"Livi! Knock it off!" I try to shove my little sister off my leg. Her little pale arms are snaked around my knee while her feet are locked around my ankle, making me immobile. She is only six and can still cling onto peoples' legs, which is kinda frightening.
"No!" She yells, sucking her thumb. Wow, this little girl is skilled, sucking her thumb while having a death grip on my leg is pretty amazing.
"Liviana, Charlie and I have to go to the market to get food and parts for mom. Now let go, before I go get Sage," I say as Charlie comes over and tries to loosen Livi's grip. No use.
" No!" She screams, griping my leg tighter. I think I'm losing blood circulation to my foot...
"Let me go!" I demand as she looks down at my mud covered boots. I notice that her once white day dress is now stained with dirt and mud from playing with the boys.
"You'll steal from people," Livi whines, looking up to me with her sad, pale blue eyes. "Its bad!"
I sigh, bend down and pick her up from my leg and hold her in my arms. My mom always does this when Livi doesn't understand something, or doesn't get her way. I look into her eyes, the same eyes my mom has, and silently plead for her to understand the families and my struggle.
"Listen Livi, I do that stuff so we can get money to live. So we can survive."
She stays silent for a bit, thinking it over.
"Why?" She whispers so quietly that I have to lean in to hear her.
"Because mom, dad and Sage don't make enough money for you, me, Levi and Oliver to live," I smile down at her sadly. Ever since the capital, Iris, has been threatening a war to break out with Suleo Rico, they have been over pricing food, water and electricity. We decided at the beginning of the new year that we could go without electricity for the spring, summer and fall. So now, to keep the house all lit up, we bought lots of candles and a few torches and to keep the house cool, we cover the windows and open them up to let the air in. I love the days when the breeze comes from the sea, were I can smell the salt and feel the warm, crisp air on my skin.
"Why did mommy have lots of babies?" She asks suddenly, continuing to suck her thumb.I swept a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear, I was about to answer her when Charlie butt in.
"Because daddy was a little too stressed all the time," Charlie smiles innocently. I shoot him a glare and look at Livi, who looks confused.
"Well, its when a mommy and daddy love each other very much-" He tries to continue, but I elbow him in the gut. I get a glare in response.
"What he means is that daddy was stressed because he was tired," Way to go Addilyn, terrible save.
"If daddy was tired why didn't he go to bed?" She asks, clearly confused.
"Because he wanted to burn some calories to sleep better!" My older brother Oliver yells from the stairs. Oliver is a pain in the ass, he is a year older than me and acts as bad as Levi. I notice that his dark hair is ruffled from sleep, and his green eyes are slightly pink from waking up, I also see that he isn't wearing his work clothes, which tells me he is late...again.
"Oliver, shouldn't you be at the farm?" I demand as I watch his tan face go pale.
"What time is it?" He asks quietly, fiddling with his hands.
"Five til twelve," Charlie smirks down at his watch. Wow he still has that watch from when I gave it to him in the third grade. I smile at the shared memories.
"Shit!" Oliver yells, he turns around and dashes up the stairs.
"Shits a bad word!" Livi yells after him and Charlie and I share a smile.
I set Livi back down on the nasty, carpet floor and slowly make my way to the front door of our small house. By small, I mean, two bedrooms and a basement, boys get the basement, mom and dad get one of the rooms and Livi and I get the other bedroom. Sage sleeps on the couch or in the tree house in the backyard. Our kitchen is combined with our dinning room and we have a plaster wall separating the kitchen from the family room. Which I might add is the size of three king size beds pushed together. Oh, and we only have one bathroom.
"Livi, be good and listen to Levi, okay?" I ask and she nods slowly. Levi is only five years younger than me, which isn't all that good, because you know when boys get to that certain age, they will do the opposite of what you say. Levi is in that phase."Okay good." I open the door and get blasted by the cool, spring breeze and the smell of the sea. Thank the Lord we live close to the ocean, I would hate to live in the Midlands were I would be surrounded by plants and farms.
"I promise I will bring you back something Livi," Charlie smiles down at my little sister, ruffiling her blonde hair.
"Ooooh! A dolly!" She jumps up and down, excitedly. Livi has been obsessed with dolls ever since Sage came back from Iris and brought her a porcelain doll that looks exactly like her.
