The Key to the Warriors (completed)

Chapter 1

"Paying." Zak answered and jerked his head toward the convenience store. "Her debit card declined again, so she had to fork over cash."

"It declined again?" I said as I looked back at him. "How come?"

He shrugged. "Dad and his petty lawyers are still trying to divide the accounts before they can finalize the divorce, I guess. Sometimes it works, and sometimes we're cut off completely."

"But what about Mom's personal account?"

He shrugged again. "Till the courts are settled, Dad's still entitled to half of everything, or at least until she mails his lawyer the paperwork to prove she opened the account after Dad left. Regardless, at the moment, he can cut us off from it whenever he wants, and with Mom's bad spending habits, I figure that'll be pretty often."

I frowned as I crossed my arms and shook my head. Our father had ruined everything for us, and he didn't even care. He was the one that had hurt us, and yet it was Mom who was still getting the crap-end of the courts, even seven years after they split. It was bull.

"I hate him." I grumbled, and Zak huffed again.

"Yeah, well, don't we all, but nothing we can do about it except endure the whiplash and hope our necks don't break."

And endure it, we were. I glanced up as I saw Mom exit the store empty-handed, her expression tight with frustration as she stomped toward the car. Zak looked up when she tapped on the glass of the back window, and he reached over to roll it down.

"What's up?"

"You have any cash?" She blurted, looking irritated.

"Uh... a little." Zak dropped his phone onto the suitcase in the seat beside him and began digging through his back pocket for his wallet. "How much?"

"I need twelve." Mom explained and glanced over her shoulder into the store.

"I got eight." Zak said and handed it over as he glanced at me. "Charlie, you got anything?"

Already reaching for my wallet, I retrieved a ten and held it out to Mom, who took it with a grateful half-smile. "Thanks, guys. Be right back."

Without another word, she turned and jogged into the store. Through the large windows, I could see her cut in front of a line of annoyed customers to hand over the crumpled bills. With a shake of my head, I propped my elbow on the sill and balanced my chin on my fist.

"You got anything more than that ten?" Zak asked from over my shoulder, and I shook my head.

"Nope. Was all I had to my name."

He let out a long breath. "I got like... seventeen bucks on my school debit." He said.

Nodding slowly, I watched as Mom started toward us again, two plastic bags dangling from her hands. "I have a feeling we'll need it before we get there." I said, and Zak mumbled an agreement as Mom threw open her door and tossed the bags into my lap. "What's all this?" I asked once she was in and pulling away from the gas pump.

"Lunch." She said. "I thought you guys might be sick of bologna sandwiches by now. Oh, and I found this,"

She reached across my lap to rummage through the bags, one hand on the wheel as she eased back into the interstate traffic. A moment later, she retrieved a little stuffed penguin with big, glittery eyes and an unnatural grin.

"Isn't he cute!?"

I stared at it with a scowl as she propped it up in one hand, a broad grin on her face. "Um... sure."

"His name is Frosty." She explained a second later, then set the toy to balance on the dash. "He's gonna be our good luck charm."

From behind me, Zak snorted. "And exactly how much was 'Frosty'?"