Run, Fight, Repeat

7 | Astrid

I laugh a real laugh for the first time in a long time. Charles is a nice boy. He puts a smile on my face when he calls me "sissy". Snap out of it, Astrid!

I make my way down stairs and try to find my mom. My dad is dressed and standing in the living room looking at his phone. "Where is mother?" I ask.

"In our room waiting for you." He says looking up at me with a smile.

"Okay, thanks." I say walking to their bedroom. I knock before I walk in.

"Your good." She says and I walk in. "Hey sweety. I hung some clothes for you in the bathroom! Go on and change." She says with a sweet smile.

"Okay." I say walking into the bathroom.

There are three dresses hung up. One of them has short sleeves, which I don't think is a good idea right now. Another one is a turtle neck, long sleeve to the knees. It's pretty and dark grey. I like it, so I try it on, I feel very... secure in it. And when I look in the mirror I look at it too. These are my mother's clothes, and she is a long flatter than I am.

Speaking of my mother, she is calling for me so he can look at the options. I open the door and walk out and she smiles. "It's a little tight, but it looks good." She says.

"I'll try the other one. The one with the short sleeves was much too small." I lie.

"Okay. The black one is big on me, and I think it'll look great on you!" She says while putting on lipstick.

"Okay. I'll go try that one. Be right back." I say going back into the bathroom.

I look at the other dress as I peel the other one off. The black one has just one long sleeve for the left arm. But I think I can wear it backward so it can cover my right arm. I slip it on and it fits like a glove. I fix my bra so it is just one strap and looks in the mirror. It covers my entire tattoo and fits my every curve. And I look really nice. I take my hair out of the bride and let it fall down my back with a light wave to it.

I walk out to see how my mother dresses and her eyes light up. "You look so beautiful, Astrid!" She squeals. "So pretty!"

"Thanks." I say. "Do you have any shoes I could wear?" I ask.

"Of course. What size are you?" She asks walking into her closet.

"A seven." I answer.

"Oh perfect!" Says and walks back out of the closet with a pair of black heels with a pointed toe.

"Thanks." I say as she hands them to me. I sit on the chair next to the window and put them on. They are about three inches, and I'll take it. I'm about 5'4" so now that I can see what it's like to be a little taller, it feels powerful. I stand with them and practice walking. It's been awhile since I've had to wear heels.

"You look wonderful. Now, the boys are waiting so do you need anything else before we leave?" She asks.

"Yea, I just need something from my room. I'll be just a minute." I as we walk out of the room. I quickly go upstairs before they can see me and grab my leather jacket and put it on after I put a quick swipe of deodorant, then body spray. Then I decided I don't want my hair down, so I put it up in a sleek ponytail.

When I'm done I walk down stairs and Charles looks at me when I get down. "You look so fancy!" He says with a big smile. "How do I look in the outfit you picked?" He asks, doing a little spin.

"You look dashing." I say with a smile.

"Thanks sis." He says with a smile.

"Hey, Astrid." My dad says. "Can we take your car to dinner?" He asks.

"Yea, sure." I say. "But I'm driving." I say taking my keys out of my pocket.

"Of course, it's your car." He says with a smile.

We walk out to my car, and it's spotless, of course. I keep it clean, and spotless. I don't smoke in here, because I only smoke when I'm stressed, and I'm never stressed in my car, so it doesn't smell. My father sits in the front seat and the rest of the family piles in.

My father looks astonished as he looks at the interior of my car. "This is beautiful." He says.

"Thank you. I wasn't sure between the full black leather interior or the red polyester. But as you can see I went with the black." I explain backing out of the driveway.

"Nice choice. I looks very well kept in here." He says.

"Thanks." I say. "So, I don't know where I'm going," I chuckle. "Direction please."

"Of course." He says.

My father tells me how to get to the restaurant and once we get there, we are greeted with a large, Hot Pot sign. We make our way inside and father tells the young man at the front our name. He takes us to a large booth and hands us menus.

"I'll give you guys a few minutes to decide one what you'll be ordering." He says and walks away.

I look through the menu and see nothing that I recognize. Everything is in fancy terms. But I do recognize Water. So I think I'll just go with that. And for food, everything is in even fancier terms. Nothing is recognizable. And all so pricey.

I lean over to Charles, "What is all this stuff?" I whisper.

"I don't know. But the Tomato pura de carb sounds nice." He whispers back with a smile.

"I thought the Tossed Greens sounded good." I laugh with him.

"Blech. Greens." He laughs.

After a couple of minutes he returns with a pad and paper. "Hello. I'm Lewis and I will be taking care of you tonight. Now, can I get you started with a drink?" Lewis says with a warm smile.

"Hello, Lewis, I will take a coffee." My father says.

"Got it, and you?" He says. My mother orders a glass of some type of wine, and Charles orders a chocolate milk, then I order a glass of water. "Yes. I will get those and come back for your food orders." He says then walks away. We chat until he comes back and puts our drinks in front of us. We then order what we want to eat. "Alright, that will be right up."

After he walks away, the conversation suddenly turns to me. "So, strid, where have you been, that last ten years?" He asks me.

I suddenly feel like I'm in interrogation. "New Mexico." I answer. Their eyes go wide. "And Italy, Australia, Hawaii, But mainly just New Mexico." I add. Their jaws hit the floor.

"Cool! Can you speak those languages?" Charles asks me.

"Si fratello mio. Parlo alcune lingue." I say. "Which means, yes my brother. I speak a few languages." I add. My parents pick up their jaws.

"How did you get the money?" My dad asks.

"Work." I half lie.

"How? Where did you work?" My mother asks.

"Dozens of part time jobs." I fully lie.

In my old gang I would fight in an illegal boxing ring against other gangs. And all my winnings took me places, to fight other winners. That's why I left. Because the fighting started getting a little too out of hand. My boss, Rowan found me in an alleyway and said he could give me a place to live. I was young, and starving, so I went with them. Then I joined the Hustlers and was taught to fight. He soon noticed I was the best and put me in the ring. And I was a star. But then I was put in the ring with a man and got my ass handed to me. So I ran.