"Maybe," Charlie blows a kiss to Livi, she catches it, and he slowly closes the door behind him.
He stands next to me on the already-falling-apart-porch that my dad rebuilt last summer. It sucks that my family has no money to keep this place up and running. You would think that my family's salt business and Sage's skill for bending metal into art that we would at least survive, but no. To keep my family on their feet I have to steal from people. I don't mind it, its just that if I get caught, that would be the end of it. And maybe the end of me.
"Hey," Charlie nudges me with his shoulder. "Whats up? You look far away."
"Nothing, nothing," I sigh and lean my forearms against the wobble railing. "I just, I don't know Charlie, overthinking, I guess?"
He gasps and puts his hand to his chest like I hurt him or something. I give him a weird look.
"Since when does the great and powerful Addilyn Ethridge overthink?" He smiles and leans his back against the railing next to me.
"I don't know, I was just wondering what would happen if I got caught," I smile slightly, but it instantly falls. "I could go to jail, Charlie or they can kill me for it."
"Since when did that stop you," He sweeps a dark lock of hair behind my ear and keeps his hand on my cheek, making me look at him. "You know you will never get caught Addilyn, so why start to worry now?"
I shrug and lean into his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist. He puts his chin on my head and keeps talking. "You know, if we don't leave in two minutes, the Collector will skin us alive," He chuckles and lets go of me, but reaches for my hand. I let him take it.
"Okay then Charlie, looks like we have a long walk ahead of us," I smile as I watch him, hoping he would argue, but he just smiles.
"Well, I don't know about that, I did ride on something on the way here," He grins, tugging me to the ditch across from the house.
"And who's that? Your girlfriend?" I snort as he lets go of my hand to search through the dying brush.
"Hey, you know that you are my girlfriend," He points and he drags up something out of the weeds.
"Am I now? Then what do you do when I am not with you? Go over to Vi's house and sleep with her and her pet donkey?" I smile, folding my arms across my chest as I watch him struggle with pulling the thing up the small hill.
"Addilyn, you are my one and only," He smiles as he sets the two-wheeled thing up on a kick-stand. A built in kick-stand, I might add. Wow, I've never seen one of these since....never.
"Good," I stalk over to him and the thing and stare at it. "So, what is that?" I notice it has two-wheels, a muffler in the back, kick-stand and a weird seat that could probably only fit one person. The steering looks a bit sketchy, and so does all the metal covering most of the outside of the machine.
He leans against it with his hands in his pockets. "I gave the Collector a hunting bow and sixty arrows for this thing," He lightly kicks the one of the tires and begins to circle it. "He calls it a bike, it has a motor that runs off of rechargeable batteries and it has an accelerator and brake."
"So its like a.." I think for the word, but there are no words to describe this..bicycle thing.
Charlie gets what I am trying to say and nods. "So, you want a ride to the market and back?" He wiggles his eyebrows causing me to laugh.
"How do you start the thing?" I question as he throws his leg over the other side of the bike.
"He told me that you press this button," He points to a grey, circular button that says 'start' in faded white letters.
"Huh, and how do you make it go?" I ask as I circle around the bike. He presses the button, kicks the kick-stand back, moves his hands over the handle bar and presses on a weird plastic throttle looking thing that is sticking out of the handle bar.
The bike comes to life as I watch Charlie drive in a circle around me. I smile as the dust from the gravel road picks up, making a little dust storm around my feet.
"So you coming Addi?" He yells over the motor, kicking the bikes kick-stand down to hold the bike up.
"Sure," I smile as he pats the leather seat behind him.
"Plenty of room for you skinny," He laughs as I smack him on the shoulder.
"I am not skinny," I frown as I hop on the seat behind him.
"Yes you are! Your body is full of skin!" Charlie laughs as I stay silent.
"Okay, so give me your arms," He orders, turning to look at me.
"Why?" I ask, suddenly nervous.
"Just trust me," I grumble and stick my arms out on either side of him.
He wraps my arms around his waist and sighs. "For safety, I don't want you to fly off the bike if we go over a bump."
I smile and lean my head against his back, feeling all the muscles in his back contract and relax. I think I feel him shiver. He's probably cold because he is only wearing his thin, brown work shirt and a pair of his old, ripped, denim jeans with his black, leather work boots. I am wearing the same thing as him, but my shirt is a nasty nude color, making my dark brown hair stand out.
