Two

Two

A Chapter by Boogabaah

 

Part Two  : An Angel finds a Pine Cone





     “I can’t believe you fucked that up.” Reuben said to his brother as he rode in the passenger's seat on their way home. “I mean, how idiotic can you be? All you had to do what stand there, look tough, and keep your damn mouth shut!” He was mad. His brother scared the other guy and messed up the entire deal. They were now broke.

   “Relax. That guy was an a*****e. We’ll find something else.” Hazen said and he drove the car that they shared. “It always works out.”

  “Always works out? Then why are we broke? Tell me that, smart guy!” Reuben was almost yelling as he said this but was trying his hardest to remain calm as they pulled up in front of the apartment they shared.

   “I still have my job delivering pizza so we are okay for now. Something else will come along.” Hazen told his brother as he got out of the car and grabbed several pizza boxes from the backseat. They walked to their front door in silence.

  “What’s this?” Reuben said as he pulled two pink pieces of paper off of the clip next to the door and read them. “We’re invited to a soiree tonight, in our own backyard.”

   Hazen unlocked the door with his free arm and let his brother go in first. They had two of everything. Two flat screen televisions, two video game systems, two towers of video games, two comfortable chairs to sit in, and two little tables in the front room. Reuben had the larger bedroom but they contained the same furniture. In the kitchen they had a table with four chairs.

      “Soiree? What time is this party?” Hazen asked as set the pizzas on the table and opened the one on top.

     “6pm.” Reuben said as he crammed a piece of pizza into his mouth.

     “It started over an hour ago. Should we stop by, just to be neighborly?” Hazen asked before biting into his slice of pizza.

     “We don’t have any beer to bring. It says BYOB on it.” Reuben said in between bites of pizza.

     “So? We don’t have to drink their beer either. We’ll just stop by for a few and then come back. I want to beat that monster tonight.” Hazen and Reuben had been playing the latest video game and were close to winning it.

   “Okay. Let's just bring that old ice chest to make it look like we brought something.” Reuben said in between bites of pizza.

   “But what if someone opens it?” Hazen asked.

   “I’ll sit on it.” Reuben said as he crammed another slice of pizza into his mouth. He stood up and grabbed the ice chest from on top of the refrigerator. “Let’s go.”

   Hazen got up and grabbed another slice of pizza before closing the box and then opened the kitchen door into the backyard for his brother. The noticed the glow of lights around the corner when they entered the yard. There was music coming from that direction too. The followed the path around the building. There was a lot more people than they had expected.

    “Gentlemen!” Onslo their landlord called out to them upon their arrival. They walked over to him and shook hands. “Hazen and Reuben, this is Fran and Morris the other tenants in the building.” Fran and Morris danced over to greet their neighbors.

    “Hello” The twins said in unison. They all shook hands. Morris went back to dancing since they were playing a song he liked.

    “So nice to finally meet you. Did you all move in about four months ago? I never seen you.” Fran said to them. Hazen answered her as Reuben sat down on the ice chest.

    “We work a lot, odd shifts. Nights mostly.” He said with a nervous smile. Fran smiled back at him and offered them some h’orderves. They both declined. She said if they felt like dancing to join in and she went to dance with the others.

   There was a genuine freakshow happening in this yard.  Who were all these people? It was the strangest thing either of them had ever seen. There was five or six elderly people dancing, several people in hospital type scrubs with a bunch more people who looked like they got dressed in the dark after they had gotten drunk. None of them really paid any attention to the twins.

    “Hey, we could totally rob these people and they would never know it was us.” Reuben said to his brother. Hazen crouched down next to him but kept his eyes on the dancers.

    “They would notice. There are too many people.” Hazen tried to talk some sense into his brother.

   “No, we could. Let's just wait a while. They’ll get more drunk and we can just sneak into one of these apartments and grab a few things. Super easy. Then we can go sell it tonight and get our money back that we lost earlier today. The stuff will be out of our hands before they notice it’s missing. What do you say?” Reuben held his hand out to his brother. Hazen slapped it away.

   “Yeah, okay. Which one?” Hazen said as he looked at both Fran and Morris’s open kitchen doors. They sat watching the doors and everyone going in and out.

    “The one on the right. Barely anyone is going in there and I can see they have a lot of stuff. They won’t notice if we take some of it.” Reuben said.

    “Sounds good.” Hazen said as he stood up. They waited a bit longer until everyone seemed to be in a drunken dancing daze. No one was paying any attention to them as they slipped into Fran’s apartment.

    “Holy s**t, will you look at all this stuff? This lady is a crazy organized packrat!” Reuben said upon entering the kitchen. Hazen followed him into the front room. Reuben set the ice chest down. “Let's fill it up.” He looked into the hat box under the couch then put it in the ice chest. Hazen went into the bedroom and came back with a wooden box.

   “Look at this! It’s full of jewelry.” Hazen opened the box quickly to show his brother then shut it as he put in the ice chest. They grabbed a few more random items and left through the front door. Making sure to close it behind them which turned out to be a good thing, a woman came around the corner and into the courtyard as they walked across it.

   “Hello. Are you headed to the party?” The woman asked.

