On the Lam-- chapt. 4

updated 3-30-11 (chapter not yet complete i'll type up more soon :D){/i}

Chapter 4: Dallas

  Sonya counte d the houses (so far ten houses in two hours) that they passed as they grew closer to her father's territory.  It'd been two years since she'd last set foot in the state of Texas, but she knew instantly when they crossed the border without seeing any state signs.  it scared her to be this close to her former family again.  If her scars had been their only transgression she wouldn't be so worried, but out of anger a year ago she went tot he police with the intent of turning them all over, and they tried to kill her.
  Up until that point she didn't think they cared about anything she was doing, but apparently they'd been watching her waiting for her to get her revenge. When the sniper missed and killed the police officer she'd been talking to, she ran away and never considered  out again.  She still felt guilty for costing that man his life, for hurting his family like that, all for her own selfish reasons.  If she had to keep their secret, they were going to have to pay to keep her quiet.  They were going to help her keep the spies from hell off her tail for a while.
  Silas sighed, distracting her from her plans, reminding her that she still had one more problem to deal with.  she had no clue how to get rid of him without killing him, which she absolutely incapable of doig.  The only way she could think of to get rid of him would be to lose him somehow, but the man stuck to her like glue.  the few times they'd stopped for the bathroom break he actually followed her into the bathroom.  She'd tried to run once while he was in the men's room.  Unfortunately, she didn't even make it to the door before he was behind her again plucking Coral from her arms so she couldn't all out run away.  She couldn't seem to win against him.  Every time she thought she had him out smarted, he was two steps ahead with a better plan.
  "I can tell you're conspiring against me again.  Quit wasting your time, you should be focusing on how to keep yourself alive.  You may have slowed them down by shooting out their tires, but thye're just going to send someone else.  Won't you please just give up?" Silas said for the billionth time.  Every hour or so he'd ask the same questions to wear her down, make her break and admit defeat, and she'd answer the same way.
  "No, when they come back I'll stop them again.  Now quit asking you're not going to get any different answer no matter how many times you ask."  She said exasperated.
  "Surely you have a life and dreams you're giving yp by doing this?"
  "Nope, I made average grades, no aspiration to be anything great.  I probably would have just gotten to college and dropped out."
  "Surely you have some family that will worry about you when you just drop off the face of the earth?"
  "My father could care less, my mother is dead...Grandma might care, but she's always trusted in my decisions.  I think my aunt might be the only one who has noticed my absence, but ever since I went to live with her I've noticed that she's not really a mothering type.  She probably won't mind that I'm gone."  Sonya said thinking of how each of their faces might look once they discovered that she was missing.
  "What about your friends?"
  "Only have one, and I can hear her now in her cute little Spanish accent 'always knew that girl would get herself into some trouble she couldn't get out of.  She's worse than me!  Well she's on her own this time I ain't goin' to jail again' Mia has always been so supportive." Sonya said laughing a little at the memories. While Sonya attracted trouble, Mia went looking for it.  The kids at their school had avoided Mia because of it, but Sonya embraced it.  They always had fun getting into beefs with thugs, fighting their way out of brawls Mia instigated.  The past two years hadn't been the perfectly normal life she'd hoped for, but she loved it none the less.
  "See? You're laughing, don't you want to go back to those good times?" He said grasping at the small sliver of hope he had at changing her mind. The fact that he'd called it 'good times' just served to make her laugh.
  "Give up now for about two more months of causing general chaos in that small town before Mia and her mother move back to Mexico, and then live with the guilt that I just abandoned Coral for something so juvenile? No, it's not even close to being worth it.  Coral means more to me than that.  Why is this so hard for you to understand?" Sonya said reaching the end of her patience once again.  His stupid questions always pissed her off, then she'd be stuck wit ha headache until he started asking more stupid questions.
  "I can't understand because you're not making your relationship with er very clear.  You're just a babysitter right?  I don't get why it's such a big deal to you."
  Sonya sighed, trying to the think of the best way explain it to him, "In your line of work you kill a lot of people right? Because those were the orders given to you, so even if you don't want to do it you have to right?"