"You ready?" He yells over the loud motor.
"As ready as I will ever be," I shout back.
I feel his body shake with laughter and before I know it, we are off.
----
"Addilyn, you can let go," Charlie laughs as I grip his shirt.
"No, I almost flew off that two-wheeled death machine!" I shout as he stood up. I follow, still hugging onto him.
He groans, I was about to say something, but my words got cut off by Charlie picking me up into a hug. "Its alright baby, Charlie's got you. Everything will be okay, I've got you."
"Ew gross, put me down Charlie," I groan as I start to feel Charlie shower my face with kisses.
"Nope," He was still giving my face little, sweet kisses.
"Charlie," I giggle as I struggle against his hold.
"Not if you say the magic word," He sings still pecking my face with delicate, soft kisses.
"What magic word?" I say in anger.
"Come on you know it!" I feel him smile, then dip his head toward my neck, giving soft, sweet kisses on my throat.
"I-uh," I am utterly speechless as Charlie continues to kiss my neck.
"Addi," He whispers in my ear, I shiver from the close contact.
"Charlie," I whisper back.
He's silent for a moment. He slowly sets me down on my two feet and stares at me with empty eyes. I watch as his pupils dilate in and out, almost like he is focusing on me, then not me. It is almost like he is arguing with himself.
"Charlie?" I ask, waving my hand in front of his face. "Are you alright Char?"
He still stares at me, his dark blue eyes unmoving.
I sigh and take his hand, shaking it.
"Charlie, your scaring me! Stop it!" I throw his arm back to his side and turn around. Two can play at this game Charlie.
After about two minutes, I feel his arms snake around my waist, pressing me against him. He moves the hair away from my neck and gives a delicate kiss on the area where my shoulder meets my neck.
I turn around and face him, only to get pulled into a hug.
"Charlie? What's it with you?" I ask. Charlie has never done this before, even though we are together, he has never kissed me like that.
"I just wanted too, I've never kissed you before Addi. Its driving me insane," He whispers in my hair. "I want mouth to mouth, not little pecks on your face, I want to show you how a real man kisses his girl."
I was speechless, so I did the only thing I could do, I hug him back and let my fingers drag through his crisp, golden blonde hair. He sighs.
"Charlie, you know I can't, I am not ready," I whisper, still running my fingers in his hair.
"I know, your dad frowns upon it and your mom thinks its improper," He says in a high pitched voice. I smile and shove him back.
"Your weird Char," I laugh and watch as he looks at his watch and frowns.
"Great," He mutters as I feel my heart stop.
"Oh no, the Collector!" I gasp, I quickly push past Charlie and break into a dead sprint, I can faintly hear him yelling my name while running after me.
I shove past people and carts full of junk until I reach the Collector's building. It's an ordinary building, dark bricks and tinted glass windows. The only thing that stands out is are big, colorful posters pasted on the window, all of them saying: The Collector, open all the time from mid-morning to early evening. I even notice a few different ones saying: Happy Birthday Begonia! Let's celebrate 700 years of freedom with the royal Aster's family! Come to Iris for the night of your life and-
"What the hell was that Addilyn?" Charlie gasps from behind me, cutting me off from reading the poster. I quickly forget about it and pay attention to the problem we are in right now.
"What time is it?" I ask him, he grunts and looks at the time.
"It's almost one," He groans as I grab his hand and drag him back to the market place.
"Hurry up Charlie! We only have an hour to grab, so grab whatever you can put your hands on!" I yell to him as he struggles to catch my pace.
"Okay! Okay! Now let me go!" He whines as I slow to a stop by a woman selling pig's meat. It smells disgusting.
"What's the magic word?" I ask, wiggling my eyebrows.
"Please?" He asks, smiling.
"No you idiot!" I say, before I grab his shirt. "Its this." And with that, I crash his lips to mine. At first he was hesitant, then his soft lips melt into mine. I wound my fingers around his neck and pull him closer as he runs his fingers through my hair.
Before our kiss gets heated, I pull away and walk around him.
"Have fun Charlie! Don't get caught! And meet me in the usual!" I hear him shout his reply which makes me smile. I quickly turn around and see that his cheeks are all pink, he looks happy and pissed that I left him which makes me smile wider.
God, I love that boy.
