Average Joe and the Extraordinaires (15 page)

Chapter
27

A Good
Deed Never Goes Unpunished

Mod: “How
much money do you still have?  Your summer job ended a while ago.”

Joe:
“Enough to last me for a while.  My parents didn’t want me to kick anything
back to them even when I asked.”

Mod: “Aww
man, that’s sweeeeet!  My parents would never be that nice.”

Joe
checked his driver’s side mirror to make sure no one was trying to pass.  He
changed lanes when he saw that the coast was clear.

Joe: “I
just hope it lasts until I get my next job.  I’d hate to ask my folks for an
allowance again.  It just feels so lame after having a job.”

Mod: “My
folks are starting to get stubborn and closefisted with what they give me. 
They’re pushing for me to get a job, but there’s nothing close that suits me.”

Joe:
“Well, since we’re going to the grocery store, you might as well apply there. 
You can be a bagger or cashier easy.”

Mod
looked over at Joe and rolled his eyes.

Mod: “Did
you not hear what I just said?  It’s not my skillset.”

Joe:
“Well, you need something that pays, so you might as well just suck it up and
work there.  It’s not like it’s going to be your future career or anything,
just a job for the here and now.”

Mod: “I
need to be somebody’s roadie, or maybe start making my rounds on the night club
comedy circuit, or become an apprentice to one of the great bass players. 
That’s a job that a legend starts out with.”

Joe shook
his head.  Once he fully stopped at the red light, he gave Mod a piece of his
mind.

Joe:
“That stuff’s unrealistic, man.  You can’t complain about money and then be
unwilling to work most of the jobs in this town.  Just get something, work it
for a bit, make a little money, and then get on with your life.  My summer job
went by like that.”

Joe
snapped his fingers.

Joe: “I
wish that I had put part-time availability on my job application instead of
seasonal so I could still work there.  I’m telling you, man, it’s easy stuff. 
I’m reapplying the next chance I get.”

Mod:
“Whatever.”

Mod
stared out of the window silently for a while.  It was a few hours past noon
and hot as the inside of a worn boot.  Both boys, lightly dressed, still
sweated from brow and chest.  Once the light turned green again, Joe pulled
away.

Mod: “Why
are we going to the grocery store anyway?”

Joe: “I
need to get some supplies for my friends.”

Mod:
“Those two girls?”

Joe:
“Yeah.”

Mod:
“What were their names again?”

Joe:
“Melissa and Dahlila.”

Mod:
“Dahlila was the blonde, right?  At least I think that’s what I saw.  I was
more than a little drowsy at the time.”

Joe:
“Yeah, she’s blonde, but I wouldn’t get any funny ideas.  She’s tough.  She’d
probably break you.”

Mod:
“We’ll see about that.”

Joe drove
on thinking of Borland’s words.  He was sure that he’d get a call tonight from
either Borland or Liandra. In the meantime, he knew he had to resupply Melissa
and Dahlila, but Borland was the problem.  He didn’t see Borland around, but he
knew  the man was probably watching him at this very moment.  At this point he
could be around any corner.  Another problem was that Joe had no way of
contacting Melissa or Dahlila other than being face to face.  He knew he had to
exercise the utmost caution.  He didn’t need Borland to know who he was
visiting, for his own sake.

After a
few more minutes of driving, he and Mod finally reached Kwoala-T Mart on Gains
Street.  There, they picked up all manner of snacks and goodies.  They bought
various flavors of chips, crackers, granola bars, juice, bread, water,
lunchmeat, and cheese.  He grabbed a ready-made meal of fried chicken, cheesy
macaroni, buttered green beans, and biscuits for all of them.  Joe figured it
was about five days’ worth of supplies, altogether.  He was grateful when he
saw that he hadn’t even come close to putting a dent in his savings.  He had
Mod consolidate the items into as few bags as possible so it wouldn’t look like
he had a lot.  The cashier, a pretty girl slightly older than Joe, complimented
Mod on how quickly he had bagged the groceries.  He smiled like a goober and
continued bagging.  He had double and even tripled some items in no time at
all.  He then asked if they were still hiring, and she told him not at the
moment.  She smiled and told him to try again in a month or two, since one guy
was on the ins-and-outs.

When they
left, Joe carefully looked for signs of Borland until he noticed that he was
beginning to spook Mod.  He’d seen nothing anyway.  He drove off towards Sapton
street and was relieved there were no signs of him being followed.  He still
remained careful, just in case.

Once he
reached the clock tower, he parked in the back and propped the door open with a
nearby stick that he was fond of using.  There were only three bags between
them, with Joe carrying one and Mod carrying the other two.  Mod removed the
stick with his free hand once he walked through the door, and tossed it to the
ground outside.

Joe:
“Wait, no!”

Mod:
“Wuh?”

Once the
door closed, it was pitch black in the hallway thanks to the remnants of the
outside sun that lingered in their eyes.  You had to look way upwards to see
any light.

Mod: “Oh
yeah, I forgot.”

Joe felt
around for the door and clumsily stumbled into it.  He slowly pushed it open
and felt all the air sucked from his body in an instant.  He was off his feet
and found himself looking first at a shadow, then the floor, then he saw Mod’s
upside down outline, and when he had finally crashed he saw the rooms high
ceiling.  It wasn’t long before Mod was tossed right next to him.  They both lay
on the floor, dazed and as still as silent mountains.

“Who are
y—wait Joe!?”

Joe
recognized the voice as one belonging to a certain blonde.

Joe:
“Ow!”

Joe
looked around at all the groceries that had come spilling out of his bag.

Joe:
“Dang … what a pain.”

Dahlila:
“What’d you say?”

Joe:
“Nothing, ow, my back!”

