Post by silent.lullaby on Jun 30, 2009 22:09:15 GMT -5
Boot Camp For Terribly Twisted Teens [Chapter 27] Down To Business
Getting out of the shower, I dried off and got dressed back in the rags. When I exited the bathroom I noticed everyone was awake, “take a seat,” Nick said waving and I narrowed my eyes at him curiously. I took a seat on the bed next to Anna who still looked sleepy and had her legs under the blankets.
“I think we need a few things.” Nick said addressing everyone. “One, a leader; there are going to be times when we can sit down like this and figure things out together, but when we need on the spot decisions, we’re going to need someone to make them on a dime. Two, money; anyone who has an account at a bank, we need to access it before it becomes flagged. Three, make overs; it’s only a matter of time before Kennedy or your parents start looking for you and using the media to track us, and frankly, who’s going to believe our story? We need to look different from our last pictures. Four, a better form of transportation; I’m not saying we should hot-wire a bus, but something a little warmer than an ice cream truck might be beneficial to our health. I’ve already drained my account, and gotten groceries, the rest of my cash will be used for gas, shoes, clothing, but frankly, I don’t have a lot, so we have to use it sparingly.”
“I think you should be the leader Nick,” I said quickly, “you are, or were a cop, you have always had to make quick decisions and you are always looking out for people.” There was a mummer of agreement, and then a vote, which was unanimous, it was comforting, I think, to have a trusted adult in charge again. One that was like us.
“Okay, who has bank accounts?” I raised my hand, as did the J.C and Hiro. I suspected everyone else had been in there so long they had never had a bank account. “How much?”
“Around four hundred,” I responded, I wished now that I had saved more, instead of spending it on my wardrobe.
“I’d say, maybe two hundred?” J.C spoke with question, “it’s been a while.”
“Maybe two hundred in my chequeing,” Hiro said, “but I was saving for college, I have another thousand in my savings account.”
“You Asian kids and education,” Thayne said with a grin and playfully punched Hiro in the arm, still Hiro grinned, but rubbed his arm afterwards.
“I could go scouting for some better transportation,” Hawkeye volunteered.
“I’ll watch for anyone coming our way,” Rick said, “but I’ve never looked for a future of someone I don’t know...”
“Let em come,” Thayne said cracking his knuckles.
“Yeah, cause that worked so well last time,” Scott muttered.
“Yeah, and you were super helpful too,” Thayne bit back.
“Guys, shut it,” Leon begged, he sounded exhausted.
“We girls could take care of all the make over stuff, we’re naturally good like that,” I said.
“I’ll take those who have accounts to withdrawal your stuff, Hawkeye, you go ahead and look for a vehicle,” Nick said, “everyone else, have a power bar, and keep the noise down, okay?”
Some people were switching spots for beds, some were sitting on the floor appearing to watch television. I followed out Nick with Hiro and J.C.
The front of the ice cream truck was much nicer than the back of it. Since the truck only sat three up front I was sitting on the floor between Hiro’s legs, while J.C sat in the middle straddling over the gear shifts while she fiddled with the heater, which I was grateful for, it had started a light snow. Nick was driving carefully, on the wet snow and I could feel the back end slide every once in a while.
Being the only one with out a seat belt was making me very nervous despite that I had volunteered. I might not be the fastest, strongest, most controlled with their powers, but I was the tiniest and I would take the spot on the floor and relinquish the safe seats to my friends.
We arrived at the bank safely, and much to my surprise, none of our accounts had been locked yet, I withdrew everything I had. With all the money, I was swimming with ideas of new wardrobe concepts. I forced my way out of my daydream with reality.
Reality one: we still needed to pay for gas on whatever vehicle we steal next, since we will be needing a vehicle of large capacity we don’t want to have to be stealing a bunch of them and abandoning them when they run out.
Reality two: we don’t know how long we will be on the run and we won’t be able to get jobs since we will be on the run, people will be looking for us, once this money is gone, it’s gone.
Reality three: fashion wasn’t good for boot camp, I doubt it will be good for running for our lives.
Reality four: we still need to be able to buy food and other necessities, no point in getting caught early for shoplifting.
Reality sucks.
I rode back to the hotel between Hiro’s legs again, his legs wrapped over my shoulders like roller coaster restraints. Making it back safely, we noticed new vehicle. A pricy Enclave, Hawkeye standing next to it.
