The Freaks

21

Stanley made a decision. A good decision. If it hadn't been made, it very well could've meant the end of their lives. He moved them all to New York. The strategy was simple and Condor would never see it coming. 

His enemies would be living right under his nose and he'd never know. Not until it was too late. 

Two weeks. They'd spent the last two weeks in a basement. 

They'd heard countless games of cards being played by Ashleigh and Charlie. Countless petty arguments from Deacon and Tyree. Stanley spent most of his time going over strategies, finding new kinds of poisons that couldn't be detected and he read. He read a lot. 

Evie tried to cure her boredom in various ways. One thing that really cured her boredom was climbing up onto the rafters and when they least expected it jump down and scare them. 

Alex still didn't trust the others. He trusted Stanley, but not enough. He saw Tyree as an enemy of an enemy, but Deacon was another thing. 

He tolerated Deacon. He was polite, but he lacked trust. He would absolutely never put the life of his comrades or himself in Deacon's hands. That would be what's called a 'no, no'. 

Evie was sitting beside him as they cleaned their weapons. He was silent and focused. 

"Wanna hear a joke?" Evie questioned. That was another thing that Evie had taken up during their two week hibernation period. Comedy. It was fickle since there had to be a time and a place and Evie usually said whatever came to mind. 

"Is it funny?" 

She shrugged. "I don't know yet." 

"Okay, what is it?" he sighed. 

"Where does a Hooter's waitress work if she loses a leg?" Evie asked. Alex furrowed his brows as he continued to clean the gun. 

"What's hooters?" 

"I don't know how to describe it without using the words sleazy, degrading and gross." she told him. He nodded. 

"I don't know the answer to your joke, Evie." he spoke. 

"IHop. She works at IHop." she told him with a sigh. Nobody did get her jokes. She didn't even create that one. Betty told her the joke and it just randomly popped in her head. 

Spine suddenly burst out into laughter. 

"Jesus Christ! I love your mind. It's so dark." he told her. She didn't really know how to respond to that. 

"Thanks." she paused in thought. Finally that lightbulb clicked. 

"I got another one, Alex, you're gonna love this one." she told him. 

"I doubt it but sure." 

She cleared her throat. 

"So, an old man is in an examination room with his doctor. The doctor says "How old are your kids?". The old guy says "forty-four and thirty-nine from my first wife who passed on and from my second wife, fifteen and thirteen". The doctor says, "That's quite the age difference" and the old guy said "well, the older ones didn't give me any grandkids, so I made my own"." 

Spine burst into a fit of laughter. Alex cracked a smile but he didn't laugh. Evie's jaw dropped. She was shocked at how much couldn't make Alex laugh. 

"What is with you? You laugh at nothing." she exclaimed. He shrugged. 

"It wasn't that funny," he spoke. 

"That's it, I'm making it my life's mission to make you laugh at a joke." she told him. Alex sighed and looked up at her. 

"I'm gonna stop you while you're ahead and tell you not to," he stated. 

"Why? Are you afraid I'm gonna win this battle?" she taunted. 

"No, I'm afraid you're going to die having never completed your life's mission." he replied. She gave him a sarcastic 'ha, ha' in reply. 

Stanley came bursting out of the room that Evie had nicknamed the room of strings. 

"Evie! We're going out." he told her. 

Evie blinked a few times. "Uhh, thank you for the offer, but you're a bit old for me," 

"No, no. I have a lead that I need some help with." he spoke. With a sigh, Evie stood up. Grabbing one of the guns that hadn't been taken apart and tucking it in the waistband of her jeans. 

She pointed a finger at Alex. "This is one hundred person not over." 

Alex shrugged. "Sure." 

And then, Evie followed Stanley out of the basement. 

~

 Hello, readers!! 

I'm just warning you that I might not get another chapter out tonight. I'm gonna try writing a book called Jaguar Falls, but only if there's not enough inspiration or ideas for another chapter. 

I hope you enjoyed this! 

In case, I don't get another chapter out, have a great night! 

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