'Taste like sugar, but it's Novocain
She's grinding teeth
She can sharpen the pain
White lights, train wreck.'
Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide – Shinedown.
Chapter Nine - Too Much Stuff.
Nate certainly wasn't shy when it came to talking about himself. In the short time that Cody and Bailey had been walking briskly beside him in the direction of wherever he was leading them, they had learnt a bit more about their new found companion.
Nathan Lucas was seventeen – a year older than Cody and Bailey, and he had been living on his own for a long time. He left home when he was fifteen and met up with his cousin, Ty, who had been living the same way since a couple of months earlier. Not long after, they had come across two other kids in a similar situation and had been a tight knit group ever since.
Nate's reasoning for running away was all put down to his mother, so he said. He told Cody and Bailey that he'd be more than willing to elaborate, but it was the farm girl who had cut him off and said that she and her boyfriend really didn't need to know the details.
Bailey still did not trust Nate in the slightest, and there was no denying it. She knew that the only reason she had Cody had gone along with his offer in the first place was because of the slim hope Cody held of finding Zack alive and well. His mind was all over the place, and this argument was only intensified once Nate turned the tables and started poking questions at Cody.
The younger twin would talk about himself easily, but when asked about his family he would only briefly mention his mum and dad and then quickly try and change the subject. It was almost as if Zack really didn't exist. The mere thought of it sent a shiver up Bailey's spine as she forced herself to bite her tongue and simply listen to the friendly banter back and forth between her boyfriend and the older boy before Nate finally came to a halt and gazed up at a loft in front of them.
"This is the dump," he said with a chuckle.
Bailey frowned, "You guys all live in here?"
The structure before them was much like the old motel that they had left about half an hour ago – run down, filthy and coated in graffiti. It was placed in between two other buildings that looked exactly alike. In fact, they stretched all the way up the suburban street.
There were only a couple of other people around at that particular moment – sitting on their porch having a smoke and whatnot. It all added up to equal the most unappealing scene that Cody and Bailey had both ever seen in their entire lives.
"It's abandoned," Nate replied with a shrug, "Just figured we'd move our way in a few months ago and no-one's had a go at us about it. Yet."
"How reassuring," Bailey sniped.
Nate snickered to himself at yet another feisty comment from Bailey and then patted Cody on the shoulder, "Come on, then."
"Will your cousin be here?" the younger twin asked curiously.
"Should be," Nate answered simply, "They all should be - it's not like they have anywhere else to go."
The three then plodded their way up the rickety steps and Nate forced open the tough wooden door.
A cloud of dust exploded from the older boy's powerful shove of the squeaky entrance as Cody and Bailey adjusted their eyesight to the dull light that barely illuminated the room.
The small space before them was pretty much empty, with only a dodgy old lounge and an armchair taking up space. Towards the back of the room laid the remains of what may have once been a nice kitchen with an esky pushed carelessly to one side next to the pantry. There was another doorway to the side of the room, which presumably led to a bedroom, and the wire-made backdoor sat unsteadily on the opposite side, letting the bright beams of sunlight from the outside world gleam in.
"I'm back, guys," Nate announced to the two boys that were talking amongst themselves on the lounge in the centre of the room.
Nate's friends both instantly looked up and frowned at the two strangers standing alongside him. They stood up off the lounge and began to scan Cody and Bailey up and down with their eyes.
The first boy was slim, but had sort of a built up upper-body and dirty blonde hair with a long, greasy rat's tail that hung over his shoulder. He was dressed in a tight, red singlet and a pair of baggy, gray sweatpants and had an obvious tongue piercing that he kept using his teeth to play with.
The second was kind of on the chubby side with a fat face and blondish-reddish hair cut short. His shirt was navy blue and he was wearing a knee-length pair of black Canterburys, revealing his plump ankles and bright, white Nike low-tops.
The chubby kid snorted, "Who ya got here?"
"This is Cody and Bailey," Nate answered, gesturing between the two, "They need our help to get somewhere, so they're gonna' be hanging around us for a bit, alright?" The dark haired boy then pointed to his two friends, "These are my buddies, Brayden and Hog."