----
I love the feeling of euphoria while I steal from women's purses, watches off of men's wrist and stealing off of people's carts while they aren't looking. I love the feeling of my pockets being full, which means that I have enough stuff to get my family through another week. I especially love the feeling when the Collector is counting all the money I get from the junk I stole.
I try and pickpocket one more person. I've been watching this man from a distance and watching what he is buying at each of the carts and from the looks of it, he looks like he is made of money. Which is perfect.
I look on his wrists and notice no watches or bracelets. The only thing I notice is the suitcase he is holding, and that is too big to take. Think Addilyn, think! I check his wrists again and this time I notice something glistening under the cuff of his dress jacket.
I slowly walk up to the stand where he is at, acting like my focus is on the weird food in front of me and not what's on his wrist. I slowly move my hand up to his wrist and yank off what is around his wrist, when I don't feel it budge I yank again, this time getting his attention. I quickly let go and walk away from him and the stand, trying not to draw attention to myself.
I sigh and call it a day while making my way to where I am supposed to meet Charlie, only to find out that he isn't there. I walk around the fountain and still don't see him. Where could that boy be? I walk around the side I was originally on and notice Charlie, running straight toward me.
"Charlie!" I yell, trying to get his attention. I have his attention, but he won't stop running toward me, he's twelve feet away and by the rate he is going, he can knock me straight into the fountain if he runs into me.
He is still running, getting closer and closer by the seconds. Before I know it, Charlie shoves me into the fountain. When I feel my butt hit the ground of the fountain, I am already soaking and fuming. My dark hair is clinging to my face along with my clothes clinging to my body. He is so going to pay.
"Charlie! What the hell was that for!" I shout as I gather the trinkets and junk that fell out of my pocket into my arms. I splash my way toward Charlie, who is doubled over laughing.
"It was for that kiss you gave me," He wipes a tear from his eye and sighs. "You should have seen the look on your face, pure terror and the way your body flew into the fountain. Priceless!"
I glare at him. "Haha very funny, now lets get back to business and head over to the Collector," I trudge my way to the building, getting a bunch of weird looks from people. What? Have you ever seen a dripping wet person before?
I open the door, feeling the coolness of air conditioning and the smell of stale paper hit me.
"Collector?" I call over the roaring sound of the air conditioning, I walk deeper into the book filled room. The bookshelves are from floor to ceiling and on each self are books, probably all the books in this city. I run my fingers over a few of there spines, reading the authors. Shakespeare, Dickens, Po, Faulkner, King, Rowling, and Lee.
I glance over at Charlie, who slowly walks over to me. I watch as Charlie picks up a book called: "The Great Gatsby."
"Huh, this looks interesting," He flips through the pages. I tug the book out of his hands and continue to walk around.
"Collector? Are you here?" I hear as my voice echo through the room, making it sound smaller and fainter by the growing seconds. After a few seconds, I look at Charlie, knowing we are too late. We are about to head out of the door before I hear a faint voice come from the hall.
I turn around and slowly walk to where I think I heard it from. Charlie silently follows behind me, I hear him sigh a few times, but other than that he is quiet.
I walk away from the room of books and into a small, tight hallway. It reminds me of the hallway in my family's house, tight, dark and cold. I notice a room that is illuminated by a candle, I look over my shoulder to Charlie, who only shrugs. I slowly walk in and notice a red 'x' painted on the floor. I stand on it, hearing the floor creak in protest. I feel the floor give away slightly, making me step back.
"What the-" A trap door opens up beneath my feet, sending me straight into darkness. I have no time to scream, only time to close my eyes, not wanting to see my death. When I peek my eyes open, I'm in another room, but this one is much smaller and covered in white lights and white walls. Everything is white, making the lights reflect on everything, its so bright that I have to squint my eyes to see. And the only thing is this room are three white chairs in the middle and a desk separating one from the other two.
"Addi, are you dead?" Charlie's voice shakes from above.
"No you idiot, now come down here!" I wait a bit, hearing his footsteps above, then a yelp. I smile when I hear a loud thunk, signaling that he has landed. "How was the fall from heaven?"
"Shut up," he grumbles, rubbing his head. He looks around the room quickly. "Where are we?"
