Chapter 74: First Rule Of Negotiating
Linda looked at around the room where she was being held. There was no way out. The only way would have been through the front, which was a no since she didn't know part of Blaine County she was in. The chain that she was attached too made it impossible to break free. The one thing that was on her mind was Sunny of all things. Linda felt horrible for what Wolfe had one of her friends do to her. That image of her face bloodied made her feel angry and sad. Angry because Wolfe had hurt in that way. Sad because Sunny was at his mercy and there wasn't anything that she could about it, so long as she obeyed his command.
Hope was the thing that kept her going. She knew her sister wouldn't give up that easily; she wasn't the type. Be it riding a bike or taking on someone bigger than her.
Linda heard footsteps. The door opened. Wolfe entered with a smug look on his face. Whatever it was must have been important "So" he begins his sentence "Good news, that slut sister of yours did everything we asked of her, so we're going to cut you two loose". With those words Linda knew something else was up.
It always is.
The Dessert, One Hour Later
Sunny waited at the location that she was texted earlier. She was eager and mostly excited. This nightmare with her sister was done. Wolfe finally got what he wanted. The call went down like this.
"Yeah?" Sunny answered.
"Good news young lady" Wolfe mocked "Our business is finally done, which means that you can get your sister back".
Her breathing increased. It was the end of a nightmare. One that she finally was going to wake up from.
Sunny borrowed Chelsea's Fugitive though Chelsea gave her that cautious look "Chelsea for the love of fuck, I'm going to bring it back in one piece". After what happened with her Rebel she wasn't going to take any chances. Sunny packed everything that she had brought from home into her bag. As much as she was eager to get her sister back, she was also eager to finally escape Blaine County. The dessert heat was one of the things that she wanted to escape the most. A few vehicles started to approach. It was like some scene from a thriller. Something else was coming. The trail of dust followed behind them. Her eyes stared as they parked.
Sunny kept her guard up. She never let it down for a second.
Like a slimy snake Wolfe presented himself with a cocky grin.
"Well now, you're looking quite good yourself" he tried to give her a compliment. Sunny didn't know whether or not she should throw up. "I did everything you asked where's my sister asshole?" she angrily demanded "You know I thought your time here would fix that attitude of yours" he sarcastically remarked "I don't give a flying fuck about my attitude you fucking badge wearing cocksucker! Where's my sister?". One of the men brought out Linda, they undid her hands and removed the tape from her mouth. Linda turned to the one who brought her and spat on his jacket "Linda, gwaenchanh-ayo? (Linda, are you alright?)" Sunny asked "Eung nan gwaenchanh-a! (Yeah I'm fine!)" she answered as she walked to her.
And just like every movie there was a twist.
Two men came from and force Sunny onto the ground. They do the same thing to Linda. Wolfe came from behind his men and points his gun at the back of Linda's head. Linda hyperventilates, she's about to cry Not like this... she tells herself. Sunny had done everything to get her back. She kept her word. And now it was going to end like this. Both of them to be killed together. It was cruel to anyone with a sibling.
Sunny stared at Linda and tells her something to make sure she never doubted her again "Linda naleul bwa! (Linda look at me!)".
Linda carefully raised her head to look at her sister "Gwaenchanh-eul geoyeyo! (It's going to be okay!)" she assured her "Aww, how nice" Wolfe evilly chuckled "You two really are the epitome of sisters, live together; die together". Wolfe cocked the hammer. Linda closed her eyes.
Bang!
The sound echoes throughout the dessert. But it was a different shot from a different person.
Wolfe's gun lay on the ground. The look on his face was of surprise. With quick instinct Sunny kicked a gun out of a cops hands "Linda run!" she shouts. Like a bolt of lightning Linda ran for life. Sunny pulls out her .45 and shoots at the first dirty cop she see's. She runs for her life. Wolfe and his men were too busy taking cover for their lives. Wolfe thought he was so smart. Sunny saw it coming though.
"Chelsea, listen" Sunny tells her over her phone "I need you to bring that rifle you love and hide somewhere they can't see you".
"You think that bloody pig will try something with you and your sister?" she wondered.
"It's a feeling, first rule of negotiating is always have a backup plan" Sunny speeds to the spot.
Sunny slides over the hood of the Fugitive and quickly turns the ignition on "Hang on!" she tells her sister. The Fugitive speeds off.
"Fuck! Bitch!" he chased after them; shooting his pistol at them. They sped like two birds fleeing a predator. He stared as they disappeared "Touché".
