CHAPTER 37: THE STORE
A tapping on my door wakes me up from a deep slumber.
“Oh, um, come in,” I say in my drowsy voice.
I turn on my backside and watch Maria coming into my room, fully dressed and beaming. She appears to have something in her hand.
“Good morning,” she says cheerfully.
“Hey, what’s up?” I respond.
“I charged it for you,” she says while holding out my cell-phone.
“Oh, um, thanks,” I reply as I take the phone from her hand.
“You have a dozen miss calls on there. It’s from your mom.”
“Damn, I forgot to call her back.”
“She won’t freak-out, will she?”
“I hope not.”
“Well, good luck with that,” she giggles at me. “I’ll see you downstairs.”
“Why are you dressed so early?”
“Aero and Rave’s aunt and uncle arrived last night. They want to meet you.”
“Here?”
“God no. They're at Rave’s house.”
My eyeballs almost roll from my head.
“Oh, I can’t wait to meet more of their…family,” I say in a sarcastic manner.
She chuckles at my joke.
“I know. I’m so excited too,” she adds to my sarcasm. “I’ll see you downstairs, okay?”
“Okay, I’ll be down soon.”
Maria turns and exits the room. I exhale again before pressing the call button on the phone. I place the phone at my ear and wait for my mom to answer.
“Hey, why haven’t you called me?” she greets me with a critical tone.
“Oh, I’ve been busy. Calm down. Everything is cool.”
“I was worried sick. I kept calling and calling but you didn’t answer,” she replies.
“I’m sorry mom. It won’t happen again. I just left my phone at home.”
“I don’t want to come off as clingy, but I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
“I understand.”
I hear a clatter of dishes in the background.
“What’s that noise? What are you doing?”
“I’m about to cook me up some breakfast. So, how’s everything over there?”
“Great.”
“Having fun yet?” she asks.
“It’s been pretty cool, so far.”
“Is Kenya fine about you staying over so much?”
“Yes mom, she’s cool about it.”
“Well okay, just tell her to call me.”
“I will.”
“I’m sorry about bugging you. But I’ll let you go. Have fun.”
“Okay, I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetie. But before you go…did you hear about some animals running loose around school?”
My heart stops for a second.
“Animals…? You’re kidding me,” I act ignorant.
“Yeah, they were talking about it on the news.”
“No, I didn’t hear about that.”
“It’s been a lot of crazy stuff going on. Okay, well, call me later.”
“I will.”
“Bye,” she finishes the conversation.
I hit the end button and fall back onto my pillow. I rest for another ten minutes before making my way into the bathroom for a nice hot shower. Afterwards, I fix my hair into a ponytail and find an outfit to put on. Now, I’m all dressed and ready to go. I march downstairs to join the gang in the living room. I see someone sitting at the breakfast table, along with a half bitten toast on top of a plate.
The person’s face is hidden by the morning newspaper. The newspaper folds and Kenya’s bright face is revealed.
“Good morning, Iva,” she says with a smile. “Did you sleep well?”
“Too well,” I chuckle.
She smiles and hides her face behind the newspaper again.
“Hey, look who finally decides to show,” Jason says to me.
I turn to see everyone in the living room, watching some random action flick on TV. I’m not surprised to notice Daniel is missing in action. I’m actually getting used to the fact that he’s pretty much a loner.
"Hey guys,” I greet everyone.
Everyone greets me in their own way.
“Are you hungry?” Kenya asks behind me in the dining room.
“No thank you, I’m fine.”
I hear heavy footsteps making their way downstairs. Kenya folds a corner of the newspaper and watches her son march down the steps. He pauses at the bottom of the steps and stares into Kenya’s eyes.
“What’s the matter?” she asks him.
"Do we all have to go?" he asks in an aggravated tone. “I don’t feel good.”
Kenya’s stare instantly becomes harsh.
"Yes. You must stick together at all times, I’m not telling you again.”
He sucks his teeth, walks over to the table, grabs the car keys, and marches into the living room.
“I don’t blame you,” Eric says to Daniel. “I don’t want to see them either and they’re my own family.”
“Yeah, well, I’m here. Let’s just get this over with,” he replies as he opens the front door.
“Mane…,” Kenya calls to him.
He stops walking and rotates to her.
“Yeah?” he replies.
“Stop by the store first and get some seeds. I want to plant some today.”
“Okay,” he replies before turning away.
“And Mane,” she raises her volume.
He begins to walk again but stops when she calls his name.
