Basics [A Sandlot Story]

1 || The Pink Horror

"Ty! Ty c'mon, wake up!" A small, tinny voice called through the fog. Tylah Smalls groaned, sitting up straight and rubbing her eyes, reluctantly opening them to the early Californian summer sun.

"We're here already?" She asked the younger boy strapped into the seat beside her - her half-brother Scotty.

He nodded, his gelled hair not moving even the slightest bit. Ty sighed; their mother always made sure his hair was perfect, even when he attempted to brush her off. Luckily she never had the opportunity to get her primping and preening hands on her daughter.

Shoving the the car door open, she stood, stretching out her arms and swinging her legs, listening to her stiff joints and muscles pop after being cooped up in the stuffy vehicle for hours. Scotty jumped out after her, following her gaze to their new home, a one storey, pink house.

Oh joy.

Having been the one who hadn't wanted to move in the very first place, Ty was now determined to find any reason to dislike this new 'home' as much as possible.

"Tylah!" A voice called from the car. Grumbling under her breath, she turned her back on the monstrosity, peering through the glare and into the darker interior of the family's pale green Ford, where her step-father, Bill, sat with hands firmly on the wheel. "The U-Haul will be here in a few minutes! Can you help your brother unload it please?" Ty wrinkled her nose. She didn't like Bill very much, especially seeing as he was her mother's third husband, even after she swore she would never get married again - he seemed to be a bit of a womaniser in her opinion.

"Where're you goin'?" Ty asked, shading her eyes and resisting the urge to respond with something significantly ruder. Bill gestured down the street.

"I'm meeting your Mom at the store." He explained. "She went to have a look around town, and she wants some help buying some new furniture." She nodded reluctantly.

"Alright." She called, waving once as he drove off down the street.

Scotty had already made it inside, picking his room at the back of the house. Ty's was at the opposite end of the hallway, at the front of the house, with a window that looked out onto the street. She was rather happy with it. The window's vantage over the road was partially obscured by a tree trunk, and though the view was nothing particularly spectacular, there was a painted white window seat nestled beneath it. That, she decided, would be her reading nook. She spent another moment deciding where her bed and bookcase would go, before standing back in the doorway and sighing heavily. At least she had a place to retreat to when the shit hit the fan - and she knew that it would eventually.

Hearing a car horn and Scotty's bawling shouts for her to hurry up, Ty wandered out to the front, watching as the delivery truck followed the same path Bill had as it drove away. Her younger brother had already unlocked the trailer and was beginning to unload it, stacking boxes on the nature strip.

"Hey kiddo, let me give you a hand." She told him, squeezing into the trailer and pulling out two boxes, one stacked atop the other. Scotty sent her a grateful smile.

"Thanks." He said, toothy, white grin gleaming.

They unloaded the trailer for the best part of an hour, and despite her originally sour mood, Scotty had helped cheer her up a bit, cracking chemistry jokes and making maths puns as they worked. After locking up the trailer, and stacking the second-to-last box in the front entryway of the house, Ty sighed resignedly. She supposed that she would have to get used to life here, for a little while at least. Then she would do whatever possible in order to get home.