Too Dangerous

Before heading off to her mother's, Lola decided in getting a little of a work out. She went to her gym and started practicing on the punching bag. She jabbed then she did a right hook. Constantly moving around, attacking her inanimate opponent. She continued doing various punches. She then heard a sound and looked over towards the door. It was Sean. He looked startled when he saw her and just waved at her. She waved back. He then walked away.

"Heh…"

She looked back at the bag. She stretched her neck then got back into fighting stance. She continued her punching exercise.

Reminds me of the first time I walked into a gym…

The Bunny family was back in their home of Colorado. It has been a six months since George's wedding.

Lola was bored. She had finished her homework and was wondering what to do next. Everyone else was busy; Her Mom was cooking, Brendan was playing video games, Katie was on the phone, and she didn't know where her Dad was. Nobody was paying attention to her; which was just fine by her. She wandered downstairs. It was too cold to go outside, and there was nothing she could do inside. She walked into the hallway and noticed one of the doors ajar. It was the basement door.

Hmm…I've never been down in the basement. I wonder why my Dad told me to never go down there.

Lola opened the door a little more. She saw a few boxes at the bottom of the steps; nothing out of the ordinary. She took the first step down; then the next one. The third one creaked, she paused, she continued on her way downward. As she was nearing the bottom, she was able to see more of the dimly lit basement. There was a large wooden table with a metal clamp attached to its edge. There was a set of shelves, occupied with various wood working tools. Nothing scary about that. As she reached the bottom step and stood on the concrete floor, she could feel that someone else was down there with her. She cautiously moved around the table and searched the basement. It was an enormous basement. She noticed a door where she thought she heard a thudding sound. The door was slightly open and she approached it quietly as she could. She took a peek inside and first saw an old exercise bike. She looked further around and noticed a set of weights and a bench. The thudding sound stopped.

"Lola? What are you doing here?"

It was Larry's voice. Lola froze.

"I…uh…heard sounds…and I was wondering…"

Lola couldn't run away. She came into the room to face the scolding she would receive from her father.

"It's ok,"

Lola looked up at him, slightly in surprise. He was wearing boxing gloves, looking at her from behind a large worn out punching bag. She looked up at him, waiting for him to say something.

"I told you guys to not come down here because there was too much stuff down here that could hurt you guys. But since you're here, I'll show you around."

Larry led Lola further into the room and showed her the various objects in the room.

"This was the family gym. My brother and I would always come down here to condition. He was on the wrestling team, and I was on the football team. Your Grandpa would always coach us. Grandpa himself was a boxer when he was younger. He used this gym when he was in high school, and my brother and I used it when we were in high school. And this is the same equipment he used all those years ago."

"Wow, that has to be good equipment to last so long,"

"They don't make them like they used to,"

Lola wandered around. She walked over to a blue mat on the floor.

"What do you do here?"

"This is where I practice my karate,"

"Oh! You know karate! Can you teach me?" she asked excitedly

"No,"

"Aww but why?"

"It's not for sweet little girls,"

Lola pouted and folded her arms.

"You're acting like your sister,"

"But I'm not a little girl anymore…"

"It's just something that shouldn't be taught to young ladies. Come, let's go upstairs kiddo,"

Lola sighed and walked out of the room, and sadly climbed the stairs, followed by her father.

Once upstairs, Lola walked off to the living room. However Larry was called by his wife.

"Larry, you have a phone call,"

Larry got the phone.

"Hello?...George?...what's wrong?..."

Lola walked into the living room and sat on the couch. She rested her head on her hands and stared off into the opposite wall. A part of her bangs fell between her eyes, she blew on it to get out of her face.

Little girl…pfft…I'm ten years old! Going on eleven! I'm not a little kid anymore…I'm a big girl! Ugh! It sucks being a girl. Girls never get to do anything fun…

Later that night, after diner…

"Kids, I have something important to tell you," said Larry, "first thing, we're not going to stay in Colorado anymore."

"What? We're moving AGAIN?!" said the flustered Katie

"You see, George lost the apartment. He and Carmen have no place to go. Since he needs a place to stay, especially now that he's starting a family, I told him to come live here in the house."

"Where are we going?"

"Back to California,"

There were mixed reactions at the table. Gladys looked concerned while the older siblings looked excited. Lola, however, looked confused.

"We get to go back home!" cheered Katie

"I doubt we'll get the old house back though," added Larry, "We'll probably end up in an apartment in the city somewhere until we can find a house in the suburbs."

"Doesn't matter! We get to go back home! Oh California! How I missed it…"

"Back to California? We lived in California?" asked Lola

"You don't remember?" asked Brendan

"No…"

"You were too little I guess…"

Lola just shrugged. Katie and Brendan started talking about how great it would be to go back. Gladys got up from her chair and spoke to her husband.

