Hello Friends,
Two stories in one day? What ever has possessed me? I hope you all enjoy, and maybe you will see someone familiar.
The chores Dad had left for her were… How should Luz put this? Easy as apple pie. Luz had never made an apple pie, but still the point remained. Dad hadn't put much effort into the list apparently.
"Mow the Lawn?" Easy, done within forty-five minutes.
"Dust the House?" There were only five rooms, took an hour.
"Vacuum?" Again, five rooms.
"Rearrange my tools in order of size while accounting for how much I use each one on a given day?" Ok that one took just a bit longer.
"Clean the storage shed in the backyard, kill any terrorists you find." That one was interesting and took the longest. "Terrorists" was a game that Luz and Manuel played, Terrorists were bugs and spiders, dust bunnies, anything unsightly that promoted chaos or anarchy within a household. You did not tolerate terrorists, you wiped them out mercilessly and without remorse. Basically he just wanted her to clean it. And by god, Luz did not realize how much crap they had. Boxes upon boxes, the lawnmower, miscellaneous gardening tools, trash, and all kinds of junk.
It was around 1500 when Luz found it. It was a simple cardboard shoebox, the kind you could get at any department store. On the top it said "Treasures" written in a stencil with sharpie. Luz remembered this, she walked outside the shed, leaving it in it's current deconstructed state, and entered the house. She sat at the kitchen table and pulled the dusty lid off the box. It had all kinds of little trinkets in it. A child's friendship bracelet, what luz assumed was supposed to be a man made of green playdoh, and an assortment of other little things.
The important bit was the photos, however. Old polaroids, like the kind that came from a disposable camera. There was Dad, still in desert tan MCCUUs holding a tiny Luz in his arms, smiling widely. Luz flipped the pic over, in neat handwriting it said, "Return from Deployment 2009, Luz, 3." 2009, that was dad's last deployment to Iraq. He had been promoted shortly after, and then the Arab Spring had happened, the US left Iraq mostly, and the world went to hell for a while. Or so Luz recalled. It had been 2012 when the accident happened. She had been six years old. Luz moved to the next photo. Another polaroid. Luz in a set green camo BDU with a red tshirt under. Luz remembered this event. 2014, Luz had been eight, this was her graduating from Young Marines Bootcamp. It was called Boot Camp, but really it was more like 4 Saturdays of being yelled at and made to do pushups. It had been hard at first, but it gave Luz a purpose. A calling. Luz loved it. She loved marching, she loved PT, she loved the uniforms and the care it took to maintain them. She learned everything she could, and she excelled at it.
Her dedication to her cause had caused some minor hiccups in her relationships. People called her all kinds of things: kiss-up, psycho, bitch, dyke, Staff Sergeant, dedicated, inspirational, terrifying. It varied on who was asked.
It didn't help that after mom died, dad stayed in the military, and sometimes he went places she couldn't follow. That was went she got shipped to one of her Uncles, usually, for indeterminate periods of time. Shortman, Sharpe, Teddy, Terry, and Ray, her loving doting uncles. Each one was special and different from the others, and Luz had never known what she would be in for when she showed up to their house. None of them were still in, Dad was the only one that stayed after 2009. They still all showed up on special occasions, and Luz always looked forward to seeing them all again.
Luz looked to the box and retrieved the final photo and Luz felt her pulse quicken as she looked at it. It was Luz, very young again, covered in in spaghetti, being held by a very tired looking woman in glasses. Her name was Camilla, and Luz felt tears bead in the corners of her eyes. She was Luz's mom. She had passed a long time ago. It was really weird, Luz didn't remember her. She knew of Camilla, but she couldn't remember her. She couldn't recall her smell, or her voice, or how it felt when she held Luz. And yet, Luz missed her, missed her so much it hurt, like a limb was missing. There's no term Luz knew of to describe that, missing something you don't even remember. Luz put the photo back in the box, and replaced the items. She closed the box with a soft sigh, and stood. She carried the box back out to the pile of boxes and sat it with them. She stood there a moment, closed her eyes, and refocused her mind. She turned back to the shed; she had a fucking job to do.
It was 1700 when Luz had finished decluttering the shed, cleaned it, and reassembled it. Hard work, but good work, rewarding. Luz went back to the house. As she got closer to it she felt a weird tingling sensation on the back of her neck. Luz had been trained to trust her gut. She kept a measured pace as she went for the door. It was when she put her hand on the knob that it happened. A large, thick arm wrapped around Luz's neck and pulled her backwards.
"Great job! Now get her on the ground!" a voice spoke up.
