By Girl Lover
“OOOOOOHHHH — WHO LIVES IN A PINEAPPLE UNDER THE SEA? SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS…”
Raven jerked up in the bed. “WHAT THE FUCK?!”
“ABSORBENT AND YELLOW AND POROUS IS HE…”
“It’s Spongebob Squarepants,” Bonnie answered with a smile.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS SMUDGEJOB SCAREPANTS?!”
“Spongebob Squarepants,” Bonnie corrected her.
“I don’t give a fuck! Turn that shit off!”
Bonnie ignored her.
Raven groaned, then turned her head toward the sound of Kala’s laughter. “What are you laughing at?!”
“You.”
Kala, seeing Jennie’s fearful look at Raven, told the child, “Don’t worry, she’s not really mad.”
“What time is it?!” Raven checked her phone and answered her own question. 6:32 AM.
Muttering under her breath, Raven got up to use the bathroom. When she came back, she lay down again, watching the show absentmindedly.
After several minutes, she asked Bonnie, “If they’re living underwater, how come they’re able to use a stove?”
“They just can.”
“But you can’t use a stove underwater.”
“Raven, it’s just a cartoon,” Kala reminded her.
“It doesn’t make any sense, though. You shouldn’t be able to use a stove underwater.”
Raven tried to sit through the inanities of the show, but after a while couldn’t contain herself anymore. “Now they’ve got a bathtub full of water! This is too fucking stupid.”
“That’s just the way it is,” Bonnie shrugged.
Kala asked sarcastically, “You want your cartoons to be realistic?”
“I don’t want them to be stupid. I draw the line at campfires and bathtubs of water at the bottom of the ocean.”
The other three giggled at her.
Raven got up. “This is too much for me. I’m gonna go get some breakfast for us somewhere. I’ll be back.” She quickly dressed and left.
A minute later, Kala got out of bed too and peeked out the window. “It looks pretty nice out there.”
Pulling her clothes on, she said, “Jennie, you want to go for a little walk in the woods before we start riding again today?”
Jennie jumped up excitedly. “Yeah!”
“Want to come with us, Bonnie?” asked Kala.
“Nah.”
“Okay, we’ll be back in a bit. I’m taking the key, and I’ll lock the door. You can let Raven in when she comes back with the food.”
Bonnie nodded, still absorbed in her show.
Kala and Jennie opened the door, flooding the room with morning sunlight, then walked out, holding hands.
It was only a few minutes later when Bonnie heard a knock at the motel room door. After pushing back the sheets, she padded over to open up for Raven.
The moment she unlocked the door, it suddenly slammed opened to reveal the hard faces of Jadis and Diamond.
The women shoved Bonnie back inside, where she fell hard on the floor. As Diamond shut the door behind them, Jadis leered down at the girl, “Did you really think I wouldn’t be able to find you?”
*****
Along a trail in the woods, Kala and Jennie walked hand in hand. The sun felt warm on their skin. Bending over to pick a wildflower beside the trail, Jennie held it up to Kala, sporting her trademark bashful smile.
Kala took the flower and knelt down, quickly looking around to check that they were alone before planting a kiss on Jennie’s lips.
*****
“That’ll be $21.47.”
Raven pulled out her wallet, fished out a twenty and a five, and handed them to the clerk.
The clerk gave Raven four empty cups to fill at the drink machine, then opened the cash register and began counting out the change.
*****
Her heart thumping in panic, Bonnie tried to scramble away on her hands and knees, only to be seized and violently pulled backward.
“Think you’d got away?!” Jadis sneered. “No one escapes me!”
Thrown heavily over onto her back, Bonnie stared up at the woman through tear-filled eyes. Jadis straddled her, closing her grip around Bonnie’s throat. Bonnie grasped at her wrists, desperately trying to pull the strong hands away from her throat as she struggled to breathe.
*****
“We should probably head back now.”
