Chapter 18: Down Under in Los Santos
A couple days after coming into Los Santos Chelsea already hated it, the traffic when she came in was full beyond full. If it wasn't for that, then she would have most likely gotten in easy. While the heat here was hot, it wasn't like that of Blaine County. Blaine was out in the dessert, it was like the equivalent to being inside an oven, Los Santos was mild at best. The Outback back home in Australia was like Blaine in a sense. Los Santos was nowhere near like the Outback. Too top everything though, the rust bucket croaked on her. The engine basically sputtered and sputtered, Chelsea got out to check the engine. She popped the hood and smoke rises from the engine "Bollocks" she swore "That's the last time that I borrow someone else's car". She got lucky because she managed to park in the lot of some diner but now Chelsea doesn't have a car to get around "Maybe I should have taken my truck instead" she complained. Chelsea opens the trunk and grabs her belongings. She had disassembled Jessie sometime before at some gas station and put the pieces in a case. She starts walking. As she starts walking on the sidewalk Chelsea remembers that she has some money on her, even though she had enough to stay at some fancy looking hotel she'd preferred not to draw attention to herself; that's something she doesn't want to do. Not yet at least.
It was odd being in a city again for her, she was used to being in the dessert which was hot and humid. This though was different, the city was crowded and cars bustle in the streets, everything was loud and she could hardly hear herself think. Some guy bumps into her and says something rude to her "Fuck off you fucking wanker!" she cursed back. Chelsea really did feel like a foreigner in some strange land; but that wasn't going to deter her; she has a mission and she's going to accomplish it.
After finding her way out of the urban jungle she managed to stumble upon something that she seen in a long time. The beach. Chelsea stood there in awe. She hasn't seen any beaches since her parents used to take her to the beach back in her hometown on the Gold Coast in Australia. Chelsea quickly rushes as fast as possible. Never has her heart ever felt so alive with excitement. Her eyes widen as she finally makes it to the edge. The crashing of the waves, the people playing volleyball, every man and woman in bathing suits, surfers eager to go into the water and a couple of drunks having a somewhat good time before they spew whatever it is that they drank onto the sand. Seeing everything in it's beauty made her feel giddy as a school girl again "Well, their isn't anything wrong with me taking a detour for a bit, now is their?" she asked herself with an eager looking smile.
She walks around for an hour getting a glimpse at everything in her sight. Chelsea laughed a bit when she remembered how many times her parents would bring her to the beach during summer vacation. If they saw this they'd be in heaven, Chelsea most likely would have gone swimming with her mother and would have splashed her, her father would have fired up the the barbie and cook whatever piece of meat that he could get his hands on; his cooking really was the best. If Chelsea ever missed anything, then it would have to be her parents. And she missed the Gold Coast of all things. If her mother saw her current look now, she'd be weirded out by her. The sides of her head being shaved off, her tattoos, the sight of her room being messy and of course her ears being pierced and the ring between her nostrils. That would drive her crazy. It slowly comes back to Chelsea.
Her mother licks her thumb and hurriedly wipes her daughter's face "Ah mum! Stop that!" Chelsea fussed "Chelsea be still!" her mother insist "Come on! That's just gross!" she complained "Chelsea, dear, just calm down" her father steps in "I'm clean enough!". Already in high school and her mother still treats like a kitten. She doesn't admit it but she stills enjoys her mother coddling her, her father does something differently and treats like an ordinary girl and of course, they were always close. Like two sides of the same coin. "Done" her mother finally finished "Now, Chelsea, I want you to behave yourself" her mother ordered "Mum, come on; I always behave well", her mother raised an eyebrow "Uh-huh and am I going to get another call from the principal saying that you did something bad?", Chelsea sighed "No mum, you're not going to get a call from the principals". Her mother hugs her. Her father does the same. She goes off to her school "Chelsea...?" her mother called her name, Chelsea turns to see her mother with a concerned look on her face "Yeah?" "Try and make some friends" she pleaded, with a roll of her eyes Chelsea shakes her head "Mum, look, I-I don't know if I can do that" "Try for me, please?". She simply stares at her mother "I'll-I'll try, okay?" she promises "Remember, smile" "Oh mum, stop" "Chelsea, don't take that tone with me" "You're driving me bloody mad!" "Don't use that type of language young lady". Chelsea gives a crooked smile and laughed and goes off.
