Outlawry

Chapter 22 - Luther//Ginger Theives

We drove and drove and drove. We didn't stop once, no matter how much Ava begged. I had no clue what Gomez's plan was, but I had no choice but to trust him.

What if he was out of his mind? What if when I had hit him with that frying pan, it knocked something loose in his head? That thought resonated in the back of my mind, haunting me for the entire car ride.

After a while, Gomez told me to sit up front so that Ava could get herself together and put on some clothes. Reluctantly, I obeyed, climbing into the passenger side.

Ava looked inside of the bag of clothes I had stolen from her house. She reached in and pulled out a pair of the underwear that I had picked out for her. She wrinkled her nose.

"Really?" she asked in an exasperated tone. "What if I'm on my period? Girls don't wear thongs during their time of the month..." her voice trailed off. "I mean, unless you're weird..." Ava must have seen the smirk that grew across my lips in the rear view mirror, because she immediately elaborated. "But I'm not weird, I'm sorry to inform you. Besides, I hardly ever wear thongs anyway, only with yoga pants and leggings, which it doesn't look like you packed any, so I don't-"

"Knock it off!" Gomez shouted. She shrunk back in her seat. "I knew this was a bad idea..."

"Then why did you do it?" she whispered. His eyes narrowed.

"You know why."

After that, Ava changed pretty quickly and brushed out her still semi-wet hair.

It was getting dark and dry where we were going. The grassy views of hills and mountains shifted to that of tumble weeds and sand. It was a different sort of gloom from what I was used to, and I can't particularly say that I like this setting more than the one at home.

I am no gangster. I am a serial killer. I am filled with a certain elegance and grace, and use those things in what I do. It only seemed logical for me to be in a dark house on a rainy day, murdering someone with my bare hands. I certainly was not accustomed, nor did I want to be, to shooting someone in cold blood in the middle of the day on a street. That's just not me. I looked up at Ava. I would rather she die by my hands than someone else's gun. That was how much I loved her.

We drove all night. Gomez didn't stop for sleep once. I made it a game with myself not to fall asleep until after Ava did. After hours of waiting her out, I finally beat her. Her eyes fluttered shut peacefully, and not a moment later, I completely lost consciousness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When I woke up, we were driving down an urban street. There seemed to be a hooker at every corner and gunshots were more common than birds in the sky. I looked behind me. Ava had awoken as well, and looked at me with a worried expression. I shrugged and turned back to the front.

"This is where I grew up," Gomez informed me again. "It's rough and tumble here, so keep a look out for danger."

"Well we're surrounded in it..." I mumbled.

Gomez began driving down a street near a neighborhood. The heat waves reflected off of the street ahead of us. The street was dry and cracked, with no sign of repair anytime soon. The houses we passed were all falling apart or abandoned.

Gomez drove slowly, as he did not want to get pulled over. As he drove at this speed, several boys and young men walking past the car spotted Ava in it and let out long cat calls and excited noises.

Angered by their outburst, I jumped out of the car and viciously started after them. They didn't seem fazed by me at all. For the first time in my life, I felt physically weaker and...afraid.