  "Yeah, but I don't see--"
  "It's the same with me.  For most of my life I was ordered to do horrible things to people even though I didn't want to.  then, when I liberated myself I no longer thought that I'd be forced to use those skills again.  When the Pennes asked me to watch Coral, and you guys showed up trying to take her away I instinctively switched back to my old habits.  It disgusted me at first, but then it occurred to me I was using these skills for something good.  If I use these skills to help Coral and her brother, maybe the crimes I've committed in the past will be forgiven. Don't you want that too?"  Sonya said wondering if this made sense to him or if it was just senseless babble.  She watched him, noticing that the longer he thought about what she said, the more the crease in between his eyebrows grew.  After a few minutes of waiting and he still didn't say anything, Sonya turned back to the window and started counting houses again.
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  As the sun sank down below the horizon Silas finally pulled off the interstate and into down town Dallas.  he wanted to drive a little more, but he was so tired he couldn't keep his eyes open much longer.  With the little sleep he had gotten over the past few days and the annoying soul plaguing question Sonya had stuck him with he'd be lucky if he made it to a hotel.  Ever since she'd asked him about redeeming himself for his ill deeds, he was unable to focus on anything else.
  "I'm hungry.  Let's stop and get some Mexican food.  I really want some tacos."  Sonya said yawning as she woke up from her third nap of the day.  her stupid naps were really going to cause him some problems.  He'd been trying to keep her awake all day, but ever since her question he wasn't able to think of any new reasons for her to quit since his mind was too occupied.  He was going to have to come up with some kind of plan or she was going to run off while he was asleep tonight.
  "We had tacos for lunch though."
  "there's no such thing as too many tacos! If I had my way I'd eat them for every breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day!"  Sonya said cheerfully, which irritated him.  He was exhausted, and she was well rested and full of energy, and she knew it pissed him off too.
  "Fine.  We'll get some damn tacos, just take it down a few notches.  I can't take much more the perky." He said not feeling the least bit guilty for being rude.  She didn't seem to care too much either, in fact she was a little smug about it.
  After stopping for food, Silas drove around looking for a hotel they could afford.  Between the two of them they didn't have a lot of cash, but it was enough to get them two more nights at a hotel.  As he rounded the corner he saw a grimy, yellow sign offering rates per hour. Looks wholesome enough Silas thought as he pulled up in front of it.  There were hardly any cars driving around, it was definitely a neighborhood you weren't going to find tourists in, and for good reason.  They walked inside and were surprised to see that it looked better than the outside led you to believe. You could still hear gun shots and car alarms going off outside reminding you of the kind of place you were in unfortunately.  They walked up stairs to their room on the top floor, and it hit Silas that he still didn't have a good plan for preventing her from leaving.
  She pranced into the room plopping herself down on the bed, grabbing the T.V. remote along the way.  A slightly sinister idea entered his mind on how to keep her from running off, but he ignored it.  First off, he was way to tired for anything like that and secondly she was a kid.  He laid down on the bed waiting for some kind of inspiration when his spare set of handcuffs in his back pocket started digging into his butt, making him very uncomfortable.
  Hello!  Here's a plan I can work with! Silas thought as he pulled the cuffs from his pocket.  While she wasn't facing him, he jumped up slapping one end of the bracelet to her wrist then the other end to his own wrist.  This time it was he who was smiling smugly.  She looked at him like he'd just electrocuted her, as she kept looking back and forth between the handcuffs and his face.
  "What the heck!  Take this thing off!"  Sonya shouted, trying to pull herself free.
  "I will in the morning.  I just want some insurance that you won't run off while I get some well deserved sleep." He said laying back down and dragger her with him.  Stubbornly she tried to pull him back up so she could go back to sitting on the edge of the bed, bt he pulled back with only a little bit of strength causing her to fall.  She may thing she's strong, but really if she hadn't surprised him with that punch that night in the woods, he could have easily dodged it.
  "I don't want to go to sleep now.  I just woke up."
  "Not my problem.  Now hush up, I'm exhausted, and before you even consider trying.  If you try to look for the key while I'm asleep, you'll regret that decision." Silas threatened emptily as he tried to ignore the sounds outside as well as from the television.  Slowly he started drifting off and the last thing he remembered was Sonya calling him a pervert.
