Realistic or Modern Bittersweet Ricochets

[Soda-pop]

“A gun will always be there for you, Anjou. Trust nothing and no one else. You were made to shoot.”
​

The bangs and continuous screeches from the rusty tracks echoed inside the train. It was the regular city-stench that passed through the humid air, leaving a heavy burden in her chest. She clutched onto the handrail and tried to stand still, although with the movements from the transportation made her sway left to right. Her eyes scanned the passengers, people slouched in their seats, a guy laying down with a bottle in his hands. The person standing beside her kept disrupting her thoughts after hearing the repeating beats coming from their earbuds.

The bell came on, next was the rehearsed voice talking through the static speakers. "We will arrive. To the next station. In. Five minutes."

Once the doors with the smeared windows slid open, she walked out and stepped onto the platform. Nothing but depressing gloom here, Queens. Pulling out her phone, she chose a certain contact and brought it up to her ear when she moved forward. “Liam. I need you to pick me up after I’m done. I’ll tell you the street later.” Shoving the device back in her pocket, she reached up and draped her hood over her head.

…​

“I need it done today.” A man spoke sternly to his phone, busting into his room and slamming the door behind him. He paced around, listening to the blabbers and mumbles on the other line. His rough hand raised a blind for him to lean in and watch the dark outside. “No...no-that’s not gonna work!” He turned around, “Does it sound like a give a shit? I don’t care what has to be done, they need to be delivered today or else they’ll be comin’ here thinkin’ we screwed them over.” Finally he settled in his chair, inhaling the large smoke he held between his middle and index finger. “I don’t want you comin’ back here until it’s settled.” He ended the call.

A figure kicked the closet door open and extended her armed hand out. Her curled finger pulled the trigger before he could even say a word.

His corpse laid slumped against the chair as his face was getting coated by his own stream of blood. She lowered her gun and walked to the corpse, stepping on the ciggerate he dropped, twisting her shoe back and forth against the floor. The messy pixie-cut female opened a drawer from his desk and saw the packs. She took one out and found a lighter in another drawer, burning the ends of it. She rummaged again and found some cash she’d keep for herself. Standing from her crouched position, she opened the door and strolled down the hallway, checking every room and every location. Empty. There had to be more.

She spotted another closed door, heading towards it, she grasped onto the handle and pushed it open with the gun close to her face.

 

[Meredith]

Watering plastic plants in the hope that they'll grow. Seeing a message flash, and then smashing up my phone...
​

The girl was laid out on her bed, arms behind her head, staring at the ceiling. Her music was loud enough that even through her noise-cancelling headphones the woman in the doorway could hear it playing. She was very small, slightly above four feet, and she was scowling.

Robyn and her father had had an argument only an hour before. He wouldn't let her do anything, and she was sick of it, sick of being on house arrest when she hadn't even done anything wrong. "Niña-" he had spoken softly, as she was accustomed to, he rarely yelled - "You know that our family is at risk." She had stormed away, slamming the kitchen's door behind her as she'd headed upstairs, every step slammed down into the staircase pointedly. "I hate this!"

Her knuckles were clenched, white from pressure, and her heart was pounding. He had tried to seek her out. He was expecting a business call, she knew, and often that meant that he would be busy for many hours. "Niña, I love you."

The girl had not responded. Instead, she'd grabbed her headphones, plugging them into her phone and turning up the music. Without them on her head, he could hear the signal loud and clear, and that was that she damn well wanted nothing to do with him at the moment.

She caught the door opening in the corner of her eye. Throwing down her headphones - making the music that much louder - she swung herself into a sitting position. "Dad, I told you to leave me the fuck-" her face was angry, eyes blazing, every word all but a snarl. Half a second, and it faded, as she recognized that there was a different woman in the house - and not one she recognized. "Okay. Alright."

She took a deep breath. She could feel her heart in her throat, but now for a different reason, now out of fear. She fought to keep it off of her face. When she spoke, her voice was softened, complacent. Smooth.
"You don't have to point that thing at me. What am I going to do to you?"

 

[Soda-pop]

Her tense eyes settled once it was nothing but a mere kid. She withdrew her pistol and cocked her head at the drastic change in atmosphere she had just walked into. The girl didn’t seem to be a captive, the small space was decorated, how any room would be for her age. Shit. The target was a Dad.

“Lorenzo!” An angered voice yelled out. But from the distance they had, it was faint.

Anjou stepped out of the room and watched as the main door was being budged on with multiple screams and threats coming out from the other side. She huffed and turned to the girl, raising her gun again. Kill everyone inside that building. Everyone. She tucked in her lips and felt the hesitation ring inside her head. She‘s killed children before, but that was something without thinking, this was a moment of pressure she couldn’t bring herself to do.

She closed the door behind her and placed the gun in her back pocket to be less-feared. “Hey. You hear that, right? Some guys are trying to get in here.” She approached her but stopped from coming any closer. “If...you don’t want to get hurt from them, I can-uh, take you.” The brunette moved to the window and clicked it open, pushing it upwards. “I know you’re confused. But, I can tell they’re going to do a lot more than just talk. If you wanna pack stuff then...” If she wouldn’t cooperate, she had no choice but to leave her.