   “Yep. Going to fill this up and bring it back.” Reuben said to the woman. The walked quickly to their car and noticed the woman going into the apartment they just came out of. They put the ice chest in the trunk.

    “That was close.” Hazen said as he got into the car and started it.

    “Yes. Let’s go see if Ed will buy this junk.” Reuben said as they drove away from the apartment building. “F**k, Horatio is texting me because he wants to hang out tonight.” He looked at his phone and grunted.

   “No, we are not hanging out with him. Every time we do some fucked up s**t happens.” Hazen didn’t really like Horatio but they had been friends with him since grade school. He always had some scheme or terrible idea that got them into trouble or lost them money, like earlier today. That was all Horatio’s idea to begin with. Why hadn’t he been there with them?

   “He’s texting me about a party.” Reuben said as he read his phone.

   “Well, s**t! We just came from the best party in town.” Hazen was being sarcastic. “We’ve got to get rid of this stuff.” Reuben’s phone buzzed again.

    “He says there will be girls and beer and drugs. Come on, let’s go. We can ditch Horatio when we get there and if it sucks we’ll leave.” Reuben gave his brother a puppy eyes look.  “Please? Girls! I need to talk to some girls! I am going crazy in this town.”

   “Fine. Where is he because I know we have to go pick him up?” Hazen said as he pulled the car up to a stop sign.

    “He is at the bowling alley.” Reuben said while reading the text message on his phone. “And he has girls with him that want a ride to the party.”

    “I already don’t like this.” Hazen said as he drove to the bowling alley. Horatio was standing outside with two women in their early twenties when they arrived. One was short with long brown curls and the other was tall with red hair and a crooked smile. They climbed into the backseat with Horatio in the middle. Hazen could smell the cigarettes and alcohol on them.

    “What’s up, double trouble?” Horatio asked as the twins as Hazen drove away.

    “Same bullshit, different day. What about you, man? Where’s this party at?” Reuben answered for both brothers. Horatio said something to one of the young women, the redhead, and she handed him a piece of paper from her purse.

    “Hold up, man. I got the directions right here. Okay, you have to go out and get on Old Forest Lake Road.” Horatio said while looking at a hand drawn map with directions scribbled on it.  

    “It’s way the f**k out there? I don’t know if I want to go all the way out there. We’ve got other things to do.” Hazen said as he pulled the car into a gas station.

    “Come on, we need a break and to have some fun.”He said as he looked at the women in the backseat. “That other thing can wait.” Reuben was only thinking about hanging out with these women or any other ones at the party that would.

    “Fine, but I’m going to need more gas money then.” Hazen shut the engine off and looked around the car. “Cough it up.” He held a hand out. They began to dig in their pockets. The redheaded woman pulled a five dollar bill out of her purse and handed it to Hazen. Horatio gave him six dollars in mostly change. The other woman just shrugged and said she had nothing. He took their money and put gas into his car.

    “What kind of party is this?” Reuben was turned in his seat, he asked Horatio but the woman who had the map spoke up.

    “It’s not exactly a party. My friend’s friend’s brother has a cabin out there. Him and a bunch of hippies live there. They have this type of gathering once a month. This month’s theme is How high can you fly?” She said with a grin on her face, more teeth showing on one side than the other. Hazen finished pumping the gas then got into the car and started it up.

    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Reuben asked her. She just smiled more and held her hand out.

      “Try this.” There were two squares of paper on a piece of foil. “One for each of you.”

      “Is that what I think it is?” Hazen looked over quickly as he drove out of the station and onto the road.

      “Yes, go on.” She held it closer.

     “But I’m driving.” Hazen protested.

     “Just take it. It’s not going to kick in until after we get there.” Horatio told him. Reuben grabbed one of the squares and ate it. Hazen put his hand out and the young woman dumped the remaining square into it. He put it in his mouth. Horatio let out a loud yell and then laughed. The women giggled along with him. “Let me switch seats with you.” He said to Reuben. Reuben was happy to trade and sit between the two women.

    “Hey! Watch it! I’m driving you, idiots!” Hazen yelled at them as they climbed over the seats. Horatio had the directions in his hand and instructed Hazen as to which way to go. Hazen kept looking in his rearview mirrors.

   “You okay, man?” Horatio asked him once they were in the forest away from the city lights.

   “Yeah, I thought maybe someone was following us.” Hazen checked his mirrors again. Horatio had him turned down several different streets. “Are you sure you’re not just getting us lost?”

    “This is the right way. I’ve been here before.” The red haired woman in the backseat said.

    “Yeah, she’s been here before. It’s all good. Relax or you’re going to have a bad trip.” Horatio said to Hazen as he reached over and gave his arm a squeeze.

    “I’m fine. I just don’t want to get lost out here.” Hazen seemed a little nervous and was checking his mirrors again.

    “Turn here. This is it!” The woman in the backseat said as she leaned all the way over the middle console into the front of the car. They turned to the left before heading up and over a hill. On the ridge they could see the lake in the distance and lights of a house. As they got closer they could hear music and people. Hazen parked behind the last car just off the road and they all got out. Reuben and the two young women headed for the house, arm in arm.

   “You okay, man? You look a little spooked.” Horatio asked Hazen as he lit a cigarette.

