Chapter 3: Forever Forgiving
Barking sounds erupted into Selena's dream of a picnic with a mysterious stranger on a breezy hillside and she felt about for her phone. When she found it, she turned over on her bed and looked at the screen.
"Wait a minute," her eyes flew open and she stared at the blank screen, "my alarm does not bark. The barking sounds continued and she turned her head to the door.
The person in the bed at the opposite wall moved and spoke after a yawn.
"What's going on?"
Selena pushed herself off the bed and headed out. "I'll get it." She was just about to open the front door when the barking stopped. "Okay, what is…" The lady blinked at the emptiness before her, then looked down. "Guardian?" The dog sat obediently until his name was said. He then picked up the basket with his teeth and trotted in. He placed the basket down and bowed his head to Selena while trotting back out and positioning himself at the doorway. Selena stared after the dog in astonishment and then turned her attention to the basket. A piece of cloth was covering the contents of the basket. She bent down and took it off, gasping in shock and delight at the sight before her. "Oh my." She picked up the white card stuck to the handle of the basket and read it.
"'I'm sorry," Selena muttered out loud with a small smile. "I don't know what I was thinking. In fact, I'm pretty sure the hangover I got is punishment and proof for what I did yesterday. Guardian brought you my little peace offering. I'm not going to write down how long it took to finish it. I just hope you like it. I'm really sorry, Selena. Sincerely, MKDB.' Aw…"
"MKDB?" Selena whirled about to see Marlene, who had staggered out after her, half-asleep, half-awake.
"Oh, that's Mi-Kowalski's initials."
Her long time best friend shook her head and scoffed, now fully awake.
"If he thinks a note is gonna-"
Selena pocketed the note and looked up at Marlene. "I think it's enough, Marlene."
"I think not. He should be doing it in person. And he was drunk? What a lame excuse."
"Marlene."
"He didn't look drunk. At all!"
"I shouldn't have fuel his anger like that. Clearly, he didn't want to be called something he's not. I mean, you wouldn't like being called something you don't like, right?"
"Well…"
"See?"
"Fine. I won't murder him."
"Thank you, Marley."
"But if he does it again…"
"Don't worry about it. Oh." She turned around and a smile appeared on her face at the sight of Guardian. "Wait right there, baby G." She hurried off into the kitchen, leaving Marlene to stare at Guardian in surprise.
"Guardian?" The dog bowed his head with his paws over his head and Marlene sighed. "Well, I'm sorry, but it kinda looked like you were attacking Sel, and…I am talking to a dog. No, I am apologizing to a dog. Okay," she took in a deep breath, "I'm really sorry for growling at you and all. I just hate it when people, and animals, pick on her. It's like she's not real or something. I hope you can forgive me." Guardian barked once, in a happy tone, and rushed over to Marlene, who held out a hand which the dog licked. "Aw…even if you are a scary dog…"
Selena rushed back into the room, carrying a small box wrapped with one of her favorite lavender ribbons and a small stalk of lavender halfway inserted in one side. She placed the box before Guardian and bent down. "My specialty. Hope you guys enjoy." The dog happily picked the box up and ran out the door. Selena got up with a smile as Marlene raised a brow at her.
"Your specialty? What is your specialty?"
The lady nodded with a mysterious glint to her eye. "Yeah." Marlene frowned before heading back to their room.
"Uh yeah, when it's actually morning, wake me up."
"Got it. I'll get the water boiling."
As the sun tried to get into the living room, Skipper walked over to the window and observed the streets outside. It was oddly quiet during that time of the day, but it was expected. Who would be mad enough to go out under the intense heat of the sun? The answer came in the form of three females, who had appeared from around a block a couple of streets down and were running this way. Skipper shook his head and was about to walk to the kitchen to get a nice of Joe, when the front door burst open. The blonde lady, who was living with the two females he had cleverly outwitted the other day, was standing there dressed like the Victoria Secret model she was.
"Which one of you is Kowalski?"
"Who are you?" Skipper demanded, still in a defensive position with Kowalski, who had rushed to him with Private though he noticed that the boy had relaxed a bit at the sight of the female.
"I asked first, bud."