Jennie grinned up at Kala, “Okay. Race you!”
Without waiting for an answer, Jennie took off down the trail. Kala smiled at the girl with love, then ran after her.
*****
Raven held the cup against the Mountain Dew lever, and waited as the cup slowly filled. She wasn’t sure what Kala or Jennie would want. When Bonnie’s Mountain Dew finished, she held one cup under the Pepsi nozzle and the other under the 7-Up nozzle. They were just going to have to make do with those.
*****
“Where’s my money?!”
Bonnie gasped for breath, “I… don’t… know…”
Jadis pulled out a knife, bringing the sharp blade within inches of Bonnie’s face. “Where’s Raven and Kala?”
“Ra… ven… went… for… break… fast… Kala… went… for… walk…”
Diamond picked up the two duffle bags. “Found it.”
“Good,” Jadis nodded. “Now we wait for them.”
*****
Jennie raced along as fast as she could, giggling the whole time with the exhilaration of being chased. Kala was leisurely jogging not far behind her, admiring how adorable the nine-year-old girl looked as she ran.
Suddenly, Kala’s eyes widened. She quickly sprinted up to Jennie, grabbing her and pulling her behind a tree.
“Jennie… shhh… don’t make a sound.” She pulled out her Glock. “I want you to stay right here behind this tree. Don’t move from it. Understand?”
The child slowly nodded, terribly frightened.
“I need to go back to the motel by myself. You might hear some noises, but I want you to stay right here and don’t come out, okay?”
Jennie’s lips quivered as if she were going to cry.
“I’ll be back soon. I love you.” After giving Jennie a kiss, Kala crouched low, then crept through the woods toward the highway, looking back once at the girl to make sure she stayed put.
Kala headed across the road to the cafe just as Raven was coming out, her hands full with sacks of food. “Jadis is here!”
Dropping the bags to the ground, Raven pulled out her Glock, but Kala blocked her. “You can’t just go charging in. That’s what they’re expecting us to do.”
“How many are there?”
“I counted four bikes.”
Running to hide themselves in the woods near the cafe, they looked across the highway, spying out the area around the motel.
“There’s Rayne, and there’s Ash,” said Kala. “I don’t see anyone else. Jadis and Diamond must be inside the room with Bonnie.”
Raven thought for a minute, then said, “I know Ash. She wouldn’t turn against us so easily. All she knows is whatever Jadis told her. I’m gonna text her.”
“Are you crazy?! How do you know she won’t turn us in?!”
“She won’t.”
“You willing to bet Bonnie’s life on that?”
Raven pulled out her phone. “Yep.”
As Raven and Kala watched her from their concealed position among the trees, Ash pulled her phone from her pocket and read the message. After saying something to Rayne they couldn’t hear, she casually walked across the road and took a few steps into the woods.
“Raven? You there?” she called quietly.
“Over here,” Raven called back, just as quietly.
Upon coming closer and seeing them, Ash’s eyes widened, “Jesus, Raven! You really are here!” Then her voice became angry, “What the fuck you been doin’?! You went rogue on us!”
“No, we didn’t. Maya and Lucia distracted us so Jadis could rape my girl.”
“Shit. I didn’t know about that. I never did like Jadis’s idea of sharing everything. But why’d you take the money?”
“Well, seeing as how we were leaving and how I wanted to get back at Jadis for what she did, I decided that was me and Kala’s cut of the loot. After all, ya’ll were going to hit more banks.”
Ash nodded slowly.
Raven looked closely at the woman. “We really could use your help now.”
After a moment’s pause, Ash said, “Jadis isn’t only after the money. She wants all of you dead. I fucking can’t stand the thought of her murdering those two little kids. Count me in.”
“So what’re we gonna do?” Kala asked.
“They’re holed up in there with one of the girls,” Ash told them. “There’s only one thing we can do. Try to kill them before they kill us.”
