One For The Money

Where the Wild Things Are

         The one time I really needed my brain and it decided to blank out.          All because of her. Lucy Vu. She was someone that, if my head had been working, I would never have spoken to. I would still be in the seaside town watching the sunsets fade over the choppy water. If only I had never even met her.
         The duck tape watch on my wrist read half-past eight when I first saw her. Like a haunting storm cloud, she swept through the door of my health class on the ninth day of my junior year. The whole class snapped it's attention to her as her combat boots clicked against the green-tiled floor.
         The small Asian girl wore black skinny jeans caked with muddy clay on the calves and one size too big red jacket ripped on the sleeve. The grey shirt under the jacket was stained with navy blue paint that matched her eyes. Her hands I noticed had scars against its pale color. She gave the teacher a note and swept her lion's mane of silver hair from her shoulders to survey the room, seeming to take strategic note of everything there. At that point, I had been staring so long I had forgotten how to look away.
         A hard jab to my side got me blinking again. Charlotte snickered to herself as I dropped my eyes, dumbfounded and slightly embarrassed, to the set of notes in front of me.
         ‘Idiot’ Lotte signed to me with a smirk before going back to her work. I, however, remained all too aware of the striking new personality in the room and the fact that she appeared to be stalking towards me. Continuing to watch her while I scribbled on the corner of my notes I noticed the way she walked. It was crushingly beautiful the way she put one foot in front of another like a model. Her head was held high like a conquering hero expecting to be welcomed with applause. Despite her, the room remained as still as my breath, the only sound being her boots and pencils on paper. Swiftly she claimed the seat beside me, tossing her bag onto the floor by my feet.
         “-You should introduce yourself,’ the teacher told her. She tapped one of her long boney fingers on her arm as the girl ignored her. “Young lady,” Ms. Lucal rasped.
         “‘M lucy,” the silver sighed with about as much enthusiasm as one could have at 8 in the morning. She didn't even bother to look up from her phone. Her fingers flew over the screen at a breakneck pace. Ms. Lucal snarled showing almost every one of her yellowed teeth.
         In one fluid motion she plucked the phone right out of Lucy's hands, her finger still moved for a second longer before she realized what had happened.
         “Hey-” she exclaimed, lunging forward slightly for her phone.
         “Fix your attitude, young lady, or you will be sent to the principals,” Ms. Lucal threatened, cutting the silver off. “You can have this back at the end of class.”
         Lucy sat back in her seat, a scowl had settled on her round face. Putting all the excitement behind us the class dissolved back into our usual routine, except for me. I couldn't stop glancing up at this startling girl beside me every few minutes.

---

         Hours, after school had ended for the day and night was already coming on I stood in my small kitchen listening to everything. Low bass notes flowed from my barley intact stereo speakers as Nick hatched his master plan on my plastic tiled floor. I was only half paying attention to him. The rest of my mind was out the window watching the forest trees dance, thinking about the silver-haired girl from class.
         It wasn't uncommon to get new people in our school. Kids came and went with the seasons but she was different. I couldn't place it but there was just something about her that I didn't see often in a town like this, I need to know what it is.
         “-I know a guy.” The four simple words pulled me back to my crappy reality.
         “You play DnD with your grandma,” I snorted getting back to scrubbing out the inside of a macaroni pot from dinner. “How did you meet a guy selling pot?”
         “I have my ways.” he grinned at me from his splayed out spot on my kitchen floor next to all the dust bunnies. I've told him not to do that on several occasions. I've told him that we don't clean the floor enough, but he did it anyway and now he had crumbs stuck to his tan skin and cheeto powder on his white wife-beater.
         “For real, where did you meet him?” I set the pot aside on a hand towel and started to wipe the counter off sending stale bits of food raining down on him.
         “Eh, the backroom of Spencer’s Gifts.” He adjusted his grey framed glasses sitting up to dust himself off.
         I stopped my cleaning to raise an eyebrow at him. “Why were you in the backroom of Spencer’s?”
         A slight blush crept onto his cheeks. “No reason,” he didn't make eye contact for one long, very uncomfortable minute.
