Yelena lets Arc go with a smile and a nod. She remains on the bench for a while, observing the young people doing their boarding and just growing up. Even in a place like the Barrens there was a place for people to do things like this, even if they had to take advantage of broken homes and rubble. But the fact was that they did take advantage of what they had and made something useful out of it. Yelena let a few tears course down her cheeks as she considered her own youth. Her very earliest memories were vague and she is not sure that she has not made them up. What she does remember is the years in Camp 14 and watching people die around her just because they were different. UGE different. Those experiences started her on the life she has led ever since. An almost impossibly strong will to survive and the skills she developed to do that allowed her to survive and even flourish in the shadows. She really doubts that Marco will ever truly understand what the shadows are, what they mean to those that live in them; that do more than survive in them.
Her reveries are interrupted when she notices two young men first looking at her then walking in her direction. Her senses quickly focus on the boys, and her automatic scan lets her know that they are not obviously armed with anything more than their skateboards. They both appear to be in their early to mid teens; one is fair and the other darker. Neither is well dressed for the weather but they do not seem to notice. One of the boys is carrying two boards. Yelena wipes her face and smiles as the pair come up. "Good afternoon. Am Yelena. What do for you?"
The boys look at each other then back to the Keeb before one of them says while pointing at the other, "I am Z and this is Spurt. We saw ya sittin here all alone and thought ya might be wantin to do some boardin. Got a extra one. If ya like."
Yelena looks at the boys and is about to tell them to push off when something clicked inside her. "Yelena like but never done before. Z and Spurt can show?"
The boys laugh and reply. "That's what I been sayin. Come on; we show basics and try no to get you hurt. Too much."
Yelena laughs a very girlish laugh. It is so surprising that she registers that she has probably never laughed quite like that before. She slips off the bench and lets the boys lead her into the park. They quickly introduce her to various street urchins. Some with boards and others taking turns and sharing one. Yelena melds almost seamlessly into the group as they teach her the basics of the sport. Almost seamlessly.......she seems to spend more time picking herself off the ground than even the youngest of the small group of kids with names like Blunt and Kiss and Terabyte. None of them have anything remotely approaching good equipment and safety gear is only a passing thought, yet they are all having fun. And Yelena has fun. More fun than she would have thought she would have.
Yelena notes a small truck pull up near one of the entrances of the skate park. It has large letters on the outside that proclaim in rainbow hues that the truck is the home of "Quick Burger - The Best Original Soy In The World". The truck is quickly mobbed by several other kids and does a thriving business for a few minutes. Several of the kids with her look longingly at the truck and some turn to look at Z, who is the obvious leader here. The boy puts his hands in his pockets and pulls out lint. "Sorry guys. No can do today."
Yelena looks at the group and moves closer to Z. She barely nods her chin in the direction of the truck. "So Z not talk about fee for board lessons. What Yelena owe?"
Z might only be about fifteen, but his mind is sharp. He shrugs as he replies. "Don't know for sure. Maybe we could stick ya with dinner. At the truck."
Yelena and her group move to the truck and wait in line with the other kids. There is a good bit of jeering and playful taunting between the groups, but nothing more than words and laughter and jeering. Yelena looks through the open window of the truck and sees a middle-aged human woman taking the orders and passing them back to a younger version of herself who appears to be the cook. The aroma of the warm food is enticing on this cold day, even though it is clearly soy. Yelena notes the prices on the small board over the open window and is surprised to see that everything is priced quite low. Eventually, she and Z get to the window and the woman looks at Z with knowing eyes. "Sorry, Z, got no extras to pass out today. Maybe tomorrow."
Z looks at Yelena, who nods slightly, then back at the woman. "Null sweat, Gilds. Been givin lessons to this Keeb and she gonna pay."
The woman looks closely at Yelena and says, "That true?" Yelena nods and pulls a cred stick from her pocket. The kids around her gape in wonder and even the woman's eyes get a bit wider. Apparently cred sticks are not too common here. Yelena offers the stick to the woman, who dusts off an old reader and slots the stick. Her eyes widen just a bit as she turns to Z and nods. "Place your orders, Z, but be careful." Z and the others crowd around and start ordering wildly until Z gets control and puts them in line. he manages to keep the orders to a minimal level but Yelena notes that the woman adds a bit of something extra to each plate as she passes them out the window. Soon, all of the kids have plates of food and wander off to a set of tables to eat. Z is the last and he nods his thanks to Yelena and Gilds as he joins his friends. Yelena gets a plate of food and the woman looks at her as she deducts the amount owed from the stick. Yelena holds up a hand. "Yelena see what woman do with food. And see other sign with much more prices. Charge others and pay for food to give here?"
The woman smiles and nods. "Guilty as charged. Smart Keeb. You don't let the dandelions grow on you much, do you? Some days are better than others. Not make too much today. It hurts to see them kids go hungry, but Gilds cannot feed all of em, you hear?
Yelena nods and hands the cred stick back to the woman. "Woman keep. Buy food. Feed kids."
The woman in the truck hesitates then takes the stick. "Why are you doing this? Kids ain't got nothing to give for it."
Yelena smiles and says, "Kids have life to give. Maybe warm food does good for them. maybe Yelena sad she not do more, like truck woman does."
