Flawed Creatures

Be There Or Be Square -1-

CHAPTER ONE

A freshly lit cigarette dangling from between undecorated lips, the teenage girl with swollen, bloodshot eyes and a face stained with dried tears and tiny red drops regarded the multiple officers spread out in front of the dwelling she just exited. Some of them were uniformed while others dressed in personal clothing. All wielded guns, most of which happened to be trained on her. A normal response would to be wracked with fear, yet she wasn't. Although she experienced several emotions fear definitely wasn't amongst them. After all, what's the point of feeling afraid when the worst has already occurred?

One thirty-something officer she recognized dared to step away from the open car door others used as a shield. Though he also grasped a gun it pointed toward the hard-packed earth. Uttering her name in a friendly tone he then suggested that she surrender. When she merely stared at him he took another step in her direction despite a few officers disagreeing with that.

"Let me help you," he softly stated, dark eyes pleading with her to obey. The fingers of his left hand grazed the cuffs on the duty belt around his waist. "The first step is to surrender, sweetheart."

Regarding him through narrowed eyes, she pulled the cigarette from her mouth and blew a series of perfect rings into the cool, early morning air. "Sweetheart? Dude, I am not your sweetheart."

"What would you prefer I call you?"

Taking another pull from the cigarette she shrugged. "Let's see...I've been called such names as cold-blooded murderer, psycho Barbie and killer dyke. Take your pick."

Those dark eyes filled with genuine sympathy he advanced a couple more feet. "I don't view you that way."

A final drag and she flicked what remained of the cigarette on the ground, stomping on it in order to extinguish its miniature flame while focused on him. Reaching behind, she clutched the butt of the handgun tucked into the waistband of her pants. "Guess that makes you a bit obtuse then."

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Cara Mackintosh barely removed her key from the ignition when a classmate opened the passenger door and slid onto the seat. Although she asked him what the hell he called himself doing, he didn't appear fazed. Shutting the door, he offered a smile, which wasn't returned. A wad of bills removed from his pants pocket he waved it about.

"I've got money!"

"I've got PMS!"

He laughed. She of course didn't. "C'mon, Mack. Gimme a dime bag." When she merely stared he added a please.

"Doug, I just pulled in only to be accosted by you."

Doug frowned, scratching at his chin with nails that could use some cleaning. "What's accosted mean?"

She shook her head. "Never mind. Just do yourself a favor and open a dictionary sometime." Though she had never been a fan of school oddly enough one of Cara's favorite books was a dictionary. She loved scrolling through it to learn words new to her.

Straightening out the bills, she counted them, pleased to find a five along with five ones. Neatly folded and tucked into her jeans pocket, she exited the car and walked around to the trunk, from the corner of her eye noticing Doug had followed her. Trunk opened, she pulled a cardboard box filled with hardcover books toward her. Rummaging through them until she found a copy of A Tale of Two Cities, Cara glanced around the parking lot before opening it.

Doug gasped while stepping closer, eyes wide and fascinated. "Far out! You keep weed in books? That's genius! How did you make this?" When he reached out to touch the hollowed out book filled with small plastic baggies she slapped his hand hard enough to make it sting. A pair of light eyes glaring at him caused the boy to take a quick step back.