Playing With Fire

Chapter 11: "Welcome to the Squad!"

The first hour

"This is very, very wrong," I complained to Pax for the millionth time. "This is stealing!"

"No, it's called surviving," Pax explained again. "Do you want to save Cameron?" And like all the other times, I stayed silent for about five minutes.

"But we aren't paying for it!"

"Bri, we have wasted fifteen minutes already, we need to go."

We walked into the checkout line, and Pax put his hand on the shoulder of the lady in front of us.

"Excuse me ma'am?" he asked her politely.

"Yes, sir?"

"See, me and my sister here," he started, motioning to me. Blek, his sister. "We are getting ready to go on a road trip to Stanford because that's where we want to go to college, but our parents want us to go to Duke, so they aren't giving us any money, so that means we don't have any money for food. Would you by chance mind paying for our food for us, please?"

"Oh, bless your poor little souls, I would be happy to," she replies. Score, even though this is still bad.

We made our way back to the car. "See," Pax said. "That wasn't stealing."

"Yeah but now you manipulate an old lady," I complained.

"You are way too nice," he said and started to drive. "Are you at least happy that we got food?"

"Yeah," I agreed reluctantly. "Speaking of food, what do you want? It's about two and we haven't eaten anything but breakfast and ice cream."

"I'll have whatever you have in there, I'm starving," said a voice from the back.

I screamed, "HOLY MOLY GUACAMOLE!" at the top of my lungs while Pax screamed, "HOLY SHIZZYPOO!" and slammed on the brakes, throwing us both against our seatbelts. There was so much force that it spun the car sideways, but luckily it wasn't a very busy road, so we didn't cause a wreck. Pax and I both whipped our heads around and were staring at this little girl that couldn't have been more than ten years old.

"Sorry guys," she apologized, looking genuinely concerned. "Did I scare y'all?"

This girl was tiny. She looked like she hadn't eaten a good meal for weeks, and had been living on the streets for years. Her jet black hair was uneven and incredibly knotted. Her face was grimy, but her blue eyes still shown with fire and their childhood innocence.

"Oh, only a little bit," Pax said, causing her to giggle. She was the most adorable little girl, I wanted to pick her up and take her home right now.

"So, I don't want to be mean, but why exactly are you in our car?" I asked.

"Well, not to be rude, but I don't think this is actually your car," she said, which made Pax crack up. Even I had to smile because dang, this girl is sassy.

"Okay, so you right," I said, and started over. "What are you doing in this car?"

"Well, you guys left the car unlocked, so I decided to come and stay in here because you were walking into a grocery store, so I figured that you would get food, and I am really hungry. I also thought you might give me some," and with that, she gave me her best puppy dogs eyes, which were enough to break my heart.

"Oh you poor baby," I cooed. "Have anything you want in here, but please save some for me and Pax because that has to last us the next," I looked a the timer that I set, "eleven and a half hours! Pax, we need to get going!"

"Alright, but first," Pax turned to the girl, "do you have any parents that would be looking for you?"

"Nope," she answered, and continued to chow down on some Nature Valley bars.

"Alrighty then, I'll set the route on my phone and," he drifted off as he was searching his pocket. "Crap. I don't have my phone."

"You're right because I do!" the girl said and handed Pax back his phone.

We both gawked at her.

"How...?" Pax asked, as she still continued to eat.

"Questions later, drive now, we are on a time limit," I instructed Pax. He plugged in the address and took off, turning on the siren so we could go even faster than the speed limit, and we were soon on our way to Boston.

The second hour

We let the little girl eat before asking any questions because she looked starved. When she was done, she let out a huge belch and sunk into her seat, sticking out her full belly.

"So," Pax said, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. "How and why did you get my phone."

"I pickpocketed on your way into the store," she stated plainly. "I was going to sell it if you kicked me out of the car so I could get money for food."

"Do you need food that badly?" I asked, amazed by how this ten years old was in such a poor condition.

"Yeah," she replied. "At the orphanage, they only give us lunch and dinner, which are only the size of half meals. They let you do whatever you want during the day, which I spend asking people for food. If you miss meal time, you don't get a meal, and if you miss curfew, you sleep on the street and don't get food the next day."

"That's terrible!" I exclaimed. "How can they do that you?"

She shrugged. "Don't ask me, ask the people in charge. They make the decisions."

I sat there in stunned silence. I can't believe someone would treat kids so bad.

"Well, it looks like we have a great pickpocketer on our hands," Pax said with a grin. "Try saying 'Peter picks pockets with his pickpockety hands' three times fast."

"Peter picks pickets- crap I messed up. Peter pockets picks- ugh. Potter peets- oh my gosh how can you do this!" I said in frustration.

"Easy. Peter picks pockets with his pickpockety hands, Peter picks pockets with his pickpockety hands, Peter picks pockets with his pickpockety hands," Pax told me. How? Just how?

"Ugh, I can't believe you," I said shaking my head as he laughed.

"Awe, you guys are so cute together," the girl said from the back seat.

I laughed. "Sorry honey, but we haven't even known each other for 24 hours, so we aren't together yet."

"You said yet," Pax commented with a smirk.

"Shut up," I told them and turned my attention back to the girl. "So, I don't even know your name. What is it?"

"Trixie," she replied. Awwwwe! That's the most adorable name ever.

"Well welcome to our squad, Trixie!" Pax said.

"I hope you like car rides because this will be a long one."

"Where are we going?" Trixie asked.

"To fight some bad guys," I said, giving her a face that resembled a pirate, which caused her to laugh.

"Well count me in," she said. "It's about time that I kicked some booty!"