Their hearts keep beating. Even though it was a short run to the Fugitive, it was marathon they didn't want to repeat. Sunny's phone starts to vibrate, she put it on speaker "Yeah?".
"Are you two okay?" Chelsea asked "We're fine" Sunny exhaled "Please tell me my car is all right? No dents or holes?" she just had to inquire about her car of all things "Oh fuck, Chelsea, your fucking car is fine! There's not a scratch on it!".
"There better not be" she warned "Look I'll see you back in the city all right? Talk later". Sunny sighed "Fuck".
"I couldn't get that bastard" she looked ahead on the road "But I'm going to end that fucker and that fucking little team of his, one way or the other". Linda looked over at her sister, if she wasn't too tired she likely would have scolded Sunny for saying that. But this wasn't the time she was going to argue with her. At this moment she just wants to leave this place for good. It's going to be that memory of the dessert that she's going to hate for the rest of her life.
...
It was a rather long drive to Los Santos. Thirty eight minutes till they hit the city. Only once did Sunny stop. Mainly to get gas and to buy some water to drink. She did buy a hot dog as a quick snack for Linda but she really wasn't in the mood to eat. She looked too drained. Sunny didn't blame her for being tired though, not after what she went through.
The sight of condos on the coast is the one time she was glad to be back.
Sunny dialed Roberta's number, she may as well tell her girlfriend that she was back. She put the speaker on as the dial tone started ringing.
"Hello?" Roberta answered "Hi baby".
"Sunny! Oh my god!" she joyfully cheered "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I'm on my way back home to our place. I'm done being in that place" Sunny felt relieved after hearing girlfriends voice "Listen um, we're thirty something minutes away from the city. We should be home around the time before you come back from work".
"We?" Roberta wondered "Yeah uh my sister has decided to move in with us" Sunny announced. Linda looked at her completely shocked after hearing that "W-What?" she quietly mouthed at her sister "When did you-?", Sunny put her finger up to not interrupt her conversation "Really? I thought she was working on some case in Blaine?".
"Well the case is over and believe it or not, she had something in her conscience that made her want to work on our relationship. So she left the police department and found me" Sunny smiled "Wow! That's just incredible! I guess the guest room is going to be hers!".
"What-What the hell are you-?" bewildered Linda tried to speak. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "So listen I'll order some food right now" Sunny tells her love "Salvadoran or Chinese? Or maybe we should do pizza since it's cheaper?" Sunny asked for whatever food she should order "Mm? Chinese wasn't bad last time but they needed to work on that sweet and sour pork, and pizza is well; just pizza. So I'll go with Salvadoran" Roberta says "Okay Salvadoran it is, chicken tamale and a chicharron pupusa right?".
"You know me so well, see if they have empanadas. See you when you get home" Roberta says before hanging up.
Linda looked at Sunny in disbelief. She couldn't what she just heard. "W-W-What the he-?" she stuttered before getting a word in "Hang on a second" Sunny's finger went to dial a number.
"Si? (Yes?)" the person on the other line answered "Hola, quiero pedir algo de comida (I want to order some food)".
"Quiero un tamal de carne (I want a beef tamale)" Sunny got her order "Tamal de pollo con pupusa de chicharrón (A chicken tamale with a chicharron pupusa)" she got Roberta's order "¿Puedes esperar un minuto? (Can you wait a minute?)" she asked "Okay".
"What do you want to eat?" Sunny asked Linda "What?" Linda felt confused about everything "Order something" Sunny tells her "I guess pozole if they have it".
"¿Sirves pozole? (Do you serve pozole?)" she asked "Si (Yes)".
"Un recipiente de pozole y unas empanadas de carne (A container of pozole and some beef empandas)" she finished her order "That will be $38.54". Sunny gives her card info and just like that dinner was going to be delivered to her house.
"Okay we're all set" Sunny happily says "When did you learn Spanish?" Linda wondered "I picked that up when I was in juvie, just listened to people and boom I started learning Spanish" Sunny tells her "Next thing you're going to tell me is that you know Chinese".
"Qíshí wǒ dǒng zhōngwén, huāle yīduàn shíjiān, dàn wǒ zhǎngwòle qiàomén (Actually I do know Chinese, it took a while but I got the hang of it)" Sunny spoke back to her. Linda stared back at amazement "How did you-?" she was rather speechless "Oh I just picked it up while I was in the Midwest and I learned it while I was stuck in a small blizzard" she explained "Fuck" Linda gently sighed but then comes the bigger issue at hand "When did I agree to move in with you and your girlfriend?".