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  So close! Stupid jerk having a spare set of handcuffs! If he didn't have those then I would have been able to escape as soon as he fell asleep.  Now the weasel is happily off in dream land leaving me way too close to him.  this is almost as bad as what he did to me last night, except this was more passive-aggressive.  Sonya glared at Silas' sleeping face, hoping that if she did long enough he'd get a nightmare.
  Out of all her skills she'd learned while living with her father, lock picking was the only one she'd never been able to get the hand of.  She had her glock, but as soon as she cocked it back he'd wake up then there was no telling what he might do to her.  He was very cranky and she was sure he'd just try something else to keep her there, and it was a given she'd like that idea even less than this one.  All she could really do was just lay there until morning, then she'd find some way of getting back at him.
  Sonya continued to glare at him until his stupid, happy expression made it hard to continue being angry with him.  When she tried to roll over when Silas grunted and rolled over instead.  Now she was stuck on her side, now even closer to him staring him in the face.  She wanted to roll back over so she wouldn't have to feel him breathing on the back of her neck, but the thought of having to face him at such a close proximity scared her more.
  She thought she'd never fall asleep when finally the neighborhood around them got quiet enough, and the steady breathing of Silas and Coral lulled her to sleep.  She didn't dream of Coral and her captive brother, but the fun times she had with her best friend Mia.  They were running around school laughing about something when out of nowhere Silas showed up next to her running with Coral in his arms, the two of them smiling.  Her mind told her she was still pissed at him, but she still kept running with the two of them laughing and smiling, on the lam from some kind of trouble.  It was the most pleasant dream she'd had in a long time.
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  When Silas woke up, he was momentarily panicked to see Sonya so close to him.  he couldn't remember exactly how he'd ended up this way until he felt the cold metal cuff around his wrist then last nights events came flooding back.  Apparently his plan worked perfectly, she was still here and so was the kid who was curled up on the other side of her.  Now if only his heart rate would slow down from the shock, he might be able to manage a shower before she woke up.
  Very carefully Silas unlocked his side of the bracelet and slid off the bed.  Right before he walked away he leaned back down and locked his side of the handcuff to the bed for precautionary sake.  Before he went back to getting ready he looked down at Sonya.  When she was asleep she was much more tolerable he noticed, she she'd slept a few times already in front of him, but he hadn't ever really paid attention to her.  She surprisingly older asleep, maybe that was because when she was awake and talked she acted more like a child.  She also looked a lot happier, whatever she was dreaming about apparently made her content.  The more he watched her, the more his heart rate sped up.  At this rate he was going to start to think he had real feelings for her.
  Silas shook his head as if that would help him ignore the sudden up rise of affection he was feeling for this girl.  He wasn't in the shower for more than five minutes before he before he heard Sonya yelling at him to come unlock the handcuffs like he'd promised.  he hadn't expected a nice relaxing morning, but he'd hoped for a long shower at the very least since he'd fought for a good night's sleep.  Silas tried ignoring Sonya, but she was very testy this morning and had started throwing small objects at the bathroom door.
  No longer able to enjoy his shower, Silas turned off the water and wrapped a towel around himself, then stomped out into the room.  He wasn't really upset he just wanted to give her a little bit of scare since she was acting so immature this morning. How had he even thought he had feelings for her just a moment ago was a mystery to him.  Watching him approached in just a towel, Sonya started moving as far away from him as the handcuffs would let her.
  She glowered at him obviously trying to act brave and said, "Unlock these.  You promised."
  "Funny I don't remember promising I'd do that."  Silas said leaning across the bead making her face turn scarlet.  She could handle bullets flying past her, car chases, fighting, but the one thing she apparently couldn't handle was the opposite sex. 
  "Fine. Whether or not you actually promised, unlock them. Now."  She said trying her hardest to maintain eye contact.  It was killing Silas not to laugh.  She was like a stubborn little kid wanting things her way, but afraid to do anything bad to get what she wanted.
  "Why should I?"  He asked wondering what kind of reason she might give.  It's probably be something silly like she has to go to the bathroom or something.  Silas thought smiling at her waiting for the response he knew would make him laugh.