Another voice answers from behind us, making my head whip in that direction. "You are in my office," His tone is dry, bored almost. He is no older that sixty, maybe, with wrinkles under his eyes and on his cheeks. His eyes are a light, golden brown making him look a bit younger, while his hair is making him look older. It is all while and down to his back in wisps. What makes me second guess him is his outfit, a black, floor length robe with long sleeves and a red star on his right breast, over the star is a golden sword, crossing it is a bow with its strings pulled back with an arrow. Huh, never seen that symbol before...
"Children like you shouldn't be down here," He states, circling around us. He makes his way to the lone chair on the other side of the desk, when he sits, he motions us to sit.
Charlie and I share a look before we decide to sit. I slowly walk to one of the chairs and pull it out, making sure it isn't a wired bomb chair or something. When I feel that the coast is clear, I sit down. Ever since last year, I've always checked the chairs for bombs, because Charlie was an idiot and started a fight with the wrong Collector and almost had gotten us killed. Luck for us, I knew how to defuse a bomb, so we didn't get blown up into a million tiny pieces.
"Well, show me what you have," The Collector leans back in his chair with his arms behind his head, clearly waiting for us.
I glance at Charlie who is busy emptying his pockets on the Collector's desk. I shrug and do the same until there is nothing but emptiness. I hear a noise that sounds like something metal dragging across a smooth surface, I look over to where I hear the noise and notice that Charlie is still emptying is pockets.
"Really?" I question, folding my arms across my chest, watching Charlie struggle with something in his shoe.
"Yes, really," He fishes through his shoe and pulls out a ring with a big stone the size of a pebble on the silver band. He sets it on the table and watches as the Collector leans in and grabs the ring, inspecting it.
"Hmmm," He flips around his hand, then holds it up to the light. "A 2000 ring, with a signature." He sets it gently on his table, then crouches behind the desk, digging through his drawers. I watch as he throws papers and notebooks out.
"Aha!" He pops his head back up, holding a magnifying glass. He puts it up to the rings band, trying to read the name. "Donna Rose Aster."
The name sound familiar. Donna Rose Aster. Donna Aster. Rose Aster. Aster. Aster.
"Oh my God," I put my hand to my head, feeling slightly dizzy. "Charlie, you just took the first Queen's ring. You stole from someone the first Queen of Begonia's ring." I ran my fingers through my wavy hair.
Charlie looks pale almost, like he didn't want to steal the most expensive ring in this country.
"How much are you charging?" The Collector asks, holding the ring to his chest.
Charlie looks over at me, signaling me to put on a price.
"Umm, 5,000 platas," I say, leaning my forearms against his cold desk. "Take it or leave it."
"Hmmm, I'll give you 10,000 platas each, just because its an ancient artifact and because you kids are very brave for stealing from people," He ducks under his desk and grabs four brown bags of money, evenly split for Charlie and I. My heart about stops just thinking how much money that is. This will get my family and I through the rest of this year,and maybe next.
"What about everything on this table?" I motion towards the watches, wallets, bracelets, necklaces and other junk Charlie and I stole.
"I'll give you 500 platas each for them, deal?" He stands up with his hand out, wanting a deal.
I look at Charlie who nods as if saying go and take the deal. I sigh and shake the Collector's hand, he smiles and gives us the rest of our money.
"Now stay out of trouble kids! I don't want to see you two in a long time, you hear me?" He calls out as Charlie and I climb up the spiral staircase leading back upstairs.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we hear you old man," Charlie shouts back as we head down the hallway and into the room full of books.
"I am not old you runt!" He yells while Charlie and I try not to laugh.
We walk slowly to the front door with our hands full with our money, I smile as I watch Charlie struggle with holding the door open.
"Thanks for everything, Collector!" I call out, hoping he would here me.
But, I didn't get a response back, so I quietly shut the door behind Charlie and I.
As we walk, I hear people yelling, shouting and talking.
"Did you hear about the ball this weekend!" One lady shouts, clutching a newspaper to her chest.
"Yes! The Prince comes of age!" A young lady with a pink hat says.
"I am so going to Iris! I want to see the lucky young lady!" Newspaper lady says.
"Oh me too. Hopefully she makes a good Queen and she better be beautiful. Not a nasty poor girl with no money," Pink hat lady comments.
"Oh, I am going to get my niece and granddaughter to go!" Paper lady coos.
"I will too! Have you heard my granddaughter? Elata Iver?" Pink lady brags.
"No, is she proper?" I roll my eyes and ignore the rest of the rich ladies conversation.