Luz reacted quickly on instinct. She pulled her legs up to her chest and kicked out, strike the door with her soles and simultaneously threw her head back, feeling her crown strike the chin of whoever had her and her powerful legs pushed them off balance. The assailant let go of her as they clutched at their face, "Ah Shit!" Luz dropped and rolled to the side, springing up quick enough to avoid a kick that was aimed for her midsection. "You fucking missed!" someone wearing what looking like a nylon stocking on their head yelled. "Fuck you! She's quick!" the kicker screamed back, he also wore a stocking. It seemed like they all did. The first yeller dove at her, trying to tackle her but Luz spun and sidestepped him, he went face first into the dirt of the yard. "Ah thank ah beht muh tuhnue" the large guy said, talking like he tried to avoid using the injured appendage. "Shut up, Grimes, and fucking get her," the guy on the ground yelled as he picked himself up.
So that's what this was.
This would be fun.
The large guy charged, yelling and flailing his arms. Luz kicked out at the right time as he was about to grab her and landed a solid baseball bat like shin kick into his groin. The deep yell turned into a high pitched whine as he doubled over and dropped. That was one down.
Luz was too busy focusing on the large guy that she didn't see the other guy swing and it connected right on the edge of her jaw. Luz wheeled, rolling with the blow, and spun catching herself. She blinked, seeing stars briefly, when she saw the bear hug her and try to pick her up, presumably to body slam her. Luz whipped her head forward and collided their foreheads. Both he let go of her, and both stumbled away clutching their heads. "Oh dear Christ, Luz, what the shit was that?"
"Fuck you Stevens," Luz said as she wheeled on the boy still holding his head and side kicked him in the ribs sending him sprawling. Luz stood over him as he lay on the ground gasping of the air Luz had forcefully evicted from his lungs.
Luz whipped her head to the third and final assailant who was standing two yards away from her, holding his hands up in a weak attempt to defend himself. She glared at him, "Well?"
The third boy laid down on the ground.
Luz let herself relax and breathe, she then looked at the one called Stevens and said, "What the hell guys?"
Stevens rolled over and tried to talk through gulps of air, "We… we thought… you might be distracted… so… we tried to get the drop on you for once." He stood up, holding his wounded side. "Obviously… it didn't fucking work. But shit, Luz, you didn't need to kick the shit out of us like that. It was just practice."
"It was three on one, and what are you wearing?"
"Weh thoug tha yo woul be scared if you did'n recognith uth." The big one, Grimes, said.
"Well, it didn't work, and don't do that shit again, I could've killed you if I didn't realize who it was."
"Yeth, ma'am," Grimes said hanging his head.
"Can- can I get up now, Top?"
"Yeah, Kyle, you can get up," Luz instructed. Top was short for Top Dog, the biggest meanest dog in the yard, the one everyone looks up to and no one messes with. Luz was her platoons Top Dog, and Top was her unofficial title. Everyone called her that.
Stevens, Grimes and Kyle. Her second in command, their big-hearted, dim-witted comrade, and Kyle. Kyle was, well quite frankly he wasn't good at anything, but he was dedicated, motivated, and loyal. Luz appreciated that, and the other three of them kept an eye on him.
Luz was Top Dog for one major reason, her expertise in sparring. No matter the size or skill of the opponent Luz had always managed to win, or at least not lose. Some in the platoon had made it their goal to surpass her, Stevens being the most obsessive. It would seem he had enlisted the other two to try and catch Luz unaware.
The three tore the stockings off their heads.
"Oh man," Kyle said looking at the ruin that was his stocking, "Mom is gonna kill me."
"Quite Kyle," Luz said, and glared at her number two, "What do you have to say for yourself."
Stevens straightened, looming slightly over Luz and then looked up at the sky, he looked back down at her, "Ma'am, mission failure."
"Well," Luz said, grinning slightly, bloody teeth glistening, "Good luck, next time." She hugged her friend. Stevens grimaced slightly, and then returned the hug.
They separated and Luz looked to them, and made a gesture for them to leave, "Alright, get out of here, dismissed, I'll see you at formation on Saturday."
"We're picking up trash this weekend right, Top?" Kyle asked.
"Yup, community service day, Kyle. I'm to give back into society."
"Gotcha. Well I'll see you all later," Kyle said as he departed.
Grimes clapped Luz on the back, his massive meaty hand making her stumble forward slightly. "Thworry fwor twying to pin you Topth," he said.
Luz smiled warmly, "Don't worry about it big guy. Water under the bridge. Sorry about the tongue."
Grimes spit out a bit of blood onto the ground, "No pwoblem it will gwow back," he said as he lumbered off. Luz wasn't sure if tongues did grow back, but she was mostly certain that she hadn't caused permanent damage. If she had, that was future Luz's problem.
She looked to her second, and Stevens grinned, putting his hands up in a what-are-ya-gonna-do gesture. "Oh well," he said. "I'll catch you on Saturday, Top." And will that he sauntered off.
Luz watched them all go, and she smiled. She loved her friends, and they always knew how to cheer her up. A brawl was just what she needed to get the cobwebs of grief out of her head. Luz smiled a little as she returned to the house. She had to clean up, Dad would be home soon, and three friends trying to beat her up simultaneously probably wouldn't go over well.
She didn't want to worry him after all.
Technically there is more to this one, but I divied it up so that I could get y'all a chapter quicker.
Next Time: the Range
