4.

This dream, dream is a killer

Getting drunk with the blue caterpillar

Salomé sighed.

"What were you thinking?"

"I didn't like the way he was looking at me."

"So you punch him in the face?"

"Yeah."

Salomé pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand while the other remained on the steering wheel. She couldn't say that she was surprised that her father had sent her younger brother to check up on her. She knew from the usual number that it had to be one of her siblings ringing her phone and it just so happened to be her seventeen year old brother Tony requesting her to pick him up from the airport. Salomé immediately went into defense mode when she entered the airports main office where her brother sat with handcuffs wrapped around his wrist. Salomé had a feeling that she knew what this was truly about, acknowledging the stares the guards where giving her younger sibling and now her. Although she didn't question it, she read through the papers that sat in front of her brother and signed them tossing a stack at the guards face before ordering them to take the cuffs off her brother's wrists.

The two Tarik siblings drove down the streets of Chicago, Tony had his eyes trained on the buildings that Salomé zoomed by wanting nothing more than for his big sis to cut the conversation short. Salomé could sense that Tony no longer felt like talking about the situation, she knew by the split lip that the guard must have set Tony off. Salomé knew that Tony could handle himself, their parents raised them into this dangerous life style so they could protect themselves when needed. The twenty-year old was anything but mad at her brother and was just glad that she had a piece of her family here with her. With her free hand she gripped Tony's larger hand into her own causing the boy to lift his head from the window to glance over at her. "He said something discriminating didn't he?"

Tony clenched his jaw giving his sister a stiff nod before resting his head back against the headrest now. Salomé lifted their conjoined hands and pressed a kiss against Tony's skin, "Don't worry Tone. We'll get that muazzar, just you wait and see."

The seventeen year old rolled his head over sideways to glance at his sisters profile, his hazel eyes trained on her face. His lips then spread into a wide smile knowing exactly what Salomé was hinting at before bursting into a laugh that may have sounded a bit terrifying if you weren't comfortable with the things they liked to do.

After getting Tony out of his sorrow filled mood, the boy had turned on the radio to sang along to some pop song. Salomé could barely get any words in after asking Tony how the family were doing back in Cairo, the boy brushed off the conversation not wanting to mention anything which left Salomé to believe that something must have happened. She didn't know what, all she did know was to expect a phone call. That was all Tony had left her with as Salomé decided to show Tony around town, she showed him the clubs she had went to only being here for almost two months now. Tony's eyes went wide at the sight of clubs, he begged Salomé to take him to one tonight after she cooked them both dinner which she agreed to. She would do anything for her family, anything to make her family happy although they never done the same for her. Salomé drove Tony downtown showing him the places he could hang out while she went to work, she had no idea how long he would be here with her but she talked as if he would be here for awhile.

Tony was currently shoving as many chicken nuggets down his throat as he could. He had asked his older sister to stop since he hasn't eaten anything since he boarded the plane that took fourteen hours to get here. Back at home The Tarik's couldn't eat anything unhealthy and McDonald's was one of them, back at school they taught children of Cairo horror stories on how unhealthy America is and even showed what they used in their "products" that they sell to customers. It was sickening, really but it was so good. Salomé went against her father's wishes as soon as she arrived to the south side, trying a few fast food restaurants that Chicago and Cairo both shared. She had to see what she were missing out on and didn't blame the curiosity her younger brother had.

"This is the high school here?" Tony asked, a straw attached to his lips.

Salomé nodded her head watching as students rushed out to the school buses, some stood around chatting, while others rushed off to the parking lot. "Yes this will be the school you'll attend if daddy let's you stay here with me."

Tony studied the building, it didn't look safe. It was nothing compared to the high school he attended back at home, Tony and his sisters had it easy. They weren't raised in the hood like Abdallah, Rolon, Zeyad, and Viviano had been with their parents. The older siblings often told their younger siblings that they were lucky that they didn't have to fight for their lives every day they walked out of their doors. "Ummu and Abbun made a name for us. We didn't agree with it at first but the way we lived wasn't fun so once they taught us a new life style, it made everything much easier for us as a family. This is the way of life, the only way we'll be heard." Viviano told ten year old Salomé when she questioned him why her father had a bloody man sitting in their living room.