Just then, she watched as a black vehicle pulled up on the side, the engine still running. She placed the soles of her shoes on the window frame and looked over her shoulder. “...Damnit.” She stepped back in and faced her. “Come on. They’re gonna kill us both.” She raised her brows.

 

[Meredith]

​

Hardened eyes glanced back at the woman as her gun raised again. Robyn was unenthused. She'd never needed a weapon in her own goddamn bedroom, so of course she had nothing on her, nothing usable. As the gun lowered, she slipped off her bed, grabbing her phone and muting it. Wordlessly, she turned off location services.
That woman was ready to shoot her, but she hadn't yet, which was.. promising.

She unplugged her headphones. Her body dipped, and she pulled out a drawer under her bed, grabbing the rucksack out of it. It contained approximately a week of clothing, hygiene products, and her old laptop. She took off her sweater, rolling it up and throwing it intro the drawer, replacing it with one that bore no logo. She had drilled on how to quickly and effectively get out of the house. Her father was a paranoid man - and rightly so.

After a moment of hesitation, she pulled out a small handgun, pressing it into her pocket. Its ammunition was already in her bag, with one magazine residing in her sweater pocket.
"Yeah. Okay." Her voice was quiet.

Blood was rushing in her ears. She didn't trust this woman, but she was right, whoever was banging on the door sounded incredibly agitated and about ready set the whole place on fire. The black sneakers from the drawer slipped on easily, heels ruined from quickly mashing her feet into them on many occasions, and she looked at the woman. "It doesn't take a lot for me to get ready."

Fear was a funny thing. It paralyzed some people. Others, it kicked into action, a shot of productive adrenaline.
She moved up beside the woman at the window and gestured to the right. "There's a fabric covering on the gutter about four feet to the right of the edge of my window. If you swing down from it, you won't cut your hands."

That had been her idea, following an escape drill where she'd cut her palms, badly enough to need stitches. It wasn't something she was willing to do again.
She heard the doorframe splinter, indicating that if somebody wasn't already there they would be soon, and her face set in numb determination. "Fucking move."

 

[Soda-pop]

“Wait...have you done this before?” She squinted down at her when she was given some detailed directions. After getting the indication that the men broke in, she stepped up and grabbed the fabric. It only took a couple of seconds to get down, landing with her knees bent. The sounds of the city at night were all the same, police sirens, the subway, but not a loud commotion. Some members stayed outside in case an escape would occur.

Anjou drew out her gun as soon as they did, her bullets pinning a shoulder and stomach. She took care of them fast, and put her focus back on the girl. When her sneakers were placed on the cement, she pressed a hand against her back and pushed her alongside. “In the car.” She opened the door and urged her to go in quickly. She looked at the other parked cars and tried to shoot the tires from afar, managing to pop some. She opened the passenger door and dove in, pulling it closed.

“Woah woah woah, ‘the hell is that?” He motioned to the backseat.
“Does it matter right now!”
He slammed his foot down on the petal, peeling out from the street they were on. Anjou took a few breaths and rested in her seat. She closed her eyes and placed her elbows on her knees with her fingers rubbing her temples.

“Alright. So. Did he say to bring back a kid? That ain’t what I heard. Unless he changed his mind.”
“Couldn’t leave her there, Liam.” She mumbled
“Whaddya mean? Since when were you the generous-type?” He glanced at the girl and shook his head, looking at the road again. “I mean-we could drop her off at one-of-those foster places.”
“She’s the boss’s daughter. I bet they want to find her.”

The two argued back and forth, leaving Robyn to just listen.

 

[Meredith]

​

"Of course I have. Hasn't everyone?" The young girl raised an eyebrow. It seemed normal, at least to her, to know how to get out of the house. She slid after the other woman, body low to the roof, and caught the gutter on the way down. She landed to the ground with a quiet thump, knees bent, and hit the ground at speed. She took a few steps, stumbling slightly, but quickly recovered. "Yeah. The car."

She threw the car door open, slipping into the backseat, and closing it with a bang. Within a second, her seatbelt was on, her backpack beside her. She listened to the pair intently.
They didn't seem to have the intention of being a rescue crew. So why the hell were they staking out the house?

Robyn interrupted as Liam spoke about foster care, sounding cross, a bit offended or confused. "I was under the impression you guys would want to be dropping me off with my dad. You know. The safe house." A moment passed, and her eyes darkened. "Oh."

Her face set, grimness emanating from the young girl, but her eyes betrayed her. She looked about ready to cry. Still, she glanced at Liam in the front seat, studying him vacantly. "No need to argue, then, Liam. Figure it out once we get somewhere secure." She eyes flicked to the woman in the passenger seat. Her breath uneven, she attempted a smile, which was a magnificent (and pathetic) failure. "Didn't catch your name. Mine's Robyn."