Bailey subtly let her shy vision fall to the ground while Cody nodded his head and offered the two a soft 'hey'. The guys seemed to ignore the younger twin's greeting, as the slim boy, Brayden, turned his attention back to Nate.
"Did you get the stuff away from Damon?"
Nate furrowed his brow in confusion, "I thought his name was Dave, or Dan?"
"Dude, it's Damon," Hog cut in, "And you better have got it. You know how pissed Ty gets when she doesn't get her fix."
The second that this sentence left the red-head's mouth, Bailey's head shot up as Cody's jaw dropped in surprise, "Wait, she?"
Nate rolled his eyes at Hog and raised his voice, "Ty! I'm back!"
Still feeling utterly baffled, the younger twin and his girlfriend both followed the sound of the backdoor swinging open and allowed their eyes to widen in shock at the image of a tall, thin girl that appeared before them.
Ty had a head of long, jet-black hair that came all the way down to her waist. Her pale green orbs glimmered amongst her heavy black eye make-up, and her lips were covered in a glossy black, too. She wore a pair of tight skinny-leg jeans and a loose fitting red shirt that clung lazily to her shoulders and had a shiny, silver cross hanging around her neck that sparkled much like the silver stud that pierced her lip.
Ty's vision glanced over Cody and Bailey, but her face remained the same blank expression, "What we got here?"
"Cuz, this is Cody and Bailey," Nate repeated, "Guys, this is my cousin, Ty."
Bailey tilted her head slightly, her brow still furrowed, "You're a girl?"
"Yeah. Tyler," Nate re-iterated.
"Is that a problem?" Ty asked sharply.
"No, not at all," Cody jumped in, leaping to Bailey's defense, "Nate just didn't call you anything else but 'Ty' and we sort of assumed you were a boy."
Ty rolled her eyes as Nate licked his lips and opened his mouth to speak again, "I met up with them up the street. They need our help."
Ty began to fiddle with the belt loop at the top of her jeans, "How so?"
"They need to get out to Newberry. I told them that you would be the best person for the job."
Scoffing to herself, Ty brushed her hair out of her face, "Did you get my stuff?"
Shaking his head in discontent, Nate reached into his pocket and threw the clear bag over to his cousin.
Ty caught it easily and opened it up, examining it for a second or two, before she turned on her heels and headed back towards the backdoor, calling out as she did, "I'll think about it."
Cody and Bailey both flinched as the old door slammed shut behind Ty, leaving them standing in an awkward silence with Nate and the other two boys. Still shaking his head at his little cousin's attitude, Nate grabbed a dark coloured backpack from off the lounge and slung it over his shoulder.
"Ignore her, we all do. She'll come round," he advised gently, "Anyway, I'm gonna' go work."
Cody raised an eyebrow, "Work?"
Nate nodded his head, "Yeah. These losers think it'd be easier if we just stole everything we needed," he replied, gesturing towards Brayden and Hog, "but I like to at least try and do things that won't affect my conscience."
"Pussy," Brayden murmured under his breath.
"D'you say something, Mr. Testosterone?" Nate snapped with a smirk.
"Who do you work for?" Cody interjected.
"This guy 'X'. Dunno' what his real name is."
Bailey grunted a laugh, "That's probably for the best, though, right?"
Paying no attention to yet another cynical quip from the farm girl, Nate simply turned his awareness back to Cody who spoke again, "Well, what kind of work do you do?"
Nate hesitated for a moment, "I'd tell ya, but Bailey probably thinks that you two... what was it, don't need to know the details?."
The southern girl scowled in displeasure as Nate evened the score and grinned at her sarcastically.
"I won't be long, alright?" he then said to both pairs of friends in the room, "Oh, and before you two ask," he went on, staring down Brayden and Hog, "Yes, Cody and Bailey are a couple, so she's off limits. Got it, Hog?"
Bailey shuddered in disgust and latched onto Cody's arm as Hog lowered his head in what seemed to be disappointment and Brayden began laughing loudly.
"Still a good idea, sweetie?" Bailey whispered sourly into her boyfriend's ear.
Cowering at the fire in Bailey's tone, Cody simply shrugged and shot Nate a pleading look. The older boy nodded again as he started making his way towards the front door and twisted the rusty doorknob.