*****
Ash walked back across the road to the parking lot of the motel. Heading over to Rayne, she began talking to her, distracting her so she would be unaware of Raven approaching from behind until it was too late. Raven hit her hard with the butt of her gun, and Rayne collapsed to the asphalt, unconscious.
Quietly sneaking up to the door of their room, Raven ever so carefully inserted the key and unlocked it. After looking at Kala and Ash beside her, nodding at them, she suddenly threw the door open.
As she stepped quickly inside, everything became a blur for Raven — Bonnie on the floor on her back, Jadis standing over her — Diamond whipping around toward Raven while raising her gun — Raven putting two rounds into Diamond, dropping her — and Raven’s right shoulder exploding in pain, causing the Glock to slip from her hand.
Kala came through the doorway, firing once. But Bonnie had started to get up and was in the way, so the shot went wide, missing Jadis. Then Kala had to duck back outside when Jadis, using Bonnie as a shield, swung her gun towards Kala, splintering the door frame with a shot.
As Jadis turned to aim at her, Raven drew her boot knife with her left hand and threw it hard, just as Jadis pulled the trigger.
The gun fell from the gang leader’s hand as she reached for the knife sticking out of her neck, severing her carotid artery. Jadis stared at Raven for a brief moment, then paled and fell to the floor, dead.
Bonnie ran over sobbing and threw her arms around Raven. Raven couldn’t seem to focus her eyes on Bonnie… and suddenly her legs gave out from under her. She crumpled down as Bonnie screamed.
Kala and Ash rolled Raven onto her back, revealing two dark red splotches on the front of her shirt. As Bonnie hugged Raven, crying, “Please don’t die,” Ash tried in vain to pull the grieving girl away while also yanking out her phone and dialing 911. Kala grabbed a towel from the bathroom, using it to plug the gunshot wounds in Raven’s chest and shoulder.
Raven, semiconscious, mumbled, “Bonnie… is Bonnie all right?”
“Yes, she’s fine,” Kala quickly assured her. “Now stay with me, Raven!”
“EMS is on its way,” Ash reported.
Kala looked at her. “Ash, listen, we can’t have the kids getting involved with the authorities. All right?”
The woman nodded.
“There’s a trail behind the motel, on the left,” Kala told her, “leading into the woods. About a hundred feet down it is the other little girl. Her name’s Jennie and she’s hiding behind a tree. Take Bonnie with you, so Jennie will know you’re a friend. Keep both girls hidden there until after the police have gone.”
Ash got up. She attempted to take the child’s hand and lead her from the room, but Bonnie held tightly on to Raven. “No, I won’t leave her… don’t die… please don’t die… I love you…”
Blinking, Raven looked into Bonnie’s eyes and tried to give her a smile, but everything was blurry, and then… faded… to… black…
*****
Kala walked down the hall of Las Animas County Hospital toward room 138. Raven had come out of surgery a few hours earlier and was expected to wake up at any time.
A sheriff’s deputy stood outside the door. As Kala approached, she asked him, “Is she awake yet?”
“No. I’m still waiting for her to come around so I can get a statement.”
Kala quietly entered the room. Raven’s right shoulder and chest were bandaged. An IV tube dangled from her left arm. Kala saw that her eyes were still closed as she went over to the side of the bed.
In the reflection in the mirror by the sink, Kala watched the deputy trail her inside, stopping about ten feet behind her. She maneuvered her body so she was between Raven and the deputy.
“Raven…?” she whispered.
Kala took her friend’s hand, gently squeezing it. “Raven, can you hear me? Ash is hiding the girls. The cops don’t know about ‘em.”
There was no response.
“Raven?”
Very slowly, Raven’s eyes came open halfway… and to Kala’s surprise, subtly winked at her.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Kala asked, “How’re you feeling?”
“Like shit.”
The deputy, able to hear some conversation, took a step towards them. Kala barely glanced over at him with her peripheral vision. She felt Raven squeezing her hand, bringing her attention back.