   “Yeah. It’s just I kept seeing lights in my mirrors but they weren’t on the road. Maybe it’s the acid already messing with me.” Hazen said with a laugh.

    “F**k, yeah. Let's go have some fun.” Horatio spun around and started walking towards the house. Hazen followed Horatio along the long driveway that lead up to the house. There were people in the yard passed out in the grass already. The music was some kind of dance music with repetitive beats and a thumping bass. The doors to the house were all open, as were the windows.

     Someone had changed all the light bulbs in the house to colored ones. The light on the porch was blue and the one in the main entrance was red. Hazen walked into the kitchen that was lit up in purple. He didn’t recognize anyone at the party and wasn’t quite sure what to do. Reuben had disappeared with the two women. Horatio was there and then gone when Hazen wasn’t looking.

  Hazen sat on a couch in the living room next to two people in a heavy kissing session. The room was glowing green. A woman with short black hair, wearing angel wings, came over and took a picture of the kissing couple. Flash on.

   “Damn it, Penelope! Get the hell out of here with that!” The woman who had been kissing the man on the couch stopped kissing long enough to yell at the her and then went back to kissing.

    Penelope just smiled an evil grin and then looked at Hazen.

    “Hello, beautiful man.” She said right before taking his picture. Hazen flinched at the bright light flashed in his face and could see the spot still there long after it had all gone back to green.

    “Hey.” Was all Hazen could manage to say to her. She was gorgeous. Why would she be talking to him? She smiled then laughed.

    “Are you okay?” Penelope asked. Hazen could only nod. She took his hand and pulled him off of the couch. He felt like he was floating and her hand in his was the best feeling ever. He could feel her heart beating in sync with his. She dragged him into the kitchen and asked him a question but he couldn’t understand what she was saying over the music so she pulled him close.

   “Do you want something to drink?” Penelope yelling into Hazen’s ear.

   “Yeah!” He yelled back. She poured several bottles of different liquors in a plastic cup then took a sip. She handed it to Hazen, he took a small sip. “Strong.” He said as he coughed a bit and handed it back. She drank it all then threw the plastic cup in the sink.

    “Come on. Let's go swimming.” Penelope leaned forward and said into Hazen’s ear. He could hear her words echoing inside of his head.

    “Okay.” Hazen said as she grabbed his hand and lead him through the house then upstairs, where she left him standing in the hallway. The light at the top of the stairs was yellow.

    “We need some towels.” Penelope said to him as she opened cabinets and drawers looking for towels. Hazen stood at the top of the stairs looking at a painting. It was a boat and a happy face made of different colored shapes. Penelope went into the bathroom and came out with an armload of towels. She stopped and looked at Hazen’s eyes. “What did you take? Your pupils are huge.”

   He slowly turned his head away from her and then back, for a moment looked at her like he never seen her but then a smile of recognition spread across his face.

      “Hey. Where did you go?” Hazen hugged her and almost sent them both toppling down the stairs causing him to laugh.

    “Wow, you are really fucked up. Are you sure you are okay to go swimming?” Penelope tried to look him in the eyes but he was wiggling around and dancing a bit to the music now.

    “Swimming! Yes! I love swimming!” Hazen picked her up and hugged her again.

   “Okay. Okay but put me down.” She was not comfortable with being picked up and didn’t want to break her angel wings.

   He set her down then took a step back and danced even more. She grabbed his hand as she pulled him down the stairs then he picked her up and spun her around when they reached the bottom bumping into several people.

    “Sorry. Sorry.” Hazen said as he laughed hysterically and danced out of the room with Penelope right behind him.

   “This way.” She said as she steered Hazen through the people dancing and hanging out. He said hello to a few people but she pushed him on. They stepped out onto a large wooden deck, the cool forest air stopped Hazen. He stood with his arms spread, looking up at the sky. He could see millions of stars in the sky before him. He heard happy people laughing and music that made him want to dance.

    “Hello?” A beautiful face was there. Penelope.

     He grabbed her and kissed her. She dropped the towels, pushed him back and slapped him. He just stood there with a big smile on his face.

   “Stop that. Did you want to go swimming or not?” She asked him again.

   “Yeah.” Hazen said as he began to walk down the porch and onto the dock. He took his shirt off and tossed it onto a chair along with his keys then kicked his shoes off, he was only in his shorts now. He walked straight down the dock to the end of it and stopped. Penelope took her dress and angel wings off then hurried to catch up to Hazen before he could jump in. She was just in her underwear now. She slowed down when she realized he was not moving.

    “Hey.” She said as she stood next to him. She looked at him and could see he was crying. “Are you alright?” He was looking at something  so she turned to look too. It was a bright star in the sky, maybe Sirius, she wasn’t sure.

    “Isn’t it beautiful? They followed me here tonight. I don’t know why.” Hazen said as he turned and walked the other way.

   “Hey, don’t you want to go swimming?” Penelope stood at the end of the dock. Hazen stopped and turned to her.

    “I love swimming.” He said calmly as he took her hand in his and began to slow dance with her at the end of the dock before turning to face the water. “One, two, three, go!” They jumped into the lake together. Hazen came up yelling and laughing, he splashed Penelope as much as he could. She swam back to the dock and climbed up the ladder but kept her body submerged.   

