Outlaw

Chapter 1.

K A T E R I N A

"I can't believe you're just leaving!" My mom exclaims exasperatedly, plopping down onto the wooden dining chair. Her head finds its way into her palms, trying to rub away the aches of distress poking at her brain. I grimace, knowing full and well I was the cause of her dismay.

"Mom, I'm not leaving forever," I console with a frown. "I'll be back every so often and it's not like I'm going to be alone, I'm going to be living with Zane!"

"I know," she trails off, fiddling with the wet rag on the table. "I'm just sad that you're leaving the coop too."

I suppress the giggle that threatened to come out and pull out the chair beside her to sit down before pulling her into a side hug.

"I'll be back for the holidays and I'll make sure to bring Zane," I mumble into her side, "I know you miss your step-son."

"Hmph, that boy is my son," she mutters matter-a-factly.

Zane is my half-brother and son of my dad. Zane has a different, non-existing biological mother but since he was one when my dad married my mom, my mom was all he knew and loved and she raised him as if he were her own and in every way except biologically, he is. Then I was born with a two year difference from Zane and from there all four of us were a happy family until five years ago when he passed away from an unexpected heart attack that left this family in ruins for a while. I don't think any of us have truly recovered and probably never will but we are trying to continue living life like he would have wanted us to.

After my mom finished giving me her sappy goodbye and walked me to the front-porch, I felt the guilt hit me. I really was selfishly leaving my mom all by herself in this empty house.

I turn to her and without hesitation, I throw my arms around her and pull her into crushing hug.

"I'll miss you mom, I'm sorry I'm leaving you here," I whisper, scared that if I were to raise my voice any higher it'd break.

"I'll miss you too, Kat," she replies and sniffles. "Make sure you call when you get there."

"I will," I promise quietly.

I break away from her hold and pick up my last backpack from the floor, tossing it over my shoulder and heading towards my beat up, but still functioning silver 2001 Toyota Corolla. I silently prayed that it would survive the three hour drive from Fresno to Los Angeles.

I buckled myself in the driver seat and set up my new wireless bluetooth speaker with my phone since the car only takes CD's which I don't have given to the fact that it is 2018. As the music began to flow from the device sitting in the passenger seat, I tossed my backpack into the backseat with all my other bags, and for some reason I unwillingly looked back at the house I called home for as long as I can remember. My mom stood at the porch, one hand clutching her shirt and the other resting on her cheek ready to catch the unshed tears.

I tear my gaze away from her and take a deep breath before starting the car and beginning my trip down south of the state.

***

Three hours down, thirty minutes to go. I was mentally exhausted from sitting in that blazing hot car for as long as I did. I was so sure my car was about run out of gas in the middle of the road even if I just filled the tank not too long ago.

Leaving home was a tough decision to make, one that I chose to do regardless. I wanted, no, scratch that - needed to leave. I'm nineteen, still living off my widowed mother with no job and no job opportunities. As pathetic as I currently am, I knew there was nothing in Fresno for me. I need to be in LA where opportunity is everywhere, well according to Zane.

I was practically bouncing out of my seat when I drove into the city and all the buildings and views started coming into view. All the pictures Zane had sent me or I have seen online were finally in my reality and I couldn't be happier. The only thing I could possibly complain about at the moment was the excessively large amount of traffic crowding the streets, which was proving to be a problem as I nearly drove into the back of the car in front of me.

As I'm sitting in traffic at a complete stop, I grab my phone from the cup holder it was sitting in and checked my GPS that was leading me to Zane's apartment. Ten more minutes.

Maybe I was lying to myself. Maybe I didn't leave home because I wanted adventure. Maybe I left home because I was absolutely miserable there.

My boyfriend of two years had broken up with me, I lost my job - even if it was at a fast food restaurant, all my friends went off to universities and I didn't even get accepted into any. My gap year just did not really work out when I graduated high school last year and it has just been me going through bull shit. Every where I went in that ridiculous, deadbeat town, I could not for the life of me forget all my failures. I was so disappointed in the way things had turned out and I needed to get out of Fresno, immediately and bless the heavens that I had a brother with free room in his LA apartment, even if it was on the rougher end of the overpopulated city, I know I need a fresh start to get myself together.

The apartment buildings started coming into view as I drove down the street, decreasing my speed to almost nothing as I tried to figure out where Zane's address would be. Out of the two and a half years he's lived here, this would be my first time visiting and I just hoped that the place wouldn't be a pigsty. The outside of the building was already looking rough with the water damage seeping through the peeling stucco of the walls and messy vines crawling up the sides. Either way, I chose to ignore it because where else am I going to live?

I finally found the building in the complex Zane lived in when I spotted him leaning over one of the rails, a blunt hanging from his lips as he talked to a guy standing beside him. He was a bit taller than Zane but looked around the same age as him. He had a golden tan and short dirty blond hair that was slicked back with a gel that made it look stiff - the type of gel that your mother would put on you before a dance competition or any of the sorts and your hair was hard and stuck to your head throughout any movement that you made. The guy let out a loud laugh, flashing a full grill of gold teeth and I could see as he threw his head back there was a large tattoo of a snake coming up from his chest and around his neck. He looked tough, not because he was obviously a big guy with a lot of muscle, he had one of those faces that told you he's seen shit and he's been through it.

What kind of people is my brother associating with.

I parked my overheated car in one of the empty spaces directly across from the apartment building, hopefully it didn't belong to anyone. I grabbed two of the many bags that I had tossed in the backseat, promised myself I'd make another round to get the rest and hurled myself out of the car. I nearly toppled over as I waddled across the street, the bags were nearly twice my weight and I was struggling. One of the bags hanging off my fingertips fell onto the floor and I groaned aloud, catching the attention of Zane and the mystery man.

"Hey, Kat," Zane calls, grinning at me with the blunt still hanging from the corner of his lips.

"Are you gonna help me or not, asshole," I called, frowning up at him.

Zane gave the blunt to the blond guy before he bounced down the stairs and raced over to me giving me a tight lung-crushing hug which I returned half-heartedly.

"Let me show you to your dormitory, miss," he said in an exaggerated posh British accent. He took one of the bags I had in my hand and bent down to grab the other with a little bit of a struggle. "Damn, you bring your whole room with you?"

"Um, yeah?" I deadpanned, rolling my eyes at him. "I'm moving in what do you expect."

Zane gave me a raised brow before putting his hands up in defense and turning around to lead me towards his apartment, or our apartment now.

As I went back to my car to get the rest of my bags I realized - this is the beginning of my new life and I just can not wait for what lies ahead.