Joe
slowly sat up and began collecting the items that had fallen out of his bag. 
He rubbed as much of the pain out of his back as he could.

Dahlila:
“Why did you come sneaking in here like that?  I almost ripped your head off.”

After he
grabbed all of the groceries, Dahlila helped pull him up to his feet.  Once he
was up, he went over to Mod, who was still nursing his injury, and tried to
help him up.

Mod: “No,
no, no!  Let me rest up a little longer.  I’ll be okay.”

Joe: “If
you want it that way.”

Joe left
Mod on the ground and turned his attention to Dahlila.  She was sweating
profusely and wearing what looked like workout clothes.  She wore form-fitting
blue shorts that were made of lycra or spandex or maybe something else that Joe
wasn’t sure of.  She wore a matching tank top that stopped right above her
abdomen and showed off her impressive physique.  She had the build of a professional
athlete. Joe was reminded of the runners he saw on the Olympics, and the
hurdlers.  Her blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail that touched the
middle of her neck.  She looked at Joe, puzzled.

Joe:
“I’ll remember not to do that again.  We weren’t sneaking in.  We were just
bringing you and Melissa some groceries and supplies.”

Dahlila:
“Well … um … thanks.  You … uh … really didn’t have to.”

Joe: “I
figured you were running out of stuff so I brought you more.”

Dahlila:
“That’s just it, we have enough to last us a while.”

Joe began
to think to himself.

Joe:
“Either you both eat extremely light or…”

Dahlila:
“Or I might’ve left to get us more supplies.”

Joe: “You
left!?”

Dahlila:
“Chill, kid, this ain’t my first rodeo.”

The way
she said that sounded very Borland-esque to Joe.  He then remembered that
Borland had raised her.

Dahlila:
“I left and came back without anyone seeing me.  Have you forgotten about my
skills already?”

Joe: “No,
but it’s still really dangerous, and how exactly did you get all this stuff
anyway?”

Dahlila
sighed loudly, crossed her arms, and tapped her right foot feverishly.

Dahlila:
“It doesn’t matter.”

Joe: “It
does.  How?”

Dahlila:
“I had to borrow some money.”

Joe
looked her in the eye for a while.

Joe: “You
mean steal some money?”

Dahlila:
“The guy I took this from’ll be okay.  I made sure I got one that was well
off.  Besides all that, I have his name and address.  I’m going to pay him back
once I get a chance.  I stake my honor on that.”

Joe:
“Fine, but Borland is snooping around the area, so you should be more careful
that he doesn’t see you.”

Dahlila:
“I’m sure he’s tailing you, and if so you’re bringing him right to us.”

Joe had
already thought of that.

Joe: “Not
at all.  If he is watching, then to him it’ll just look like Mod and I are
hanging out here, eating junk food like we always do.”

Dahlila:
“Oh yeah.  Not bad, kid.”

She
grinned at Joe, then looked over at Mod, who was still over on the floor
resting on his back. She seemed to notice him for the first time.

Joe:
“That’s Mod.”

Dahlila:
“Hmm.”

She
walked over to him looked down at him the way a doctor might examine a patient.

Dahlila:
“Come on, let’s get you up.”

He looked
at her without blinking for a couple of seconds, and when he didn’t respond she
began to pull him up.  He protested at first, until he quickly found himself on
his feet.

Dahlila:
“Sorry about the violence.  It looks like you were already worse for wear
before I got to you.”

He looked
at her and again smiled like a goober, as if it were his first school dance
with a girl.

Mod: “Oh,
these?  These are nothing, just war wounds.”

Dahlila:
“Okay, tough guy.  Glad you’re alright.”

Mod
worked a few more kinks out in his back and then offered Dahlila his hand.

Mod:
“Sorry for my lack of manners.  My name is Modrick Malington, age fourteen,
Aquarius.  I like long walks on the beach and happen to be single and ready to
mingle.”

Dahlila:
“That’s cute.  If I was into dating little kids, that would be a great line.”

Mod
looked dejected.

Dahlila:
“Oh yeah, you’re the kid from the other night.  Thanks for all the supplies.”

He nodded
his head and offered a small smile.  She examined him even further with her
eyes.

Dahlila:
“Lift your shirt.”

Mod:
“What!?”

Dahlila:
“Hurry up.  Let me take a look at your back.”

Mod: “Ah—okay.”

Mod did
what he was told and Dahlila put her hand at first on his shoulder blades and
then moved downwards to his lower back.

Dahlila:
“Hold on a sec.  This should help.”

With her
left hand, she grabbed Mod by the back of his neck at the base where it met his
back.  With her right, she pushed forward on his lower back.  She pushed his
back forward eerily far.  Joe had never seen someone’s back bend like that.

Dahlila:
“Okay, now lift your arms.”

Mod: “I
don’t think I want to.”

Dahlila:
“Stop being a baby!  I know it hurts a little now, but I’ll have it feeling
better once I’m done.”

Mod again
did as he was told, and this time Dahlila lifted him off of his feet in a bear
hug and bent his body towards hers.  She then put him down and swiveled his
body around in a circular motion around the waist.  She then roughly gripped
his shoulder and spun him around to face her.

Dahlila:
“Now how’s that?”

Mod: “It
still hurts a little, but it feels a lot better than before.”

Dahlila:
“Heh, I should be a masseuse.”

Joe:
“What did you do?”

Dahlila:
“I just relieved a knot of tension in his back.  All this money you pay these doctors
goes down the drain when they can’t do simple things like this.”

She wiped
her brow and walked over to where she left her exercise equipment, which
consisted of a set of ten pound weights, a jump rope, and a mat.  She picked up
the rope and started doing jump rope exercises near the back wall.  The boys
followed her partway.

Joe:
“You’re in great shape, Dahlila.”