   Hazen swam out a ways and looked up at everything, the stars in the sky, the lights coming from the house. He suddenly felt like he was being watched and decided to swim back.

   “Still too cold for me.” Penelope said as she climbed out of the lake and began to shiver. He swam over to the deck and held onto the ladder.

    “Where did you come from? You are beautiful.” Hazen said as she looked up at Penelope. The moon had just risen above the tree line. She just looked at him and laughed, he laughed too. He climbed the ladder out of the lake and sat next to Penelope with their feet dangling into the water. “You’re cold, your skin is so cold.” He ran his hand over her arms and back. She still shivered.

   “Let’s go back to the house.” Penelope said as she started to stand up. Hazen hopped up and pulled her to a standing position. They walked down the dock together. Penelope grabbed her things then slipped her dress and angel wings on.

   “Hey, my shoes!” Hazen said as he noticed then slipped his shoes back on. “Oh, wow. My shirt. My keys.” He slung his shirt over his shoulder and put his keys into his wet pocket. Penelope gathered up the towels she had dropped and wrapped one around Hazen’s waist so that they didn’t walk into the house still dripping wet.

   “Stay here. Sit.” Penelope pushed Hazen into a big armchair just inside the door. “Don’t get up. Stay.” She disappeared into the crowd of people in the room. Hazen sat in the chair. Everything in the room was glowing. He watched as people danced in slow motion with fireflies buzzing around them. They danced all together as if they rehearsed for this night, it was perfect, hypnotizing. Horatio appeared suddenly.

    “Where have you been, man?” Horatio said as he sat on the arm of the chair. He was smoking a joint and handed it to Hazen, he took a long slow drag off of the joint then handed it back. He blew out several smoke rings and in the third one suddenly appeared a beautiful woman. Hazen stared at her as she came closer to him. She was an angel.

    “Come with me.” She put her hand out to Hazen. Penelope, he loved her. Their eyes locked.

   “What the f**k, Pene? Leave my friend alone.” Horatio told her as he slapped her hand away.

    “F**k off, Hor!” Penelope yelled at Horatio as she grabbed Hazen’s hand and pulled him up. He wrapped his arms around her and they danced into the mixture of people already dancing in the room. They got caught up in the moment with everyone and danced until Hazen couldn’t breath.

   “I’m so thirsty.” Hazen said as he walked away from the crowd of gyrating bodies. He went into the kitchen and drank straight from the tap. Penelope followed his lead and drank from the tap after he did. Then they kissed again but this time she didn’t slap him.

    “I know where we should go.” Penelope grabbed her bag and put it over her head and shoulder then lead Hazen from the house and into the forest. They walked in the dark until they came to an opening in the trees. There was a small wooden platform, covered by rugs and blankets, there in the center of the clearing with a shrine on it. Penelope lit one of the candles and the whole clearing glowed with light. Hazen laid down on the platform and stared into the sky. She lit a joint using the candle, took a drag and then handed it to Hazen. He took a hit and then proceed to blow smoke rings again. Penelope took an orange from her bag and peeled it. She fed some to Hazen.

    “This is the best thing I ever ate.” He said as he slowly chewed each piece. The drugs were wearing off. He felt good still but he didn’t want to get up. The moon was higher in the sky now. He laid there listening to Penelope humming to herself and the music coming from the house. Then he heard his brother calling for him.

     “What? I’m over here.” Hazen could see a light coming through the trees towards the clearing.

     “Where are you?” Reuben called out. Hazen grabbed the lighter and flicked it a few times while still laying there. “I see you.” He shouted and walked quickly over to them.

       “Hello.” Penelope said with her mouth hanging open after. “There’s two.” Reuben ignored her.

    “Someone broke into the car.” Reuben said out of breath to his brother. Hazen jumped up.

   “What? The car?” Hazen said as he began to run towards the road. Reuben followed him trying to shine the flashlight for him to see.

    “Where are you going? You’re going to get lost in the dark.” He called out to his brother.

    “Wait for me!” Penelope yelled to them as she got up, blew the candle out, slipped her bag over her head and chased after them. Hazen got to the car first. The doors were still closed but the trunk was open and empty. The ice chest was on the ground next to the hat box. Someone had smashed the hat box. The strange stone purse that was in the hat box was laying next to the road with it’s handle broken.

     “Who the f**k did this?” Hazen was yelling as Horatio came running up.

    “It was Todd! I seen him leave the party a few minutes ago. He said to his friend he had something he wanted to show him and they left. His van was there,” Horatio pointed to an empty parking space on the road. “But now it’s gone.”

    “That f****r! You sure? I didn’t even see him. Are you sure?” Hazen asked as he looked into the empty trunk for anything that might have been left behind.

    “He seen you, dancing with her!” Horatio pointed at Penelope as she came through the trees carrying a pine cone made of the same thing as the purse.

    “F**k you, Horatio! I didn’t do anything and Todd can go f**k himself. He’s screwing Jackie now and goodness only know who else.” Penelope was instantly mad at Horatio for not minding his own business.

    “Why would she be involved? She was with me all night.” Hazen said in her defence.

    “Yeah, exactly. So Todd could rob you. She’s Todd’s girlfriend.” Horatio was still yelling. Hazen and Reuben both looked at Penelope.