Sunny chuckled nervously "Well I just thought about it on the way to get you". Linda felt a migraine coming "Oh fuck" she looked at Sunny "Sunny look, I appreciate you saving me but I can handle myself". Sunny annoyingly sighed "Look I know you want to go home to your apartment but you know that fucker would kidnap you again if he got the chance too" Sunny summed it up "He won't, okay?" Linda stubbornly reasserts that her guard won't be dropped again "Fifty bucks says that Wolfe kidnaps you again and this time he might just kill you" Sunny quickly summarized "I know you want to go back to your apartment but that's not happening, especially after all the shit I had to go through to get you back".
"Look, just drop me-" Linda was about to get the final say "This conversation is over" Sunny puts her foot down "Look I'll have someone bring your stuff from your apartment to our place, okay? Trust me, we have to stick together no matter what at this point". The fact that Linda was moving into Sunny's house made her feel like it was her punishment of sorts for the way she treated her sister when she came back to the state. It might have been their mother's influence of mending their bond that they once had. She wasn't a prisoner but she may as well be one in this case "Fuck my life...".
...
Sunny had never been so eager to finally be home. Being trapped in Chelsea's trailer made her miss the little things in life. Mainly air conditioning. And not having to worry if some cougar was going to attack her. Sunny grabbed her bag from the trunk. With Linda behind her she opened the door. Dinner had been dropped off before, it was still warm but nothing a quick charge in the microwave could easily fix. Sunny walked in and sighed a lot relief of finally being inside her home again.
"Oh my god I missed this" she missed the smell of her own home. Sunny set her bag down and went over to the kitchen to put the food on the table. "Okay, make yourself at home" she happily tells her sister. Linda looked at her "What? Something wrong?". Linda pointed to Sunny's .45 that was holstered "Shit, let me put this away before Roberta shows up".
She quickly undid her holster and went to the garage. Sunny turned off her car alarm and put it in the glove compartment. She came on out "Okay, let me show you upstairs". Linda sighed and shook her head. "Fuck, not again" Sunny became annoyed "Linda come on; don't act like that".
"Sunny, look, I appreciate everything you did and I'll be forever grateful to you but I can handle myself; okay?" Linda tells her as gently as she could "You're a fucking asshole you know that?" Sunny suddenly tells her, Linda looked back at her shocked that her own sister called her that "Sunny I'm not trying to be rude or anything to you but like I said I can handle myself". As Linda kept talking Sunny's hearing became muffled. She grinds her teeth in anger because Linda was being stubborn. Her fists balled up. She never felt this way before with Linda as a little girl, maybe when she wanted to play in her room when she brought her friends over and she would shut Sunny out while she and her friends were talking teenager things. Something boils in her veins. It finally boiled to the point where something might explode. The sound in her ears returns and as Linda finished talking something finally broke.
"Do you think it would have been better if I had left you behind?".
"What? No that's not-" Linda tries to tell her "Do you have any fucking clue on what the fuck I had to go through just to save you?" Sunny started to approach "Do you think I enjoyed having that asshole holding you hostage while I ran around like his fucking dog doing his errands?". Linda started to back away as she came towards her "You know what it was like for that fucker to make one of my friends hit me in the face so he could take a picture of it and give it to you?", Linda remembered the picture that Wolfe had shown her. The one picture that made her burst out in anger after seeing Sunny's nose all bloodied up. "Do you think it's funny that I went all that just for you?!" Sunny angrily tells her "S-S-Sunny just relax!" Linda says as she couldn't back up anymore as her back was against the wall "Just because you're a hard ass doesn't mean that I stopped caring about you!".
"Let me be clear, you are going to stay here with me and my girlfriend, no complaining, no bullshit; do you understand?" Sunny breathes in and out as her frustration was still in her veins "Just breathe" Linda put her hands up "Just calm down". Suddenly a hand swats her across the face. Linda put her hand on her cheeks, it was so quick. She just realized that Sunny of all things just slapped her. As the sting started to set in that's when she saw the side of her sister that she never ever saw before "Shut up, okay, shut the fuck up; just shut the fuck up...!" Sunny stepped back still breathing in and out "I-I-I..." Linda tried to get a word in "DAGCHEYO! (SHUT THE FUCK UP!)" she screamed, her scream echoed throughout the house. Linda personally had never seen Sunny angry; it was rather harsh.
