| After the party, "Alli" followed the group back to their "home". Home was a corner of an abandoned warehouse where four discarded car seats provided protection from the cold floor of cracked concrete. A man, who Maria could only assume was both homeless and mentally unstable, stood up from where he sat on one of the seats as they approached. Cal tossed him an apple and yelled, "Thanks Joey." Maria looked like she was going to be sick from the mere experience of being in this place but Kansas once again anticipated her feelings and led her by the hand to one of the seats. "This one's mine," she said. "We can share." Maria smiled down at the girl, wondering if she was going a little mentally unstable herself for actually staying here, but joined her on the seat. "That was Joey," Kansas explained. "He watches our stuff for us if were not here and we bring him back some food or whatever. He doesn't like to go outside so it works out good." Maria looked around to see that the little corner was indeed very homey. The four seats were arranged in a square with an old trunk set up in the middle. Kat pulled half-burned candles out of it and set them up around the perimeter, casting a mellow glow over everyone's faces. Cal pulled more fruit from his backpack � Maria had no doubt that it had been stolen at some point that day, but at this point she was too hungry to care where her nourishment came from. "So Alli, how long you planning on staying in L.A.?" Cal asked her. Maria shrugged, hungrily sucking the bittersweet juice from her grapefruit before it dripped away. "I got a ticket home for the end of August," she said. Kat looked up from her own orange, "August? Well you can stay here but you've got to pitch in." Maria stared evenly at the girl. What was her deal? Alli had done nothing to piss her off, yet she was being a complete bitch. Maria figured that she just couldn't help it�some people were just born to be ugly, on the inside as well as out. "What do you need?" she asked. "What?" Kat questioned. "I said, what� do� you� need�" Maria sounded out the words slowly as if Kat were stupid. When the expression on Kat's face revealed that the insult had been effective she continued, "Like� money, food, what? Just tell me and I'll get it." "Well Miss Virginia, this ain't no Richmond, let me tell you. You aren't just going to walk down the street and get money from a stranger for nothing. It's pretty hard to squeeze blood from a turnip." Maria laughed to herself, "squeezing blood from a turnip" was a popular expression used to describe an impossible situation. However, for an alien of her magnitude, squeezing blood from a turnip wasn't anywhere near the realm of impossibility and she knew that no matter what task Kat assigned her, she'd deliver. Maria stared back at the girl, not speaking and not changing her expression in any way. Kat looked away, defeated at the realization that her insults bounced directly off of Alli. "We need money, every day, so we can buy food. Otherwise we steal it." "Food, hey?" Maria knew full well that Kat's "food" probably came in a powder or weed form on most days, but she didn't press the issue. In the morning she'd gather some paper and make enough money to buy food. Real food, Kat could find her own money for drugs. The high wasn't that good, she tried to convince herself as she settled down on the car seat next to Kansas for a fitful sleep. ~~~~~ The next day passed fairly uneventfully. Maria got up before everyone else and was back with bagels and coffee before they awoke. Kat stared at her for a minute but when Maria produced cream cheese to accompany the food she smiled, "Alright, I don't know what your deal is but if you can get this for us� you're okay in my books." Maria sat down with her own coffee. She had no real desire to win Kat's approval � it just felt better to know that she had won the little war Kat waged. That night there was another "party" to go to. Before they left Kat and Kansas cornered Maria and applied their makeup to her face liberally. The only clothes Maria had with her were a pair of blue jeans, a long flowered skirt, and two pastel tops. "Somehow I don't think I'll fit in," she said. Kansas laughed, reaching into the trunk to pull put two garments. "These should fit," she said, offering them to Maria. The girls held up a blanket to shield her from the others in the warehouse and she changed into the black denim skirt and three-quarter length black top. They barely fit but a quick pass over them with her hands and the clothes melted against her body as if they were made for her. When the girls offered their approval, Alli decided that she would be dying all of her clothes black, first thing tomorrow. Well, actually Maria planned to turn them black with her powers but she figured they'd believe her if she said she bought a package of dye. There was a bathtub in the corner with still running water so she could put together a plausible story. "The hair," she said, holding up her wavy blonde hair for their inspection. "Braids," the two girls said at the same time. Alli screwed up her face at the suggestion but sat down to let them work and soon realized that they meant a serious of small braids spread along the front of her hair. They secured the braids with a clip at the base of her neck, leaving her natural hair flowing beneath them. Maria hardly recognized the girl that stared back at her from the piece of broken mirror Kansas offered her. "You look really good, Alli," Kat commented. Alli, Maria thought, so this was what Alli looked like. She liked it. TBC |
| Part 13 |
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