"It's..." Tony started.

"Different than what we're used to? Yeah but you'll adapt, us Tarik's always know how to do that." Salomé encouraged, not noticing the forced smile on Tony's face as he continued staring out the window.

Tony eyed most of the students who looked so at ease. Most of them looked scary and piss poor but Tony kept those thoughts to himself. He had no right to judge what he saw in front of him, he was no better than anymore on the south side...at least that's what he tried to tell himself. He spotted two people standing close by, one of them appeared to be very tall and had orange like hair. He seemed a bit muscular underneath the light jacket that covered the mustard yellow tight fitting shirt and camouflage khakis, wore his hair low, sorta pale. He was cute from a distance, Tony wondered what he looked like up close. The girl beside him had the darkest hair he's ever seen and that's saying a lot since his family consisted of dark hair. She had bangs that almost covered her eyes, smooth white skin, a thin body, and had her eyes trained on the orange headed boy beside her.

That's when Tony noticed that in fact the orange haired boy was now staring right at him. Tony blinked and in that short matter of seconds that his eyes closed, the dark haired girl that looked like snow white now had her eyes on him too. The orange haired boy turned his eyes into slits dipping his head a bit to see further into the car before waving the dark haired girl to follow him. Salomé bounced in her seat as a joint rested in between her small pink lips enjoying the reggaeton mix that vibrated through her speakers.

"Uh Meme, you know them?" Tony questioned shoving one hand into his back pocket, his fingertips brushing against cool iron.

Salomé dipped her head, the smoke from her joint creeping against her eyes as she spotted two familiar forms. She reached over tapping Tony's hand informing him to put away whatever he was going to pull out of his back pocket. Salomé sent the two that were now standing outside of her 1973 BMW 3.0CS Coupe a smirk removing the joint from her lips as she climbed out of her ride. Salomé held the joint in between the fingers on her right hand as she held her hands out to Ian, "My ginger star!"

Ian smiled accepting Salomé into his arms, "Hey how are you?"

"Good. How are you?" Salomé replied leaning back to stare up at Ian.

He shrugged his shoulders a smile etched onto his face showing that he seemed to be doing just fine. Salomé sent him a wink before turning to Mandy who grinned at her, she leaned down to press a kiss directly next to her lips in greeting. Tony watched in the passenger seat in surprise that his sister had friends, like actual physical friends that socialized with her. This is something the whole family should have witnessed, it would certainly change their minds if they could see Salomé now.

"Whose the cutie behind you?" Mandy examined, peeking over the Spanish-Egyptian beauty across from her.

Tony waved as Salomé glanced over her shoulder at her sibling, "Oh him? That's my little Akh, brother."

Ian's smile lifted more hearing Salomé speak her native language. Ian could see a bit of resemblance, besides the fact that Tony appeared to lighter than Salomé' honey skin. They had the same nose structure, same thick eyebrows, long eyelashes that made Ian feel a little jealous to be honest, but the only difference between the two was that Salomé' brother was lighter, had a square shaped jaw opposed to Salomé' pointy like jaw, and his form seemed to be a bit smaller than Salomé who was more huskier or thicker if you will.

Mandy leaned over holding her hand to out shake the boys hand, "Welcome to the south side. Paradise island. I'm Mandy."

Tony instantly picked up on her sarcasm and cracked a smile as he shook her hand, "Tony."

Ian also moved forward to introduce himself to Salomé' brother causing the said girl to smile behind her joint at the exchange.

"How are you liking south side Chicago? I'm sure it's crap compared to Cairo." Ian said, sparking up a conversation.

Tony didn't bother to sugarcoat anything, "Yeah it kinda is."

His reply caused Ian and Mandy to let out a round of laughs. This was not the first time anyone has said this about their hometown and they had no shame. A lot of people didn't visit here that much and the two were both shocked that Salomé decided to move here.

"You guys want a lift?" Salomé asked, stepping down from the sidewalk.

"Yeah," Mandy answered at the same time as Ian said, "Sure."

