I Should Have Stayed

Chapter 2

I pulled out my lighter and lit the cigarette I held in my fingertips. I took a long breath in filling my lungs with smoke and then let it out. My mind went calm for a moment and I relaxed a bit more. After four more inhales and exhales I threw the cigarette onto the ground and stepped on it. I was a rebel.

I stood up off the car I was leaning against and approached the house I stood in front of. Three short knocks later the door opened revealing the man I was wanting to see. When he saw my face I watched his twist in fear. I stared at him calmly like I always did and he began stammering, "I- I don't h- have the money."

"Why not?" I asked. There was anger in my tone.

"P- please give me another two days. Please." He put his hands together in a begging notion. He was definitely getting on my last nerve.

"No. You had fucking seven months to get it and now you want another two days? No can do, buddy."

"Please!" He begged, "I'll do anything for another two days. Just another two days. Please!" At this point he was just annoying.

"Anything?" I felt like messing with him.

"Yes. Anything, Dakota. Please?" I smirked at him big time.

"Add another 10k to what we agreed on and I'll let you go home free, Carlos."

"10k?!" I gave him a sharp look and he cowered, "Okay! Another 10k. Got it. No problem. Thank y- you!" I just grabbed the handle of the door and shut it in his face. I pulled out another cigarette and lit it as I walked away from the house and lowered my hood.

"Dakota?" What is this? A family reunion?

I spun around to see the voice coming from a woman a little older than me. She had stepped out of a house next to the one I had just come from. She walked towards me and inspected my face. I eyed her remembering who she was. The old high school teacher.

Well not really old. She was considerably pretty. Probably mid 20s at the most. I remembered her name being… Ms. Williams. Ava Williams. Yeah that was her name. "Hi." I finally said.

"Wow. I seriously thought you were dead. I'm sure you've heard that before though." She laughed lightly at the situation and I just stared at her in the facade of blankness I was so good at.

"Yeah." I said back.

"You look so different. How old are you now?" The question caught me off guard a little but I didn't show it.

"18. Since last month." It was the first of June. My birthday was May 20th. But I wasn't going to tell her that.

"Amazing... if you don't mind me asking, where have you been all this time? What, a year now?"

I continued to stare until I could tell she was uncomfortable. I wasn't answering that question. I honestly couldn't answer it even if I wanted to. I gave a small smirk as I saw her look down slightly. She was nervous under my unwavering gaze. Most people were.

I looked at my watch and saw what time it was. I was going to be late again. Figures. "Goodbye Miss Williams." My voice scared her a little bringing her from the awkwardness. "Uhh okay. Bye Dakota." She said and then ran back into her house quickly. I sort of liked her nervousness around me. It made me even more confident about my facade. And I had a feeling she listened to what went down next door.

I left the neighborhood walking at a brisk pace. I had a home to get to. People to see me. I hadn't even noticed that I still had a cigarette in my fingers. I dropped it on the ground and kept going and then covered my head with my hood once again.