"I mean it, you guys," he urged harshly, "No fucking around, alright? I'll be back soon."
As the two boys eventually began to calm down, Cody gave Nate a grateful stare before he disappeared behind the door and back out onto the street.
Still clearly feeling quite uncomfortable at the situation they had found themselves in, Bailey gripped onto Cody's waist a little bit tighter as he reached his arm around her and gently rubbed her back. She sighed softly and casually glanced back up at Brayden and Hog.
"So…" she started awkwardly, "what do you guys do to pass the time around here?"
Brayden heaved his shoulders up and down with a grumble, "Unless you got any fireworks or illicit drugs on ya, not a lot."
"Maybe your boyfriend has an idea?" Hog suggested, partially in sarcasm. But Cody didn't notice.
At that particular moment, the younger twin's eyes were glued to the backdoor. Through the thin strips of wire he could see Ty sitting out on the back steps, a smoke hanging out of her mouth while she rolled another from the bag that sat in her lap. She was certainly not what Cody had expected her to be in any way, shape or form, and not just because she was a girl. Observing the way she stared with emptiness up into the cloudless sky above her and the long, sickening drags she took from the drug hanging from her lips, the only thought crossing Cody's mind was how he never expected Ty to be someone who seemed almost as sad, broken and lost as he was.
"Hey, blondie!"
Just as Bailey was almost lost in a comfortable snooze, the booming noise of what sounded like Hog's voice from the next room caused her eyes to slowly flutter open.
She and Cody were lounged out on Nate's bed that was in the spare room of the loft, and after what felt like an eternity of simply lying with each other and talking, Bailey had finally decided to happily rest her head on her boyfriend's chest and try to catch up on a bit of shut-eye.
The first thing that she remembered when she awoke from her doze was how much she had tried to get Cody to talk about how was feeling now – a couple of days after all that had happened – and although she had succeeded, it was much to Cody's reluctance. He kept telling her that he didn't want to think about it anymore, that talking about wasn't making him feel much better, but even so, he wasn't going to allow himself to shut Bailey out.
The farm girl groaned out a yawn, "I think they were calling you, sweetie."
"I know," Cody answered softly, "I'm ignoring it."
Bailey giggled slightly but came to a sudden stop as a gentle knock came from the other side of the door.
Cody sighed in disappointment, "I don't wanna' get up, baby," he whispered sweetly before placing a soft kiss on Bailey's hair line and hopping off the bed.
Once he was about half way towards the bedroom door, a loud thump against made him jump in his tracks. The younger twin tentatively opened it and frowned as his vision came into contact with Nate standing there holding Hog's shoe and threatening to pelt it back at him.
"Nate?" Cody asked.
The older boy instantly spun around and threw his friend's shoe over his shoulder, "I knocked politely, ginger-nuts over there is the one who threw his shoe."
Cody opened his mouth to comment but soon bit his tongue as he and Nate heard Bailey loudly clear her throat in disproval.
"I mean Hog is the one who threw his shoe," Nate restated, willing himself not to laugh.
Cody pushed the funny thought from his mind and scratched his head, "What's up?"
"These two shits are too lazy to help me carry in a couple of boxes from the yard," he began, making sure Brayden and Hog could hear him, "Would you mind?"
Cody licked his lips and turned back to face Bailey, stuttering over an answer.
"Don't worry," Nate said, reading his thoughts, "I'll make sure they'll leave her alone."
Letting a slight smirk cross his lips, Cody nodded his head and quickly blew Bailey a kiss before following Nate out of the room.
"Hey, guys?" Nate said innocently to the boys, "Anyone who annoys Bailey gets a kick in the teeth, got it?"
Brayden and Hog both sunk in their seats and nodded their heads at the heated tone that overtook Nate's voice, as he and Cody made their way out of the loft. Just as they did, Cody subtly turned back and glanced out the backdoor, surprised to see Ty still sitting there in the exact same position as she had been what had to have been about an hour ago.
"Coming, Cody?"
Snapping out of his trance, Cody took his eyes off Ty and looked back at Nate, "Yeah, coming."
