Part 32
Lonnie is the last one to join us in Max's apartment this afternoon. She rolls her eyes when she notices me, making it a point to let everyone know that she doesn't approve of me being a part of her gang.
"So, why are we here again?" she asks, glancing at her watch as if she's already been waiting for hours now.
"To discuss what we´re gonna do now," Max answers, taking the seat next to Liz and taking her hand automatically.
"Well, that´s easy. Just hand her over to Billy again," she snarls.
"Shut up, Lonnie," Michael counters without even looking at her. He leans back and lifts one arm on top of the headrest so that his hand is touching my shoulder.
"We´re not doin' this," Max says clearly. "She saved Liz and she´s one of us now."
"If she wasn't, they never would have kidnapped Liz," Lonnie keeps arguing.
"You had the idea to kidnap Maria in the first place," Kyle throws in ironically.
"Oh, please," Lonnie sighs heavily, "I couldn't know that Guerin would fall for her."
"Billy was a bastard a long time before things started with Maria," Michael defends himself and I like it. He didn´t negate his feelings for me, that´s good, right?
"I´m not denying that, but he didn´t hold a gun up to us then. I didn´t have to worry about getting shot when I was walking outside."
"You think Billy would shoot one of us in public?" Alex asks worried.
"I have no doubt that he would have used his gun against one of the girls last night if he'd had the chance," Kyle admits. "Damn, there's a bullet hole in my car."
"That´s just great," Lonnie growls. "Why don´t we just go after him at night?"
"And then what?" Michael snaps. "Kill him?"
She shrugs. "If it´s necessary."
"That´s ridiculous," Max finally says, "we´re not killing him. Or is there anyone here who wants to go to jail willingly and live the rest of your life with the knowledge that you killed somebody?" He looks around the room in question and nods, satisfied when everyone stays silent. "Michael and me discussed another option earlier," he begins and I hold my breath, 'cause I know what will come next.
"That would be?" Kyle asks, interested.
"Leaving New York." Michael is the one who says it out loud in front of the rest.
Lonnie laughs, the sound overacted. "Sorry, I must have misunderstood you; it sounded like you were suggesting we leave." She looks at Max' and Michael's serious faces. "Oh, my God, you really said it!"
"Where do you want to go?" Kyle asks doubtfully.
"We haven´t decided yet. Maybe Atlanta, maybe somewhere else," Michael answers.
"You want to run away from Billy?" Lonnie almost screams. "What's wrong with you guys? I don't know you anymore. Where are the Max and Michael I've known since childhood?"
"We're still here, Lonnie," Max says.
She shakes her head wildly. "No, you're not. The men I knew wouldn´t run away from Billy."
"It´s different now," Max explains calmly, "we haven't had any responsibility before. But now..." he takes a deep breath, "Liz is pregnant" – some shocked murmurs go through the room – "and Maria is the first one who will be hunted by Billy. We can´t take the risk of stayin' 'cause we all know that Billy won´t leave us alone."
"You're pregnant?" Alex asks, surprised as he rushes to Liz' side and hugs her.
"So, you've already made your decision. You´re gonna leave us alone with him here," Lonnie states.
"Bullshit!" Michael reacts immediately. "We're askin' all of you to come with us."
"Pfff. No, thank you!" She stands up and walks to the door.
"Lonnie..." Max starts.
"Don´t, Max. Go on and leave. Whatever. I'm staying." With that she´s out.
Kyle looks at the now closed door with lifted eyebrows. "Well, that was to be expected. She'll calm down."
"What about you?" Max asks.
Kyle shrugs. "I understand your motives for leaving, but I´m not sure if I´m coming with you. I´ll let you know."
Max nods. "Alex?"
"I'm goin' wherever Liz is goin'."
"When do you want to leave?" Kyle asks.
"We don´t know yet," Michael says. "I might have a chance to get a job in Atlanta, so we have to arrange some stuff. We need a place to stay, Max needs a job, Maria needs to finish school somewhere. We have to think about the details now."
Max nodds. "I´m gonna ask my company, too, if there is any chance of getting a job near Atlanta."
Kyle nods absent-mindedly. "What about the time between now and leaving? I mean, will Liz go to work? Will Maria go to school? We have to think about these things, too."
Michael looks down at me for several long seconds. "There is no way you can protect her continuously in school, is there?" he asks Kyle without looking away from me
Kyle sighs. "I don't think so. We have different classes and the school is big. It would be too easy for Billy to get in unseen."