Charlie and I walk to his bike in silence, probably thinking over what we were going to do with the money. But, I'm not. I'm thinking of the ball. Begonia's 700th birthday, its this weekend.
As we get closer to Charlie's bike, I start to form a plan. If I can go to Iris and pickpocket people, steal some money on the floor and maybe sneak some food in my purse, I'll probably get twice as much as Charlie and I got from Donna Aster's ring. And a plus is I will also be able to dance the night away and eat until I feel sick. And also watch the future Queen get picked and start laughing about how terrible her life is going to be.
When we pulled Charlie's bike from the bushes, he shows me that under the seat is a small compartment to hold things. I smile at him and help him shove our money into it and try to keep it closed with our weight.
"Well, that wasn't so hard," Charlie sighs, breaking the silence, hoping on his bike.
"Yeah, not really," I slide on his bike after him and wrap my arms around his waist, laying my head on his chest.
The only noise we hear is the sound of the wind whipping in our ears and the song of the birds.
----
"Ma!" I shout from the front door, Charlie just dropped me off and went to show his parents the money he got. I feel kinda bad that I took half the money he was supposed to get, but he told me otherwise.
"She went to the farm with pops and dad," Sage yells from the kitchen. I smile and make my way to the kitchen, setting the money on the table. Hopefully none of the kids see it...
I walk in and see Sage working over a pot of soup, making the house smell like herbs and chicken. Her dirty blonde hair is thrown into a bun with a few straggling pieces framing her pale face. I've noticed that over the years she has gotten thinner, smaller, her once bright green eyes are now dim with stress and fear. Ever since Sage lost her boyfriend, she has been living with us, helping us around the house. But, when we try to help her or feed her, she'll refuse, saying its the least she can do. She is so stubborn. Thinking that she'll help us by not eating, its annoying.
"Addi, can you come taste this? Its ma's chicken potato soup recipe," She scoots out of the way so I can take the spoon and try it. She wipes her fingers on her work shirt, leaving a stain of soup on her stomach.
I lift the spoon out of the creamy beige soup and lick the soup covering it. It tastes better than ma's soup, but its missing something.
"Pepper," I say, than nod. "Its missing pepper."
Sage nods and goes digging through the cupboard above her head. A few spices drop onto the floor, one breaks and the others roll by the fridge. Great.
I sigh and walk to the closet by the fridge, trying to find the broom. I drag it out and start to sweep up the mess. I pick up the glass shards and toss them in a trash bag. I pick up the rest of the spices and set them beside Sage, who is currently up on the counter.
"Found it!" Sage shouts in triumph, she hops off the counter and dumps some pepper into the soup, stirs it around, making sure it gets thoroughly mixed.
She scoops some soup onto the spoon and tries it.
"Mmmm," She rubs her flat stomach and motions for me to come here with the spoon. "Its good!"
I hop off the counter I was sitting on and walk to her.
"Try it now," She scoops up some soup for me and puts it up to my mouth. I shrug and open my mouth so she can feed me.
Right when it hits my tongue, I smile, knowing we have accomplished the soup.
"Yup, it's good," I give her a thumbs up and move toward the cupboard on the far side of the kitchen. I pull out eight bowls, eight water glasses and eight spoons. I shut the cupboard with my elbow and walk to the dining room. I set the table, call for the kids and grab the money off the table. I run it upstairs to my room I share with Livi and slip the money under my pillow, hoping no one will find it until dinner. I have a plan to show it to the family.
"Hey Sage!" I yell from the stairs, walking to the kitchen.
"Yeah!" She calls from the kitchen, the oven timer sounds.
"What did you make?" I ask from the doorway of the kitchen. She pulls out a loaf of bread from the oven, I feel the heat from the oven hit my face.
"I made corn bread," She smiles as she moves past me, setting the bread on the table. "Where are the kids?" She asks me, wiping her hands off her pants.
"I don't know, I called for them," I shrug and lean against the doorway.
"Well, go get 'em!" She shouts, heading toward the front door. She motions for me to go and find them.
I groan and turn away from her, I hear her laugh and shut the door. I walk around the house, calling for the kids. They aren't in the boys room or in mine and Livi's room. I check the parents room, I was about to leave when I hear giggling from under the bed.
"Hmmm," I smile and slowly walk toward the bed. I get down on my hands and knees, feeling the hard carpet between my fingers.
