Chapter 3- Common ground
"Movie?"
"Nope."
"Shopping?"
"I would rather be dead."
The feeling is mutual on that one!
"An art exhibition?"
"Not in a nightmare."
"A poetry recital?"
"Do I look like a sixty-year-old to you?"
"Then what?" I waved my arms in dry air, frustrated by her lack of cooperation in deciding an activity the both of us can agree on. She had initially proposed to visit the Seattle wrestling club, an idea that I could not fathom reacting positively to. I mean, they were fighting! What was there to like in that?
But apparently, she did have a violent streak to her. And enjoyed the sight of people attempting to permanently damage one another!
Anyhow. Since that one ridiculous idea, not one good idea had registered in our brainstorming session. She craved violence and I craved peace. She was all about action and revenge, gory and raw, animalistic desires. I preferred something mellow down in comparison. Heck. I would have preferred that art exhibition or poetry recital any day over a video game that involved brutally murdering your opponent. But. Unfortunately. This wasn't a solo activity.
"You want to go shooting?" she suggested.
"Um…excuse me?"
Shooting as in, shooting for fun, right?
With her, sadly, I had to confirm the basics!
"Why, you, scared little chicken?"
I frowned at her. Really? Did that even pass for an insult after the age of ten?
"Fine." She rolled her eyes in resignation, maturing about it. "There is this shooting range we can visit. The reviews seem nice. But I don't want you fainting on me. If you can't handle it, tell me right now itself. I will not baby you once we are there."
I scoffed at that, a humorless laugh escaping my lips. "Have you forgotten who my father is? He taught me how to shoot when I was eight." She raised an eyebrow at that, waiting for me to continue, "Admittedly, I wasn't ready for it back then, but I did not moan or cry. I simply vomited the entire day post that and had nightmares for a whole week!" I smiled, winking at her.
She smiled back, "you sure you can handle it?"
I waved her concern off. "Till we are not shooting a real person, or animal, I think I can digest it."
She sighed, a tinge of melancholy seeping into her tone. "I have to be a hard ass. It comes with this persona of being a protector. I can't refuse to kill a bloodsucker, no matter how disgusting and gory it looks or feels."
"But you haven't actually killed one yet, right?"
She hadn't joined the pack back when Laurent was killed.
"No." she shrugged. "But I have seen the others' memories. It was disgusting. Imagine ripping an arm dripping venom off someone's torso, or pulling their head off, with just their headless body persisting. He may have been dead, but he wasn't actually dead! Even then, it would have been disgusting."
I shivered at that. It was not an image I wanted in my head.
"And don't even get me started on the fact that we tend to kill and eat other animals in our wolf form!"
"You do?" That was a surprise for me. Jake had never mentioned this.
Probably, because it was no turn-on.
She snorted. "My mother doesn't earn enough to pay for our larger than acceptable appetite, or for the several pairs of clothes we tear day in and day out. We manage, but each one of us in the pack is in the same boat. Our parents cannot afford to raise us."
Oh.
"I know Jake likes to hide this reality from you, but I am not that nice."
"Leah…"
"I know what you are thinking," she scowled, "poor, miserable Leah, narrating her sob story."
I shook my head at that, empathic about her situation, but not wishing to offend her by appearing sympathetic. "I can relate. I didn't really have an open wallet growing up. Renee tended to splurge much more than she earned; her excuse being that she forgot that we needed groceries, or that the bills were yet to be paid. Initially, my grandmother- her mother tended to cover up for us, but after nana's death…" I sighed, pausing to gather the courage to continue, "we would have been on the streets were it not for the several suitors my mother slept with and discarded like worn clothes. They were generous, more so than expected. They often paid to run the house, or at least provided the money to buy a week's grocery. Renee, of course, never understood that they were doing this out of charity." I scoffed in deeply buried anger.
"I assume, Charlie is none the wiser?"
I shrugged. "I loved my mother despite her flaws. Charlie would have fought tooth and nail for full custody."
And probably would have won.
"How come you fell for that bloodsucker…Edward…then?" she gritted her teeth, correcting herself. "They waste money like it grows on trees. It is almost offensive to us who don't have any. The younger ones in our pack don't understand the superficiality of it all. They look up to them for the sole reason that they have what we don't, and can afford nice, new things."
"I guess, he provides me with a security I have craved all my life. I feel safe with him. Ironically. I don't care about the money. I know it is not in me to take the presence of it for granted, but that is just who they are. Sure, when he spends overly and superfluously on me, I do get offended. Charlie does more than me. His face drops every time Edward gifts me something Charlie could never afford to waste money on."
"Why don't you put a stop to it, then?" she frowned.
I shrugged. "He is just showing his love for me, I guess."
"You could do better, Swan. Much better." She appraised me with a critical eye.
X-X-X
The drive to the shooting range was covered in peaceful silence, the both of us pondering over the conversation we had just had. Leah…was more human in comparison to Alice. I could have an actual conversation with her, one that she understood and could partake in. Alice just did not understand why I would not accept a five-hundred-dollar coat as a gift. Money was of no value to her. She had always had it, reducing the importance of it in her life. But I wasn't like that. I had been raised to value it. And if I did not need something desperately, I just did not need it.
Talking to Leah was easy and somewhat relatable.
We could have an actual conversation, not one revolving solely around superficial things like clothes or heels.
My phone rang at that very moment, pulling me out of my thoughts. I was quick to receive the call, putting the phone up to my ear.
"Billy's an asshole."
I smiled, "Hello to you, too, dad."
It felt nice to hear his voice.
"He had the audacity to order me to call you both back. Order. Does he believe I work under him?"
Oops.
Stupid Billy.
"What did you say?"
"Get out. What else is there to say to that?"
I let out a laugh. "That's mean, dad."
"He deserves it."
Probably does.
"How come I never realized this before today what a controlling bastard he is? He wants Leah back on the reservation under any circumstances."
I spared a glance at Leah, her eyes trained forward, but her ears listening in. "How is Sue holding up?"
"Fighting him hard. She wants to see the best for her daughter and will do anything to achieve that."
"Thank you, dad." I breathily murmured. "From both of us."
Leah never acknowledged it, but I could see it in her eyes, she was grateful for what her mother was doing for her, for what Charlie had done for her.
She needed this. Just like I did.
The rest of my short conversation with Charlie flowed by, the call ending with us reaching our destination.
Leah and I may not have much in common, but we both knew better than to take this opportunity of a lifetime for granted. We would make the most of this trip.