The sunlight cast down strongly on Cody and forced his eyes to adjust slightly to the brightness. There were a few more people hanging around now – a couple of kids running up the street, cursing and yelling at each other, mind you, and the same couple of adults sitting on their front porches, eyeing Cody and Nate suspiciously. He hadn't exactly been keeping track of the time, but Cody supposed it had to be about ten-thirty by now. In the back of his mind, he sort of wondered what his mum and dad were doing right now. And Zack.
"D'you guys get up to anything while I was gone?"
Cody blinked and stared blankly at Nate for a second after breaking out of his daze, "Oh, er, nah, nothing really. Pretty quiet," the younger twin then stopped in a moment of hesitation, "Especially Ty."
Nate stifled a silent snicker just as the two reached the front gate where two large boxes sat in the dirt, "Yeah, don't think too much about that. She doesn't really talk to anyone."
"Is there a reason for that?"
"Yeah," Nate answered swiftly.
Cody furrowed his brow in deep concern. Noticing this, Nate froze in his place for a moment and seemed to waver for a second or two, "Look, I probably shouldn't be telling you too much stuff that you should really be hearing from her, but when it comes to Ty, a lot of the time you've just got to nod and smile at whatever she says," Cody stared through the older boy, still confused. Nate sighed, "I'm not saying she hasn't had a hard life, because she has, but she acts like it's a total train wreck, when it's not."
At a loss of what else to say, Cody simply nodded once and picked up one of the boxes, still frowning to himself and trying to wrap his head around all that Nate had just told him.
He couldn't understand why Ty would be the first out of her group of four to leave the comforts of family home. Maybe it wasn't really any comfort at all, but even so, if what Nate said was true and Ty's life hadn't really been completely horrible, why on Earth would she want to make out that it was? Cody knew how it felt to be at rock bottom. He knew what it was like for your life to really be a train – or boat – wreck. He'd never wish that on anybody else.
"Hey, you two?"
Cody and Nate both froze and turned around, catching eyesight with another boy that stood across the street under the shadow of a tall tree. From what could be clearly seen, the boy was tall and had either very short or no hair. Cody guessed that the former made much more sense, but it was still quite heard to tell just that, let alone anything else about this new stranger.
"You Nate Lucas?"
The intimidating tone of the outsider's voice caused Cody's heart to catch in his throat but Nate, on the other hand, merely glanced over to the younger twin coolly before turning back to the other boy and shrugged his shoulders.
"Never heard of him," he answered sensibly, still completely unaware of who this person was or why he wanted to talk to him.
In the next instant, the boy could be heard laughing to himself from where he stood across the street, "Thought you'd say that."
Continuing to play dumb, Nate watched with a raised eyebrow as the boy quickly whirled around and ran off. The second he was gone, however, the older boy's expression turned to one of unease as he cursed under his breath.
"What is it?" Cody asked anxiously.
Nate sighed deeply, reluctant to share his worries with the younger twin, "Looks like we're gonna' have to gather all this shit up and get outta' here quicker than I thought."
"What?" Cody snapped in confusion, "But, Nate –"
"I'll explain later ok, man, I will," he said reassuringly, "but that loser obviously wants me for something and before he comes back and brings friends, we gotta' go."
Biting the inside of his mouth, Cody faltered for a split second, looking between the boxes and Nate before opening his mouth again, "This is more of that Damon guy's stuff, isn't it?"
Breaking his frantic expression, Nate smiled proudly at Cody, "You really are a smart kid, aren't ya?"
Falling back to silence, Cody only twirled back around and marched up toward the loft with his box, taking in a deep breath and keeping one single though gliding freely across his mind, "It's alright," he called back to Nate, "All this sneaking around will all be worth it once Bailey and I get to Newberry."
Another two weeks later, I'm back again :)
Hello everybody, sorry this chapter was a little short, but it was pretty much only needed to introduce a few more lovely new people and set us up for what happens next... :) What do we think of the others, anyway? Oh, and, HA! my plan to make you all think Ty was a boy really worked, didn't it? :P I was actually quite proud of myself.
Please don't forget to leave me some feedback or a review :) It'll make me smile! Thanks guys.
Reneyyyyyyy x.