"I wonder where they are at," I slowly lift up the blanket and say boo.
I hear a burst of giggles, probably Livi.
"Your back!" Livi screeches, crawling out from under the bed and straight into my arms.
"Yes, I am back," I laugh as she clings to my torso. Gosh, this girl is too cute. I look around the room, trying to find the boys.
"Livi, where are the boys?" I ask her slowly.
"I can't tell you," She sings, looking up to me happily.
"Livi, now," I say, getting mad.
She sadly points to the closet, with her head down. I hug her and kiss her head.
"Thanks Liv's," I stand up, leaving her on the ground, and storm to the closet. I quickly tug it open. And don't see a living soul in the dark closet.
I sigh, I was about to turn away until the boys pop out with water guns.
"Don't. You. Dare," I warn. Both boys look at each other and shrug, smiling. Oh no.
They pump there plastic guns and start to squirt me. Aiming at my pants and chest, even my face. They squirt me until there water guns are empty, then they run. Even Livi runs, afraid that I would yell at her or something.
"Get back here right now!" I yell after them. I chase them around the house. Until i trap then between the front door. I was about to strangle them, until ma, dad, Sage and pops walk in.
"What is going on?" Ma asks, folding her arms across her small chest. Everyone says I look like her, with my dark hair and dark eyes, but I don't see the resemblance. Maybe with our light spray of freckles on our nose, and olive skin tone, maybe. But the hair and our eyes, no. Her eyes have green around her irises, while mine are straight brown. Her hair is much shorter than mine, it stops an inch under her chin, while my hair stops by my waist. She's even much thinner than me, but much stronger.
"Addilyn, explain," Dad copies ma, folding his arms across his chest. Now, dad has blonde hair, its not long and shaggy like other workers, its buzzed cut, making him look a bit younger. His blue/green eyes look alive, while the rest of his face looks tired. I notice that when Oliver turned 15, he started to get dad's build, broad shoulders, muscular arms and big heart.
"I-I-I they," I point to the boys who are putting on their innocent act.
"You know what, I don't want to here it," Dad puts his hands up, while ma glares at him. "Let's go eat, I'm hungry." We all nod and agree.
I catch the boys looking at me and I glare at them. I drag my thumb across my neck, motioning for them that they are going to die after dinner. They gulp and scurry to there seats. Livi and Sage leave me a space between them, I plop down and watch ma and dad serving themselves, laughing and talking. They pass the soup and the bread to pops, who scoops a heaping of soup in his bowl. He cuts himself a big slice of bread. The whole table stares at him.
"What?" He asks, passing the soup to Sage. "This man is starvin!"
We all sigh. Sage passes the soup and bread to me, I scoop two small scoops of soup on my plate and cut a somewhat large piece of corn bread. I serve Livi and pass the food to Levi. I yawn and grab the pitcher of water from the middle of the table, I pour water in my and Livi's glass. I ask Sage if she need some water, she takes it and thanks me.
Most of dinner is in silence, the only noise coming from our spoons hitting the bowls and us slurping the soup off our spoon.
"So," Ma wipes her face with a napkin. "How was everyone's day?"
"Mr. Winsberry said he might bump up my salary during the summer," Oliver says, picking at his bread. Mr. Winsberry is the owner of the farm across the road from ours. Oliver went to work for him for money to help the family. He's been getting about 1 plata an hour. He works about four hours everyday, so he brings home about 20 platas a week.
"That's good, what's he bringing it up too?" Ma asks, taking a sip of her water.
"7 platas an hour," Oliver smiles brightly. That brings it to 35 platas a week, which can by food for a day. That's a nice salary.
"Oh Oli! That's so good!" Dad claps him on his shoulder. Oliver blushes and continues to eat.
"I had to watch Liviana today," Levi groans, putting his head in his hands.
"What did she do now?" Dad asks.
"She got into your paint behind the house. She painted people and stars and stuff on the side of the house," Levi lifts his head, giving ma and dad a pleading look. "She even drew the Aster family, all of them decapitated!"
Ma and dad shared a look and burst out laughing. Everyone joined in, Levi just sat there, horrified.
"Did you wash it off?" Ma asks, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Yes," Levi folds his arms over his chest, signaling that he is done talking.
"Addilyn, what did you do today?" Dad asks, taking a bit from his soup.