He turned his attention to the woman and narrowed his eyes at her.
"Depends on who's asking, Miss McHale."
"Apparently you already know who. Why don't you answer my question?"
"Not unless you're asking nicely."
Barbie snorted and crossed her arms.
"I don't need you. Hey egghead!" The tall man beside Skipper flinched. It wasn't noticeable to others, but under the watchful eye of Barbie, the movement was caught. "You. You're Kowalski, aren't you?"
Kowalski shook his head with a step back from his comrades. "I have no idea what you want with me."
"How about some broken bones?" She took a few steps forward while punching a fist into her other hand. "Who gave you permission to mess around with my cousin, huh?"
"Rico!" Skipper called out before the blonde could take another step. Barbie spun around, only to fall into the hold of the man called Rico. Barbie stared wide eyed at him and noted his clothes, which consisted of a pair of thick black military boots, tattered jeans with a chain belt hanging loosely from his hips, a white, dirt and grease stained shirt, a dark orange jacket and a bowler's hat. Rico's expression was similar as he stared at her with his jaw dropped. He was about to say something when someone called out to her.
"Barbie!" A redhead appeared at the door, hunched over. She leaned against the door as Barbie snapped out of her trance. "Okay," the redhead gestured to Barbie as Selena and Marlene came into the room, "she's over there. And there's no sign of a broken body."
Barbie frowned at them and turned back to Rico. "Let go of me!" She wretched her arms down and took a step back, quickly spinning into a roundhouse kick straight to Rico's head. The man fell to the carpeted ground with a thump, much to the shock of the other three males. She paused briefly to make sure he was alright and then headed straight for Kowalski, who was staring at her along with the other two. "I'm going to…"
Two pairs of hands reached out and gripped her arms tightly.
"Whoa there, girl." Selena cajoled the lady, who was struggling to get away from her and Marlene. "There's no need for you to get a jail sentence now."
"I'm gonna kill him."
"For what?"
"For whatever he did to you!"
"Do you even know what he did?"
Barbie blinked and shook her head, visibly relaxing. Marlene and Selena took the sign to let go of her but they were still wary of her actions since they knew that she wasn't one to keep promises.
"Well, no, but the letter…"
"He was just trying to apologize for…Wait. You read the letter?"
"Uh…So, what were you saying again?"
Selena frowned in suspicion at her. "He was just trying to apologize for accidently, stepping on my glasses. It happened during the party. The one you two were not allowed to go to."
"Your glasses are broken?"
"He fixed them."
"Over night?"
"Yup."
"Whoa. That's pretty quick service."
"And I think it's a good enough apology, so if you please?"
Barbie nodded and took a step back. "Okay. But you know that this is the first time a guy's ever ruined your life."
"First, he didn't do anything. Obviously he did not ruin my life. Second, I am accident prone. I'm liable to accidents, on purpose or not."
"I'm still going to keep my eye on you." Barbie's eyes were now trained on Kowalski. "You're probably one of those creeps from high school."
"Excuse me?"
Selena slapped her forehead. "Ugh…" She turned to Barbie and placed her hands on her shoulders, shaking her. "Snap out of it, Barbie. That is not one of those 'creeps'. That, is the certified class 1997-1998 valedictorian. Your understanding of this situation would be greatly appreciated here."
"Oh. So that's-"
"Don't say it."
"Why not? It's just his name. Right, M-"
"I said don't say it. Don't be a pig."
"Pig?" Private chorused after her, confused at her statement when the lady clearly looked like she worked at the gym daily. Selena turned to him, happy to explain.
"Pigheaded. Stubborn, if you want."
"Ah. Okay."
"Barbie?"
The blonde snapped out of a daydream and gave Selena a frown.
"What?"
"Come on."
Barbie snorted and walked away. "I'm a person, not a slave. I don't succumb to the higher ground." She stopped beside Kyle, who was staring down at Rico. "Uh," Barbie looked down at Rico, who was still on the ground with his eyes closed. Though, there was a hint of a smile on his face. "Is this guy alright? Oh my." She gasped and a worry overcame her. "Was I too hard to him?"