“Yes?” he replies.
“Stay alert.”
She gazes at the rest of us.
“That goes for all of you,” she says to us.
“We know,” Daniel replies.
We all exit the house and pile into the black SUV. Now, we’re making our way out of the deep woods. We drive into an unfamiliar town and park in front of a store that’s named “Rodgers Gardening Supplies”. We then scramble out of the car.
“What’s this place?” I ask Jason.
“This is the only place around here that sells exotic plants. Some of them keep the wolves from tracking us,” he replies.
Together, we all enter a small store filled with shovels, gardening gloves, empty plant bowls and vases, and large bags of soil. There’s a man standing at the register. He’s very old, easily over his sixties, with white hair and a matching goatee. He smiles at us as we approach him.
"Good evening. The usual?"
"Yeah,” Daniel replies.
"Okay, I’ll be back in one minute.”
“I’ll be waiting,” he tells the old man.
The old man turns and walks into a back room.
"How clever…" a voice says behind us.
We all shift towards the door and immediately switch to defensive mode. It’s Cornelius Blaire. He’s dressed in a black wool-coat and gloves, standing in the doorway with a mischievous grin. I can feel fear and adrenaline rushing into my bloodstream.
“So, that’s how you’ve been keeping us away?” Cornelius interrogates further. “How interesting…”
He walks into the store alongside two blonde women. The first one, I’ve never seen before, and the other one is Arlene, Kendrick’s sister. I’m assuming that’s their mother, Rebecca. Her hair is pinned into a bun. Arlene’s hair is combed straight back.
All of them are dressed in dark casual clothing. Jason pushes me back and takes a defensive stance in front of me.
"What are you doing here?" Daniel questions fearlessly.
I cower behind Jason’s back, peeping at them from around his arm.
"We were in town, enjoying a nice Monday afternoon, when we smelled this foul odor,” Cornelius explains with a distasteful look. “And it seems like the trail ends here,” he says while scanning all of us.
I feel a strong dose of fear in my heart as his eyes reach mines and stops.
"Hello Iva,” he says with a smile.
I hold Jason’s arm tightly with a nervous grip. Cornelius finally removes his eyes from mines and shifts back to Daniel.
"So, how long will you try to hide her from us? You think those herbs will keep us away forever?"
"I’m only going to tell you this one time, leave,” Daniel says furiously through his teeth.
"I will. But let me give you a warning. You got lucky the first time. It won’t happen like that again. Eventually, you will run into a dead end. No one can run from purpose forever.”
Everyone takes a step towards them. The Blaires boldly maintains their ground. Cornelius raises his chin arrogantly and smiles.
"I will say no more,” Cornelius says with this humorous, dark, chuckle. “But know this…I’m a man of my word.”
The humor in his face dies. He turns and walks out the door with his wife Rebecca. His daughter, Arlene, is still staring at me. She is gazing at me with her wide, soulless, eyes.
"What are you staring at cunt?" Jessica asks while stepping in front of me.
Arlene’s smile slowly fades away.
"I’m looking at a bunch of dead people,” Arlene replies.
Jessica steps forward again, but Daniel grabs her shoulder.
“No Rave,” he whispers to Jessica. “That’s what she wants.”
Rebecca, her mother, walks back into the doorway.
"Arlene, darling, let’s go. We have better things to take care of. We will handle them later.”
“You have a problem with me?” Arlene asks Jessica. “Let’s see you do something about it...”
Jessica quickly steps forward. I knew this was coming. Jessica’s knuckles collide with Arlene's nose. The strong jab makes her fall back onto the floor. Her mother, Rebecca, gasps and runs to her daughter's aid. Arlene quickly stands to her feet with anger exploding through her red face. I then see heavy veins covering her face. She then starts to breathe deeper and deeper.
“Come on, bitch, I’ve waited a long time for this,” Jessica says while cracking her knuckles.
Jessica charges forward at Arlene, but Daniel and Eric holds her back by her arm. Arlene attempts to charge as well, but Rebecca stops her.
“No Arlene, not now,” her mother says while grabbing her daughter’s shoulders.
“I’ll kill her,” Arlene says to Jessica aggressively. “I'll kill her whole family. All of their white trash bloodline!”
“We will darling, we will. Let’s go,” she says while she escorts her daughter out of the store.
Arlene leaves a trail of blood from her bloody nose as she leaves. Her mother pauses in the doorway, momentarily, to look over her shoulder at us.
“This is far from over,” she tells us and leaves the store.