     “We broke up weeks ago and besides that, we were together for like 3 days before I found out he was a s**t. Todd’s a f*****g creep.” Penelope was upset and started to cry.

     “Where did you get that?” Reuben asked her about the pine cone she was holding.

    “It was in the forest. I just found it.” She replied to him through her sobs. Reuben picked up the broken purse.

    “Well, there goes that quick money. You happy now, Reuben?” Hazen yelled at his brother before slamming down the trunk of his car.

      “Relax, man. We still got this weird art s**t. We can take it to that pawn shop near the doughnut place in the morning and get rid of it.” Reuben opened the back door and set the stone purse on the floor then took the pine cone from Penelope and set it next to the purse.

     “I know where Todd lives if you wanted to go get your stuff back.” Penelope said quietly. The three friends looked at each other.

    “Let's go.” Horatio said as he pushed past Penelope and got into the back seat of the car. Hazen looked at her as he fished his keys from his pocket.

     “Get in. You’re our navigator.” He said. To Penelope.

    “Are you okay to drive?” She asked him.

    “Let’s find out.” Hazen got into the driver’s seat and Penelope got in on the passenger's side in the back. Reuben sat in the passenger’s front seat, like always.

     “Does she have to come with us?” Horatio didn’t like Penelope. She was slightly taller than him and it bugged him.

     “Yes, she knows where Todd lives. Are you high?” Reuben asked.

     “Uh, yes! I am and so are all of you.” Horatio said. “I just f*****g smoked a joint, what do you think?”

     “Damn, dude. Calm the f**k down, smoke another. S**t. Relax.” Reuben turned to his brother. “You cool? Let’s go. It wasn’t even your stuff that was stolen.” Hazen started the car and turned it around.

     “He has by backpack. That’s why I ran out here.” Horatio said.

    “How did he get that?” Reuben asked.

     “Jackie grabbed it. I wasn’t paying attention. I followed her outside but she ran up the hill and jumped into Todd’s van, then they drove off together.” Horatio punched the back of the seat. “My f*****g weed is in there.”

    “Knock it off! I’m driving!” Hazen yelled at him. They drove up the long driveway and made their way back to the highway. Penelope noticed the pine cone and purse rolling around on the car’s floor so she bent down and grabbed them. She looked at the broken handle and thought she could fix it with some glue. She stuck them in her bag.

    They were all mad and drove in silence until they got into town. Penelope directed Hazen to Todd’s house but his van wasn’t parked out front.

    “Now what?” Horatio asked.

    “I am hungry.” Hazen said.

    “Me too. I only had half an orange all night.” Penelope said.

    “Let’s go get some coffee or something then we can drive back by later.” Hazen said to everyone. They agreed. He drove them to a small cafe that was open 24 hours a day. It was almost 4am now. Horatio just wanted black coffee. Hazen ordered a chocolate shake and a tuna melt. Reuben ordered a cheeseburger and fries. Penelope ordered blueberry pancakes and a glass of orange juice.

They sat eating in silence when Todd’s van drove by. They all watched as it did.

     “Did that just happen or am I still tripping?” Hazen asked. Todd had not seen them or Hazen’s car in the parking lot.

     “I seen it too. He had Jackie with him still.” Penelope said as she licked syrup and butter off of her hand.

    “Let’s go get them!” Horatio said as he jumped up from his chair, knocking into the table and shaking it.

    “Calm down, just wait.Sit back down. We need a plan.” Reuben calmly told Horatio as he ate some fries. They decided to go back to Todd’s house and break into his van to retrieve their stolen items. Todd lived with his grandmother and she didn’t like him bringing things into the house that could get him into trouble. Hazen drove to the street and switched his headlights off before driving down it. They parked several houses away, they could see Todd’s van parked in front of his house. They quietly got out of the car.

    “You wait here.” Horatio told Penelope.

    “Why?” She whined back at him.

     “This is your fault. He seen you dancing with Hazen.” Horatio tried to blame her.

    “Oh, whatever.” Penelope said to him and sat back down in the backseat of Hazen’s car with the door open. Horatio and the two brothers walked quietly to Todd’s van to break in. The van was a soccer mom type of van, it was at least 20 years old and needed a real paint job since Todd had spray painted it flat black. It had sliding doors on both sides. It was missing the middle row of seats. Instead there was fast food trash and things that belonged to Todd, plus many stolen items. They were able to open the sliding door on the driver’s side.

    “Grab the jewelry box.” Hazen said to Reuben as he opened the door. Horatio climbed into the van and threw some things around looking for his bag. He found it under the front passenger’s seat and slipped it onto his back.

  Penelope sat watching them for a moment then took the pine cone from her bag. It looked like it was glowing deep inside of it. She reached in and pulled the purse from her bag. The handle was in one piece again. She ran her fingers over it while still touching the pine cone and it vibrated slightly. This made her jump. Then she grasped both objects and could feel they were both vibrating slowly together. She began to get up when she noticed something odd. The pine cone was pointed into the street and every time she moved slightly a leaf in the street moved. She pointed the pine cone at the leaf and said outloud, “Move.” and it did. Then she did it a few more times with other leaves then with a whole pile.