"Larry, can I talk to you?" asked Gladys

Larry got up from the table and followed her into the kitchen.

"Larry…are you sure about this? Moving back to Cali…" her voice was worried, and concerned.

"Yes. Don't worry, everything is going to turn out ok. I'm going back to set things straight. I got a call the other day; they told me the tables have turned. It's as good as over. Everything is going to be fine…"

"I don't know…we've been running all these years. And I'm worried about the kids…"

"We're not going to run anymore. I'm tired of running. This is going to be over before we know it, and we'll finally be at peace,"

"Promise?"

"I promise,"

He placed his hand on her shoulder. She nodded in response. He kissed her cheek and they both walked back into the room.

"Alright kids, in four months time, we're moving back to Cali,"

"Alright Rocky, stop showing off and let's go to your mother's,"

Lola took one last swing and saw Bugs in the gym.

"You're the first man I ever met who was happy to go to his mother-in-law's,"

"You're mom makes good food…"

"Ah, so it is true that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach,"

"Good thing you had personality…"

"Shut up,"

She playfully punched his shoulder.

"Abuse!" he laughed

She punched him again. They both laughed together. She took off her boxing gloves and stretched her arms.

"You know you should use the gym once in a while, my mom's cooking isn't going to make you thinner," she said poking his stomach

"Look who's talking, J-Lo" he said as he smacked her bottom a little

"Hey!" she smacked his back

They got into a little war that was only stopped when he held on to her suddenly; She stumbled backwards until her back was against the door frame.

"I like yours, it jiggles like jello," he snickered

"You moron…"

He kissed her tenderly. They released the kiss and looked into each other's eyes.

"You're still a moron…"

He just smirked. She then kissed him back. She pushed up against him until he was on the opposite side of the door frame. They released the kiss.

"I like 'em dangerous…" he smiled

"I know you do…" she whispered

They heard footsteps coming from down the hallway.

"Uhh…what are you doing?"

"Nothing…" answered Brendan

"Can you go to the grocery store and get milk and bread?" asked Gladys from the other room

"Ok,"

However Brendan didn't get up from his seat in front of the couch. He was still entranced by his video games. Just then Lola walked in with the grocery money.

"Brendan…"

"What?"

"Mom said…"

"Oh, can you go for me? I'll give you five bucks…"

Lola shrugged.

"Fine, I'm tired of being locked up anyways," she said

It was four months later, and the Bunny family was back in California. They were living in a fourth story apartment in Los Angeles. It was very cramped in there, and Lola felt cooped up. And this was her opportunity to escape.

Lola went to the closet and took out her bike. She went down on the elevator and walked out onto the sidewalk and rode down the street. She started to come to the more commercialized area; however she found that the local grocery was closed.

"On vacation?" she muttered as she saw the sign.

The only other grocery I know is downtown. But Mom told me to never go there by myself. But then again she's the one who sent to get the groceries. If I go back empty handed she'll be mad for sure.

She looked down the street, wondering whether to go down or to head back.

This neighborhood is too boring anyways…

Taking advantage of the bit of freedom she had, she kicked off the stand and rode downtown.

Moments later…

"Brendan? What are you still doing here?" asked Gladys as she came into the room

"Hmm?"

"Brendan! Wake up!"

"What?!" he said jolting up from the seat.

"You didn't go to the groceries?"

"No, Lola went…"

"She went by HERSELF?!"

"Yeah, she's not a little kid anymore,"

"But it was YOUR responsibility to go! How long ago has she been gone?"

"Umm…ever since you told me…"

"WHAT!?"

Lola rode further and further down on the sidewalk. She was enjoying the breeze in her hair, and the sounds of the city. The sounds of the cars and the people were a relief of her mother's scolding, her brother's games, and her sister's complaints. But the pleasant cityscape was starting to change. The buildings were getting taller and taller, enclosing her there. And the bit of sky she could see was turning into the orange and reds of sunset.

I know it was around here somewhere…but these streets don't look familiar at all. It's starting to get late, I should head back before my mom sends a search party.

Lola turned around and started to ride her bike back home. But then a car zoomed down the street. Then a group of cars came after it with sirens. They stopped not too far from where she was. Two men came out of the first car and ran into a shabby building. The other cars surrounded the building. Men got out of the cars and crouched behind the doors of their cars. Lola's sense of danger told her to go hide; but curiosity beckoned her to watch. So she watched behind the safety of a building. As she got a closer look at one of the men, her eyes shot up in shock.

DAD?!?