Finally, everyone drops their defensive stance. Jessica snatches her arm away from Daniel and her brother and places her anger onto them.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“I’m protecting Iva,” Daniel replies with narrow eyebrows.
“This is not a good time to lose our heads,” Eric adds.
The old man comes from the back room with a stuffed paper bag in his hand.
"You cleaned me out. We’ll order some more later on this week.”
The old man freezes when he notices Daniel and Jessica staring fiercely at one another.
"Is everything okay?” the old man asks.
Daniel turns away from Jessica, reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ten-dollar bill, passes it to the old man, and snatches the bag off the counter. He quickly turns and walks out. The rest of us follow his lead.
“Sir, don’t you want your change?” the old man calls to him but Daniel continues walking.
As Daniel steps onto the sidewalk, I see his back muscles harden. A familiar pink t-shirt is lying on the pavement in front of his boots. I glance over at the SUV and notice the passenger’s door is wide open. Clothes are scattered across the sidewalk.
“Whose clothes are those?” Maria asks everyone in an alarming voice.
I swallow nervously and reply…
“I did leave a book-bag in the back seat,” I respond with fear in my voice.
Daniel shifts at Maria, and Maria looks back at him with concerned eyes. Daniel picks up my shirt and proceeds toward the SUV. Jason pulls me close to him as he surveys up and down the sidewalk. Daniel cautiously observes the inside of the car before turning to me.
“It’s gone. The bag is gone,” he states.
“Damn it,” Jessica says loudly through her teeth.
I look around and notice their expressions flatten and their eyes become worrisome. Eric shakes his head slowly and adds…
“This is bad Mane, real bad,” he says with concern.
“Why do they need my book bag?” I ask Daniel but he doesn't reply.
He turns to us again, trying his best not to show any kind of concern. To me, Daniel is the leader of the pack. Therefore, I understand him for not freaking-out like the rest of us. Fear has never been something he understood anyways.
“Come on, let’s hurry back home,” he says while turning away, wrapping around the front of the car, and getting in.
“Come on,” Jason whispers to me.
Daniel ignores the speed limit and is now soaring back to the house.
“I guess that visit isn’t happening now,” Maria states.
Jessica is looking out the window with her arms folded.
“We should’ve killed them right then and there,” Jessica says while shaking her head and staring out the window.
“And risk her safety?” Daniel asks from the driver’s seat.
Jessica puffs loudly from the middle row.
"What were they doing in the car?" I ask with tense words.
"Why do you think?” Daniel asks me.
"It shouldn’t matter,” Maria says from the middle seat. “They still can’t track her scent to her house or ours.”
“Then why take her book-bag?” Eric asks confusingly from the passenger seat.
“They must be getting desperate,” Maria replies.
I try my best to calm myself down. Jason looks down at my nervous hands and grips them gently. I stare into his soothing eyes and rest my head against his firm chest.
"I wanted to rip that bitch head off so bad,” Jessica presses on angrily.
"They’re not stupid enough to fight us,” Daniel explains. “They wanted us to lose our cool. You noticed that Kendrick wasn’t with them. They kept us in the store while Kendrick and Cornelius checked for her scent. Arlene was a distraction. Only an idiot wouldn’t see that.”
“I swear…this is going to bite us in our ass,” Jessica says bitterly.
“Point proven,” Daniel replies.
“Guys, drop it. It’s over,” Jason interferes.
Jessica folds her arms tighter, her face nearly turning red with fire, and holds back her anger. Suddenly, a thought hits home, what if they use the scent from my backpack and track down my mother? They’ll kill her.
“Can they use the book-bag to track where my mom works?”
“Iva, your mom will be okay. Don’t panic,” Maria says to me.
“I know but I think she should be warned,” I plead to them.
“If we tell your mom what’s really going on, she’ll most likely call the cops. The Blaires has connections with police. They will find out where we live. That will endanger all of us, including your mom,” Daniel explains.
I sit back and keep my mouth shut. I suppose I have no other choice. I know they’re sure about those herbs but…..what if they’re wrong? Hellhound would rip her to pieces. Am I wrong for being afraid for my mother’s life?
“She wouldn’t have to worry about that if we had killed them, right then and there,” Jessica says with anger.
“I’m done talking,” Daniel replies to her.
Soon, we arrive back at the house and stop hard in the driveway. Jessica doesn’t hesitate to leap out of the car and rush into the house.
“I can’t do this anymore. I’m leaving,” she announces to everyone…