  When she pulled out the gun she'd used to hsoot the car yesterday and pointed it at his crotch, suddenly things weren't funny.
  "Unlock. It. Now. Otherwise you're going to end up missing something I'm sure you're quite fond of."  She threatened, looking proud of herself.  he could try and get the gun away from her, but if she was hot blooded enough to threaten this with so little provocation he'd better just end the game here.
  "Alright I get it let me get the key.  It's still in my pants in the bathroom."  Silas said as he backed away slowly.
  "Fine, go get it.  While you're in there put some freakin' clothes on.  No one wants to see you naked."  Sonya said coldly.  He would've called her out on her blushing if she hadn't continued to hold her gun up following him across the room.  He put his underwear and pants on, but to be defiant he left his shirt off, just to show her she didn't control him.
  When he came back out she glared at him again unhappy with his rebellious appearance.  He tossed her the key and she scrambled to catch it, when she unlocked herself she used her now free hand to flip him off.  Silas resisted the urge to respond in kind, and settled instead for trying to negotiate peace between them for the time being.
  "Alright now that we have that out of the way, and we're both on somewhat good terms I think we need to discuss what we're going to do from here on out."
  "I've got nothing to discuss with you."  Sonya said stubbornly while she looked for her shoe under the bed.  Silas tried to maintain his patience with her, but it was quickly deteriorating.  He wanted to help her so she didn't have to die and he didn't have to disobey orders, but she was making it extremely difficult.
  "Oh really?  Because at this point I've learned quite a bit about you, ad none of it is good.  Which means if you don't start enlightening me on what your plans are I'm going to assume the worst, and that is not going to end well for you."  Silas said thinking back to what she'd said the day before when she left him confused and doubting his choices in life.  She had mentioned "horrible things she'd been ordered to do."  He still didn't know what kind of background she had, but from what he'd seen and heard from her she was anything but the normal girl he thought he'd seen in the beginning.
  She sighed, temporarily giving up the search for her shoe.  She sat down and pushed her long hair out of her face, he expected her to glare at him again, but instead she stared down at her socks darkly.  Immediately he felt bad, he was only trying to help her, he didn't do anything wrong, but he still felt like he did.
  "Jeez.  You're persistent about this, guess I could tell you a little.  This isn't exactly my favorite subject, in fact just thinking about it makes me feel sick.  I've only been living with my aunt for two years, before that I was living with my father, taking part in the family business.  He runs what he likes to call an insurance business.  There's a lot of crime in Houston, and as long as people pay up they're assured they won't get hurt."
  "That sounds like a mob ring...are you trying to tell me all these things you can do is because you grew up apart of the mafia?"  Silas asked shocked at the revelation.  After hearing it spoken aloud it made perfect sense, the hot wiring, the fighter, the guns, all of it made sense to him now.  Well almost all of it.  Her scars were the only mystery left, did they have something do with this past too?
  "Yeah, when I was younger I didn't really understand what I was being trained to do.  I was only working hard to learn it because it was the only thing my father ever praised me for, and I had fun hanging out with children of the underlings.  As I got older, I got a first hand view of the pain and suffering my father was causing.  That's when I started haivng a problem with it, so I ran away to live with my aunt.  I want you to know I have no true ties with anymore, you don't have to worry about me being some major threat to all of you.  I'm not going to use Coral as a weapon, and I won't ever let anyone lay a hand on her.  i'm doing this purely out of love for her."  Sonya said continuing to stare down at the hole in her sock but more passionately now.  Everything she had said felt like the truth, but he didn't think she was being completely honest with him either.  Something was being left out.
  "Is that all?  You're acting like there's more." Silas said all but demanding her to confess.
  "There is more to the story, but it's not relevant to what's going on now.  Not to mention I'd rather keep that skeleton in my closet, it't not something I can easily talk about."  Sonya said finally looking up at him, tears glazing over her eyes while she forced herself to smile.
  "Well, if it really isn't important to what's going on then I guess I don't need to know.  Anyway...you mentioned Houston, is that where we're headed?" Silas asked looking away, hoping she wouldn't really start crying.  He'd never really been that good with crying girls, and her hating him didn't help in any way.