“Good job man, that’s not flashy at all,” Hiro said sarcastically shifting his leg out the door so I could get out and he followed.
“Look, it’s the biggest thing I could find,” Hawkeye responded, besides a stolen ice cream truck. At least there are more than one Enclaves stolen.”
Hiro mulled this over, “I guess that’s true.”
“We should probably get out of here soon though, I stole it not to far from here.”
And so we left, packed up, Nick returned the key, and ditched the ice cream truck after a wiped down of fingerprints, on an abandoned road. The rest of us used that time to pack up whatever we could from the hotel, including blankets and sheets, the soap bars, the coffee grinds, the batteries from the remote. Basically, everything that wasn’t nailed down.
The back of the Enclave was full, and we all piled in. Then the eleven of us started climbing in, some of us having to sit on the floors hoping we didn’t get pulled over by the police. Nick, again drove.
We ended up stopping at a strip mall. Not flashy nor fashionable, but in our price range. I sucked in a great gust of air and we all walked into the small used clothing store. We decided that two outfits, and a pair of shoes each would be good. There were packages of new, generic underwear and socks for cheap so we got a few of those too. We girls wanted bras and drifted over to the racks, I wondered if they were used and the thought made me shudder. I found two in my size, one white and one black. The other girls picked out much the same.
Our combined bill ended up at three hundred and forty six dollars. I was a little shocked for the high total at a used clothing store, though back when I was ‘normal’ I’d spent that much on a pair of jeans alone. Besides that was outfits and shoes for eleven of us.
We carried our bags out and went into the little store next to it. Two words, hair dye.
“Oh God no!” I shrieked when Nick guided us to the hair dye aisle, I grabbed my bright blonde curls, “you can’t.”
“Claire... be reasonable,” Nick responded with a soothing voice like he was talking to an infant, he touched my back and rubbed it as he continued to guide me forward.
“These have been my trademark since I was born!”
“That’s exactly the point Claire... it’s a distinctly you feature. And features we can change... we have to change.”
He had a point, as much as I didn’t want him to have a point, he did have a point. I shut my eyes and grabbed a box, it didn’t matter what colour I went now... my beautiful hair, the one thing I had to hold on to from... her. I squeezed the box and with out looking at it I walked to check out.
Getting out of the shower, I dried off and got dressed back in the rags. When I exited the bathroom I noticed everyone was awake, “take a seat,” Nick said waving and I narrowed my eyes at him curiously. I took a seat on the bed next to Anna who still looked sleepy and had her legs under the blankets.
“I think we need a few things.” Nick said addressing everyone. “One, a leader; there are going to be times when we can sit down like this and figure things out together, but when we need on the spot decisions, we’re going to need someone to make them on a dime. Two, money; anyone who has an account at a bank, we need to access it before it becomes flagged. Three, make overs; it’s only a matter of time before Kennedy or your parents start looking for you and using the media to track us, and frankly, who’s going to believe our story? We need to look different from our last pictures. Four, a better form of transportation; I’m not saying we should hot-wire a bus, but something a little warmer than an ice cream truck might be beneficial to our health. I’ve already drained my account, and gotten groceries, the rest of my cash will be used for gas, shoes, clothing, but frankly, I don’t have a lot, so we have to use it sparingly.”
“I think you should be the leader Nick,” I said quickly, “you are, or were a cop, you have always had to make quick decisions and you are always looking out for people.” There was a mummer of agreement, and then a vote, which was unanimous, it was comforting, I think, to have a trusted adult in charge again. One that was like us.
“Okay, who has bank accounts?” I raised my hand, as did the J.C and Hiro. I suspected everyone else had been in there so long they had never had a bank account. “How much?”
“Around four hundred,” I responded, I wished now that I had saved more, instead of spending it on my wardrobe.
“I’d say, maybe two hundred?” J.C spoke with question, “it’s been a while.”
“Maybe two hundred in my chequeing,” Hiro said, “but I was saving for college, I have another thousand in my savings account.”
“You Asian kids and education,” Thayne said with a grin and playfully punched Hiro in the arm, still Hiro grinned, but rubbed his arm afterwards.
“I could go scouting for some better transportation,” Hawkeye volunteered.
“I’ll watch for anyone coming our way,” Rick said, “but I’ve never looked for a future of someone I don’t know...”
“Let em come,” Thayne said cracking his knuckles.