     Todd and Jackie came out of his grandmother’s house. The two brothers and their friend did not see him until it was too late. Todd grabbed Hazen around the neck with his arm and pointed a gun at his head.

    “What the f**k are you doing in my van?” Todd shouted at them as he dragged Hazen into the street.

    “Be cool, man. Put the gun down. We just want what’s ours.” Reuben said as he set the jewelry box on the back on a car.

    “Nothing here is yours. I’m calling the cops!” Todd threatened as he jammed the gun harder into Hazen’s head.

    “Call the cops, you b***h! You stole this stuff from us!” Horatio yelled back at him.

   “Where’d you get a big box of jewelry? From your grandma? I don’t think so.” Reuben said to Todd. Todd still had Hazen in a choke hold and the gun pushed up against his temple.

     Penelope hopped out of the car with the pine cone and purse still in her hands and began to walk quickly towards the men. She pointed the pine cone at Todd.

       “Gun.” Penelope said and the gun flew from Todd’s hand, smacking him in the face. It landed in the street some 40 feet away.

    “What the f**k?” Todd said as Hazen broke free and swung around to punch him square in the jaw. Jackie screamed and ran towards Penelope with a big stick. Penelope turned to her.

     “Jackie.” Penelope said as she pointed the pine cone at her. Jackie flew back and it a large oak tree then fell to the ground, she didn’t move. The men stopped fighting and just stood there with their mouths open. Todd ran over to Jackie, helped her up and then ran back into his grandmother’s house. Reuben grabbed the jewelry box and ran back to the car with the two others. Penelope walked up the street towards Todd’s van.

   “Let’s see what this can do.” She said mostly to herself. She pointed the pine cone at Todd’s van and it lifted into the air. It started to slowly roll over, dumping its contents into the street through the still opened sliding door. It spun around in the air a few more times before it slammed down, upside down, hard into the street, breaking all the windows and crushing the top of it.

     “Holy s**t! Penelope! Get in the car!” Hazen was yelling to her from the open window as he started his car. She ran back and got into the backseat. They drove off as fast as they could. Horatio sat as far away from Penelope in the backseat as he could.

    “What the f**k is that thing?” Horatio asked Penelope. She was still holding the pine cone and purse. She had a wild look in her eyes.

     “I’m not sure but it’s f*****g awesome.” Penelope said with a grin.

     “You can’t have it, it’s ours.” Reuben said to her as he turned in his seat.

     “You going to take it from me? Where did you get it because you didn’t even know what you had? Look, it fixed itself.” She held up the purse to show him that the handle was no longer broken. Reuben’s mouth opened but no words came out. He was sure he had seen the handle broken into two pieces. “You got your box of jewelry back, so I’m taking this pine cone and purse. You can let me out here.”

    “What? No way! I’m not giving you a damn thing.” Reuben said back to her. She lifted the pine cone to his face level.

    “Stop the car and let me out now.” Penelope said very calmly. Hazen pulled the car into a parking lot of a closed store and she began to get out of the car.

    “Penelope? Wait. This thing might be dangerous.” Hazen said to her.

    “Dangerous? More dangerous than hanging out with you three? I don’t think so. You should be thanking me for saving your lives! If it wasn’t for me you all would be dead in the back of Todd’s van right now as he drove you out into the country to hide your bodies.” She slammed the door closed behind her and began to walk away. Hazen shut the engine off.

    “What are you doing? F**k her! Take me home.” Horatio was still in the backseat. Hazen got out of his car and jogged after to Penelope to stop her. Horatio got out of the car and put his backpack on. “F**k this. I’m walking home.”

    The sky was turning light and the sun would soon be up. Horatio walked down the street the opposite direction of Penelope and Hazen. They didn’t even see him leave. Reuben sat in the car and watched them talking. He couldn’t hear what they were saying but Hazen hugged Penelope and then they walked back to the car together.

    “We’re all tired. Let’s just go back to our place and sleep. We can figure out what to do with the box of jewelry later. I’m f*****g tired.” Hazen said to his brother as Penelope and him got back into the car. “Where is Horatio?”

    “He walked home.” Reuben told him. Hazen started up the car and they drove back to their apartment. Reuben wrapped the jewelry box in his jacket before getting out of the car. No one was around but he didn’t want anyone to accidentally see it in his possession. Penelope put the pine cone and purse back into her bag. The entered through the side gate into the backyard then into their kitchen. Reuben took the jewelry box and hid it in the crawl space in his closet behind a shelving unit that held all his shoes then laid down on his bed and fell asleep.

    Hazen and Penelope went into his room.

   “Are you tired? I know I am.” Hazen said to her as he slipped his shoes off. “I’m not going to try anything. You are too dangerous now.” He smiled at her as he said this. He sat on the bed and patted it for her to sit next to him. She sat down with her bag still strapped across her body. “I’m not going to take it away from you. We just wanted to sale it for the money but it might be too valuable if others know what it’s for.” He laid back on the bed giving Penelope enough room to lay down next to him. She snuggled up to him with the bag still strapped to her, she wasn’t going to let it go that easily now. She trusted Hazen but not Reuben. They both were soon asleep.