         I sighed, breaking the silence tossing my washcloth to the side of the sink. “Dude, whatever drowns your goat just stop spouting this drug shit. I don't need the little moods to hear.” I turned to lean against the counter.
         “We both know they're too wrapped up in that little kid show to care about what we're doin.’”
         I frowned at him, glancing at the clock above the oven. It said 8:05 which matched the setting sun. We had less than 20 minutes to leave before my father got home.
         “You ready to shake?” Nick asked stretching up to his full five feet of height. Even I dwarfed him. “We need to pick up Marco, his car crapped out last night.”
         “Again? I told him to take it to the shop.”
         “Does he ever listen?”
         “True.” I snatched my grey work shirt off the back of the couch and pulled it on. “Let me go say bye to the little moods and I'll meet you out back.”
         “Aight, hurry out.” he went out the chipped, off-white back door to his car sitting in my backyard.
         The door matched the rest of the house. The walls were the exact same color with splotches of mud here and crayon marks there. It definitely looked like a home were children lived. The carpet along the walls was pulled up showing the rough fabric under it. Green paint was peeling off the second step on the way to the basement and again on the smooth floor at the end of the stairs.
         The entire way down the steep creaky stairs all I could hear was two of my siblings screaming at the top of their lungs.
         “Stop being mean,” Mickey yelled throwing a pillow at Ellie. This was a normal scene for the two. They were constantly at each other's throats.
         “I only am because you’re being such a bi-”
         “Ay, yo!” I called pulling her off him as she launched from the floor to the couch. “Watch your language little munchkin.”
         “I’m not a munchkin, I’m a girl.” Ellie snarled twisting in my arms trying to escape. “And you say worse stuff!”
         “They can because they’re older.” Mickey defended, pushing her with one of his socked feet.
         “Damn straight.” One of her sharp elbows jammed into my side. “Watch it, Ellie.”
         “But Kasey,” she started with a high pitched whine. Her arms hooked around my neck as I adjusted her. It scared me how light she was for a seven-year-old.
         “No buts.” I set her down on the couch beside Mickey who was already sucked back into the tv. With them both quiet I finally noticed the disturbing silence from the back room.
         “Where are the other two monsters?” I asked picking up a few pillows off the floor.
         “They went to sleep a while ago,” Ellie answered. She rolled onto the floor to stare blankly at the multicolored superheroes on screen.
         “Sure they did.” If I didn’t get a call from the sheriff in a couple of hours I would consider it a miracle.
         Before I had a chance to say anything else a soft tug on the sleeve of my shirt stopped my thoughts.
         “Are you going out with Nickey again?” Mickey asked in a quiet voice. He didn’t meet my eyes only stared at the fading logo on my shirt.
         “Yeah kiddo,” I rustled his raven black hair. It was just like our fathers. “I’ll be back later.”
         He batted away my hand with his tiny one. “But I don’t like it when you leave.” He pouted, his bottom lip quivering. “Daddy gets mean when you’re gone.”
         I tried to pretend my heart didn’t sting. “I know kid,” I kept my breathing even. “But I have grown up things to do.”
         “You’re not grown up,” Ellie spat with as much venom as her small body could hold. “You’re only seventeen.”
         “I’ve still got things to do kiddos,” I walked back to the stairs. I had to force my steps. “Remember what to do if dad goes on a bender?”
         “Lock the door and call Charlotte,” Mickey repeated from many, many memories. His eyes were wide, watching me go.
         “That’s right. See ya soon. I promise.”
         “Yeah whatever,” Ellie grunted. Still not bothering to look up from the TV.
         Nick looked up from his phone when I slid into his passenger seat. “Took ya long enough.”
         “Yeah sorry, ya know how they get.” I buckled my seatbelt.
         “How they get or how you get Kasey?” I didn’t bother to answer. We were out of my driveway and down the road in seconds per towards the nice part of town. The houses were tall with red bricks and chimneys. There were stores on every corner, hot red cars, and upscale clothes. It was like a whole other world across the train tracks.
