and then suddenly spring to life again.
"That's so cliché!" I laugh again and jog to catch up to him. I hear Clay scoff at me and mumble some choice words under his breath, arguing that he it was all lies.
"No, no, no. It's definitely happened." Roque argues back, placing his knife back in its sheath on his belt. I look between Roque and Clay, occasionally looking down at my feet to make sure I wouldn't trip over anything.
"Name one time Roque." Clay's voice makes me look up again and I instantly feel my right shin collide with the corner of a tomb.
"Amber." Roque was quick to reply as everyone continued to follow behind him and Clay. I stop walking and pull my knee to my chest, holding my shin with both hands.
"Amber wasn't the problem. Amber's husband was the problem." Clay clarifies as I shake my head and grit my teeth, silently cursing. I close my eyes, already knowing there was soon to be a bruise in place of my hands.
"Bet that felt nice." I give a small laugh at Jensen's comment and open my eyes, seeing him standing a few feet away from me, pocketing his palm pilot. I grit my teeth and give another, more annoyed laugh.
"Come a little closer. I'll show you just how nice it felt." I wobble a little as I stand on one foot, looking over at Jensen.
"Not gonna fall over are you?" He gives a laugh and shoves his hands into his jacket pockets. I look passed Jensen to the others, who had continued on walking, most likely not even realizing we weren't with them.
"If I do I'm taking you with me." I reply and let go of my shin, setting my foot back on the ground. I walk closer to Jensen, who was grinning at me, and shove his shoulder lightly as I walked passed.
"Amber's husband wasn't the one that shot you." Pooch calls over, making his way towards closer to the group.
"Oh, my God...She shot you?" I ask, suddenly jumping back into the conversation again. Clay looks back at me and gives a small shrug.
"She only shot me in the leg." Clay replies and looks forward again. I look to Jensen at my side a shake my head.
"ONLY the leg." I give a small snort of a laugh and look back at Clay, "As if that really makes it better."
"Well, what about Emma?" Jensen asks suddenly, removing his eyes from the ground. I look over at Cougar, asking him silently how many girls there had been. He makes a gesture with his hands, telling me 'many'.
"I never slept with Emma." Clay retorts shortly, pointing a finger at Jensen. He continues walking on, but we all follow closely at his heels.
"Because she put a bomb in your car." Roque snaps back.
"Yeah, I'll admit that did take some of the romance out of the relationship." I can hear the smirk in Clay's voice, making me roll my eyes.
"Some?" I ask softly with a smile, looking between Jensen and Cougar, "That's a complete no-no in my book."
"Yeah well, Clay's a romantic as you can obviously tell." Jensen replies, making me laugh as he places a hand over his heart. I shake my head for the umpteenth time today and continue walking, feeling not only my shin aching but also my abdomen. I don't think I've ever laughed this much in my entire life.
"Now this chick shows up and what's her name? Aisha?" Roque asks as Clay stops walking and turns to look at him, "Well she burns down a hotel."
Both of them have a stare off for a long moment, each of them trying to figure the other one out. I look between each of them, wondering who would cave first. I walk passed Cougar, who had sat down on a nearby tomb and then passed Pooch, standing off to the side from him.
"I'm clear Roque." Clay finally caves. Roque gives a shrug and nods his head, turning away from him. He sits down on a tomb in front of the one Cougar sat on, sighing heavily.
"Well, you'd better be," He starts and looks up from the ground. He nods his head at Clay, "cause I ain't getting killed by no girl."
"It's been a long time since anyone's called me a girl." The unfamiliar voice takes each of us by surprise. I look over passed Cougar to the woman who stood between two graves with her hands on her hips. She slowly walks closer to us, looking around at each of us.
My eyes locked on her, suspicion rising inside of me. She seemed normal, dressed normal despite the eyebrow piercing. She carried herself a little strange though; arrogant and composed. She was definitely not someone I would have trusted under any other circumstances, but then again. These weren't exactly normal circumstances.