Larry seemed to have been the leader of the entire operation. He made some hand gestures and a group of the men went around the building. Then another group of men, including Larry, went inside. Shots were heard and a scuffle. Just then one of the other men came running out of the building. Larry came out of the building, chasing him. Larry was quick and able to tackle him down. The man did all he could to get free. Larry picked him up and threw him to the ground, crashing him into a trash can on the curb. The man pulled out a gun, but Larry quickly chopped it away from his hand, and punched him the stomach. The man tried to backhand him, but Larry dodged and swoop kicked him. The air was knocked out of him once he impacted the ground and he laid there exhausted. Larry pulled out cuffs and put them on him. When he looked up from the ground, his eyes met with Lola's look of shock.

Wow! My Dad kicked butt!

Once the criminal was driven away in one of the vehicles, Larry approached Lola.

"Lola? What are you doing here?" his voice was mixed with worry and anger

"I…came for groceries,"

"All the way out here?"

"The grocery store was closed, so I came down here to look for one. But then…wow Dad! That was so amazing!"

"You shouldn't have come down here by yourself…"

"I know…but Daddy where did you learn how to fight like that?! That was so cool!"

"Lola no…"

"I always thought you were a cop? How come you're not wearing a uniform like a cop?"

"That's because I'm not a cop. I'm FBI,"

"FBI?? So they taught you all that karate? That was so cool how you punched him…POW! And then you kicked him…HIYAH! WOW!!" she imitated her Dad and laughed of the thought how the bad man crashed to the ground.

"Lola…"

"Oh, can I be an FBI agent when I grow up?"

"Most definitely not!" he said sternly

Lola's little fantasy was crushed.

"But why?"

"It's not a life I want you to have. It's too dangerous,"

"But then why are you an agent?"

"If I would have known it was going to put my family in danger, I wouldn't have. Come let's go home. There are a lot of things I need to tell you kids,"

Afterwards…

Father and daughter walked into the living room. Gladys heard the door and rushed towards Lola.

"Oh my goodness! Lola! Are you alright? Where have you been? I was worried sick!"

"I'm fine mom," she mumbled through her embrace

"Relax Gladys. Everything's fine," said Larry, "Everyone, we need to talk."

Larry gathered the family in the living room. They all sat down on the couches and listened to what Larry had to say.

"Kids, I'm sure you want to know why we had to move around these past years. First off, it has to do with my profession. I'm a field agent for the FBI."

"FBI?" asked Katie and Brendan in confusion

"But weren't you a police officer?" asked Brendan

"I told you guys that to hide my true identity. It was for your own safety. But yes, like I was saying. In one of my early assignments, before any of you were born, I made a drug bust; One of the biggest busts in this city. The drug lord lost millions in merchandise, and he swore revenge. I didn't worry so much, but one day they tell me he was out on the streets again. He was out looking for all who made that bust, and I was one of them. So we had to leave the city."

"You mean he was gonna kill us?" asked Katie, turning pale

"Yes,"

"But then why did we have to move all the time?"

"Because he had a lot of power; He could have had his men come find us and kill us. So we had to keep moving."

"Why are you telling us this now?" asked Brendan

"Because I didn't want to worry you guys. You were all too young to understand the gravity of the situation. But now we don't have to worry, because we found him and arrested him today."

"Wonderful!" exclaimed Gladys

"Yeah! Daddy beat him up real good!" said Lola

"What do you…where were you?" she said with a tint of anger in her voice

"Downtown…" she started wishing she had kept her mouth shut

"WHAT!?" she shouted

"I…"

"You mean you saw the whole thing?! Are you crazy! You could have been hurt! What on earth is a girl like you doing downtown by herself?!"

"…looking for milk and bread?"

Gladys glared at Brendan, at Lola, then back at Brendan.

"You see what could have happened? Your sister could have been hurt or worse!"

"But nothing happened…" defended Brendan

"Nothing? Lola witnessed a shoot out!"

"But…nobody told her to go downtown!"

"All because of those stupid video games! No more video games in this house!"

"Gladys, will you calm down," said Larry, "the girl is fine."

Gladys clenched her fist and adverted her gaze from her son. Lola looked down, feeling guilty for causing her brother to be in trouble. Brendan was just frustrated with his unreasonable mother.

"You shouldn't be angry," reasoned Larry, "You should be looking at the bigger picture; we don't have to live in fear. We don't have to move around anymore."

"No more moving around?" asked the children

"No more moving around," he assured

"YAY!"

Sean was looking with a slightly disgusted face at his parents. Lola and Bugs just smiled and let each other go.

"C'mon let's go," said Bugs pushing Sean along

"You guys ready?" asked Lola

"We've been ready," said Tanya as she came from down the hallway.

"Go meet us in the car," said Bugs

The kids went off and out the door. Bugs held on to Lola's hand and kissed her lips. He gave her a knowing smile then walked off after the children. After changing into regular clothes, Lola joined them as well.

Bugs started the car and they were off to the parent's house.