         I loved the bustle of the city. Streets carved into stone were replaced by smooth asphalt. Evergreens perched on hilltops and any empty space became high buildings. It’s where the poor became rich and where deals were made. I loved the nightlife, the movement of cars, and people. It made me feel less alone to bathe in the lime green light of every bar and club. What I didn’t love was where we were headed.
         Just out of the city were a river and the loading docs. My night job lived there, ready to break me again and again.
         “I hate this shit,” I grumbled picking up an energy drink from the back seat cooler.
         “Brighten up.” Nick shrugged. “‘Least the dudes paying.”
         “Still minimum wage.”
         “Still better than nothing. Seven dollars is better than no dollars.”
         “It’s barely enough to keep the power on and definitely not enough to afford Mickey's pills. I need something better.” I popped open the tab on the drink and swallowed a large mouthful of a carbonated heart attack in a can.
         “When a fancy city job calls then you can drop this and go there but until then…”
         “Yeah, yeah.” I took a deep breath. I could feel how tired I was, how worn down my very bones were from repeated all-nighters. “I can’t keep doing this my grades have gone to shit.”
         “They always were,” he teased. He didn’t see this the same way I did. “I know it’s not ideal, but Kasey once we’re outta here you’ll see it’s all been worth it.”
         “I told you here isn’t any ‘getting out of here.' I can’t leave them behind.” I leaned my head back to close my eyes for a brief second. Peace was a hard thing to come by these days but I found it in small moments like this.
         “This is why you need weed man. It will mellow you right out.” Just like that, it was gone.
         I opened my eyes again to his sideways grin.
         “I’m not doing drugs, Nick.” I ran my hands over my face trying to make my brain stop buzzing like a beehive.
         “Don’t you have like a rich aunt or something that can take the kids?” He asked switching topics again. He was good at changing things up till you lose the thread of the conversation.
         He wasn’t going to let this go. “As free labor. Besides, they already have six kids they can’t afford four more.”
         “What about the twin's mom? She’s still in the picture right?” I felt the frustration building in my chest.
         “She only calls them really.”
         He took a wide turn down a dark and bumpy dirt road towards a ranch that sat just outside city limits. The trees still followed the winding road. They followed us, no matter where you went there were always trees. Watching. Judging. They made me feel small.
         “I don’t get why she doesn’t talk to them,” I exploded. “They aren’t alright. No one in that house is.”
         “That sucks,” he yawned. He didn’t particularly care or listened, just gave me the room I needed to rant.
         “I want to help them but I can’t and it’s so-ughr.” I kicked the plastic dash of the car with a growl.
         “Whoa! Hey! Don’t hurt the baby Kasey!” He stroked the dash that I had ‘hurt.’ “You have to treat her right.”
         I rolled my eyes. “Sorry man. I just-ugh-I just don’t know what to do about the kiddos anymore.”
         “I hear ya.” That signaled the end of the conversation.
         The car pulled up to a stop in front of a farmhouse. It was the kind you would see in ads for milk or butter. Next to the side door was Marco who waved to us and started the short walk across the driveway. Marco, unlike Nick, towered over people. His skin was dark like mine, his hair moved in waves. It hard for him to manage. Last year he wound up having it buzzed down on the sides but keeping long bangs in front. Best looking out of all of us and it showed.
         Nick’s small chevy tipped to the side as he pulled himself in beside the cooler. “What’s going on?” He greeted
         “Just having a real talk,” Nick told him motioning to me, before starting the hour-long drive to the docks.
         “What? Are you having girl problems again?
         “No, I broke it off with…” I could see them both raise an eyebrow in question. “‘Know what, not important. We were actually talking about how I can’t just pick up and leave the little moods behind to run off with Nick.”
         “Good choice,” Marco snorted. “Nick will get you screwed! Have you heard his plans to get drugs?” He practically vibrated in the back seat. Already heavily caffeinated was a great way to start a Thursday night
         “In extent. Sadly.”
         “Yo, whatever,” Nick huffed. “It's a good plan. This dude says he can get us the hookup.”