As soon as she hits the premises of the school grounds she heard the whispers and some sneers but then she heard that one word that she always heard whenever they saw her "Ugh, they let that bogan girl in" one girl whispered "Crikey, next thing you know they're going to let the whole lot of them in" "Well look what the cat dragged from the rubbish bin" "Careful, she give you some bogan disease". Chelsea always heard that word, back then she didn't know what it meant but as soon as she got older, she finally was told what it meant. She really hated that word. She now knows that she might not be able to keep her mother's promise of making friends.
Chelsea snapped out of it. She really did miss home but now she's here and now she is going to something that might make her more happier. Onward she tells herself.
As she nears the edge of the pier, something catches her eye. She looks over at a park bench as a small crowd is gathered, wondering about the crowd she goes over to see.
A bleach blond surfer with messy hair arm wrestles some lame guy. The guy gives it his all but the surfer easily beats him. If this guy had a little bit more muscle then he could have mostly likely have tied the whole thing, he basically looked malnourished. It was really pathetic. "Alright, who's next?" the surfer asked for his next victim. Everyone stepped away. Chelsea's the only one standing. He looks at her "Looks like you're the odd person out" he remarked with a cocky smile "Uh no, look, I'm not the type of girl you want to challenge mate" Chelsea insist with a smile, the surfer laughs at her accent "Mate?" he chuckles "What? You British dudes can't arm wrestle? Too busy drinking tea?" he sneered, already in the city and someone already pushed her button. "I'm not British, you dirty poofter licking fuck; I'm Australian" she corrected "British, Australian whatever! It's all the same" he quips. With her blood beginning to boil, Chelsea sets down all of her things on the ground.
"Alright, you want to arm wrestle me? Is that it?" "Yeah. You up too it? Mate?" he annoyingly taunts with a smile. She approaches the bench and puts her arm in a grappling position, he entwines his hand around her's. The referee readies them "On the count of three...one...two...three!", the small crowd gasped as the surfers arm touches the other side with remarkable ease. Chelsea seemed unfazed. "Oh my god!" "That girl did just like that!". The surfer looked at her unsure what just happened "I-I wasn't ready! Do over!" he whined "Your funeral...mate" she mocks. The referee readies them again "One...two...three!", without even trying Chelsea slams the surfers arm against the table. "Damn it!" he growls "Do over!" he demands, the referee does another countdown. At three Chelsea does the same thing as before and he becomes more annoyed. He asks for a fourth rematch "Oh come on! I already beat you three times!" she laughs at him "That's because you cheat!", Chelsea always hated when idiots always said that she cheated. Even when she played board games as a girl, people would always say that she cheated. Chelsea played honestly and never once cheated. People are just sore losers and if they have anyone to blame for their loss, it should be themselves.
"Alright, fourth rematch; won't even try", the referee readies them for the last rematch. On three, the surfer gains the momentum and pushes her arm almost on the table. Chelsea stops him, he tries and tries but to no avail. He catches a glimpse at her, she doesn't seem to be bothered by the whole thing. He keeps trying "Yeah, this is like a workout to me, doesn't really bother me" she says with a grin. "My turn". With the strength in her arm, Chelsea pushes him back up. She keeps going and going, he can't that this girl is actually beating him. "How the hell is this happening?" he questioned as Chelsea neared the top of the table "I work out a lot, that and a few years in the army back home helped me out a bit" she boasted as with the remaining strength slams the surfers arm against the table. Everybody looks on in shock as a strawberry blond Australian beat the top dog of the beach.