  "As much as I hate to--yes.  I only have one gun left, I"m going to have to buy some weapons and fake IDs from my father, that way they can't be traced. I don't want to see him, and he doesn't want to see me, but business is business.  We'll put our differences aside long enough to conduct it...hopefully."  Sonya said sounding as if she pushed her emotions back down, and she was back to her old, tough self.
  "Hopefully? That doesn't sound to promising."  Silas said wondering if this was going to be exactly the case.
  "Well they're either going to kill us as soon as we get there or hear us out."
  "Us?" He said shocked at the sign of camaraderie she was suddenly showing him.  He wasn't sure if he liked it through, if she was wanting to be friends he was going to end up going along at her pace, and that would make things very difficult for him.
  "Well they aren't going  to ask who you are first.  If they shoot first we're both dead, and I doubt you'll leave me alone long enough to take care of this business, so yes us."  Sonya said like he was completely stupid.  Knowing that she had no intention of being friends made him feel odd, he was glad but disappointed at the same time.
  "What? You didn't think that was some kind of peace offering did you?"
  yes. "No, of course not."
  "Good, because I hate your guts."  Sonya said matter-of-factly, making the bad feeling in his stomach worse.  She looked a little remorseful of her words, as if she didn't really mean them, but she didn't bother to take them back.
  "Well, I'm not exactly fond of you either." Liar. "Word of advice though, if you stay that stubborn and cold, you'll never get a husband." Silas said abandoning all hope of peace keeping between them.  It was hard to not act childish when that's all she treated him with.
  "Who the hell asked you for advice keep your stupid opinions to yourself.  Besides why should I be taking advice from an obnoxious man like you who probably couldn't get a girl to like him even if he had all the money in the world?"  She shot back ruthlessly.
  "I'll have you know, you little brat, I've had numerous women bed me to marry them."
  "Prostitutes don't count dumb ass.  They only wanted to marry you because that was the only way they could get out of that life style."
  "They weren't prostitutes!  They--" Silas tried to defend before she cut him off.
  "Whatever, I'm not having this conversation with you.  You're acting childish."  She interjected, then began looking for her shoe again.  He stood there in shock while he tried to wrap his head around the fact that she'd actually had the gall to call him childish.  Even after she found her shoe and fixed her hair up in a pony tail, he was still trying to control his humiliation induced anger.  If she had been a guy he probably would've hauled off and hit her, but because she wasn't, Silas was at a complete loss with what to do with his irritation.
  He followed Sonya down stairs and out on to the street.  It didn't hit him until they stepped outside and found that their car was gone, that maybe this wasn't the best place to leave one's nice, imported sports car. Suddenly with it gone all of his previous irritation with Sonya finally had an outlet.  Whoever took the car was going to pay for it when he got a hold of them.  He could hardly wait.
  "Don't look so mad, I knew it wouldn't be here in the morning.  I saw about three guys who were casing it last night as we were going inside.  It's fine we needed a new ride anyway.  I'd been hoping ot return the car to it's owners, but I'll just have to send them the money later.  Now we just have to find someone willing to part with their car for free." Sonya said looking up and down the street for something.
  "Ha!  No one in their right mind would part with their car for free!" Silas said laughing at her outrageous comment.
  "Maybe you've ust never considered more creative ways of obtaining a car other than with money alone." She said quickly choosing to follow a young, stringy looking black boy who'd turned on to the street then down an alley a few blocks down.
  "So what are you just going to creatively steal another car? I'm surprised you've never been arrested for grand theft auto." Silas said easily keeping up with her as she practically ran down the street after the boy.  He had no idea what in the world she was doing, maybe she'd finally just cracked under all the pressure.
  "No, I hate stealing.  It's common.  I've never stolen anything before this, and I had every intention of returning the car.  So it was more like borrowing." Sonya said rounding the corner of the alley they'd seen the boy turn down.  Silas had't known what he'd expected to see when he followed Sonya, but a dead end alley fully of sketchy looking fellows who were openly cleaning knives and guns had not been it.
  "Sonya, do you really know what you're doing?  I know you grew up in the mob, but that doesn't change the fact this this is incredibly dangerous." Silas whispered, ready to pull her and Coral right back out into the light of the street and then beat the hell out of any of them if one of the men moved so much as an inch toward them.