         “Listen, man, I need my brain to work -”
         “Just come with me! Meet the guys, you’ll see it's all good. They said they could make the...deal? Trade-off?”
         “Give you the shit?” Marco offered.
         “Yeah that. They said they'll do that after work tonight.”
         “Dude -”
         “Please Kasey, please? I want you to be there.”
         “Alright, but only because I don't want to see your ass get stabbed! But we’ve got to get home at some point.”
         He smiled broadly, “It's a deal!” The car sped up as we hit the highway. Low bass notes came through the car speakers and my thoughts comfortably settled on thinking about the silver-haired girl once again.

         We were worked like dogs. Worse than dogs really. Each night was apart of one long never-ending cycle that dragged on far too long. The boxes we had to unload off the transport truck weighed more than a small boulder. It took both me a Nick together to get one out. Then once all the crates were out we then had to move those to another truck. These ones were owned by the company though, I think. The sides read ‘crisp apples’ with the picture of a horse giving an odd thumbs up.
         I tried to pretend that it wasn't watching me as much as the foremen watched us as we work. Time to time others would come and inspect us but they never talked to us, only Razz.
         By the time the apple truck was full, it was almost midnight and my arms were like jelly at my side. I sat in the cab with Nick and Marco on the hour trip to the docks where we left the truck and took an empty one back. We got paid upon returning and it would start over the next night.
         We were halfway home when Nick took a turn off our usual path and after a few twists we ended up in the parking lot of a broken down canning factory.
         That was the best part of this town. There was no end to the number of abandoned buildings or run-down stores. When stores get too old they were left to fall apart, this happened a lot on the other side of Seeton. It was a whole other town, the rules just weren't the same over here. No trees, or families just large metal giants teeming with rats and homeless junkies.
         This part of town made my skin crawl.
         The only other car there with us was a sleek baby blue one. Nick’s headlights highlighted the curving sides on it. Leaning against the hood with a cigarette in hand was a broad-shouldered male. Tattoos lined his dark arms, his expression was amused and slightly annoyed by the brightness of Nick's lights.
         Besides the brute was none other than Lucy Vu. She was holding up a phone in her hand, laughing at the screen and nudging her companions arm. He didn't look only stared right into our very souls as we pulled up directly across from them.
         His shoulders tensed under his light hoodie. He focused his eyes on us as we all stepped out. Between him and the scenery around us, it was safe to say that I had never been so intimidated in my life.
         “Didn’t this you would be bringin’ all these guys with ya.” His voice was calm but his dark, sunken eyes were crazed and wild.
         “They were just curious,” Nick told him. Taking a few small but noticeable steps back Nick made a worrying sound.
         Marco cleared his throat and the dealer went rigid. He was sizing up Marco, who had gone very pale upon noticing his mistake. Marco didn't like confrontation.
         “Hold on there, Seb.” Lucy placed a hand on his arm that had disappeared behind his back. ‘It's cool, I know the skinny one.” She gave me a warm smile that I did not return. I was too frozen with my own fear.
It seemed to do the trick as Seb relaxed again.
         “What's your names queer baits,” Seb sneered. Despite his slightly more relaxed nature he kept glancing at Marco like any second he was going to attack him.
         “This is-this is Kasey,” Nick stuttered. “The big one is Marco.”
         “It's nice to meet you,” Lucy replied. Seb nodded his head. He pushed off the hood and made his way to the driver's side.
         “Come over here, kid. Let's get this over with.” Nick followed him hesitantly.
         A few awkward seconds passed before Lucy tried to pick the conversation back up.
         “Having a good night,” Lucy asked. She flipped her long hair back over her shoulder. She looked flawless even with all the disrepair surrounding us.
         “Uh, yeah. Sure.” I tugged at the bottom of my itchy work shirt. “it's been great.”
         “That answer doesn't seem like you've had a lot of fun.”
         “Lucy stop asking people if they are having fun.” Seb and Nick re-emerged from the side of the car. Nick looked more laid back. In his hands was a small bottle and a brown bag crinkled around a long tube.
         “Thanks,” Nick called to him. He waved and swung a leg into the car.
         I was glad to be leaving.