Salomé tossed her finished joint to the road as she swayed over to the driver's seat. Tony climbed out of the passenger side to let the seat down so Mandy could climb into the back. Ian watched the red tint in Salomé's eye shine from the sunlight as her little brown eyes met his, her eyes held amusement as she caught Ian watching her.

"Uh...maybe you should let me drive?" Ian challenged.

Salomé flickered her wild curly hair behind her shoulder as she poked her lips out slightly, "I'm flattered that you're concerned about my safety ginger."

"Not just yours, but your brother's, Mandy's, and mine." Ian clarified trying to hide the blush that threatened to bleed against his skin.

"Uh huh. It's okay my ginger star, I'm the safest person you know." Salomé stated holding the car door open.

Tony rolled his lips to the side, "I don't know about that..."

Mandy and Ian both chuckled at that thinking Tony was just joking but there was always a little truth behind a joke, especially when it came to his big sis.

"Can you guys stop flirting and just get in the fucking car already?" Mandy pushed while fully sliding over behind the driver's seat.

"Salomé' the one whose flirting, I'm just trying to make sure everyone will be safe."

"How many people do you know get into accidents when they're high, ginger star?" Salomé wondered plopping down into the driver's seat.

Ian sighed turning to see that Tony was now sitting next to Mandy and took his spot in the passenger seat.

The four were now parked in front of a near by lake. Ian had given Salomé the directions to this lake he had came across and that the only way to get there was to get on the freeway and the Spanish-Egyptian didn't mind. She wanted to get to know not only Mandy but Ian better, he seemed like a really sweet guy. The sweet ones always needed to be corrupted, that's the sad thing about what Salomé had in mind.

Ian, Mandy, and Tony were all splitting a few beers around after Ian went into the Kash N Grab and told a little fib to his boss that he didn't feel well. Salomé didn't feel like drinking, she didn't care for cheap booze so she stuck to her weed laced PCP unbeknownst to her friends and brother that surrounded her.

"Can I ask a question? How do you know if the guy you've been hanging out with, likes you?" Ian suddenly asked, roughly wiping his mouth.

Mandy smiled catching Salomé' eye from the rear view mirror, "You like him?"

"Uh huh but I think he hates me."

Tony spoke up, "Does he get that look in his eyes when he's with you?"

Ian frowned turning to face Tony, "What look?"

Salomé kept on smoking her joint watching as the light drizzle danced along her wind shield, "You'll know when you see it. Who have you fallen for Ian?"

Ian rolled his head against the head rest liking the way Salomé said his name. Especially when she spoke with her signature accent it added a little more to the new found liking Ian had when it came down to the woman beside him. When Salomé didn't receive a reply she turned to face Ian who gave her a silly smile that she returned, the orange haired boy was slowly turning into the blue Caterpillar she was longing to see.

"That's my dirty little secret." Ian winked.

"Is it me?" Salomé wondering knowing full well that it probably wasn't.

Ian grinned, "Maybe. You'll find out soon enough, if you stick around."

"Deal." She whispered turning to face Ian so she could stare into his eyes.

Ian didn't know how Salomé did it, how she walked around with so much grace and seduction. The way she was staring at him right now made Ian question his sexuality and a part of him believed that Salomé was becoming fully aware of this.

A/N: HELLO I AM BACK! I'm so sorry I disappeared, my health was not in the best condition. I've been suffering from high anxiety and needed to find my chill somehow. I hope you accept my apology with this chapter since my health is always my main priority. Let's chat a little bit? So the small promo trailer (is that what you call it?) Has now been released and omg WHY is Carl sporting cornrows? That shit is not cute on him lol. I really have no idea how this season is going to turn out tbh but we'll just have to see in about THREE months!

Do you any of you watch Gotham? I don't but I have seen clips of Cameron's performance as the joker and my god does he play that role well?! Also there's this girl in class who informed the class that she likes shameless and I was too nervous to approach her after class to discuss the show and she sorta looks like Karen so its like we're secret friends lol.

I hope to continue writing every other weekend again (I have three papers due over the next three weeks so bare with me again.) I've been having withdraws along with low motivation. Thanks for reading and supporting me as you do! See you soon?

-ALovelyEccentricSoul