  "Oh hush mother hen."  She whispered back then said to the closest man, "I'm looking for a gambling ring.  One of your boys sent my car off to the chop shop this morning, and I'm in need of some money to get a new one."  The guy looked her up and down for a moment like she was crazy, and he just shooed her away.  Silas expected her to get mad, but she only sighed and pulled up the leg of her jeans to reveal a burgundy falcon tattooed on her ankle.  The man's eyes widened the pointed to a door at the back of the alley.  Sonya smiled and nodded then began weaving down the alley past many potential killers (although she was probably use to it).
  "Sonya, are you insane? We'll find another way to get a car, we don't know what'll happen if--"  Silas stopped when she suddenly turned around to face him.
  "Silas, I get that you're a little out of your element here, but seriously chill.  I know what i'm doing, I know what to expect, so stop worrying.  Besides, I thought you didn't care."  Sonya said then turned around and continued through the door.
  "I don't care." Lying a lot today aren't you. "Well, at least not about you, but you are the one holding Coral, and I do care about what happens to her." Silas said  sticking close as they walked in past more hardened criminals.  The air was thick with the smell of smoke and sweat, the sounds of shouts and chickens assaulting his ears the moment he'd walked in.
  "Don't call that caring.  That's obligation.  If you really cared about her you wouldn't be trying to take her back to the people who've been treating her like a lab rat."  Sonya said wandering through each room looking for something in particular.  When they finally stopped they were in a crowed room with both men and women (who were most likely prostitutes) and a single table in the middle of the room.  Sitting at the table was a big, black man with a thick Jamaican accent and dreadlocks down to his shoulders, looking at the way he held himself he was probably the one in charge.  Silas didn't know what was going on until he saw Sonya push her way through the crowd and sit down across from the man.
  "A new contender!  Are you sure you want to play roulette little lady?  You're going to lose more than your money if you're unlucky."  He said, clearly amused by her gumption to sit before him.
  "I've been playing for a long time and I have a good winning streak obviously."  Sonya said smiling slapping her money down on the table.  Roulette isn't that dangerous, but I don't understand how they're going to play without the wheel.  Silas thought feeling more and more apprehensive as the man laughed.
  "I like you girl you've got pluck.  You don't see that too much around here, people too busy kissing ass and rolling over to get ahead in the business.  My name is Delonn."  He said laying a gun down on the table.  Sonya handed Coral up to Silas, and before he could try and talk her out of it she turned away from him.  All he could do was stand there and watch in horror as he realized they were talking about Russian Roulette.
  "Before we start Delonn, how would you like to make this even more interesting?"  Sonya asked inspecting the gun.
  "Oh how so?"
  "If you win you can hand me over to the don down in Houston and receive quite a reward." Sonya said grinning as the man's eye brow arched up.
  "And why would he be wantin' you?"
  "Well you're looking at the excommunicated princess of the Blue Falcon, Sonya Keil. I'm sure I'd get you quite the pretty penny and maybe even a promotion as a reward."  Silas looked nervously from her to Delonn beginning to panic as the crowd pulled in tighter around them blocking all exits.  If things turned violent he wasn't sure he could get all three of them out unharmed.
  "Ah I see yes now that you say it I believe I have seen you face on the banned lists.  I am quite amazed you would walk right in here though.  So tell me princess what makes you think I won't just kill the three of you and take the reward anyways."  He said making subtle eye contact with each of the men moving their way behind Silas just waiting for the signal.
  "Well you could do that, but if you do every single last person here will be dead with in the hour.  You see I seem to have gotten myself into a bit of a mess with the government and now I have them hot on my tail.  So if you want them to pass you right on bye I should hope you let me and my friend here leave either on our own or with an escort, if I were to lose."  Sonya said leaning back in the chair confident that he'd go along.  Silas put his hand on her shoulder and was shocked to feel it shaking, suddenly he was on edge.  He was about to yank her out of the chair and make a run for it when Delonn smiled.
  "Heh, ya sure got some moxie tryin to black mail me princess, but I like it so I'll play along with your little plan."