“Yeah, cause that worked so well last time,” Scott muttered.
“Yeah, and you were super helpful too,” Thayne bit back.
“Guys, shut it,” Leon begged, he sounded exhausted.
“We girls could take care of all the make over stuff, we’re naturally good like that,” I said.
“I’ll take those who have accounts to withdrawal your stuff, Hawkeye, you go ahead and look for a vehicle,” Nick said, “everyone else, have a power bar, and keep the noise down, okay?”
Some people were switching spots for beds, some were sitting on the floor appearing to watch television. I followed out Nick with Hiro and J.C.
The front of the ice cream truck was much nicer than the back of it. Since the truck only sat three up front I was sitting on the floor between Hiro’s legs, while J.C sat in the middle straddling over the gear shifts while she fiddled with the heater, which I was grateful for, it had started a light snow. Nick was driving carefully, on the wet snow and I could feel the back end slide every once in a while.
Being the only one with out a seat belt was making me very nervous despite that I had volunteered. I might not be the fastest, strongest, most controlled with their powers, but I was the tiniest and I would take the spot on the floor and relinquish the safe seats to my friends.
We arrived at the bank safely, and much to my surprise, none of our accounts had been locked yet, I withdrew everything I had. With all the money, I was swimming with ideas of new wardrobe concepts. I forced my way out of my daydream with reality.
Reality one: we still needed to pay for gas on whatever vehicle we steal next, since we will be needing a vehicle of large capacity we don’t want to have to be stealing a bunch of them and abandoning them when they run out.
Reality two: we don’t know how long we will be on the run and we won’t be able to get jobs since we will be on the run, people will be looking for us, once this money is gone, it’s gone.
Reality three: fashion wasn’t good for boot camp, I doubt it will be good for running for our lives.
Reality four: we still need to be able to buy food and other necessities, no point in getting caught early for shoplifting.
Reality sucks.
I rode back to the hotel between Hiro’s legs again, his legs wrapped over my shoulders like roller coaster restraints. Making it back safely, we noticed new vehicle. A pricy Enclave, Hawkeye standing next to it.
“Good job man, that’s not flashy at all,” Hiro said sarcastically shifting his leg out the door so I could get out and he followed.
“Look, it’s the biggest thing I could find,” Hawkeye responded, besides a stolen ice cream truck. At least there are more than one Enclaves stolen.”
Hiro mulled this over, “I guess that’s true.”
“We should probably get out of here soon though, I stole it not to far from here.”
And so we left, packed up, Nick returned the key, and ditched the ice cream truck after a wiped down of fingerprints, on an abandoned road. The rest of us used that time to pack up whatever we could from the hotel, including blankets and sheets, the soap bars, the coffee grinds, the batteries from the remote. Basically, everything that wasn’t nailed down.
The back of the Enclave was full, and we all piled in. Then the eleven of us started climbing in, some of us having to sit on the floors hoping we didn’t get pulled over by the police. Nick, again drove.
We ended up stopping at a strip mall. Not flashy nor fashionable, but in our price range. I sucked in a great gust of air and we all walked into the small used clothing store. We decided that two outfits, and a pair of shoes each would be good. There were packages of new, generic underwear and socks for cheap so we got a few of those too. We girls wanted bras and drifted over to the racks, I wondered if they were used and the thought made me shudder. I found two in my size, one white and one black. The other girls picked out much the same.
Our combined bill ended up at three hundred and forty six dollars. I was a little shocked for the high total at a used clothing store, though back when I was ‘normal’ I’d spent that much on a pair of jeans alone. Besides that was outfits and shoes for eleven of us.
We carried our bags out and went into the little store next to it. Two words, hair dye.
“Oh God no!” I shrieked when Nick guided us to the hair dye aisle, I grabbed my bright blonde curls, “you can’t.”
“Claire... be reasonable,” Nick responded with a soothing voice like he was talking to an infant, he touched my back and rubbed it as he continued to guide me forward.
“These have been my trademark since I was born!”
“That’s exactly the point Claire... it’s a distinctly you feature. And features we can change... we have to change.”
He had a point, as much as I didn’t want him to have a point, he did have a point. I shut my eyes and grabbed a box, it didn’t matter what colour I went now... my beautiful hair, the one thing I had to hold on to from... her. I squeezed the box and with out looking at it I walked to check out.