| Page 4 As I was driving along I noticed storm clouds starting to gather but for some odd reason this didn�t faze me one bit. Usually I don�t like to drive in storms. I thought back to the day I first met D.T. It was the summer before high school and I was excruciatingly bored because Simon and Al were both away at camp. I spent most of my time at the ice cream shop with Mr. Marks complaining about my life. I seriously cannot figure out how he manages to tolerate me. However on this particular day Mr. Marks was planning on introducing me to this kid named D.T. I met him at the ice cream shop but we got off to a rough start because I was painfully shy especially around boys and D.T. was a man of very few words/ eventually, he ended up asking me a lot of questions to get me talking and the conversation flowed easily. Suddenly, D.T. started preparing to leave. C�mon,� D.T. said standing up and depositing some change on the counter. �Let�s go.� �Where?� I asked, getting up and following him. �It�s a surprise now come on,� D.T. said tugging her arm. I followed him out the door completely forgetting to leave a tip for Mr. Marks who was too busy with his next customers to notice. I followed D.T. out of the town square, down Cedar Street and towards the railroad tracks which divided the town neatly in half. Once we reached the railroad tracks I stopped abruptly. �D.T., where are we going?� I asked nervously. D.T. and I lived on the South side of town where the poor people and the misfits mingled with normal people. The rich and the famous lived on the north side. D.T. and I didn�t belong there. D.T., who was already on the other side of the tracks, stopped walking and stared at me, �What�s the matter?� he asked. �D.T., they�ll kill us if we go over there. This isn�t our turf.� I said. �Oh, get real Natalie; don�t tell me you believe that crap about them being better than us and all. We have just as much right to go over there as they do. Besides, it�ll only take a second.� �What will only take a second?� I asked. �I told you it�s a surprise now come on,� D.T. said and pulled me by the hand over the railroad tracks. I walked hurriedly behind him; my shoulders hunched glancing around nervously. Every house looked like it had just leaped out of Southern Living with expertly groomed flower beds, perfectly mowed grass, shiny windows that revealed the fancy rooms inside and a sports car or two in the driveway. I could easily picture Madonna living in every house. D.T. studied the yards carefully as if he were looking for something and finally stopped in front of Ryan Bauman�s house. Is he out of his MIND? I thought nervously as D.T. stepped carefully across the driveway and started poking around in the bushes. Ryan was the mayor�s son and he hated us with a passion. I shuddered thinking about what Ryan would do if he found them there. I glanced around to make sure no one was watching and tiptoed over to D.T. who was on his hands and knees looking for something his head and shoulders actually in the bushes. �D.T., this is crazy, what are you looking for?� I whispered frantically and took another nervous glance around me. D.T. ignored me and stuck his head farther into the bushes and dropped himself down on his elbows. �Here kitty, kitty,� he whispered softly. I heard a rustle of leaves behind me as D.T. emerged from the bushes carrying a tiny white Burmese kitten. I turned around and came face to face with the Bauman family�s dog Bruno. Spotting the cat, Bruno ran away to the back of the house barking loudly and returning with his master. �Who did you see out here, buddy?� Ryan asked scanning the yard before spotting D.T. and I crouched on the grass. I leaped to my feet panic rising in my throat as Ryan yelled, �Get out of here you buttheads! This ain�t your side of town!� D.T. leaped to his feet the cat in his arms and ran with me running after him. Ryan and Bruno took the chase. Suddenly I felt Ryan grab me by the back of my shirt stopping me in my tracks. �Just wait till I tell my father about this you, b---h,� Ryan said angrily. Without thinking twice I whirled around punched Ryan in the nose and took off running again ignoring Ryan�s screams of pain behind me. I kept going until I saw the railroad tracks and took a flying leap over them landing on the other side. I walked along awhile panting and looking for D.T. until suddenly a hand reached out grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me down. �Is he gone?� D.T. hissed in my ear. �Yeah, I socked him in the nose,� I said breathlessly. �No seriously.� �I did!� �You did?� D.T. asked staring at me in surprise. �Yeah he deserved it; he called me a b---h.� I said ignoring the look of surprise on his face. �How�s the cat?� I asked glancing down to where it lay curled up on D.T.�s lap shivering violently. �She just got the biggest scare of her life.� D.T. said stroking her fur, �I hope she�s okay. She looks like she�s been starving that�s why I knew she wasn�t Ryan�s. I�m going to take her to Adam�s house; he�ll know what to do.� �Who�s Adam?� I asked. �A friend of mine, c�mon.� D.T. said helping me to her feet and grabbing her hand again the cat in the other. Chapter 6: Jellybeans, Monkeys and the Way Things Were D.T. and I walked through the town pausing to smile and wave at the people that greeted them. This is what I loved about this side of town; the people were friendly, lived in normal houses and drove normal cars. Yeah there were the drunks and the prostitutes but on the whole I figured the south side was much more fun to live in than the north side. I followed D.T. down the winding roads and past our neighborhoods until they reached the woody area just on the outskirts of town. This is where the outcasts or the people too poor to afford to live in a nice house lived. I could hear people screaming at their husbands and saw children running around half naked in the yard and I instinctively walked closer to D.T. who smiled at me. �There�s nothing to be afraid of. They won�t bite,� he said finally reaching his destination, a small yellow house which looked more like a shack. �Hey dude!� called a young man in his twenties who was standing in front of a beat up read Toyota with the hood up and his shirt off. �Hey,� D.T. answered walking up the gravel driveway. �Did you bust the engine again?� �I don�t know what I did but I do know that this car is the biggest piece of shit in the entire universe,� the guy I figured was Adam said wiping his hands on a towel more dirty than he was. He looked up, noticed me and smiled. �Hey I�m Adam,� he said extending a hand out to her with a grin. �Natalie,� I said touching his hand. �Let me guess this is a starving kitty you�ve found and want me to take care of until she�s well enough so you can start talking your mom into letting you keep her,� Adam said lifting the kitten out of D.T�s arms. �Maybe,� D.T. said with a smile. �Dude, I�m already running a freaking zoo here because of you.� Adam said pretending to be agitated. �And your mom won�t let you keep any of the animals. Do you want to turn me into Dr. Doolittle? One more animal and I swear I�m going to- �Adam leave the kid alone.� A young woman said from the front door. She had long auburn hair and green eyes and was dressed in a long gauzy skirt and a long sweater which frayed at the wrists. She stepped gingerly off the porch in her bare feet and walked to where Adam was standing. She took the cat in her arms and studied it before smiling at D.T. �I don�t care what Adam says, we�ll keep it for you.� The woman said �Yeah that�s right, no one cares what Adam says,� Adam complained wiping his hands on his jeans. �Oh stop whining and come inside for lemonade. All of you, that�s an order.� The woman said smiling. �But Lana,� Adam whined. �D.T. is going to help me fix the truck!� �Says who?� D.T. asked. �Me,� Adam answered. �Okay you guys fix the car �cause I need to go grocery shopping and I�ll take the young lady inside.� Lana said smiling at me. �I�m Lana by the way.� page 5 |