Raven asked in a questioning tone, “What did those robbers want at the motel? I don’t remember nothing.” Raven squeezed her hand hard, staring intensely at her as she whispered fiercely, “Nothing!”
Kala stared back, giving a nearly imperceptible nod of understanding.
*****
Monday, late morning. Kala and Raven walked slowly toward the motel room. Raven was returning after spending two days in the hospital recovering from surgery. Her only visitor had been Kala, because they didn’t want anyone finding out about the girls.
As the door opened and Raven walked inside, Bonnie leaped to her feet, running over and throwing herself into the woman’s arms.
“Hey, careful now,” Raven said with a smile. “I’m still kind of weak.”
Bonnie buried her face in Raven’s chest. “It seems like I haven’t seen you in forever!”
“I missed you too.”
Kala walked over to Ash, “Thanks for watching the girls.”
“No problem.”
“So what’re you going to do now that Jadis is dead? Without her, the Burning Angels are pretty much no more.”
Ash shrugged, “Go back to San Antonio, I guess.”
Raven walked over to a duffle bag and unzipped it. “Thanks for everything, Ash. Here, take some of the loot. Part of it’s yours anyway, and after all you’ve done, you deserve it.”
Ash took out two handfuls of bills. “You’re gonna need most of it taking care of these kids. But if you’re ever in San Anton’, look me up. G’bye, girls.”
“Bye,” Bonnie and Jennie waved.
Ash left the room, leaving them alone.
“Well, checkout’s in less than an hour,” Kala said, “and we need to decide what we’re gonna do.”
Raven sat down on the bed, pulled out her phone, and began looking at Google Maps. Kala came over and sat beside her. “Let’s go back to Austin.”
“There’s a couple of problems with that,” Raven answered. “Whoever’s watching for us in Austin might not know that Jadis is dead, and so it could be dangerous to go back. Also, the police there will be looking for the girls.”
“Well, where else can we go?”
“Hey, there’s the tree!”
Raven and Kala looked at Jennie, who had crawled up on the bed beside Kala and was looking at the map.
“Huh?” Raven queried.
“What tree?” Kala asked.
“There,” Jennie pointed to a name on the map. “That’s where Grandma lives.”
Raven and Kala looked at where she was pointing. Walnut Grove. “Your grandma lives there?”
“Yeah. We could live with her. She’s really nice.”
“I think your grandma will want to know what you and Bonnie are doing with us.”
“She won’t care. She never liked my dad and told us that if me and mom could ever get away from him, we should live with her.”
“She didn’t like your dad?”
“No. She’s my mom’s mom and was always telling Mom to leave him. After my dad moved us to Texas, I didn’t see her anymore.”
“Do you know her address?”
“Um, no… but I remember how to get there.”
“What do you think?” Kala asked Raven.
“I’m wondering what Grandma’s gonna say when you pull up on a motorcycle with her granddaughter and ask if we can stay with her.”
“I just know she’ll love y’all,” Jennie assured them.
“Well, it’s a better possibility than Austin, so I say we go,” Kala announced to the others.
Raven stood up. “I guess we’ll see what happens.”
Continue on to Chapter 12
Finally that Jadis-Bitch is dead, hoo-fucking-ray!!! 😀
Good chapter I liked the action and adventure added to the story these past few chapters. Been going well so far.
the beginning made me laugh, and I was really scared as to what would happen later on. good chapter
The beginning makes me laugh too. Those are my actual feelings about SpongeBob SquarePants by the way
I really enjoy stories about love and sweetness and was quite taken with the change in Raven and Kala when they discovered what true love really is all about. Then. Then I was horrified by the violence that surrounded Jennie and Bonnie. This chapter shows the beginning of a slight ray of hope as they decide to go to Grandma’s. Hopefully, there will be brighter, sweeter days ahead for all of them.