The surfer rubs his arm, he can't believe he lost and to a girl no less. The cheer and takes their fair share of selfies with Chelsea, how could this be happening? He should have won not her. "Their's no way you could have beaten me, you cheated; you must have cheated!" he pointed his finger at her, Chelsea chuckled "I never cheated! Besides it's not my fault that you're a fucking sore loser!" she laughed out loud. "One last match" he demands, he then points his finger to the ocean "Out there".
Chelsea looks at him bewildered "What? You-You want me to surf?" "Yeah". She nervously chuckles "Look, I don't surf, I swim; let's call it a tie?" she asked "Why not? Don't tell me you're a pussy?" he challenged "A pussy? Alright fuck face, I'll play your fucking game! But we're going to up the wager a bit" she demands "Name your bet" "Your car and your house; if you got one?", he shakes his head "Alright, I'll give you my apartment in Vespucci and my Fugitive; deal?" he negotiated "Deal, I'll suit up, hope you're ready to get your ass handed to you?".
Chelsea's in the tent as she changes into a camouflage bikini top with matching bottoms. Chelsea wasn't much of a surfer, she did surf a few times when she was younger but she didn't really like it. She preferred swimming, aside from being good with guns and explosives, that was the one thing that she really enjoyed. The current of the water, the flow of everything going through her body and the many times the water embraced her as a whole. She truly felt like a whole different person when she was in the water, surfing may have been good for the body but swimming always connected one with the most inner parts of the human soul. Chelsea was a natural when it came to swimming, if this was a swimming contest she'd most definitely win; but it wasn't that. This was surfing, something that she hasn't done since her parents took her down to the beach when she was young. No turning back now she thought.
She exits the small tent and goes to meet her opponent.
She grabs a surfboard. It was quite heavy but she really wasn't bothered by the weight. Chelsea wrapped the line around her ankle. It's been so many years since she's done, hopefully she thought, she could remember everything that she was taught when she was young. If not then she may as well check into some cheap hotel for the night.
"Alright, how is this going to work?" she asked "First one to make it back to shore, wins" he says with a menacing smile "Whatever works". They both start to paddle out into the ocean. They wait for the waves to come in. "I'm gonna show you that no one ever beats me and get's away with it" "Keep talking wanker, you ain't going to be talking for long when I'm through with you".
The wave starts to come in. They lay on their stomachs as the wave starts to pick their boards. Slowly they get up as the speed of the wave starts to pick them up. The surfer gains the lead ahead of Chelsea. She stays on his tail, the one thing about this guy was that he was cocky. That's one thing that lots of people shouldn't be and that's being cocky. Chelsea swerves next to him, he see's her. He tries to cut her off "Really?! You're gonna try that!?". She manages to catch the wave by the upper portion, with the force of the wave she manages to sideswipe and cut him off. He looses his balance and falls off into the surf. Everyone on the shore started to cheer for Chelsea. It all seemed familiar to her with all that cheering. Chelsea manages to paddle back to shore with a big smile on her face. That smile says it all. Everyone high fives her and a few more selfies soon follow. The surfer washes up with his surfboard now broken in half.
"Alright, I beat you! So a bet is a bet, cough up your keys!" she demanded "No way" the surfer refused "You cheated! You had to have cheated! No one ever beats me! I want a rematch! Right now!" he demands. Chelsea starts to laugh "Oh my god! Seriously? I beat you fair and square you fucking wanker!" she retorts "It's not my fault that you're a fucking crappy surfer!". She plants the surfboard into the sand and approaches him "I. Beat. You. What part of that don't you understand?" she looked him in the eye "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Easy way, you can give me your car and the keys and I won't humiliate you; hard way, I knock you out and embarrass you in front of everyone here; what's it going to be?" she threatened. The surfer starts to laugh; his mistake. "I'll take the hard way!" he swings. She ducks down. Chelsea puts a left and a right into his stomach, his breath is knocked out of him. With all her might she catches him with an uppercut from the right. The surfer flies off the ground, he has the look of 'This can't be happening' and 'I can't believe I got beat by a girl'.