   Penelope had a dream that she was able to fly. She was wearing a long red gown and her hair was long and flowing in the dream. She watched below her as people waved when she flew past. She was suddenly caught in a large net and it plunged her underwater. She was then swallowed by a giant fish, inside the fish was a shop full of creepy dolls. They all turned and watched her every move. The shopkeeper came out and told her the only way out was to jump through the hole in the top of the fish.

    There was a loud knock at the door.They could hear Reuben jumping up in just his boxer shorts to answer it. He looked through the peephole. A cop. His brother was standing there behind him rubbing his face while leaning on the corner of the wall. Reuben opened the door.

     “Yeah?” Reuben said to the officer, squinting his eyes in the bright light.

     “Sorry to bother you so early but could we ask your brother and you some questions?” The office asked as Hazen joined his brother at the door.

      “Sure.” Reuben said as he yawned and hung onto the door for support.

      “Did either of you see anyone suspicious in the neighborhood last night?” The officer asked as she flipped open a notebook.

       “No, like what?” Reuben said.

      “Cars that you weren’t familiar with or sounds?”

      “Nope.” Reuben said.

      “Your neighbor said you attended their party last night but left without saying goodbye. Can you tell me about that?” The officer had pen ready to write down anything.

      “Yeah. I felt bad for not bringing enough beers so we went to buy some.” Reuben explained while Hazen stood there, half asleep still.

        “Okay, and then what happened? Because your neighbor says you never came back.” The office was writing the whole time.

       “Yeah, so we got the beer but then we had some car trouble and then a guy robbed us and took the beer. So we just came home and went to bed.” Reuben sort of rumbled as Hazen nodded in agreement.

     “You were robbed? By who?” The officer was really interested now.

     “Guy named Todd, I think. I don’t really know him.” Reuben shrugged and shook his head as tried his best to sound like he was just some dumb kid but he was quite manipulative when he wanted to be. The officer wrote ‘Todd’ down on the paper.

     “Do you know where this Todd lives?” The office asked. Reuben shook his head in unison with Hazen. “Okay, well if you think of anything call me.” The officer took out a business card and circled something. “That’s the number. Leave me a message and I’ll get back to you.” She handed Reuben the card and walked back to the other officers standing near their cars. Reuben closed and locked the door.

      “The f**k?” Reuben said as he walked past Hazen. “Where is she? We gotta get that pine cone out of here. Do you think the neighbor knows what it can do?”

      “Yes, do you remember how organized it was in her apartment?” Hazen said.

     “F**k.” Reuben stopped and let out a big sigh before going into his room and closing the door.

      Hazen went into his room. Penelope wasn’t there. The bathroom door was wide open so he could clearly see she wasn’t in there. He walked into the kitchen, no Penelope but he noticed the back door was slightly open. He opened the door to find her sitting in the yard under one of the lemon trees. She looked up and smiled at him, she was still wearing her angel wings.

     “Hey.” She said as he walked over and joined her under the short tree. She was smoking a joint. “It calms me when I’m nervous and if i’m going to jail I’m going to smoke this first.” Hazen just laughed at her. “What?”

     “The cops are gone. Is this your grand hiding place?” He asked her. She still had her bag on her person and she was clutching it with one hand.

     “If they are gone then it is safe to leave so I have to go now. It was really nice meeting you and swimming with you last night but I’ve really got to go.” Penelope grabbed a lemon tree branch to pull herself up but put her hand right on a thorn and cut her hand. “F**k!” She yelled out in surprise.

    “What happened?” Hazen got onto his knees and grabbed her hand to look at it. There was blood everywhere and gushing from the wound. “Come on. Let me bandage this for you and then I’ll drive you home.” He smiled at her, she tried to smile back at him through the pain. They went into the kitchen and he washed her hand off for her in the sink then wrapped it in paper towels.

     “Thanks.” She said as he helped her sit in a chair.

    “Would you like breakfast or something before you go?” Hazen smiled his biggest cheesiest smile at her as he put a pan on the stove top. “French toast?” She smiled back and nodded her head still wincing from the pain in her hand.

  “That sounds good, actually.” She said as Hazen took the eggs from the fridge and bread from the pantry then began to make french toast. He buttered the hot pan and set the first three slices in the hot pan then sat at the table so he could look at Penelope’s hand again. Reuben came into the kitchen, he now had on sweatpants.

    “Making me breakfast, bro?” Reuben said with a laugh as he opened the fridge and looked into it but didn’t get anything before closing it

   “Sure, I can make enough for us all.” Hazen replied as he went to the fridge to get more eggs. Reuben filled the kettle to make coffee and set it on the stove, turned it on, then went into the bathroom. There was a loud knock at the door. Penelope jumped up and ran outside. Hazen wiped his hands on a kitchen towel then went to answer it. It must be the cops again. He looked out the peephole. It was Todd and Jackie. How the f**k did they find out where he lived? Maybe they seen his car.

   “Who’s at the door?” Reuben was standing behind Hazen.

   “Ssshh! It’s f*****g Todd and that girl.” Hazen said in a whispered tone then looked out of the peephole again. “Wait, they are walking away.”

    They stood in silence and watched through the curtains as Todd and Jackie walked to the side gate. Hazen ran to the backdoor to tell Penelope to come back inside but it was too late, Todd was coming through the gate and seen him. Todd charged the door and got to it before Hazen could close it. Reuben ran to help him but Todd was too strong and pushed his way in.