Private shook his head with a grin. "Nah. I don't think so. Rico's got a hard skull. He's probably just trying to scare us or som'thing. Hey Rico." He gently poked the man with his foot and frowned when the man didn't spring up with a grin or laugh. "Rico?"
"Well," Kowalski started and everyone turned to him, "there is such thing as penetrating the fictional barrier."
Skipper rolled his eyes at the statement, obviously disagreeing with the man. He crossed his arms and barked at the motionless man. "RICO!"
Rico jumped to his feet with his hand glued to his forehead.
"Yez sih, Skippa sih! At yur com'an, sih! (Yes sir, Skipper sir! At your command, sir!)"
"Oh great. Nice of you to finally join us, Rico. I'd have to say that your little stunt wasn't appreciated."
Rico blinked in confusion, while slowly putting his hand down.
"Huh?"
"Did I say you can put down your hand?" The hand flew back to its position and Rico stared ahead with an erect posture.
"Nope." Skipper narrowed his eyes at him.
"What is wrong with you, soldier? Don't tell me you've got birds flying about your brain again. You practically slept through Ringtail's music the entire night without earplugs."
"Since when is Rico right, Skipper?" Skipper turned to Kowalski, who casually shrugged and folded his arms. "Well, aside from other reasons."
Rico just chuckled nervously and nodded. "Yup yup." When he realized that his hand had travelled down again, he quickly put it up.
"You can put your hand down now." Rico sighed in relief but jumped when Skipper spoke again. Skipper frowned suspiciously at the man's actions. Rico chuckled again and whistled while looking away. "Twenty four hours worth of maintenance. For putting your guard down."
"Oh come on!" Rico threw his arms in frustration while Kowalski and Private hid their sniggers.
"One week."
"What?!"
"Another complaint and I'll make it a month with daily laps around NY." The man quickly covered his mouth and glared at Kowalski and Private, who were still laughing. Skipper raised a brow at them. "Would you two like to join him?" They shook their heads and bit down on their lips. Skipper watched them go back to their usual business, and then turned to the girls, who were watching the scene with great interest. "Do you have anything else to do here?" Marlene took a step toward him with a hand out.
"I don't think we've formally met. I'm-"
"Leaving." He interrupted roughly with a slight frown marring his face.
The wavy haired brunette blinked at him, her outstretched hand now placed by her side.
"What?"
"You're leaving. All of you. You're not supposed to be here."
"Excuse me?"
"You don't speak English?"
"I do, but-"
"Good. Now do as I say."
"Excuse me?" Marlene repeated with more conviction, feeling the anger from the other night come back.
"I did not take you to be a parrot. Nor did I order one."
"You should be thanking us! We came here to stop her from attacking you! No, wait, you should be apologizing for-"
Skipper rolled his eyes, oblivious to the female's rage.
"And what is a girl going to do to us?"
The room rolled into grave silence, which was only broken by the incredulous claim coming from Barbie's lips.
"Oh no he didn't." Kyle was next with her perfectly manicured hands on her hips.
"I think he just did."
The blond lady's hands curled back into fists as the lady herself started her march over to the stout man.
"Barbie!" Selena called when she realized what the female was going to do. She quickly reached out and held onto her arm, holding her back.
"Let me at him!" Barbie growled, giving the stoic man a death glare. "I'm going to destroy that pipsqueak!" The man's frown turned into a harsh glower.
"What?"
"You heard me, flathead. You and me, one on one. I'm going to crush your tiny-mmpjhnjbfe!" Barbie grabbed onto Selena's hand which was placed tightly over the blonde's mouth.
"She didn't mean it." Skipper's gaze turned to her and Selena felt herself slipping in her head. The Asian shooed away the urge to gulp and run away and gave him a small smile. "Sorry. We're leaving." She looked back at the other two. "We are leaving." Marlene and Kyle turned to her. "Now." Kyle rolled her eyes and stalked out of the room, followed by Marlene. "Sorry." Selena mumbled and walked backwards, bringing the livid Barbie with her.
Skipper stared at the closed door for a while before a beeping sound from his belt sounded. He looked down at the pager hooked onto his belt and then at the door.
"Boys," he turned and headed down the hallway, "we're needed."