Kayla sniffed and let her head drop onto Angie’s chest. “You know what’s so funny? I saw him kill that poor woman with a gun. After I saw the damage it did, I thought I hated them. But, when Charli left me in the car, I took her weapon out of the glove compartment, and I felt safe. I had no freakin’ idea what to do with it, other than to point and shoot, but I finally felt in control.”
“So, we get us one. I know a kid in school.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, sure. You know the gang I hang with. They aren’t exactly on the principal’s honor list.”
“You can say that again.”
“Most of them scare me silly, too. And they were my only friends. Sick, ain’t it?”
Then Kayla asked, “Why do you hang with those losers?”
“Hey, thoselosersdon’t hassle me. They just accept who I am. If I went up to Jorge and asked him to get me a gun, all he’d care about is the money. There’d be no questions, no judgment. Lately, I’ve been thinking of buying one and shooting Hank, the sick, slimy bastard. Just didn’t have the cash.”
Kayla’s face dropped. “Right, I bet their expensive.”
“Oh, yeah. You want one the cops don’t know about. They cost a shitload.”
“Where would we ever be able to find enough money?”
“I don’t know. But we’ll work on it. With the two of us, we should be able to come up with something, right. Even if we have to steal it.”
“I’ve never stolen anything in my life, too afraid of the consequences.”
“I have. It’s easy. I’ll teach you.”
Just then they heard voices in the hallway, and they snuck to open the door just enough to hear what Charli was saying.
“It’s okay, Gramps. Blake sleeps on the sofa in the living room, not in his office. You heard him.”
“I heard him say he’d ended up sleeping on it many times. I took it to mean he’d passed out on it. Which leads me to believe this is his house. Which bodes the question – What the hell are you doing living here, inhishouse? And… I might add, why are the girls—”
“Gramps! Enough. All your questions will be answered after we get some sleep. Right now, it’s almost morning and you need to rest. Come on, now. Be good and—”
“Hey, kiddo, don’t treat me like an old invalid. I can still throw you over my knee… Well, maybe not throw, but I can urge you in that position and paddle your behind good.”
Charli laughed and both the eavesdropping girls had to cover their mouths to stop the giggles. They closed the door so as not to get caught.
Angie asked, “Did you see his wink?”
“No, when.”
“Just now. The old guy knew we were there. I saw him wink at me… us. He’s sure different than most old people I ever knew.”
“Do you know a lot, because other than strangers, I sure don’t.”
“You’re right. I never actually knew anyone that old.”
“Me either, but I kinda like him.”
“Funny thing, I do too. Maybe he can help us.”
“You think he’d loan us the money?”
“Not if we told him what we wanted it for.”
“So we lie. I’m really good at it. Leave it to me.”
Angie saw Kayla’s questioning look and smiled with as much innocence as she could muster. Kayla’s response wiped the smile off.
“Don’t try it on Charli. Trust me, she’ll know.”