"If you want to be stupid and be a hard headed bitch then have at it! But you know what, you're still my sister Linda! You might be a few years older than me it doesn't mean you treat me like some bitch! Like it or not this is how it is! We're sisters! We have to stick together! It's what she would have wanted if she were still here!", their mother's face flashed in Linda's mind. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. "Damn it..." Sunny cursed as she rubbed her hand "My hand, fuck" that slap was incredibly hard as her hand felt hot. "Okay..." Linda whispered "I'll...I'll stay..." she gave her answer. Sunny exhaled and rubbed her hand "I'm sorry for slapping you" she apologized. Linda lifted her head and saw the regret on Sunny's face. If she still wore her badge and uniform then there would have been a likely chance that she would have arrested Sunny for assaulting an officer. It took her that second to realize that she wasn't a police officer anymore.
This was going to be the new unexpected chapter in her life, that she's going to have to brave with Sunny. Whether she liked it or not.
"You slapped me...that really hurt..." Linda tells her gently as if not wanting to instigate another argument with her "I said I was sorry, okay? I didn't mean too...it just happened..." Sunny rubbed her forehead as the headache passed. The door opens as Roberta made her way in. Sunny quickly composed herself seconds before Roberta jumped into her arms and gave her a big welcome back kiss "I missed you much!".
"I missed you too Roberta" Sunny chuckled. Roberta turned her eyes to their new house guest "H-Hi..." Linda awkwardly greeted "Linda, right? You're Sunny's big sister, we met when I was coming home from grocery shopping" Roberta remembered the first time she encountered Linda. When she was in uniform she looked fierce and determined. Here though Linda looked rather timid and it could have been her intuition, she looked rather lost. As if she had found something that was lost but didn't know how to deal with it.
Roberta came over and gave her a hug "Uh that's not r-really necessary" Linda tried to pull away. It had been a while since someone had actually given her a hug, it was rather odd. "Welcome to our home" Roberta says as she pulled away "Dinner is still warm but we're going to need to microwave it, I'm going to show my sister to her room" Sunny was about to go up when Linda grabbed her left hand "What happened your hand?".
"N-Nothing" she tried to pull away. Linda pulled her and examined her hand "Baby did you get bit?" Roberta gave her a worried look "Damn it, fuck" Sunny was hoping no one would see the bite "I was bitten by a snake...".
Roberta gasped in fear "A snake?".
"It was...a rattlesnake that bit me" Sunny confessed to Roberta "Oh my god, Sunny...!" Roberta became frightened "Chelsea saved me...she hiked to this place and gave me the antivenom. She spent the whole night with me making sure I was okay" she explained "Sunny you have to be careful, you could have died..." Roberta tightly hugged "I'm okay, I promise to be more careful". Roberta caressed her face "Te amo Roberta, te prometo que tendré cuidado (I love you Roberta, I promise I'll be careful)" Sunny promised giving her a kiss "I have to show Linda her room, we'll be back down in a bit". Roberta went off to the kitchen. Linda looked at Sunny, saddened that she went through all that just so she could get her back.
"Jeogi, gwaenchanh-ayo...? (Hey, are you okay...?)" Linda whispered "Jal jinaeyo...(I'm okay...)" Sunny gave an exacerbated sigh "Come on, I got to show you your room".
Linda followed Sunny upstairs. It was so odd that she all of things was taking care of her. It wasn't the other way around of Linda taking care of Sunny,
They reached the guest bedroom. Sunny turned the light on "Here we are". Linda scanned the room. It was nice actually. A little bigger than her room back at her apartment. There was already a queen sized bed in there which looked a little bit more comfortable than the one she slept on "I'll loan you some clothes so you can wear them for bed" Sunny sniffed the air around Linda "I think you need a quick shower".
"Well you try taking a shower with a chain wrapped around your arm" Linda sarcastically tells her "I'll just loan you some undies, don't worry about". Sunny went to her room and gathered whatever clothing she had in her drawer. She came back and handed it to Linda "I got change out of these, I'll see you downstairs for dinner" Sunny went over to her room. She was beyond exhausted, she quickly wanted to forget about her ordeal in the dessert.
"Sunny..." Linda called out to her. She turned around thinking again that Linda again was going to ask again to take her back to her apartment "What?" Sunny was already too tired to argue "Gamsahabnida...(Thank you...)".
Sunny stared back. Amazed that Linda of all things said thank you to her.
"Gwaenchanh-ayo (No problem)".
Both turned. And almost as if it was something on que both closed their doors at the same time.
Chapter 75 is coming soon. Rate and Review.