Michael nods. "We can't risk anything happening to her." He lifts my chin with his fingers. "You okay with staying in my apartment until we leave?"
"I don´t really have another choice, do I?" I ask, smiling weakly.
"Liz already quit her job this morning. She´s staying home as well," Max says.
"What about my job?" I ask, remembering my recent promotion. "We're gonna need some money, Michael."
He nods. "I´m gonna talk to Kate later. Maybe you can get the late shifts now and then. I can drive you there and pick you up later again."
Liz bends forward to look at me. "Seems like we'll be spending a lot of time together during the day now."
****
Girl's day December 10th, 2007 – Monday – 10:00 am
A soft knock on the door wakes me up from my daze. I didn't sleep very well last night, so I´m still lying in bed, even if it´s already 10 am on Monday morning. I don't care, 'cause I can´t go to school, so what else should I be doing?
I stand up slowly, stretch my body and walk to the front door, dressed in a pair of Michael's boxers and one of his t-shirts. "Hey, Liz," I greet the girl in the hallway.
"Hey, uhm, did I wake you up?"
"No, it´s okay. I'm just lying around 'cause I´ve got nothing better to do anyway."
"Yeah, same for me. I´m not used to being alone and entertaining myself so I was hoping we could spend some time together."
"Yeah, that would be cool. Come in, I´m gonna make breakfast if there is anything edible in the refrigerator. I've to write a grocery list for Michael."
"Do you have morning sickness as much as other pregnant woman do?" I ask, chewing on my cereals.
She sticks a big spoon of it in her mouth as well. "No, not yet anyway."
"Uh-huh," I say, watching her eating a mountain of cereals. "You're hungry, huh?" I ask with a smirk.
She smirks back. "Yeah. Since I found out that I'm pregnant I could eat all day long. Guess that won't be too good, if I don´t want to buy new clothes every month."
"Had you guys planned this?" I gesture to her belly.
She shakes her head. "No, it just happened. Maybe my pill wasn't working correctly with all the excitement going on lately." She shrugs. "But I´m okay with it and Max is, too."
I nod. "Yeah, I saw that, you know. Besides all the worry about Billy you could see his excitement about it."
"Yeah, he reacted really great. We talked about having kids, but neither of us thought that it would be so soon."
"You two will make really good parents."
She grins. "Thanks. We just have to hope now that we'll find a new place to stay. A safe place."
"Yeah." I look up at her. "Liz, I'm really sorry that you guys have to leave because of me."
Liz lays her spoon on the table and grabs my hand. "You don´t have to be sorry about anything, Maria. I´m glad that you're here, 'cause I really needed another girl between all these guys. And Lonnie..." she rolls her eyes, "you met her, she´s not really a girl."
"Yeah, I think I know what you mean."
"Besides that, I never saw Michael this happy. He didn´t share feelings with anybody or care about somebody before you came into the picture. And to be honest, I´m still surprised that he suggested we leave as well. He would have never have done such a thing before he met you. You've changed him a lot."
"He´s all I have right now," I admit, "I don´t know where I would be now, if he hadn´t been there."
"You don´t have just him now, Maria. Max and me are your friends, too. And we're gonna find a nice town, where we can live together and start new. I'm sure about it."
"You're not sad that you have to leave New York?"
Liz seems to think about it a few seconds. "No, not at all. My parents moved to California a few years ago and we haven't talked since then. I don´t have any close friends besides you guys. So… no, the people I love will come with me, so there's no reason to miss New York. If anything, I can't wait to have nice long walks outside wihout the need to worry about an enemy showing up. I want to go shopping and to a park carefree."
"Yeah, that would be really cool. I´m sick of all the hiding, too. Will you miss Lonnie and Kyle, if they stay here?"
"As for Lonnie… No, not really. I never had any real conversations with her. She was just there, you know? And Kyle, well, yeah, I think I will miss him a little. I know he's done cruel things to you, Maria, and there is no excuse for that, but he also saved us the other night."
"Yeah," I answer thoughtfully, "I was really scared of him in the beginning, for obvious reasons, but the night when he drove us away from Billy´s apartment something kinda changed."
"He's very loyal. He hated you when you where a Hurricane, but he also protects you with his life when you're one of us..." She rolls her eyes, "you know, I can´t wait for all of this gang shit to end. Once we're out of town, we´re no longer the Bandits, we´re just some friends living together."
"Sounds nice to me."