Tales from the Intermediate (gxg)

Chapter 23

The large door screeched open, and the green streetlight from outside flooded the room. Standing at the doorway was a row of men, four of them standing behind one in front who opened the door. The light behind them shadowed them, but they could see the silhouettes of large guns in their hands.

"What is this, a remake of Degrassi?" said the man's voice, and his boots thudded against the concrete as he walked inside, the four men following behind him like soldiers before closing the door shut, trapping them all in the room together. He swaggered through the darkness before he came into the light that cast down upon him, revealing him to be the same man that they had seen that night in the alley during the Mulberry festival. "Holy shit," he said when he looked at the four still in their costumes, pointing at Charlie. "Is that a goddamn enchilada?"

"Please," Farren suddenly spoke, causing his eyes to shift to her. "You know my father—"

"Oh, that's right!" the man yelled out, swinging his pistol around his finger as he sauntered up to Farren. "Old Mr. Chase. Hasn't the old bastard withered away yet?" He laughed sickeningly as he crouched down close to Farren, who recoiled away from him with disgust. "You look more like your old woman, if I say so myself. Got her lips, that's for sure." He grabbed Farren's jaw and smushed her face, and she tried to get out of his grip, jerking her head away from his hand. "You certainly got that Chase fire though!"

"Fuck off," she spat, and instantly, his hand raised and smacked her across the face. Charlie gasped as Farren's head fell to the side, her blonde hair casting across it. Farren clenched her jaw as the feeling of the slap resounded in her head.

"You know, I think I remember you now," the man said as he stroked his hand over her hair. "Yea, little blonde girl that would run around the house during meetings, causing all sorts of trouble. Still remember your old man getting his belt when you wouldn't listen to him. You remember that?" He grabbed her hair and yanked her head backwards as his laugh drew out slowly in the room. He turned Farren's head so that she was facing the other three, leaning down close to her as he said in a secretive voice, "Did y'all know little Miss Chase here would get belted black and blue nearly every meeting?"

Dani's eyes widened as she looked at Farren, one side of her face bright red from the slap and the other side pink from the embarrassment. Was that true? Did Farren's dad hit her as a child?

That was one thing Farren had not shared with Charlie. It had only happened during her childhood, and she had buried it so deeply within herself that she barely remembered it. It wasn't even the spankings that broke her. It was always the disdain and hatred in her father's eyes as he did it.

"I believe Mr. Chase would think it a favor of me," the man said as he slowly put his gun to Farren's forehead and pressed the barrel against her skin.

"Please!" Charlie screamed, the sight of the gun against Farren's head bringing hot panic and desperation within her. Her face turned bright red as she thrashed in her chair. "Please, don't! We're just kids! We're just kids, please!" Charlie's shrill screaming filled the warehouse room, and the man rolled his eyes and stood, taking his gun away from Farren.

"Alright!" he yelled. "This isn't High School Musical, put your damn theatrics back where you got them." He sighed and walked in front of them, looking each of them in the eye. "You four kids have been very, very bad. You know, maybe if you had just let me talk to you that night instead of sending my men on a chase halfway across the goddamn country, this could have been a whole hell of a lot easier."

They couldn't believe it. This was the moment they had been running from. The idea had grown distant during their trip, between all the little moments that they found strange comfort in, between all the times that a friendship bonded between all of them, but it was here now, right in front of them. They saw something they shouldn't have seen that night. Now, they were going to finally pay for it.