   “Where’s that b***h? She fucked my van up and now I’m gonna f**k her up!” Todd was in a rage, he had his gun in his hand. He pushed Hazen back so hard that he fell over one of the kitchen chairs. Reuben tried to grab his brother before he fell but wasn’t fast enough.

   Jackie came in behind Todd and started throwing things around the kitchen. She picked up mugs and plates that still had old food crusted to them and threw them against the wall. She kicked over a stack of old pizzas boxes. Todd wrestled with both brothers as they tried to take the gun from him, knocking Hazen down again but this time he hit his head on the table and causing him to be disoriented.  A small bit of blood ran down his face.

   Penelope was in the kitchen doorway with the pine cone and purse in her hands.

  “STOP IT, NOW!” She yelled at them as they fought on the floor. Todd got up off the floor as Reuben tried to grab his legs and ran straight towards Penelope, firing his gun at her several times but missing. She held out the pine cone and Todd flew backwards, hitting one of the TV’s before falling to the floor. The TV wobbled on the stand before falling off and hitting Todd as he started to push himself up, knocking him back down. He didn’t move after that but a pool of blood began to grow under him.

    Jackie screamed and ran towards Penelope. Penelope pointed the pine cone at Jackie, she flew back into the stove, knocking the hot food everywhere. She began to scream and panic, she was on fire. Jackie fell to the floor and screamed more as she tried to stop the fire by rolling around. It only spread the fire and made things worse. The kicked over stack of empty greasy pizza boxes caught fire.

   “Oh, f**k!” Reuben shouted as he got to his feet and helped Hazen up. The whole kitchen was on fire now. “Get out! Get out!” He yelled as they ran for the front door. Penelope ran out the kitchen door.

    In the courtyard they watched as their apartment went up in flames. The could hear sirens from police cars in the distance as the others in the apartment building tennants came running outside.

        Hazen collapsed in the courtyard. He was coughing up blood and couldn’t catch his breath. He tried asking Reuben where Penelope had gone. Reuben just shook his head and shrugged.

      “What’s going on? Who is firing a gun? What’s happening?” Morris, their neighbor, ran over and asked as he got down on the ground next to Hazen. “Hold still. Help is on the way. Did he get shot?”

     “I don’t know. We were attacked.” Reuben was beginning to panic.

     “Hey, buddy? Can you hear me? What’s your name?” Morris asked Hazen who couldn’t speak. He was trying to keep both brothers calm. Fran was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher describing what was happening.

     “They are sending an ambulance.” Fran quickly told Morris. Reuben was pacing around and pulling at his hair.

   “We need to help him to the other side of the courtyard away from this fire.” Morris said to Reuben and Onslo who had come outside when he heard the commotion. They lifted him together.  “S**t. He is bleeding badly.” There was a pool of blood under him and more came out when they moved him. Hazen let out a loud scream of pain.

    “What? Where? Let me see!” Reuben said.

   “Here, from his leg just above the knee.” Morris said as they set Hazen in the grass. “We need to keep pressure on that wound.” He grabbed Reubens hands and held them to Hazen’s leg. “Don’t move.” Hazen began to have a seizure just then.

      “F**k! What’s happening?” Reuben was freaking out. Morris held onto Hazen until it passed.

      “What happened in there?” Morris asked Reuben again.

      “We were attacked! I don’t know. He fell, twice. I tried to help him but it all happened so fast.” Reuben said.

     “Who attacked you?” Morris looked right into Reuben’s eyes and could see the fear and panic.

“Did they get out of there before the fire?”  Reuben just closed his eyes and shook his head. He had tears running down his face. The whole kitchen and living area of apartment D were on fire. Several police cars pulled up and the officers got out. They ran over to Hazen and began to help him. Three fire trucks showed up next and put the fire out as an ambulance arrived to take Hazen to the hospital. Reuben followed them in their car.

     The firefighters removed the charred remains of Todd and Jackie from the apartment. Apartment D was beyond repair, it was gone. It only burned the two rooms but smoke and water damaged the rest of the place. The other three apartments were structurally sound but the firefighters recommended they sleep somewhere else until they had it inspected.

    That night when everyone was gone, Penelope came back. She entered the south garden gate and walked around the building to the side where Hazen and Reuben’s apartment used to be. She climbed under the police tape. She knew Reuben had taken the jewelry box into his room. She turned on a her flashlight then climbed in through the broken, half-burnt kitchen door and went into Reubens room. She looked in his closet and through his dresser drawers, it was not in either place.

      She took out the pine cone and purse from her bag and began to slowly point the pine cone around the room. The shelves in the closet moved and the secret hiding space revealed itself. Penelope put the jewelry box into her bag with the pine cone and purse on top of it. She left the way she came in.

    The next morning she got up before her mother and three younger brothers were awake. She unscrewed the gas line to the stove then left the house. She smoked a joint on the creek trail then was headed to the pawn shop. She took her time since she knew it wouldn’t be opened for a while and went into the doughnut shop in the same shopping center to wait.





© 2017 Boogabaah


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Added on May 3, 2017
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Author

Boogabaah
Boogabaah

CA



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