She looked away, not waiting for an answer, staring out the window at the city. She had always loved the Queens area. It was a shithole, but it was busy, cars and people fluidly moving through the streets like spilled molasses through a crease in the kitchen counter.

 

[Soda-pop]

“The fuck? Why she talkin’ like she knows us?” He side-eyed Anjou, who was only smiling as a response to the girl’s attitude.

Leaning forward, she extended her arms back, her hands tugging off her sleeves. She slid her jacket down her bare shoulders and tossed it on her lap. Falling back into the black leather seat, she was revealed to finally catch some air now that she’s only wearing a tank-top. Her brown hues looked up at the rear-view mirror and studied Robyn’s face. Emotions washed over her yet she bottled it up to fake a smile.

“...I’m Anjou.”

She poked her face out from the side of her seat and stared at her, the corner of her lip raising into a smile. “Have you ever been to Brooklyn, Robyn?”

 

[Meredith]

​

"What am I supposed to do, act like I've been kidnapped? I got my own ass in the car, and by the sounds of it, you wouldn't complain much if I bailed out the door."
She whipped her head around to glare at Liam, for a moment, and then resolved to ignore him. Instead, she side-eyed Anjou - not aggressively, or particularly suspiciously, solely because she preferred to be staring out the window. "A couple times. We mostly stayed in the borough, though."

She swung her bag in between her legs, opening the top of her satchel, and rooting through it. After a moment, she could be heard opening a small wallet from the inside of her bag, pulling out a twenty and ten dollar bill. There was enough money in the bag for her to stay at a shit motel for a week if she needed to. "I'll buy lunch if you two will tell me what's actually going on."

A smile, and Robyn put the money down on the console. Really, she'd pay either way, this woman had effectively saved her life. However - a motion of friendship was often reciprocated, wasn't it? She knew it was a poor barter, but really, what other way could she convince them to talk? They seemed so much more absorbed in what they were doing...

The black-haired girl let out a soft sigh, her resolve slowly fading, tired already of the day. She'd been ready to sleep when they got there, but here she was, doing anything but sleep...

 

[Soda-pop]

She observed the small hand sliding the money onto the console that was between herself and Liam. It was an instinct to snatch, right after though, she reached back to hand it to it’s rightful owner. “Hey-don’t throw your money away like that. I can talk for free, okay? Chill. Use your cash if something important comes up. Trust me, you have no idea how hard it is to get money around here...” She sighed as her voice drifted away for a second. “Okay. I know a place where people don’t snitch. And that’s the best place for someone like you to be at.”

“You’re talkin’ about the place where Javier stays at, right?”

“Yeah. See, a good friend of mine lives there. It’s sort of like a group-place. Where people come and go. But they won’t hurt you, it’s not like I’m gonna leave you there. I’ll stay too.” She didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable, Anjou was just making this up as she went. In a way, she was responsible for her now. “I mean, I barely know you, kid. It’s pretty late too. It’s the only hide-out I can think of right now. I’m-uh, also sorry. What you’re going through is pretty fucked up.”

 

[Meredith]

​

"We need some sort of food."
A soft breath, and the girl took her money back, stuffing it in her bag. She was nervous - but it wasn't worth arguing. This woman seemed like the only person who wanted her around at the moment.

Robyn had been prepared, in a way, for something to happen to her father. She just hadn't expected it to be so soon. She'd seen many cousins die, both her uncle and two aunts, because of the family business. She had been kept out of its particulars for the time being. Still - anyone who thought she was unaware would have to be stupid.

She nodded at the woman saying that they barely knew each other. It was true, but Anjou seemed to know her way around a conflict, and people like that were good to be around. Anjou apologized, and the girl shrugged, arms wrapping around her torso. "It's fine."

Her eyes closed. After a moment, she spoke, voice quiet. "Can we stop at a store before we head off? I forgot something, and I doubt we can go back home.."

 

[Soda-pop]

“Mm. What do think?” She looked over at the blond driver who was tapping on the wheel in frustration.

“I guess, but we can’t take forever. It’s not like I’m your personal driver.” He responded. “I think there’s a store not too far from here.”

Anjou was relieved when the store-idea was brought up, that way the kid could get a snack and she wouldn’t have to worry about feeding her. After all, she could barely feed herself.

…
​

When they arrived to a 24/7 convince store, Anjou turned back and asked. “Do you want me to come with you?” It wasn’t the most pleasant looking place, she found it a bit eerie.

 

[Meredith]

​

"Yeah, I know. Thanks."
Her immediate urge had been to throw more shade Liam, but he was doing her a favour, and she wasn't about to be an asshole about it. They approached the store, and she jumped out of the car, jerking her head at Anjou. "Nah. I'm all good."

Jumping out of the car, she glanced back at the others, trodding into the store. She kept an eye on her surroundings, but ignored everyone else in the store, grabbing a couple bags of chips for the others in the car. A suspicious hot dog and bag of chips for herself later, she came out of the store, only about ten bucks lighter. She threw two bags of plain chips in the front of the car. "For driving."

A nod, and she glanced back to the store, buckling herself in. "I was getting weird looks, yo. Put some muscle into it."