The human grips Yelena's hand and thanks her. Suddenly, her face goes hard and she nods in the direction of the road. "Bad news coming, dearie. Best just take kids and leave. Gilds has stayed too long." She calls to the man at the oven to start packing up as Yelena turns to see what the woman was talking about. She sees a fancy car with a sleek design pull into the parking lot. It moves to where it blocks the way out, trapping the truck. Three men climb out. Two are obviously muscle, and the third is the boss. He is dressed in a nice black suit of expensive material and carrying a smart briefcase. He moves to one of the tables with his guards and sets the case down on it. He tips his sunglasses back on his forehead as he opens the case. Looking around, his eyes scan the people in the area, skimming past Yelena but focusing on the truck. He nods his head at one of the goons, who walks toward the truck while placing a hand inside his jacket.
Yelena classes the goons as low-grade thugs as she watches them move The second goon does not even take up his partner's spot in covering his boss. The fancy-man calls out to the kids, "OK. Brother is here with the goods. Who wants some. I feel kind today and the prices are as cheap as they will ever be. Step up and pick what you want and we can make a deal." He looks back at Yelena and adds, "C'mon sister. For you I can make all kinds of deals. What'll you have?"
Yelena hears Z muttering. "Don't fragging listen him. His junk is tapped and cut. Treats his girls bad, too. Stay away from him, hear me?"
Yelena smiles at Z and says, "Sorry. Yelena do what she needs." She smiles at the fancy man and walks toward him, swaying her hips as she goes. She knows that his eyes are on her as she approaches him. The thug to his right instinctively knows something is out of place but his reaction is far too slow. Yelena snakes her hand into his open jacket and takes his pistol from the holster under his arm. Before he can blink twice, she pistol whips him hard enough to crumple him to the ground. Her hand moves quickly and the fancy man is laying on the ground next to his goon before he can even utter a word. The second goon hears the bodies fall and turns, his hand reaching for his gun. He freezes as he sees Yelena standing over his boss and the first thug, the pistol in her hand aimed directly at him. Calculating his chances of beating Yelena to be worse than zero, he carefully removes his hand from his jacket and holds both arms in the air.
Yelena motions him to approach and the man obeys, perhaps realizing that the woman with the gun knows what she is doing. And perhaps he is just a coward.. The result is the same. The man obeys Yelena's unspoken instructions to carefully remove his gun and hand it to her. He sits on the ground when she motions for him to do so. Yelena looks at Z and says. "Z listen careful. Take keys to car and open back. Bring all cases here that find."
Z looks at Yelena but obeys. He finds four more fancy briefcases in the trunk of the car and brings them to the table near Yelena. She has the boy open the cases and looks inside. Packets of powder and capsules fill the cases. Yelena talks to Z without taking her eyes off the men on the ground. "Z. Go truck. Ask if have fluid for fires and match."
Z nods and runs to the truck where Gilds and the cook have emerged to watch. After a brief discussion, the cook gets something from the truck and hands it to the boy, who brings the items to Yelena. She nods and instructs him to pour the lighter fluid on the cases and then light it. The resultant fire sends clouds of flaming drugs into the air, but the wind quickly disperses the fumes. The groups of kids all gather around and watch what is happening. The fancy man struggles awake and screams at Yelena when he realizes that his stash is going up in flames.
"You fragging bitch! You do not know what drek you are in now! You do not know who you are messing with, do you?! You will pay. I will gut you like a fish and slot you when you are dead..........."
The blast from the gun in Yelena's hand drowns out the man's yells, which quickly turn into screams of agony as he realizes that he has just been shot in the leg. For a second he manages to stand then reality and shock set in and he crumples to the ground, his arms wrapped about his shattered knee. Yelena shifts her aim to the thugs, but they seem to have no desire to be stupid in the face of a woman who seems to know her way around the business end of a gun. She motions for them to stand up, saying, "First choice. Can take boss to healing place and have to admit are incompetent. Boss's boss not like that. Maybe blame guards. Guards might survive torture then be killed anyway." The two goons look at each other and Yelena can tell that she has hit the mark. They turn pale and one licks his lips, but is interrupted before he can say anything. "Second choice. Put boss in car and drive to remote place. Kill fancy man and leave body. Take fancy car and man's cred sticks and go somewhere. Go anywhere." She pauses long enough for that concept to sink in. "Third choice. Stay here and Yelena kill" Yelena shrugs. "Choice seems easy to Yelena."
Yelena lifts the barrel of the gun a bit and that seems to galvanize the thugs. They grab the still screaming would-be drug dealer and throw him unceremoniously into the trunk. One reaches down into the trunk with his meaty hands and the screaming dies off quickly. The other gives a cry if triumph and holds up a couple of cred sticks. They doo not bother to look back at Yelena as they speed out of the lot.
Yelena picks up the second gun and quickly dismantles both of them, putting the various parts in her pockets. She realizes that the kids as well as the truck woman and cook are watching her. She stands and turns to Z. "Yelena thank Z for lesson. Be back again for more someday. Z remember?" As the boy nods in awe, Yelena turns to the truck woman and smiles. She leaves without saying another word. When she is almost out of the skate park, she hears steps behind her. Turning, she spots Z running up. The boy smiles and holds out his hand. "Name is Carl. Is yours really Yelena?" When Yelena nods, he adds, Carl and Z never forget Yelena. Thank you. That was fragging drek back there. Come back any time, ya hear me."
With that he turns and runs back towards the group still standing around the table that bears the remains of the drugs. Several of the others wave to Yelena, who waves back before turning and heading for the parking lot and her bike. She smiles all the way home and when she crawls into bed, even the ghosts do not disturb her sleep.
