8B2

Chapter 5

Spades -Past- 1212

I was wearing one of the dresses Kellea told me to buy. It was covered in gaudy blue sequins and I was wearing combat boots on my feet. My fingers stunk like bleach and were dyed a mottled purple and blue from the hair dye I just used. My hair was separated with a middle part, both in sloppy dutch braids. My makeup, done in the same colors, was streaky and my fingers were caressing the trigger of Kellea's gun, while I thought about what I was going to do. I even took the time to paint little spades and stars on my face with her liquid eyeliner, the one she never let me use.

The streetlights were gray, everything was gray except for the lighted sign above the drug store where I stood. It read Marshall's Liquor in the same blue as my hair. My heart was pumping and I was angry. Kellea and I were finished although I never even told her I left.

The pockets of the dress and the worn purple jacket I found were filled with bullets for when the gun ran out. I blinked, my eyelashes brushing my cheeks. The street was dark. Although the lights of Aforica never stopped glowing in the distance, those tall skyscrapers and shiny glass buildings I wasn't good enough for. I wiped my nose with the hand the gun was in, staring through the glass window of the drug store to the lights over racks of merchandise. I didn't know why I had a gun in my hand or what I was even going to do with it. I just wanted something so I was going to take it.

I exhaled, pointing the gun at the glass. I squeezed the trigger, a bullet hitting the glass. It shattered, frozen for a second before falling to the cement tinkling like windchimes. Euphoria flooded my senses even better than when Kellea let me shoot up. I giggled, I actually giggled and took a step forward. There was a beeping inside the little store that smelt of plastic and snacks in bags.

My chest rose and fell with the waves of elation crashing over me as my purple painted lips stretched into a smile. There was a counter at the end and behind it a rack of sticks. That. That was what I needed. I would need what Kellea gave me too but that wasn't attainable in a drug store.
I watched my finger, the fingernails Kellea made me keep short because only whores and straights had long nails, pull the trigger again. The bullet hit the floor ricocheting off and hitting a light. The place was supported by machines, you could take what you wanted and the money would be charged digitally. But I had no money. I did have a gun. I kept pulling the trigger, shooting at the counter and hitting the glass behind it. While it shattered I shot at the shelves, the lights flickering as bullets hit them. I reloaded as fast as I could and at one point I hit the fire alarm.

The loud beeping mixed with the high pitched alarm for the break in. The water wet my hair, dye washing out of my braids, the makeup streaming down my face. I laughed up at the water, shaking my head back and forth, my arms outstretched.

Then I reloaded the gun and continued shooting ahead, alarms wailing in the distance. I pulled myself on top of the counter, boots squeaking in the water as I hopped off before the case of sticks. I pocketed the gun with only three bullets left, taking a pack out of the display. It was still raining in the wailing store as I hopped on the counter, ripped the package open, and slid the cartridge together and lifted the white rectangular machine to my lips.

I inhaled, mist streaming through my lungs and out my nose as I pulled it away, purple lipstick marks where I had my mouth, letting it leak through my teeth.

My eyes flickered closed as I exhaled the last of the vapor and lifted the stick to my mouth again, breathing in.

"Hey!" Someone walking by pointed inside of the little shop. I pulled the gun out of my pocket, holding the machine in my mouth and shot at the floor. The person ran away, vanishing in the dark. I needed to leave now. Everything felt better after the mist though, my head was clearer, my thoughts calculated even though my esophagus burned.