"Well," I don't know how to start this. "Charlie gave me a ride on his...he calls it a bike, it has two wheels and rechargeable batteries. It runs on solar energy and gasoline more that the batteries."
"Wow, where did he get it?" Pops asks, looking very curious.
"He traded with the Collector for it. A bow and sixty arrows," I say, nibbling on my bread.
"What else?" Ma asks, she knows I'm not telling all of it.
"Well, we went to the market and traded with the Collector," I skip the part where I kissed Charlie, because I don't want dad to flip and ma to go into the whole "kissing is improper for a girl your age" discussion.
"Okay, and," Ma presses, taking a sip of her water.
"And," I get up and dash up the stairs to my room. I throw my pillows off my bed and grab the two bags full of money.
I skip down the stairs to the family. I open the bags and dump them on the table. The platas make a clink noise when they fall onto the table and hit each other. Everyone stares at the money, Dad and ma grab some and inspect it, like its not real or something.
"Addi, how much money is this?" Dad asks, holding a coin to a candle, inspecting it in the light.
"Well, don't faint when I say this," I run my fingers through my hair and sigh. "Its 10,500 platas."
Ma stands up and pulls me across the table toward her. She hugs me. I hug her back and rest my head on her thin shoulder.
"Oh Addi, thank you. Thank you," I hear her crying, I rub her back as dad comes and hold us both. "This will get us through this year and some of next year."
She sniffs and pulls back, looking at me through watery eyes.
"No problem ma," I smile at her and go back to my spot.
Everyone goes back to dinner, but this time with a smile on there faces.
"Today I sold a piece of metal art to the King's second son," Sage breaks the happy silence, we all stop eating and look at her.
"He gave me 2,000 platas for a piece of art that only costs 100 platas," She smiles to herself and looks up at us. "I stocked us up on food, even somethings we can't afford. Pigs meat, cow meat, sugar, tea and a few other things."
We all nod for her to go on.
"I still had 500 more platas to go, so I added it to our electric bill," She looks at ma and dad. "We now only need 600 more to pay it all off, then we can get our electricity back."
Ma and dad look at each other and nod.
"Thank you so much Sage, if we give you 600 platas, can you go into town tomorrow and pay off our electricity bill?" Ma asks, Sage nods and stands up, done with dinner.
"I'll wash everyone's dishes," She takes everyone's bowl, spoon and glass, heading to the kitchen to wash them. I follow and start the warm water, trying to help her. She shoves me away.
"Go to bed Addi, you need your sleep for tomorrow," Sage says sadly.
"What? Why?" I question her.
"Did you already forget?" She asks, starting to scrub the bowls.
She's right, I did forget. How stupid am I to forget that.
"I'm sorry, I did forget," I duck away and walk to my room slowly, thinking about what tomorrow will bring.
I dress in my sleep clothes and crawl under my itchy wool blankets and soft warm quilts. Once my head hits the pillows, my nervousness comes in waves.
What will the doctor do? What will he see? Will he know that I steal? Or that I suck at keeping my body clean? Since we cut our electric bill off, we also agreed to cut down on our water usage. Now we can only use the shower twice a week, which sucks, because we all stink when we get done working. So we have to wait for our day to shower. I am so happy that my shower date is tomorrow.
I fell asleep to the sound of someone tapping lightly on my window. Before I drifted off into darkness, I heard someone walk toward me.
"Goodnight Addi," I feel his lips touch my forehead. He sweeps my hair back behind my ear and I hear him sigh. I know he came from the window, because I can feel the warm, cool air from the night. He left as fast as he came. And I knew who it was as soon as I heard him walk toward me. Charlie.
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Long first chapter, I know! Trust me, it will get better, I promise. Give me a chance, please.
How was it? Good? Bad? Needs more details? Or is it good? I promise I will go back and fix all my problems.
Okay so, here's the dealio. School starts, or has already started. I will try and update every week or two weeks, just try not to rush me, please.
I hope I can finish it by the end of next summer, if not, I will keep updating every week or so.
If you have any questions, contact me on wattpad messages or you can post something on my page.
Last thing, what would you put this book in? Science fiction? Adventure? Random? Its in random right now, because I have no clue what genre to put it under. Help.
Don't party too hard, loves!💃
Buckets and buckets full of love,
Kat😙❤