Everyone is stunned that this Australian managed to knock down the best surfer onto the sand. That definitely is going on someone's blog.
Chelsea quickly grabs the keys to her now new car and her new beachfront apartment. "Thanks for the challenge wanker!" she happily chuckled "Oh and thanks for the board!" she says as she grabs her belongings and her new surfboard.
She hurries to the nearby parking lot to her new car. It looked sleek with the black color and the tinted windows in the back. Chelsea was still in her bikini, she decided to change the minute that she got to her new apartment. She opens the back door and lowers the window too make room for the surfboard. After putting her belongings in the backseat. The Fugitive still had that new car smell, it must be new then. Too Chelsea it didn't matter too her; she has a new car and a new apartment. And she had a good time with the surfing and also whipping that cocky surfer in the face.
Time to go to her new apartment.
...
As she opened the door to her new home, Chelsea got a look at the inside. Plain white was the color on the wall, simple dark red carpet covered the floor, a set of tacky looking teal beads near wear a set of curtains would go are in it's place. Their's all this tacky looking furniture and all these lame looking photos of the now previous owner "Crikey, it's going to be a long day" she groaned. Chelsea first went to the bathroom and stripped out of her bikini, then hops into the tub to a quick shower to wash all the sea water out of her hair and off her body. After showering, drying herself off and redressing into clean clothes Chelsea got to work. She went to the kitchen and grabbed a roll of bags, one by one Chelsea any item that she disliked. Almost everything that she saw was thrown into a bag.
A giant tiki statue, trash. More tiki statues, trash. Boxes full of energy bars and energy drinks, trash. A bunch of lame douche bag looking pictures, trash. A bunch of trophies for surfing, trash. A bunch of shot glasses with the words 'Big Daddy' on the sides, trash. An old record collection with bands that she never heard of, trash. Almost all of the clothes in the closet, trash. A hammock, instant trash. And three guitars that looked like they haven't been played in years, that's definitely trash. Every piece of crap that she didn't like, let alone anything that looked stupid, automatically went into the dumpster.
After throwing everything away, Chelsea managed to relax.
She sat down on the sofa "Oh yeah" she slowly got into her comfort zone.
After only a couple hours in Los Santos Chelsea managed to leave an impression on lots of people on the beach. It had been so many years since she was able to wow a crowd like that. It felt good beating that lame surfer. Knowing on how everything went down, people are going to be talking about this for ages. Douche bag surfer get's beat and knocked down by a girl. It's the stuff legends are made from. He probably won't be able to show his face down there for long time, he'll probably get embarrassed by a bunch of trolls for being beaten up by a girl.
Chelsea didn't bother turning the t.v. on, she was too tired to get back up.
The thing that's on her mind is the two women who would be her potential partners. Chelsea still didn't know on she was going to approach them, that's the one thing that she hasn't planned out yet.
The sun is still out, she should go out and explore more but she doesn't feel like it.
Right now she's too tired to do a damn thing.
Chelsea scoots to the other end of the sofa and makes herself more comfortable. "That's better" she says as her eyes started to get heavy. She falls asleep on her new sofa in her new apartment. The only thing heard was the ocean as the waves crashed onto the shore, the gulls screeching in the sky, some vendor announcing that he has tamales and tacos to sell. He announces in Spanish that he has all kinds of specialties: tamales with chicken, beef, pork and with pineapple. Tacos made with carne asada, spicy chicken, beef and fish with a hint of lime. The sky slowly turns orange, the gulls eventually fly away home. Chelsea simply sleeps the rest of the day and doesn't want to wake up until tomorrow, only by then will she able to continue on with the rest of her mission.
No sound and just peace. She dreams the whole day away.
Chapter 19 is coming soon. Rate and Review.